Google Workspace vs Self-Hosted: Line-by-Line Cost Breakdown

Google Workspace is the default for most small businesses. It is familiar, it works, and the per-user pricing seems reasonable until you run the numbers over five years. Here is what you actually pay versus what you could pay with a self-hosted alternative.

The Google Workspace Bill

Google Workspace Business Standard costs 12 US dollars per user per month. For a 15-person team, that is 180 dollars per month, or 2,160 dollars per year. Over five years: 10,800 dollars. That buys you Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and Docs - all hosted on Google's servers with Google's terms of service.

Business Plus, which adds more storage and security features, costs 18 dollars per user per month. That is 3,240 dollars per year, or 16,200 dollars over five years for a 15-person team.

The Self-Hosted Stack

Here is what replaces each Google Workspace component:

• Gmail: Docker Mailserver or Mailcow (free, open-source)
• Drive and Docs: Nextcloud with Collabora or OnlyOffice integration (free, open-source)
• Calendar: Nextcloud Calendar (included)
• Meet: Jitsi Meet (free, open-source)
• Admin console: Portainer and Authelia (free, open-source)

The software is free. The cost is the server and management.

The Server Cost

A VPS capable of running this stack for 15 users:

• 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 200GB SSD: roughly 40 US dollars per month from a Brunei-friendly provider
• Alternatively, a dedicated server or on-premises machine with similar specs

At 40 dollars per month for the VPS, that is 480 dollars per year, or 2,400 dollars over five years. For hardware. For software licensing: zero dollars.

Adding Management

If you manage the server yourself, the total five-year cost is 2,400 dollars versus 10,800 dollars for Google Workspace Business Standard. The saving is 8,400 dollars. If you use a managed service like VPS1, the cost is higher than DIY but still substantially lower than Google Workspace, and you get expert maintenance included.

The break-even point for self-hosting versus Google Workspace is roughly three users. With three users, Google Workspace costs 5,400 dollars over five years. A 40-dollar VPS costs 2,400 dollars. The saving starts immediately and compounds with every additional user.

What You Give Up

Self-hosting trades convenience for cost control. Google handles uptime, spam filtering, and updates. With self-hosting, you handle those. Or you pay someone like VPS1 to handle them for you. Either way, the cost is fixed and predictable, not per-user and compounding.

Want to see what a full Google Workspace replacement would cost for your team? We will map it out, no obligation.