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Comparing Google Workspace vs M365 Microsoft 365 Business vs Enterprise

Comparing Google Workspace vs M365

Are you trying to choose between Google Apps (or G Suite) and Microsoft 365? Are you checking out the best choices for the best alternatives among Microsoft 365 and Google Apps? Find your best selections and compare the most useful features between the two. At the end of the discussion, you would pick the right choices as per your individual preference.

Using an office suite was one of the productive tasks. Historically, anything that has to do with the productivity suite was nothing else than the Microsoft products. But the arrival of Google in the sphere of productivity suite has changed everything. Google now offers a powerful suite of cloud-based productivity apps in the form of a feature-filled alternative to Microsoft Office.

How do Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 differ from one another?

We will compare the two competing products based on a few key parameters. This will help you arrive at the best experience ever.

The services offered

Both Microsoft 365 and Google Apps come with their own set of services. You would find that they almost provide you with similar features and services for most of the services.

Services Google Workspace Apps Microsoft 365
Word Processor Google Docs Word
Spreadsheet Solutions Google Sheets Excel
Presentations Google Slides PowerPoint
Email Gmail Outlook
Calendar Calendar Outlook
Group Collaboration Google Sites SharePoint (Online & On-premises)
Storage Google Drive OneDrive (Business)
Contacts Google Contacts Outlook
Conferencing Hangouts Skype or Lync & Teams
Notes Google Keep OneNote

As you can see, both the products come with efficient and effective services offered for each of your requirements.

Ease of Use

Well, we are used to both Google products and Microsoft 365 alike. While Microsoft 365 offers you access to a host of services and products that we have been used to for many years. As for Google, we have been using the tools such as Gmail, Google Search, and Google Drive quite extensively. In any case, if you are someone who has never used either of these services before – you would find that G Suite or Google Apps is one of the easiest and best options for most of your needs. Microsoft 365 may turn out to be slightly intimidating.

As for Google Apps, it does save most of the tasks automatically in the background. Most of the features available on G Suite tend to work seamlessly behind the scenes. You would not find any features bloat on Google Apps when compared to Microsoft 365. You would not necessarily find the advanced features as on Word and Excel on G Suite apps. But one of the best aspects you would find on G Suite is that it is more about core activities that a user would be interested in. That clearly means it does come with any bloated software.

Microsoft 365 offers you practically everything and every feature that you can ever think of. While you would find all the core functionalities you need, it also packs in a host of other features that you may or may not use. In fact, in its zeal to include every available or conceivable feature, Microsoft even ruins the user experience at times. When you look at the desktop versions of the core applications such as Word and Excel, clearly indicate it. However, the web versions of the core apps tend to be simpler and easy to use.

In essence, if your team has a leaning for any one of them and has used it to be quite familiar with it, we would advise you to opt for that particular suite. If you haven’t used both before, G Suite will offer better ease of use and a faster learning curve.

Business Email

In fact, both Google and Microsoft have been the leading business email service providers as of now. The users are most interested in finding ways to set up their branded email addresses for a better online presence.

G Suite provides you with 30 GB of storage and lets you set up your email on your business domain while retaining the goodness of Gmail. While you can send attachments only to up to 25 MB in size, anything larger than that can be sent through Google Drive. The email service lets you receive up to 86000 emails daily, while the limit for sending emails stands at 2000 emails per day.

Microsoft 365, on the other hand, offers Outlook as its business email client. It has an email sending limit of 5000 emails per day, and the maximum size of the attachments stands at 50 GB. The limit is independent of the overall cloud storage available to you.

Once again, G Suite takes the lead in this sphere. The business email settings and options available on G Suite tend to be efficient enough on Google Apps when you compare it to Microsoft 365. However, if you send emails with larger attachments, you will find that Microsoft 365 would be one of the excellent choices.

The Apps

Both G Suite and Microsoft 365 come with their own set of apps and services for different activities such as creating documents or spreadsheets and even presentations. The table above should provide you with an indication of the services available on the two competing products. You would get browser-based solutions on both Microsoft 365 and Google Apps. The productivity suites from Google and Microsoft have mobile apps specifically designed for Android and iOS operating systems.

