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If you’re a business owner, you likely have to deal with the time-consuming process of figuring out which Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace plan is best for your company. Here’s what it all comes down to; features and pricing. Learn more about these two options by reading this blog post.
Google Workspace (previously G Suite) and Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) both provide comprehensive productivity solutions for businesses. Google Workspace, which costs $6 per user per month, is the ideal alternative for organizations that want branded email, storage in the cloud, and easy-to-use document production tools. Microsoft 365 is a better solution for firms that often deal with Word documents or complicated excel spreadsheets, since it costs $5 per user, per month.
- Google Workspace is ideal for collaborative teams looking for cost-effective, user-friendly solutions.
- Microsoft 365 is ideal for small organizations that need to edit and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with individuals outside the company on a regular basis.
How We Evaluated Google Workspace & Microsoft 365
Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are full-featured productivity suites that assist you with everyday tasks like email, storage in the cloud, and document creation and sharing. Based on these requirements, we assessed both solutions using the following criteria:
- Affordability
- User-friendliness
- Browser-based capabilities
- Apps for mobile devices
- Features of Collaboration
- Administrative instruments
- Storage in the cloud
- Customer service
Based on our comparison, Google Workspace is the best option for most small businesses. Google Workspace includes the features that startups and small businesses need while also offering the best value and combination of storage, User-friendliness, accessibility, and collaboration tools.
Pricing for Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365
Service subscriptions for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 start at $6 per month per user. The prices are similar, but Google Workspace’s $12 per person, per month top-tier Business plan, provides a superior overall value with limitless storage possibilities. All Microsoft 365 plans have a storage limit of 1TB. Clients are billed monthly for both systems; however, customers that pay yearly for Microsoft 365 get a slight discount.
Pricing for Google Workspace
- Basic: $6 per user, per month; includes business email, 30GB of storage in the cloud, and Google’s suite of business productivity apps.
- Business: $12 per user, per month; adds cloud search, unlimited Storage in the cloud, and archiving vault.
- 14-day free trial
Microsoft 365 Pricing
- Microsoft 365 Basic: $6 per user, per month; includes Storage in the cloud, OneDrive, and web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Microsoft 365 Programs; costs $10 per month per user and includes Office apps for all devices as well as online file storage.
- Microsoft 365 Standard; costs $15 a month per user and includes business email, online meetings, and chat.
- 30-day free trial (Standard and Premium plans only)
Takeaway: Despite the fact that both services provide comparable features for around the same pricing, Google Workspace comes out on top. All Google Workspace service levels include business email, which is undoubtedly one of the most useful services for small organizations. However, Microsoft’s solution does not provide access to corporate email under its Basic subscription.
Features of Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365
Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer similar features, including Storage in the cloud, business email, and apps for mobile devices. The biggest difference between the two is that business email is available with Google Workspace’s entry-level plan, while Microsoft 365 only offers it with its mid-range plan and higher.
Tiered Features in Microsoft 365
Takeaway: The winner here is almost too close to call. Both offer robust security and compliance features, team collaboration tools, apps for mobile devices, and generous online storage with similarly priced service plans. Microsoft 365’s mileage tracking and online appointment scheduling are nice features to have, but Google Workspace gains a slight edge overall by offering business email with all service plans, whereas Microsoft 365 does not.
Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: User-friendliness
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both have the advantage of being well-known to the majority of consumers. Google Workspace looks and feels like Gmail, but Microsoft 365 is based on software that many customers have used for years. If you’ve never used either before, Google Workspace is a little easier to use and understand.
Google Workspace User-friendliness
Google often prioritizes utility above appearance, which might result in a design that isn’t as appealing to the eye as Microsoft’s. However, Google Workspace’s capabilities operate perfectly behind the scenes, which is a nice trade-off. Documents written in Google Docs, for example, are immediately saved to your Google Drive. It’s not even necessary to name it initially. It also saves your work in the background, ensuring that your files are always up to date.
