GOOGL is Alphabet’s Class A stock, with one vote per share; GOOG is its Class C stock, with no voting rights except as required by law. Alphabet says the economic rights of its three share classes are otherwise identical. The practical distinction is therefore voting power—not ownership of different businesses.
What do GOOG and GOOGL represent?
Both tickers are shares of Alphabet Inc., the same company. Alphabet’s 2025 Form 10-K identifies GOOGL as its Class A common stock and GOOG as its Class C capital stock. It says holders’ rights across Class A, Class B and Class C are identical except for voting rights. Alphabet’s 2025 Form 10-K
| Ticker | Alphabet share class | Voting rights per share |
|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | Class A common stock | One vote |
| GOOG | Class C capital stock | No voting rights, except as required by applicable law |
| Not publicly traded under these tickers | Class B common stock | 10 votes |
Alphabet’s filing states: “Our Class B stock has 10 votes per share, our Class A stock has one vote per share, and our Class C stock has no voting rights.” The filing separately qualifies Class C voting rights as “except as required by applicable law.”
How much difference does one vote make?
Owning GOOGL gives a shareholder voting rights on matters submitted to stockholders; owning GOOG does not, subject to the legal exception above. But a single Class A share’s vote is only one part of Alphabet’s broader voting structure. Class B shares carry 10 votes each, and Alphabet reported that Larry Page and Sergey Brin together beneficially owned approximately 89.3% of outstanding Class B stock as of December 31, 2025. That ownership represented approximately 52.7% of the voting power of outstanding common stock on that date.
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Alphabet says the founders’ position gives them significant influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including director elections and significant transactions. A GOOGL holder therefore has a vote, but should not assume that one public shareholder’s vote determines company policy.
Are GOOG and GOOGL economically different?
Alphabet says the rights of Class A, Class B and Class C holders are identical except for voting. Its disclosures also show that the company repurchases both Class A and Class C shares. The 2025 filing says repurchase decisions take account of economic cost and prevailing market conditions, including relative trading prices and volumes. In April 2025, the board authorized an additional $70.0 billion repurchase program for Class A and Class C shares; that authorization is not evidence that the entire amount was spent.
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Which ticker is cheaper?
There is no reliable permanent rule that GOOG or GOOGL trades at a lower price. The filing’s description of repurchases does not establish a lasting premium for either class, and the share-class rights alone do not provide a current price comparison. To determine which is cheaper at a particular moment, compare synchronized market quotes for GOOG and GOOGL and note the quote time; prices can change during the trading day.
Does the 2022 stock split change the difference?
No. Alphabet executed a 20-for-one stock split on July 15, 2022, with a July 1 record date, by issuing a one-time special stock dividend on each Class A, Class B and Class C share. The split affected all three classes; it did not remove the current voting-right distinction between GOOGL and GOOG. Alphabet’s 2022 Form 10-K
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How to think about choosing between them
- If voting rights matter to you: GOOGL carries one vote per share; GOOG carries no voting rights except as required by law.
- If your focus is economic exposure: Alphabet says the classes’ holder rights are otherwise identical, but compare current market prices rather than assuming one ticker is always cheaper.
- If you are assessing governance influence: consider the Class B supervoting structure and the founders’ reported voting power, not just the one-vote difference between GOOGL and GOOG.
This is a comparison of share-class features, not a recommendation to buy either security. It does not assess expected returns or personal tax and brokerage consequences.
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