The Free Version of Google Apps Missing? Not Really.

If you’ve been reading TechCrunch lately, you might have seen this article, which asks where the free version of Google Apps went. If you visit the Google Apps site, you won’t find the link to Google Apps Standard edition. Instead, you’d sign up to get a 30-day free trial, and then, pay $50 per year for the Premiere Edition.

Understandably, this has people out in a panic. Heck, when I saw it, I freaked out too. I, for one, was worried about my current free Standard Edition accounts. I immediately logged in because I thought my accounts were gone. But yeah, they were still there. Google will get a ton of legal headaches! I’d be on the frontlines too. I mean, I’ve had my Standard Account for ages (I got Google Apps back when it was beta; that’s how much of a Google fan I am, kiddos) and I wouldn’t know what to do if Google pulled the plug on my free account!

I know you were looking for the old sign up link where you can com pare the two Google Apps editions. You might even be looking for this old chart comparing them:

But lo and behold, with a little digging, I was able to find where we can sign up for the free Google Apps Standard Edition. It wasn’t easy, believe me.

When you check the site, you won’t find a direct link to the Standard Edition. Instead, you should click here. The link is missing from the apps homepage, but until Google makes an announcement on their Apps Blog, let’s not worry too much about it.

Admittedly, the direct link disappearing is a bit suspicious, and if the aforementioned sign up link stops working, that’s when we should worry. For now, let’s just bookmark the link and sign up for Apps whenever we need it.