Google Workspace likewise focuses on the most important tasks for users, thus it doesn’t suffer from feature bloat as much as Microsoft 365. Although Google Workspace applications lack some of the complex functionality seen in Microsoft Word and Excel, they more than makeup for it with a clean, intuitive layout.
Microsoft 365 User-friendliness
Office has gone a long way, but there’s no denying that it aspires to be all things to all people. Microsoft crams every possible feature into their products, sometimes at the price of the user experience. This is particularly true with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the desktop. The browser and mobile app versions, on the other hand, have a simpler design that focuses on putting the most crucial capabilities at your fingertips.
Takeaway: If the user interface of one of these systems is more familiar to you and your staff than the other, then that is the investment to make. If you’re new to both Google and Microsoft programs, Google Workspace has a little easier learning curve than Microsoft 365.
Business Email: Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365
Gmail from Google and Outlook from Microsoft are two of the most popular corporate email services available today. The majority of users care about how simple it is to set up their branded business email (yourname@yourbusiness.com rather than @gmail.com), how much email storage they have, and the maximum file size restriction you can attach to an email.
Google Workspace Business Email
Google Workspace gives you 30GB of storage and enables you to effortlessly set up email on your company’s domain while still using all of Gmail’s features. Attachments up to 25MB are allowed in Gmail, but anything bigger than that may be shared directly from Google Drive. Each day, you may send up to 2,000 emails and receive over 86,000.
Microsoft 365 Business Email
Microsoft’s business email client, Outlook, has a sending limit of 5,000 per day and a 50GB storage limit on each of their business plans. This limit is separate from your overall storage in the cloud, which means your email attachments aren’t taking up space in OneDrive. On the other hand, if email storage space is important, unlike Google Workspace, you aren’t able to use your full Storage in the cloud (1TB) for email.
Takeaway: Google Workspace has an edge over Microsoft 365 when it comes to corporate email management. Because email capacity is shared with your entire Google Drive storage limit, the Business plan is clearly a superior choice for organizations that often send and receive big files than Microsoft 365, which restricts email storage to 50GB.
Google Workspace Vs. Microsoft 365: Apps
Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 provide document, spreadsheet, and presentation creation applications. Both include web-based versions as well as applications for iOS and Android. Only Microsoft 365 Business and Business Premium clients have access to desktop versions of the product.
Google Workspace Apps
Google Workspace’s document production tools, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, are all browser-based and have mobile apps. Unfortunately, there are no desktop versions, so you’ll almost always need to be online to create and modify projects. Each, however, allows you to designate files for offline access, enabling you to continue working on a file even if your internet connection is lost, with your changes being updated the next time you connect.
Microsoft 365 Apps
Microsoft 365’s document creation apps, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are available as desktop software, browser-based apps, and apps for mobile devices. Like Google Workspace, new documents, changes, and edits made offline are automatically saved and synced to the cloud once you’re back online.
Takeaway: Microsoft 365 has a small advantage over Google Workspace in terms of applications owing to its widespread availability. Because Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have been around for over 30 years, most people are at least acquainted with their functions and user interface.
Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Collaboration
Team collaboration is at the heart of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Both firms, though, have their own approach to encouraging cooperation. Neither is inherently superior to the other. It all comes down to the expectations a firm has for its collaboration tools.
Collaboration in Google Workspace
Collaboration is a breeze with Google Workspace. In fact, one of the most powerful features of Google’s productivity tools is that it allows many people to work on the same document, spreadsheet, or slide presentation at the same time without having to save files, send email links, or keep track of versions. Revisions are made in real-time, and you can see what changes have been made and accept or reject them.
Collaboration in Microsoft 365
The broad use of Microsoft 365 in the corporate sphere gives it a cooperation edge. Sales agents and teams may confidently submit a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation to customers outside the company, knowing that it will be opened and read. It also has more sophisticated capabilities than Google Workspace, such as built-in artificial intelligence services to assist users in creating better-looking documents.
