Google is introducing a new, less expensive option for its Google One cloud storage subscription service. … [+]
Google has begun offering a new, significantly less expensive tier of its Google One subscription service.
Updated on September 15 with news that Google has confirmed the availability of Google One Lite in more countries outside India.
Updated on September 14 to remind you that there is a cheaper way to buy Google One Lite. This story was originally published on September 12.
According to a report from Indian Express, The new Google One “Lite” subscription is being offered to some Google users in India for Rs 59 (about $0.70) per month — less than half the monthly cost of the current 100GB “Basic” option.
The new Lite tier, currently available with a one-month free trial, offers up to 30GB of cloud storage for Google Photos, Google Drive, and Gmail, double the initial 15GB users get for free once they sign up.
Unlike the current paid tiers of Google One, the new Lite subscription can’t be shared with other users — not that 30GB of storage will be enough to share with friends and family anyway.
The new Google One Lite tier was first spotted back in July when a previous report found references to it in the code of the Google Photos app for Android. It seems that Google has now started rolling out the option, albeit only in India so far.
Is the new Google One Lite a good value?
Only 30GB of storage doesn’t seem like much. In contrast, Apple’s entry-level devices iCloud+ plan It comes with 50GB of storage for $0.89 per month (in India), and unlike Google One Lite, it includes Family Sharing, making it more flexible and cheaper per gigabyte than Google’s offering. However, iCloud users start with just 5GB of free storage, forcing them into a paid plan before Google One Lite.
Looking at it from another angle, and again using converted Indian pricing, Google charges $0.70 per month for an additional 15GB of storage, while Apple charges $0.89 per month to increase your storage by 45GB, making Apple’s 50GB iCloud+ plan look like the more tempting offer.
Note that Google has yet to announce a Google One Lite tier, and the offer is currently available to a small group of people in India only. So, most Google One “free tier” users will still see the 100GB option as the cheapest paid option available.
It’s not yet known if Google plans to make the Google One Lite available outside of India. If Google’s experiment goes well, I don’t see any real reason why it wouldn’t, but it would be nice to at least see some extra storage included in the price.
Update September 14: Cheaper option available
Users in India who were offered the Google One Lite plan noticed that there was a cheaper way to buy it: by purchasing an annual subscription. At Rs 589, this annual subscription offers twelve months of storage for the price of ten months, a saving of just over 16 percent. This offer is in line with Google’s other annual subscription plans, which all offer the same savings throughout the year — except for the curious omission of Google One AI Premium, which remains available only on a monthly billing cycle.
However, I still see many potential Google One Lite customers opting for the monthly option because it offers the lowest initial payment, and Google is clearly targeting more cost-conscious users. Also note that Google is expected to bring some Pixel 9 exclusive features to older smartphones soon, which could allow people to save money by keeping their current devices a little longer.
Update September 15: Availability confirmed in more countries
Google has now confirmed that it will make its new low-cost Google One Lite service available in more countries outside India. As reported by Android Authority, Google has also opened up Google One Lite to a limited number of users in Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia. According to the report, select users in these three countries should also have access to the same 30GB storage tier, though local pricing information is not yet available. Unsurprisingly, Google has also remained tight-lipped about any future plans to launch Google One Lite in other regions. I suspect that decision will be made after evaluating customer response in the locations where the service is currently being tested.
Note that the same storage-only approach applies across all countries, which means that Google One Lite plan subscribers will lose benefits like: Family sharing Customers can get discounts on the Google Store unless they upgrade to a higher tier — which is undoubtedly the long-term goal of offering the Lite plan in the first place.
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