What is Google Groups used for?

Google Groups is a Google service for email-based discussion groups and web forums, tied to Google accounts and Workspace. It is a good fit for team and department mailing lists, and small community discussion groups.

Is Google Groups free?

Yes. Google Groups is free to use.

Is Google Groups open source?

No. Google Groups is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Google Groups include Discourse and Loomio.

What are some alternatives to Google Groups?

Google Groups competes with Groups.io and Discord. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Google Groups alternatives.

Google Groups: features, pricing and alternatives

About Google Groups

Google Groups is a service from Google for creating groups that communicate by email and through a web interface. A group acts as a mailing list or collaborative inbox, where members can post by sending a message to the group address or by using the website.

Groups are commonly used for team distribution lists, community discussions and managing access to shared resources within a Google Workspace organization. Access settings determine who can join, read and post, and members can read the same conversations by email or on the web.

Google Groups is a hosted Google service that requires signing in with a Google account, and it cannot be self-hosted. The page content fetched for this entry was a sign-in screen, so the description relies on the product's tagline and general knowledge.

Key features

Email-based group discussions
Web interface for reading and posting
Access controls for members
Integration with Google accounts

Good fit for

→Team and department mailing lists
→Small community discussion groups

Tags: mailing-list; google; email-groups; forum; community; collaboration

Google Groups: questions and answers

What is Google Groups used for?: Google Groups is a Google service for email-based discussion groups and web forums, tied to Google accounts and Workspace. It is a good fit for team and department mailing lists, and small community discussion groups.
Is Google Groups free?: Yes. Google Groups is free to use.
Is Google Groups open source?: No. Google Groups is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Google Groups include Discourse and Loomio.
What are some alternatives to Google Groups?: Google Groups competes with Groups.io and Discord. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Google Groups alternatives.