Should I self-host Google Workspace?
The docs and drive parts self-host fine (OnlyOffice, Nextcloud — both on this scoreboard). The email part is the trap: self-hosted SMTP in 2026 is a deliverability hobby where you debug why Gmail silently spam-folders your invoices. Email is the one workload we tell everyone to keep paying for.
Deliverability that just works — the entire value is other people's spam filters trusting Google
Meet/Calendar network effects
custom-domain email · Drive storage · Docs/Sheets · Meet
* Percent of the subscription price. Your time is priced at the slider's rate — $0/h ("my homelab time is free and I love it") is a legitimate position. Every number is derived from the record, never hand-written. Price source, checked 2026-08-07.
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
FULL TIMED LOG
# Google Workspace — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** NOT REALLY — keep paying - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Why no compose file - This verdict is decided by economics/capability, not setup effort — the rubric doesn't require a timed install to conclude the subscription should stay (or that the replacement's cost lives elsewhere, e.g. GPUs, egress, or an installer script). ## The call The docs and drive parts self-host fine (OnlyOffice, Nextcloud — both on this scoreboard). The email part is the trap: self-hosted SMTP in 2026 is a deliverability hobby where you debug why Gmail silently spam-folders your invoices. Email is the one workload we tell everyone to keep paying for.