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GOOG vs GOOGL: which Alphabet stock should you buy?

The difference between Alphabet’s two share classes, why GOOGL usually costs a little more, what each pays in dividends, and which one makes sense for you, with both prices live.

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Two nearly identical price lines side by side, one slightly above the other.

TL;DR

  • GOOGL is Alphabet’s Class A stock, with one vote per share. GOOG is Class C, with no vote. Both own the same company and get the same dividend.
  • GOOGL usually trades slightly higher, by about 1% now, because of the vote; the gap is live below.
  • For most investors it barely matters: pick the cheaper one, or GOOGL if you want a vote. Index funds hold both.
  • LemonTrades tells you what moved Alphabet, and why, as it happens, and warns you before its earnings.

Search for Alphabet’s stock and you’ll find two tickers. They’re nearly the same thing. Here’s the one difference that matters.

AlphabetPriceToday
GOOGLClass A, one vote a share$––
GOOGClass C, no vote$––
GOOGL’s premium over GOOG$––

Live, updated every minute.

Alphabet’s three share classes

ClassTickerVotes per shareWho owns it
Class AGOOGL1Anyone; trades on the Nasdaq
Class Bnone10Mostly the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; doesn’t trade
Class CGOOG0Anyone; trades on the Nasdaq

Alphabet created the Class C shares in 2014 by giving every shareholder one GOOG share for each GOOGL share. That let the company issue stock to employees and for deals without diluting the founders’ voting control. In 2022 both classes split 20-for-1.

What’s the same

  • The business: each share is an equal slice of Alphabet’s profits from Google Search, YouTube, Google Cloud and the rest.
  • The dividend: both pay $0.22 a share every quarter, raised from $0.21 in 2026. Alphabet started paying one in 2024.
  • Buybacks: Alphabet buys back both classes.

Which should you buy?

  • For most people, the cheaper one, usually GOOG. The vote of a small holder won’t change any decision; the founders control most of the votes.
  • GOOGL if you want a vote, or if you’d rather hold the share class that trades more.
  • Either, in an index fund: the S&P 500 holds both, so an S&P 500 fund like VOO owns each in proportion. See is VOO a good investment?

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway put another $10 billion into Alphabet in the second quarter of 2026, after selling out of Amazon. See Buffett’s Amazon sale and Berkshire Hathaway’s stock.

Sources

Education, not financial advice. See our disclaimer.

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