In this article, we help you understand the differences between Workspace Users, Aliases, and Groups in order to effectively plan and configure your Workspace environment according to our tried and tested best practices methodology.

Let’s get acquainted with the terms and most common use cases.

Workspace User

• What’s a user account? A user account is a username and password for one individual, with services, data and configuration settings specific to that person. User accounts are defined as a username and password for signing in to Google Workspace with a personalised email address (name@yourcompany).
• When to use a user account? It’s considered best practice to assign a Workspace user account to each person in your company or domain name.
• What are the costs associated with a user account? Each user account is billed according to your domain’s Workspace subscription tier.

Aliases

• What’s an alias? Email aliases are nicknames and can be thought of as different names for the same thing. Aliases are great tools for individuals who need to receive mail sent to an alternate address and delivered to their existing account.
• When to use an alias? Use an alias when you would like to receive email on more than one address, like name@yourcompany, namesurname@yourcomapy and hello@yourcompany.
• What are the costs associated with an alias? Aliases don’t count as users and therefore carry no additional costs. You can create up to 30 aliases per user account.

Groups

• What’s a Group? Group addresses make it easy to email multiple team members by sending a message to a single email address.
• When to use a Group? Use a group when more than one team member should receive emails at a specific address. Groups are perfect for distribution lists and to easily communicate and collaborate across teams (like a helpdesk@yourcompany address).
• What are the costs associated with a Group? Group addresses don’t count as users and therefore carry no additional costs.

Feature comparison

Frequently asked questions

1. Can you send an email from an alias or group address? Yes, for detailed instructions, please see send emails from a different address or alias.
2. How many aliases can be created on an account? You can add up to 30 aliases per user, at no extra cost.
3. Maximum members in a group? Unlimited.
4. The maximum number of groups on your domain? Unlimited.
5. Can group addresses have aliases? Yes.
6. Cost for a Workspace user account? The monthly cost is determined by your Workspace tier.
7. Cost for an alias? No additional cost.
8. Cost for a Group address? No additional cost.
9. Cost for an alias on a group address? No additional cost.