When Gmail beta debuted in 2004, how much free storage did it offer?

Development on Gmail began in 2001, led by Google engineer Paul Buchheit, who had experimented with webmail during his college years – before the launch of services like Hotmail. Gmail was officially released to the public on April 1, 2004. Its debut on April Fool’s Day caused many to initially mistake it for a hoax, especially since it offered a staggering one gigabyte (1GB) of free storage – more than 100 times the storage space provided by competitors like Hotmail or Yahoo Mail at the time.

There was a catch: access to Gmail was initially limited to those who received an invitation. These invites quickly became coveted commodities, with some being sold on eBay for over $100.

Gmail remained in beta until 2009, when it officially exited the pre-release phase alongside other Google services such as Google Docs, Calendar, and Google Talk. As of 2025, Gmail offers 15GB of free storage, integrated across Google services like Google Drive and Google Photos, and serves over a billion active users worldwide.

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