Google Workspace users, groups and aliases

In this article, we explain the differences between Google Workspace users, aliases and groups, so you can plan and configure your Workspace environment using our tried and tested best practices.

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

Workspace users

• What’s a user account? A user account is a username and password for one individual, with services, data and settings specific to that person. You use it to sign in to Google Workspace with a personalised email address (name@yourcompany).
• When should you use a user account? It’s best practice to assign a Workspace user account to each person in your company.
• What does a user account cost? Each user account is billed according to your domain’s Workspace subscription tier.

Aliases

• What’s an alias? Email aliases are nicknames: different names for the same thing. They’re ideal for people who need to receive mail sent to an alternate address, delivered to their existing account.
• When should you use an alias? Use an alias when you want to receive email on more than one address, like name@yourcompany, namesurname@yourcompany and hello@yourcompany.
• What does an alias cost? Aliases don’t count as users, so there’s no additional cost. You can create up to 30 aliases per user account.

Groups

• What’s a group? A group address makes it easy to email multiple team members by sending a message to a single address.
• When should you use a group? Use a group when more than one team member should receive email sent to a specific address. Groups are perfect for distribution lists and for communicating and collaborating across teams (like a helpdesk@yourcompany address).
• What does a group cost? Group addresses don’t count as users, so there’s no additional cost.

Feature comparison

	User	Alias	Group
Licence cost	Yes	No	No
Username and password	Yes	No	No
Forward to multiple recipients	No	No	Yes

Frequently asked questions

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