Google Workspace Netherlands: licenses, price and DNS

You want to send email from info@jouwbedrijf.nl, but with the convenience of Gmail, a shared calendar and shared folders. You can do that with Google Workspace. But which license do you choose, what does it cost per month and what do you need to do with your domain name to make sure your email actually arrives?

With Google Workspace in the Netherlands, the license choice rarely goes wrong. The DNS does. People connect the mailboxes, send a test email to themselves, see that it arrives and forget the rest. A week later, a quote ends up in a client's spam folder. This article explains what to choose, what it costs and which records you need to set up.

in the Netherlands: what you get and what it costs

You pay per user per month. Every employee with their own mailbox needs a license. For that you get business Gmail on your own domain name, Calendar, Drive, Meet, Docs and Sheets, and an admin console where you create users, reset passwords and enforce two-step verification.

At Netslim, you order the licenses as follows (all prices per user per month, excl. VAT):

• Business Starter: € 7.50
• Business Standard: € 14.50
• Business Plus: € 22.50

You need your own domain name. If you don't have one yet, you can first check if your domain name is still available and register it right away. A .nl costs € 9.95 per year.

Business Starter or Standard: which fits your business

For many small businesses, Business Starter is enough. You get email, calendar, video calls and storage. Standard is meant for teams that do more with files and meetings: it includes more storage per user and you can record meetings. Plus adds extra admin and security options and is usually only worth it if you have a compliance requirement or manage a larger team.

A practical rule: start with Starter and switch to Standard as soon as someone runs out of storage or needs recordings. Switching to a higher license is easy later. So you don't need to take the most expensive plan up front just to be safe.

Another way to save money: not every address needs a license. An alias like info@ or invoice@ that points to an existing mailbox costs nothing extra. You only need a license for people who log in themselves.

The DNS everyone forgets

Your domain tells the rest of the internet where mail should go and who may send on your behalf. This is set in four types of records. If they are wrong, mail does not arrive, or it lands in spam. During setup, Google asks you for only one of them (the MX). You have to work out the rest yourself.

MX: where your mail goes

The MX record says which server receives your incoming mail. For Google Workspace, that is now a single record: smtp.google.com with priority 1. Older setups with five ASPMX records still work too, so if you see those somewhere, nothing is wrong. Important: remove the old MX records of your previous mail provider. If two sets sit side by side, your mail is split across two places and you miss messages.

SPF: who may send mail on your behalf

SPF is a TXT record on your root domain. For Google only, it looks like this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

The biggest pitfall: a domain may have only one SPF record. If you also use a newsletter service, an accounting package or a web form that sends mail, add it to the same record. Two SPF records side by side make both invalid. There is also a limit on the number of lookups (ten). With too many include:rules, SPF fails silently.

DKIM: a signature on your mail

DKIM signs your outgoing mail, so the recipient can see it was not changed along the way. Google does not turn this on by itself. In the admin console, under the Gmail settings, you generate a key, which you add as a TXT record on google._domainkey in your DNS. Then you click start authentication in the console. Sometimes it takes a while before the console sees the record, so give it some time before you try again.

DMARC: what should happen when something does not match

DMARC is the record that ties SPF and DKIM together and decides what a recipient does with mail that does not match. Start carefully, as a TXT record on _dmarc:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@jouwdomein.nl

With p=none nothing happens to your mail yet, but you will see reports. If everything checks out for a few weeks, set the policy to quarantine and later to reject. That last one stops people who misuse your name for phishing. You can find a step-by-step guide in our blog about setting up DMARC for Microsoft 365 and Google.

Do you want to know how your domain is doing right now? The free website check looks at SPF and DMARC, among other things. You don't need to install anything.

Migrating from Outlook or Hostnet without losing mail

Switching means your email moves from the old provider to Google and your MX records change. Follow this order and not much will go wrong:

1. A few days beforehand, set the TTL of your MX records to a low value, for example 300 seconds. This makes the switch quick.
2. Create the Google Workspace account and verify your domain with the TXT record that Google gives you. This does not affect your email.
3. Create all users and aliases before you switch anything.
4. Copy the existing email with the migration tool in the admin console. It fetches email from your old provider via IMAP. Your MX records still point to the old location, so nothing gets lost.
5. Switch the MX records to Google, add SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and remove the old records.
6. Run the migration one more time, so the email that arrived during the switch comes across too.

If you are coming from Outlook, it depends on what you mean by “Outlook”. If it is only the program on your computer that fetches email via IMAP, the approach above works. If your mailbox is a Microsoft 365 or Exchange mailbox, the migration runs via the Exchange option in the migration tool. Email, calendars and contacts are migrated separately. Allow extra time for this and test with one mailbox before you move everyone.

If your email is with Hostnet, your DNS is often with Hostnet too. You can leave it there, but you will always have to log in there to change records. If you transfer your domain name, you can manage everything in one place. You can read how to do that without interruption in transferring a domain name without downtime. If your domain name is with us, you change records in the portal, as explained in Managing DNS records in your portal.

Common mistakes after switching

• The old SPF record from your previous provider is still in your DNS, next to the one from Google.
• The old MX records were not removed, so part of your email keeps arriving at the old location.
• DKIM is not turned on. Email still goes out, but without a signature.
• DMARC is set straight to reject while a web form or newsletter service is not in SPF yet. Then your own emails get rejected.
• The old subscription was cancelled before all email was migrated.

After switching, also check other systems that send email on your behalf: your website, your invoicing software, your CRM. Each of them must be in your SPF record or use its own DKIM.

What to do now

1. Count how many people really need their own mailbox. The rest can use aliases.
2. Choose Starter, unless you already know you need recordings or a lot of storage.
3. Write down which services send email from your domain.
4. Test your current DNS with the free website check, so you know where to start.
5. Plan the switch for a quiet moment, not on a Friday afternoon.

Would you rather have someone else set up your DNS? On the page about Google Workspace at Netslim you can see how we supply licenses and set up MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC correctly right away.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need my own domain name for Google Workspace?

Yes, Google Workspace works with your own domain. Otherwise you won't have an address like naam@jouwbedrijf.nl. You must be able to manage the domain, because you need to add DNS records to it to verify it and make email work.

How long does it take for an MX change to work?

That depends on the TTL of your old records. If it is low, you often notice the switch within an hour. With a high TTL it can take a day, and during that time email can still arrive at the old location.

Do I need to buy separate licenses for info@ and invoice@?

No. An alias is an extra address on an existing mailbox and does not cost a license. If you want several people to be able to read and answer a shared address, you can use a group for that.

Can I take my old emails with me to Google Workspace?

Yes. The migration tool in the admin console fetches email from your old provider, usually via IMAP, or from an Exchange environment. Keep the old MX records in place until after the first copy, and run the migration once more after the switch.