Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: A comparison

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365? When choosing a productivity software, there are conflicting views. With their Office line, Microsoft has been offering a proven software package for everyday office use for years in the form of Microsoft 365.

With its file hosting services Drive and Google Docs, Google has initially established itself as a free alternative to the Microsoft product range. This is primarily aimed at private users. Google Workspace is meant to meet the demands of business customers and establish itself in this area as a serious competitor to Microsoft 365. But how does Google Workspace hold up in a direct comparison to the market leader?

The Office products from Google and Microsoft both follow the same approach, which is that companies should be able to complete as many tasks as possible with solutions from the suites without having to resort to using apps from other providers. The individual programs usually work together seamlessly to guarantee a smooth workflow.

Many PC users will already be familiar with many applications from the Microsoft 365 suite. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are some of the most well-known programs in the world and are part of the standard equipment in many offices. Microsoft 365 enables software solutions to be used in the cloud. This simplifies working on the go and transforms traditional office applications into modern collaboration tools.

Google has been offering more than just its search engine for a while now. Office solutions were also part of its product portfolio relatively early on. Back then, Google was actually one of the first to offer spreadsheets, word processing, and the ability to create presentations via a web application in the browser. By integrating Gmail and Google Drive, the individual programs in the meantime, it has grown into a comprehensive suite that is completely in the cloud.

With the productivity software Google Workspace, Google is targeting the business segment – a declaration of war to market leader Microsoft and their competitor product Microsoft 365. We compare both products with regard to the following aspects:

• App features
• Cloud storage
• File sharing
• Collaboration
• Email
• Security
• Data protection
• Availability
• Support
• Pricing

This article was last updated in May 2021.

If you look at the of the two business app packages’ product portfolios, you can see the scope of functions is largely the same. Basically, Google is offering a comparable alternative for every Microsoft 365 app.

However, a unique feature of Microsoft’s product is the download option. All Microsoft 365 business apps listed above are also available as desktop versions if required and can be installed directly from the cloud on local devices (depending on the selected product plan) and, if possible, used offline.

Google Workspaces also offers offline functions for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides - not in the form of a desktop app, but as a feature of the web application. The prerequisite for this is the use of the Chrome web browser, including an extension for offline operation.

Cloud solutions like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace score points in the corporate context mainly through central data storage on the Internet.

Microsoft relies on the file hosting service OneDrive for Microsoft 365. Google Workspace users have access to the Google Drive cloud storage platform with an extended storage quota.

While Microsoft provides all Microsoft 365 users with 1 terabyte (TB) of cloud storage, the storage volume with Google Workspace depends on the product version: Between 30 GB and 5 TB per user can be purchased. The Enterprise version even includes unlimited storage.

Both Microsoft and Google provide the ability to synchronise cloud storage with a device. Files and file folders stored online can also be made available offline if required.

When it comes to managing files stored online, both cloud storage solutions score highly with a wide range of functions. Practical features for day-to-day business include the versioning and sharing functions, which allow users to share files with people inside or outside their organisation at the click of a mouse – with a time limit if required.

Google Workspace offers a search function based on NLP (Natural language processing) that covers all applications.

As collaboration platforms, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace provide powerful tools for communicating and collaborating with colleagues, customers, and business partners.

Both solutions offer video telephony and instant messaging, as well as collaborative editing of text, spreadsheets, and presentations in the cloud.

Google’s answer to Skype for Business is the video conferencing service Google Meet. Google Chat also provides users with a communication platform for direct messaging and group conversations.

Corporate websites and other intranet applications can be implemented just as professionally with Google Workspace as with Microsoft 365. Google uses an intuitive template system with limited scope for design with sites. Microsoft SharePoint, on the other hand, is less intuitive, but offers significantly more possibilities for the implementation of company-internal web applications.

With Yammer and Google Currents, both vendors offer cloud solutions that enable internal and cross-company social networks.

Both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer enterprise-class professional email features, including a calendar and address book.

Microsoft 365 users manage their email traffic either in the Outlook email client program, or in Outlook on the web browser application – or the mobile device if required. In Google Workspace, email management is offered through the app Gmail, which also forms the basis of the freemail product of the same name.

Unlike the free Google account, Gmail is available to Google Workspace users with an ad-free user interface and individual email domain. With Microsoft 365, the individual email domain is only possible in a roundabout way.

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 – which product is more secure? Both products are designed for enterprise customers whose business processes are subject to strict compliance guidelines regarding eavesdropping security and data protection.

Both providers rely on solid encryption technologies for data storage in the data centre, as well as for data transmission between client and server.

In addition, both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have been designed to meet key industry standards and regulations for secure data processing.

• Both platforms are certified according to international standards for information security, cloud security, and cloud data protection according to ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, and ISO 27018.
• All Microsoft cloud services meet the Service Organization Controls Operational Security Standards (SOC 1, 2 and 3), which cover annual controls for data security, availability, integrity processing, and confidentiality. Google Workspace is also SOC 2 and 3 certified.
• As participants in the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), both vendors have undergone an evaluation and approval process that qualifies their cloud products for use in U.S. government agencies.
• To ensure secure processing of credit card transactions, both cloud platforms support the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
• All cloud tools in the Microsoft product range as well as Google solutions are aligned with HIPAA. The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provides strict rules for handling patient data.

Both Microsoft and Google have privacy measures in place that provides companies with a GDPR compliant service.

Like the Microsoft Cloud, Google Workspace guarantees 99.9 percent availability for users. The service teams on both platforms can be reached around the clock by telephone, email, or chat.

Google offers Workspace in three versions:

Google also offers an Enterprise version for large companies. It is worth mentioning that there is unlimited storage space in this version.

Microsoft offers entrepreneurs a wider product range. A total of three product plans with different functional ranges are available for business use.

Google Workspace is a worthy competitor on the market leader in all relevant areas. Online, the Microsoft cloud service hardly offers a feature that is not available with Google. Only users who prefer to work with a desktop application rather than a web browser are better off with Microsoft 365.

Please note the legal disclaimer relating to this article.