Facebook Workplace is Facebook’s social networking platform designed specifically for businesses. It enables employees to collaborate, communicate and share knowledge easily within an organization. While Workplace offers many benefits over traditional enterprise software, one of the most common questions is whether Workplace is free or not.
The Basics of Facebook Workplace
Facebook Workplace functions similar to Facebook’s regular platform but with features tailored towards the workplace. Employees can create a Workplace profile, post status updates, share photos and videos, create and join groups, send messages and notifications and more. It integrates with popular business software like Office 365 and G-Suite. Some of the key features of Workplace include:
- News Feed – An interactive feed where employees can share updates, photos, videos, documents etc.
- Groups – Private or public groups for teams, projects, interest clubs etc.
- Chat – Instant messaging for teams and one-on-one conversations.
- Events – Create and manage events.
- Video Calls – Make group video calls.
- Knowledge Library – Central repository for documents.
- Analytics – Insights into engagement, growth etc.
Workplace is designed to connect everyone in an organization – from the CEO to frontline workers. It enables better communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing within teams and across the company.
Is Workplace Free?
The short answer is no, Facebook Workplace is not completely free. However, there is a free version of Workplace with limited functionality. Here are the pricing options for Workplace:
Workplace Free
- Free for all functions
- Limited to single organization
- Maximum of 10 groups
- 2 integrations
- 2 Drive (cloud storage) per user
Workplace Standard
- $4 per user/month
- Ideal for 100 – 1000 users
- More integrations and bots
- Up to 250 groups
- Up to 5 Drive storage
- Single sign on
- 24/7 support
Workplace Advanced
- $8 per user/month
- Everything in Standard plus:
- Ideal for 1000+ users
- Unlimited groups and integrations
- Additional admin tools and insights
- More Drive storage – 25 GB per user
- Premium support
So in summary, Workplace does have a free version but it is limited in functionality and best for smaller teams. The paid Standard and Advanced plans unlock more features, storage, support and are suited for larger deployments.
Key Differences Between Free and Paid Workplace
Here is a table summarizing the key differences between the Free, Standard and Advanced versions of Workplace:
| Feature | Workplace Free | Workplace Standard | Workplace Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per user / month | Free | $4 | $8 |
| Number of groups | 10 max | 250 max | Unlimited |
| Drive storage per user | 2 GB | 5 GB | 25 GB |
| Number of integrations | 2 max | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Support | Community support | 24/7 support | Premium support |
| Ideal number of users | Up to 100 users | 100 – 1000 users | 1000+ users |
As the table illustrates, the paid Workplace plans enable more groups, integrations, storage and better support compared to the free version. They can scale to support large workforces of 1000+ employees.
Who is Workplace Free Best Suited For?
Here are the types of organizations for whom Workplace Free could be a good fit:
- Small teams – Startups and small teams with less than 100 employees. The 10 group limit is usually sufficient for smaller teams.
- Teams that want to try before buying – Organizations that want to pilot Workplace before committing to a paid plan.
- Cost-sensitive organizations – Non-profits, education institutes, small businesses with tight budgets.
- Basic usage – Teams with simple use cases like basic communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
The free version gives these organizations a chance to experience Workplace for free before deciding if they want to upgrade to a paid version. However, larger companies will need the paid plans to get the most value from Workplace.
Limitations of the Free Version
While Workplace Free is great for smaller teams, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- Only 1 organization supported – Cannot have multiple companies/entities.
- Max 10 groups – Not ideal for large distributed teams.
- 2 integrations only – Very limited integration capabilities.
- 2 GB storage per user – Low cloud storage for documents.
- No SSO – Can make user login/management more complex.
- No premium support – Reliant on community forums for support.
Organizations that hit these limitations will likely need to upgrade to paid plans for more storage, groups, SSO and better support.
Should You Upgrade from the Free Version?
Upgrading from the free version provides several benefits that may be worth the additional cost for many organizations:
- More groups and integrations – Essential for large distributed teams. Paid plans have 100+ group limits.
- More storage – 5-25 GB per user for documents, images, videos etc.
- Better support – 24/7 and premium support options versus community forums.
- Better security – Tools like SSO to enhance security.
- Increased capabilities – Access to more apps, bots, workflows and admin tools.
The free version is restricted by design to encourage upgrading. Companies that want to deploy Workplace more broadly across the organization will find the paid plans worthwhile.
Workplace Pricing
Let’s take a detailed look at the pricing for Workplace’s paid plans:
Workplace Standard
- $4 per active user per month
- Annual contract required
- Minimum of 100 users
- Volume discounts available
- Typical range is 100 – 1000 users
Workplace Advanced
- $8 per active user per month
- Annual contract required
- Minimum of 1000 users
- Volume discounts available
- Best for 1000+ user organizations
A few things to note about the pricing:
- Annual contract is required for both paid plans.
- Minimum users required – 100 for Standard and 1000 for Advanced.
- Volume discounts available for large deployments.
- Price is per active user i.e. users who logged in over the past 28 days.
- Typical pricing is $4 – $8 per user per month.
How Does Workplace Pricing Compare?
Workplace offers simple and transparent per user pricing. Here’s how it compares to other popular enterprise social software and team collaboration tools:
| Platform | Starting Price Per User |
|---|---|
| Workplace Standard | $4 |
| Workplace Advanced | $8 |
| Microsoft Teams | $5 |
| Slack | $8 |
| Chatter (Salesforce) | $25 |
| Jive | $15 |
Workplace pricing is very competitive compared to alternatives. Most solutions start at $5 – $15 per user per month for their base plans. So Workplace is attractively priced, especially the Standard $4 plan.
Conclusion
To conclude:
- Facebook Workplace does have a free version but it has limited capabilities.
- The paid Standard ($4 per user/month) and Advanced ($8 per user/month) plans provide more features, groups, storage and support.
- The free plan is best for startups, small teams, pilots, basic usage. Paid plans are better for larger deployments.
- Upgrading provides more groups, storage, support and capabilities compared to the free version.
- Workplace is competitively priced vs. alternatives like Microsoft Teams and Slack.
While the free version is great for trying out, larger organizations will find better value with Workplace’s paid plans for broader deployment and usage across the enterprise.