G Suite provides you access to apps such as Docs, Slides, and Sheets for your needs in creating documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Also, you have access to browser-based mobile apps. One of the issues you would find is that Google Apps do not have desktop versions, and you would need to be connected to the internet at all times to access the internet. However, each of these apps comes with an option to continue working offline in cases where you lose internet connection so that your work will be saved online when you connect to the internet.

Microsoft 365, on the other hand, offers you the popular productivity apps that we have used for a long – such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You would also find desktop software, browser-based apps, and even mobile apps. You can create your documents and other data offline and save them on the internet once you connect to the internet next time.

Microsoft Office has a slight edge over G Suite in this realm. In fact, most of us have used all those core apps for a long, and they have been synonymous with what they do. We no longer call the spreadsheets by that name; we say Excel sheets, which holds good for almost every application Microsoft offers. The familiarity is what makes it take the lead over G Suite.

Collaboration Suite

The G Suite and Microsoft 365 are designed for team collaboration, and that holds good for both. They employ unique concepts and techniques to achieve the goal of collaboration. We would perhaps rate them as one of the excellent options – none is inferior.

If you are looking for the simplest form of collaboration, G Suite should be the best option. Multiple people can work on the same document, sheet, or presentation at the same time. The revision does happen in real-time, and the users can accept or reject the changes.

Microsoft 365, on the other hand, is yet another excellent option for the best in terms of team collaboration. You can even send a document, spreadsheet, or presentation outside the organization. When it comes to the feature set, you will find Microsoft 365 offering you better options than G Suite. The built-in artificial intelligence is yet another excellent option you would find rather impressive.

If your organization works mostly on in-house projects, G Suite would be an excellent option to go with. However, if your team has people who need to communicate with the outside world, Microsoft 365 would be a great option.

Customer Service

Both the services provide you access to an enhanced customer service level. The services offer you 24 x 7 web-based and phone support. The self-help libraries and knowledge centers would be yet another advanced option you would rather find an extensive option to go with.

G Suite offers you services in 14 different languages. The customer service agents with Google are known to be polite and knowledgeable. You would also get access to a good range of Knowledge Hub.

The same would be held with Microsoft 365 as well. It offers phone and web-based support for business customers. You would also find self-help guides, how-to videos, and a powerful knowledge base.

The winner in this scenario would be a draw. Both the players offer you an excellent option.

In Summary – Comparing Google Workspace vs M365 Microsoft 365 Business.

Features Google Workspace – G Suite Microsoft 365
Pros
  1. Cheaper plans
  2. Suitable for small enterprises
  3. No max user count
  1. Standard and familiar apps
  2. Ease of use
Cons
  1. Not feature-rich
  2. No desktop option
  1. Bloated software
  2. Expensive plans
Privacy Scans emails and accesses data can even show ads Does not scan your data,
Security compliance FISMA (for use in government), HIPAA (for use in healthcare—not by default but available), ISO 27001, and SSAE 16 (both third-party audits) FISMA, HIPAA, ISO/IEC 27001, EU’s Data Protection Directive (regulates the processing of personal data)
Compatibility Microsoft files and Google Drive, Formatting may not be preserved Google Drive files can be downloaded on Microsoft,
Mobile apps Drive, Docs, and Sheets apps for iOS and Android Microsoft Office Mobile for Android and iOS
Payment plans Flexible Monthly or Annual
Availability of free trial Free trial for 14 days Free trial for 30 days
Offline Storage Yes, available Yes, available
File storage Google Drive—30 GB per user OneDrive—1 TB per user
Support 24/7 phone and email 24/7 phone and email

The Closing Thoughts

Well, those were a few similarities and differences between Google Apps and Microsoft 365. If you are a small business and looking for high-end office productivity, you would find that G Suite would be one of the excellent options.

In any case, G Suite and Microsoft 365 come with their own advantages. You can refer to the tips above and arrive at the best among the two.

Also Read:

Google Sheets Docs vs Office 365 – Excel Online Word Suite

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