Which is better – Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace?
What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace?
Whilst comprehensive collaboration tools have been around for almost a decade, it has never been a business priority. However, things stand differently today. The pandemic has proven to be a catalyst for this change, making such a tool a necessity for every organization.
According to IDC, the collaborative application is the fastest growing software segment in India with a CAGR of 47.8 percent. But with the market inundated with so many tools, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), and Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) being the most popular, how does one choose between them?
Here are the key differences between Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace discussed in the article below: –
- Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace Overview
- Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Web or App based?
- Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Business Email: Gmail vs Outlook
- Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Cloud File Storage and Sharing
- Business apps in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
- Collaboration Tools of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
- Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace: Pricing
- Conclusion—What is best for your organization?
Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace Overview
Microsoft 365 and the Google Workspace are Fortune 500’s most preferred collaboration tools. Both are subscription-based, charging organizations per-person per month basis, with similar objectives – they enable teams to collaborate, communicate, work from anyway ensuring team productivity while maintaining system and data security.
Now while the objective of these tools is similar, their approaches differ in terms of Cloud architecture and app interface, pricing, and features. Let’s dive in to see which one works for you!
Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Web or App based?
You can access both services across Windows, Linux and MacOS desktops. However, do note that, Google Workspace applications are web-based while on the other hand Microsoft 365 applications must be launched using their downloadable desktop clients. So, the limitation with the Google Workspace is its need to constantly be connected to the internet to be able to work on it effectively, in a team. To ensure maximum productivity both applications do offer apps for iOS, iPad OS, and Android devices.
Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Business Email: Gmail vs Outlook
Gmail has an easy to use, less cluttered interface. It is like Gmail used for personal use which adds as a bonus. Making a move to a different platform is difficult from a user consumption point of view. But it is observed that if people are comfortable with the interface the adaptability is higher.
Outlook for Business on the other hand is loaded with features. Based on the sender it segregates your emails into your inbox, clutter and junk enabling you to respond to the important emails first. The clean-up feature simplifies long email threads so that they become easier to follow. And the synchronization of all the contacts, calendar along with the email (as they’re part of Outlook itself) is truly rewarding. Gmail relies on individual applications of Google Contacts and Calendar Apps which are challenging to navigate through daily.
In terms of anti-malware, spam filtering and group aliases – both are moderately equipped. Gmail allows the user to create 30 email aliases whilst Outlook allows 400. Outlook also offers data encryption in your mailbox before and after an email is sent. It also automatically deactivates any unsafe links that may contain phishing scams, viruses, or malware. With Outlook you also get voice-controlled navigation, support for multiple support devices, and more.
Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- Cloud File Storage and Sharing
Google Drive vs One Drive
While there is little to differentiate between the Suites for the enterprise plans, the entry level plan of Microsoft 365 has larger space capacity compared to Google Workspace’s most basic version, also known as Basic. It offers 30 GB data storage option while Microsoft offers a dedicated 50GB inbox along with 1TB storage space.
Users opting for the Google Workspace Business and Enterprise plans enjoy unlimited storage space while Microsoft’s Microsoft 365’s E3 and E5 plans have a storage space of 1TB. Both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive for Business integrate directly with their own office suites, and both allow you to access the files on any device.
Business apps in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace both include productivity applications for creating presentations, documents, and spreadsheets. Both offer web and mobile based app versions, however, only Microsoft 365 offers desktop versions of its software to its customers.
What this means is you need to be connected to the internet while working on the Google applications. They do have the option of working offline but it needs to be updated when you get connected and it can be cumbersome.
In our opinion, Microsoft 365 has an edge over Google Workspace in the apps department due to availability on different formats. The Microsoft tools of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are the most popular productivity tools globally and have been around for 30 years. The templates available and the functionality of these applications along with people’s familiarity with the features and user interface is unparallel.
Both Microsoft and Google do offer additional tools – Microsoft 365 comes with One Note an app that helps you take notes and have a To-Do list which integrates with Outlook, Microsoft Planner helping teams create plans and assign tasks, chat, share documents, keep track of updates etc.
Microsoft Forms that helps you create polls, quizzes, surveys etc within the organization, Power Automate (previously known as Microsoft Flow), which enables the organization to automate repetitive tasks and integrate them into workflows.
Microsoft’s Enterprise plans also come with My Analytics, an analytics tool to indicate statistics about your work patterns including your collaboration time, employees or team members you engaged with most, how effectively you networked with your team etc, PowerApps, an easy simple-code app development tool, Delve – a smart tool that enables users find and organize information in Microsoft 365 and Sway, a tool for creating web-based presentations.
Google has similar tools however they’re not as powerful and smoothly integrated. Google Forms, probably the most powerful of the lot, enables you to create forms for getting feedback from personnel, submit time off requests, work asks etc. Google Keep, a note taking app is simple but not as sophisticated as One Note, and there is the AppMaker – Google’s development environment.
Collaboration Tools of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
Both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are essentially collaborative tools. They’re built around the concept of ensuring collaboration amongst teams across the organization irrespective of its geographical boundaries. Neither essentially has a upper hand as the offerings depends on the customers short and long term expectations from the application.
Teams using either of the applications, Google Hangout or Microsoft Teams can work together on documents, spreadsheets etc in real time, keep track of versions and even review the change history. The upper hand for Microsoft 365 is that it has more advanced features such as built-in artificial intelligence services to help users create more polished documents.
Also, working collectively on documents is only a part of the collaboration process. In times like today where teams are dispersed and working remotely organizations need to address more complex collaboration asks.
And this is where Microsoft Teams has superiority with its online meetings, web and video conferencing facilities, group chats, customised workspaces, seamless in document sharing, effortless integration with SharePoint, OneDrive for Business and others. Google Workspace does offer Hangout Meet for its video conferencing but its not as powerful as Teams.
Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace: Pricing
Both platforms, Microsoft 365 and the Google Workspace offer multiple and highly competitive plans to accommodate to all organization demographics. As of today, the Google Workspace comes in 3 pricing packages:
- Basic: ₹123 per user per month with 30 GB cloud storage
- Business: ₹672 per user per month with unlimited cloud storage
- Enterprise: ₹1260 per user per month with unlimited storage
And so, does Microsoft 365:
Microsoft 365 plans begin with ₹123/user/month for the basic plan and goes up to ₹ 1555/user/month for the premium plan.
Additional features of Microsoft 365
Apart from the Advanced Reporting, E-Discovery tools, Data Loss Prevention Tools, Email Archiving features available in both Microsoft 365 and the Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 has some additional features in its enterprise grade plans including the Advanced virus protection, Personal and organizational analytics, Cloud based phone call hosting services and Mailbox rights management.
Conclusion — Microsoft 365 Vs Google Workspace- What is best for your organization?
As we have seen, both Microsoft 365 and the Google Workspace are highly powerful tools and ideal in a remotely working environment of today. And what makes one more attractive than the other are Your business asks. In our opinion evaluate the two solutions based on the following to arrive at what works best for you:
- Functionality
- Collaboration capability and features
- Ease of use
- Affordability
- Platform security
- Storage availability
- Scalability options
- Application limitations
As a Microsoft LSP partner, we have taken over 400+ organizations and 350,000+ users to Microsoft 365 and witnessed the mammoth transformation our customers have made. It has brought in organizational agility and enhanced productivity to respond faster to market changes and deliver customer value.
