Documents and notes decision
Google Workspace Business Starter
A capable technical user can reproduce a narrow subset (email, storage, docs editing, meetings) by wiring open-source components, but Google Workspace’s proprietary Gemini models and Google-scale infrastructure are durable advantages that you will not replicate; keep paying if you need integrated AI, global scale, or enterprise controls.
Visit website↗Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need — the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship.
What a replacement has to do
- Provide team email on a custom domain, store and share files, edit collaborative documents, and run video meetings.
What it still won’t have
- Google-scale reliability, uptime, and global infrastructure
- Proprietary Gemini models and integrated AI features
- Deep integrations across Gmail/Drive/Calendar/Meet and marketplace apps
- Enterprise-grade admin/security controls and compliance add-ons
- Seamless mobile/web clients and polished UX
What remains hard
- Proprietary models
- Infrastructure at scale
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 9 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal self-hosted Workspace replacement using Ubuntu servers, Postgres, MinIO (S3-compatible) for storage, Keycloak for auth, Postal or Postfix+Dovecot for mail, OnlyOffice CommunityServer for collaborative document editing, and Jitsi or Janus SFU for video meetings. In scope: tenant/user management, custom domain email setup (MX/DKIM), per-user 30GB storage quotas, file upload/download with sharing links, collaborative editing embed, basic calendar invite support, and browser-based video conferencing. Out of scope: training large proprietary LLMs, enterprise DLP/Vault, advanced AI model integration, and global multi-region HA. Include logging/metrics, TLS, automated backups, error handling, and unit/integration tests for user auth, file storage, mail delivery, and document collaboration endpoints.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Pay verdict base20
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Hard moats found in the evidence-6
- Evidence score29
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time — so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productGoogle Workspace — product overview
- official pricingPricing — Google Workspace
- official docsGoogle Docs product page
- open sourceONLYOFFICE CommunityServer
- open sourceAlinto/sogo
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
