Google Workspace vs. Office 365
One might say the M365 offerings are greater in options and customization, focusing greatly on automation and security, while Google Workspace has lowered the license offerings to fit the basic needs of businesses and put an emphasis on collaboration.
Microsoft 365 Pricing and Features
For the sake of this blog, we are going to look at the M365 Business licensing options as they are the most popular and similar to what Google Workspace has to offer, but it is important to remember that M365 has many licensing options that can be applied and customized based on the needs of your business. This includes Enterprise licensing with transparent pricing, security and more.
- Business Basic - $6/user/month
- Web version of Office 365 suite of applications that are always up-to-date
- E-mail hosting with 50gb mailbox
- Store and share files with 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Can also be shared to external users using guest links
- Collaboration through Microsoft Teams that includes hosting online meetings/video calls up to 300 users, chat and files all in one place and viewable to other users
- Business Standard - $12.50/user/month
- All features included in Business Essentials
- Fully installed Office 365 suite applications
- Install applications on up to five devices per user
- Ability to host webinars to include attendee registration pages, email confirmations, and reporting
- Business Premium - $22/user/month
- Exchange Online Archiving - Enable large cloud archive and long-term preservation policies
- Enterprise grade endpoint security to protect from ransomware and cybersecurity threats
- Defender for Office 365
- App protection for Office mobile applications
- Information Rights Management
- Device Management with Microsoft Endpoint Manage
Automation is also a huge focus within M365 as all the products play well with eachother and can be built with custom automation to focus on efficiency. SharePoint and Flow are great examples of this and are applications that Google does not offer.
Although Google Workspace prides itself in its collaboration features, don't sleep on M365's collaboration either. There are a multitude of features that offer great collaboration, with MS Teams being at the forefront of that with file sharing, chat, voice and video meetings for up to 500 participants, etc. Note: All of the above licenses include Teams with the same features. There is also the capability to work on the same document in Word and Excel, while also being able to share files very easily.
Lastly, SECURITY. E-mail and tenant security has been a major focus for companies in the last few years as hacking and phishing attempts are at an all time high, and continue to grow. Microsoft has the market in this space and better security cannot be offered anywhere else. There are all emcompassing licenses that include basic Office 365 features as well as advanced security features, but you can also add security licenses a-la-carte as needed.
Google Workspace Pricing and Features
Each license comes with its own set of features and capabilities, and they do differ between each license. This is different in many aspects from M365 as Microsoft will offer certain features for each license that Google doesn't, but Google may offer those features + more as you upgrade the licensing. All Google Workplace licenses offer the same amount of applications, including web AND desktop.
- Business Starter - $6/user/month
- Business Email
- 100 participant video meetings
- 30 GB cloud storage/user
- Security and management controls
- Business Standard - $12/user/month
- Business Email
- 150 participant video meetings + recording
- 2 TB cloud storage/user
- Security and management controls
- Business Plus - $18/user/month
- Business email + eDiscovery and retention
- 500 participant video meetings + recording and attendee tracking
- 5 TB cloud storage/user
- Enhanced security and management controls
As mentioned, collaboration is the feature that Google Workplace is going after. Multiple users can access and work on documents, presentations or spreadsheet simultaneously for efficiency (M365 offers this as well).
Bottom Line
Google offers a more straightforward platform with a simpler UI, but may not be as pleasant to the eye. They both offer many of the same features, but Google tends to require a license upgrade to get some of the more basic ones. M365 has a more robust platform with many features within the Office applications and tends to be more familiar to most users with a long, solidified history in the cloud, but you will pay a bit more with M365 and will need to upgrade to at least Business Standard for desktop applications.
If you find yourself in the crossroads of Google Workplace and M365, reach out to RyanTech! We can help make your decision a bit easier by taking your needs and goals and customizing the best solution for you and your business.
Blog published 07/22
