@alafontant
Thank you for your response and for taking our feedback seriously. It’s reassuring to hear that the intention is not to charge users multiple times when they already have AppSheet licenses. I’m looking forward to hearing the results of your investigation into inter-organizational app sharing.
I’d like to share some practical perspectives that might help with your investigation:
In the past, I was consulted by a company with paid Google Workspace subscriptions about implementing AppSheet, specifically with the requirement to share apps with external users. Ultimately, they decided against adoption because sharing with free Gmail accounts was problematic.
For certain scenarios, AppSheet User Pass is indeed valuable. Google Workspace administrators typically resist creating new user accounts or adding part-timers and student workers to Cloud Identity, finding it cumbersome and inconvenient. However, since these temporary workers typically already have free Gmail accounts, purchasing User Passes as needed eliminates the hassle of account management and learning unfamiliar systems like Cloud Identity. Under these conditions, Workspace administrators might welcome the User Pass option.
The problem arises when organizations that already pay for Google Workspace (with bundled AppSheet Core) are asked to bear additional User Pass costs—either themselves or requesting their collaboration partners to pay. They believe they already “own the licenses,” making this concept difficult to explain or justify to them.
Construction companies and content creation studios frequently use subcontractors. There are many industries that have regular customer/vendor relationships. In these sectors, it’s natural to want shared apps for data exchange, project progress tracking, logistics, quotes, deliveries, invoicing, and more across organizational boundaries.
However, User Pass is valuable for scenarios like event management, where you temporarily need many part-timers or student workers without AppSheet Core licenses. Purchasing only the necessary User Passes and having them sign in with free Gmail accounts provides adequate security, making it attractive to event managers. Similarly, in convenience stores, restaurants, cafes, and fast-food establishments where many employees are part-timers, creating Google Workspace accounts or adding them to Cloud Identity is impractical, making User Pass a potentially useful solution.
I believe the distinction should be: if both organizations already have AppSheet Core licenses (whether through Google Workspace or direct purchase), they should be able to share apps without additional licensing costs. This would better support inter-organizational collaboration while still maintaining the value of User Pass for the scenarios where it’s truly needed.
@zito