Takeaway: How the tools will be utilized will determine whether the solution is the superior collaboration option. Companies that mostly collaborate on internal projects will find Google Workspace to be more than enough. Microsoft 365’s familiarity and widespread usage in the corporate sector will assist teams that routinely communicate with individuals outside the firm.
Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Customer Service
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both provide phone and online help to their corporate customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each has comprehensive self-help knowledge libraries as well as community assistance forums. Both Google and Microsoft cater to companies, and their customer support is excellent for these people.
Google Workspace: Customer Service
Google Workspace administrators have access to phone, email, and chat support in 14 languages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users may get advice through Google Help, the company’s online knowledge resource for self-help. When you need a real person, Google is recognized for providing helpful support workers and rapidly addressing difficulties.
Microsoft 365: Customer Service
Business clients can also get the live phone and email assistance from Microsoft 365. Microsoft also includes a wealth of training resources, including self-help tutorials, how-to videos, and a searchable knowledge base. Microsoft is notorious for giving its corporate clients special attention, and Microsoft 365 support is no exception.
Takeaway: It’s too close to call when it comes to determining which firm delivers superior customer service. Both include around-the-clock phone and online assistance, as well as self-help literature that allows customers to handle difficulties on their own. In the world of customer service, the winner is a tie.
Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Customer Feedback
Google Workspace: Customer Feedback
The ease of cooperation and the software’s intuitiveness are two of the most often reported reasons why customers prefer Google Workspace. Customers also like how well everything is connected and how they can work from wherever and yet have access to all of their information. The admin interface is less easy than it might be, according to some users, and may be difficult to use at times.
Microsoft 365: Customer Feedback
Customers of Microsoft 365 say it’s simple to produce, exchange, and access documents published by other organizations or customers since the product is so extensively utilized. They also like the applications’ sophisticated capabilities, such as real-time editing recommendations. However, one area where consumers have expressed dissatisfaction is the amount of space used up by the Microsoft 365 desktop programs on your PC.
Takeaway: Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have devoted fans and followers, as seen by overwhelmingly favorable online customer ratings.
When Is It Appropriate to Use Google Workspace?
Google Workspace is the greatest solution for small organizations who wish to use Google’s Gmail service to create customized emails. It’s also ideal for customers who work on internal document production on a regular basis and want to make use of Google Drive’s plethora of connectors with project management tools, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, and other programs that many small companies currently use.
When Should Microsoft 365 Be Used?
Microsoft 365 is the ideal choice for small organizations that need to work on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with individuals outside the company on a regular basis. It’s also the only one of the two with desktop versions of each productivity software.
When to Use Zoho Workplace as an Alternative
With a forever-free subscription for up to five people, Zoho Workplace is a cloud-based suite of programs that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and mail client. Paid plans start at $1 per month per user and go up to $6 per month per user. Zoho Workplace is a cost-effective choice for organizations looking for a productivity package that includes powerful team communication capabilities and seamlessly integrates with a full customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Conclusion
For small businesses looking for an office productivity suite that provides branded business email, storage in the cloud, easy collaboration and sharing, and the ability to create and access all of your documents wherever you work, Google Workspace is the best choice. It’s intuitive and easy to use, so your team can usually be up and running the same day.
Google Workspace provides a 14-day free trial, after which you’ll be billed on a monthly basis.
Microsoft 365 is the most popular option for business users. However, Google Workspace is a cheaper and better alternative.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Google Workspace and Office 365?
A: Google Workspace is a cloud-based productivity suite, which has services like Gmail and Docs. Office 365 is one of the most popular office suites out there on its own.
What is the difference between Office 365 and Google Drive?
A: Office 365 is a subscription-based software suite provided by Microsoft and includes many applications such as OneDrive, Skype for Business, Yammer, etc. Google Drive however is the official name of one of its products that allow users to upload and save files in online cloud storage that can be accessed from any web browser or smartphone/tablet application
