Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are perhaps the best known business productivity suites. Microsoft’s productivity tools have been the number one choice for businesses for many years, but other software providers have been closing the gap with their own solutions – particularly Google.

Is Microsoft 365 the best for all businesses? We’ve broken down some of the key features and differences, so you can decide whether Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is the right fit for your business.

What Can You Do in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace?

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are described as Cloud-based productivity suites. In other words, they are a combination of tools and applications that users pay a monthly or annual subscription to access. They allow users to perform various business tasks, including:

• Sending emails
• Managing calendars
• Creating documents, presentations and spreadsheets
• Video calling
• File storage
• Team collaboration

Both platforms allow users to access their apps through a web browser. The difference is that many of Microsoft’s apps can be accessed through desktop applications, depending on your preference.

Microsoft 365 Plans and Pricing

There are a range of Microsoft 365 plans to suit different requirements. For the purposes of this article, we’re only going to focus on business plans.

Microsoft offers four business plans. These include:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

Here’s a breakdown of some of the features included, and the costs.

Google Workspace Plans and Pricing

Google Workspace offers three business subscriptions, as well as Enterprise packages for larger organisations.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the features included, and the costs.

Comparing Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Email

Microsoft’s email platform is Outlook, optimised for desktop use. Google’s equivalent is Gmail, a web-based email platform. In terms of features, the two platforms are very similar. They both have all you would want for a business email platform, such as anti-malware protection, spam filtering, and group aliases.

Depending on a user’s plan, Microsoft 365 mailbox sizes are capped at either 50GB or 100GB. Google Workspace plans share the size of the mailbox with other Cloud storage. There is no dedicated space for Cloud-based email.

Apps

The most popular Microsoft 365 plans include the latest release of the Office desktop applications (such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote). You also get access to the online versions of certain apps, depending on how you like to work.

Google Workspace is all browser based. There are no native applications. For some businesses, this is an immediate no. others might not devices to be bogged down with applications, and are used to web-based applications.

Collaboration and Communication

Having solutions to work from anywhere are vital. With the popularity of hybrid and remote work, businesses need to have a suitable way for their staff to communicate internally and externally.

Microsoft’s offering is Teams for video and audio calls and meetings. Google’s are Meet for meetings and Chat for, well you guessed it, text based chatting. Both platforms allow users to collaborate and work on documents as a team, making edits and reducing the need for multiple versions of the same file.

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

There are a number of similarities between the two systems. Microsoft 365 has been the gold standard for years, but Google’s offering is a viable option for businesses preferring browser based applications.