Let users buy add-ons

Your organization's Google Workspace users can buy add-ons directly to get access to certain Workspace services without a license assigned from an administrator. As an administrator, you can let users buy add-ons and review their purchases. Or, you can turn off the option.

What add-ons can users buy?

Users can buy the AI Expanded Access add-on. For details, go to AI Expanded Access.

Review eligibility requirements

  • Users can buy add-ons only if you signed up for Workspace online, either directly or through Google sales. If you signed up through a reseller or an offline subscription with Google sales, users can't buy add-ons, even if you turn on the option to allow user purchases.
  • A user can buy an add-on only if they don't already have an organization-assigned license for it.
  • Admins with billing privileges can buy add-ons for the organization in the Admin console and assign themselves a license. They can't buy the add-on individually as a user.
  • To purchase AI Expanded Access, users must be in the U.S. or Canada and have an active license for Workspace Business Standard or Business Plus.

Understand how billing works

When a user buys an add-on, they set up their own billing account and pay for the add-on themselves. There's no impact to the organization's billing account or payments. The user doesn't gain access to the Admin console or any admin controls. For details about AI Expanded Access billing, refer your users to Purchase an AI add-on.

Turn user purchases on or off

By default, eligible users can buy available add-ons. If you turn this option off, existing user-purchased add-on subscriptions remain active. You can, however, manually cancel those subscriptions. For details, go to Manage user purchases (later on this page).

Before you begin: If needed, learn how to apply the setting to a department or group.

  1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu and then Billing and then User upgrade settings.

    Go to User upgrade settings

    You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.

  2. Click User subscriptions.
  3. (Optional) To apply the setting only to some users, at the side, select an organizational unit (often used for departments) or configuration group (advanced).

    Group settings override organizational units. Learn more

  4. Choose whether or not to allow users to purchase add-ons.
  5. Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.

    To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit (or Unset for a group).

Manage user purchases

You can review your users' purchased add-on subscriptions and cancel them, if needed. For example, if you buy a subscription to an add-on and assign licenses to all the users in your organization, you can cancel individual user subscriptions so the user doesn't end up with 2 licenses for the same feature set.

  1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu and then Billing and then Subscriptions.

    Requires having the Billing management privilege.

  2. Click User subscriptions. This option is available only if you have at least one active user-bought subscription.
  3. Click an add-on and then review the users who bought the add-on.
  4. Choose an option:
      To cancel a single user’s subscription, locate the user’s row and click Cancel.
    • To cancel all user subscriptions, at the top, click Cancel subscriptions and then check the box to confirm the cancellation.
  5. Click Continue to cancel.

Admin actions that affect user-purchased subscriptions

Action Impact on user-purchased subscription
Admin suspends, deletes, or archives user's Workspace account. Any user-purchased add-on subscriptions are canceled.
Admin removes the user’s Workspace Business or Enterprise license. No change. The user can still sign in to their account and access features and apps available to them or cancel any user-purchased add-on.
Admin buys their organization a subscription to an add-on that the user purchased. No change. However, if the admin assigns an organization license to the user, the admin receives a notification recommending that they delete the user’s individual subscription.
Admin tries to cancel the organization’s Workspace subscription. The subscription can't be canceled if there are active user-purchased subscriptions. The admin must cancel those subscriptions before canceling Workspace.
Admin deletes the organization’s Google Account. All user-purchased add-on subscriptions are canceled.
Workspace Business or Enterprise subscription is suspended or canceled due to nonpayment or other issue not initiated by the admin. No change. The user can still sign in to their account and access features and apps available to them or cancel any user-purchased add-on.

Need more help?

If you or your users have questions about user purchases, contact Google Workspace support.