Many believe Google One to be a simple cloud storage solution. In reality, Google One offers far more than just storage, and you really should be using those benefits.
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Google Store Cashback and Discounts
The first benefit, and one that literally pays you back, is the cashback Google One members get on every Google Store purchase. If you have the 200GB plan, you can get back 3% in Google Store credit. For Premium plan members (2TB and above), the percentage goes up to 10%.
Let’s say you’re eyeing the Pixel 9 Pro, which retails for $999. With a Premium Google One plan, you get nearly $100 back in store credit. This can easily cover some accessories or your annual Google One subscription itself. The only catch is that this benefit is only applicable in Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US.
The cashback system is quite straightforward, and the entire amount is automatically credited to your Google account within 24 hours of your order shipping. However, you need to be signed in to your Google One account when making the purchase. You also need to keep the subscription active until you get the credit—cancelling immediately after the purchase won’t work. Regardless, there are things you should consider before canceling your Google One subscription.
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Google Workspace Premium Features
These benefits only come with the $100 (annually) Premium Google One plan with 2TB of storage. However, they’re available in over 40 countries and can make a real difference in your work-from-home setup. You’re seriously missing out on Google One benefits if you aren’t using them.
The main attraction is enhanced video calling in Google Meet. Google One Premium lets you talk to up to 100 people for up to 24 hours. You also get noise cancellation features and the ability to record and save your calls directly to your Google Drive. If you’d like to stream your Google Meet call directly to YouTube, you can do that as well.
Google Calendar gets enhanced appointment scheduling. This lets you make professional-looking custom booking pages, allowing clients to schedule calls directly. Anyone booking an appointment with you will get email reminders as well. Last but not least, Google Calendar will automatically check and warn you of scheduling conflicts.
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Unlimited Access to Magic Editor
Magic Editor is Google’s AI-powered photo editing tool that includes features like Magic Eraser. Regular Google One members get 10 free Magic Editor saves per month. The Premium tier, however, gives you unlimited access.
Magic Editor is an incredible editing tool that lets you move subjects around in your photo, resize them, remove unwanted objects, and even change the sky or the background. The AI will take care of everything, including matching lighting, shadows, and perspective to make your edits look as natural as possible.
That said, all this AI processing happens in Google Cloud, so you might be sending the search giant quite a bit of data. On the other hand, this allows the feature to run on any device that supports Google Photos, including both Android and iOS.
The 10 save limit on the basic plan might sound too little, but unless you regularly edit photos within Google Photos rather than Instagram or any other app, it can be sufficient. That said, if you’re going to move subjects around or fix overcrowded photos, it’s nice not needing to ration your saves.
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Family Sharing
This is one of those features that can very quickly cut down the cost of your Google One membership by at least half. You see, your Google One storage can be shared with up to five other people, who also get to enjoy the other benefits mentioned on this list. However, everyone sharing the plan will have to live in the same country for the additional benefits to apply.
Everyone included keeps their initial 15 GB storage, but once that fills up, the account automatically taps into the Google One storage pool. Everyone’s files remain completely private. The only information family members can see about each other is the storage amount each account is using.
The members, of course, don’t have to be family members. You can just as easily split the plan between your friends or coworkers. At full sharing, this can drop the $9.99 per month price of the Premium subscription to $1.65—cheaper than the $1.99 basic plan if bought individually. The basic plan also offers family sharing, meaning you can get additional storage and some benefits for literally pennies.
All you need to do is create a Google family group and enable sharing in your Google One settings. Keep in mind that you can only join one family group per year, so make sure everyone’s committed before getting them on board.
When used right, your Google One subscription can offer benefits that far outweigh the cost, especially if you’re sharing your plan. For freelancers and other work-from-home professionals, these benefits can offer a significant productivity and capability boost. However, some cloud storage apps can offer better value than Google One based on your specific requirements.
Regardless, the benefits of Google One make it a compelling cloud storage option. If you’re in the Google ecosystem with an Android and Google Workspace apps, Google One is the only cloud storage subscription that makes sense.
