If you’re setting up or consolidating your business productivity platform, the choice almost always comes down to two options: Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Both are mature, capable platforms used by millions of businesses. The right choice depends on your team’s existing habits, your software requirements, and how you work.
This isn’t a feature-by-feature comparison of every application, it’s a practical guide to making the decision.
What Each Platform Includes
Microsoft 365 Business
At its core: Exchange Online for email, Teams for chat and video, SharePoint and OneDrive for file storage and collaboration, and the Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) in either web or desktop form depending on the plan.
The Business Basic plan covers email, Teams, and web-only Office apps. Business Standard adds the full desktop applications. Business Premium adds advanced security features including Microsoft Intune for device management and Defender for Business for endpoint protection.
Google Workspace
At its core: Gmail for email, Meet for video, Chat for messaging, Drive for file storage, and the Google apps (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites).
Google Workspace is a browser-first platform. There are no desktop applications in the traditional sense, everything runs in a browser or via mobile apps. Offline access is possible but requires configuration.
Both platforms deliver reliable, enterprise-grade email with strong spam filtering and mobile client support.
Microsoft 365 uses Exchange Online, the same email infrastructure that underpins most large enterprise email deployments. It integrates tightly with Outlook, which remains the dominant email client in business environments. Shared mailboxes, distribution lists, and calendar delegation are well-implemented and familiar to most IT staff.
Google Workspace uses Gmail, which has an excellent web interface and strong mobile apps. For users who already live in Gmail personally, the transition to a business account is seamless. Calendar integration and meeting scheduling work smoothly within the Google ecosystem.
If your team primarily uses Outlook, or you have existing Microsoft infrastructure, Exchange Online is the lower-friction choice. If your team is comfortable in a browser and accustomed to Gmail, Workspace is equally capable.
Collaboration and File Storage
This is where the platforms differ most meaningfully.
Microsoft 365 uses SharePoint for team file storage and OneDrive for personal files. SharePoint is powerful and flexible but has a reputation for complexity, getting it configured correctly for a small team takes more effort than it should. Teams integrates with SharePoint for file sharing within channels, which works well once you understand the underlying structure.
Google Workspace uses Drive for everything. Shared drives (formerly Team Drives) provide team file storage; personal Drive handles individual files. The permission model is simpler and more intuitive than SharePoint, and real-time collaboration in Docs, Sheets, and Slides is genuinely excellent, multiple people editing the same document simultaneously with changes visible instantly.
For real-time collaborative document editing, Google Workspace has a meaningful edge. For organisations that need structured document management, permissions inheritance, and integration with other business systems, SharePoint (despite its complexity) offers more depth.
Desktop Applications vs Browser
Microsoft 365 includes full desktop applications in the standard and premium plans. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint installed on a computer are still the most capable versions of those tools, and many business users rely on features that aren’t available in the web versions.
Google Workspace is browser-first. Docs, Sheets, and Slides are browser applications. They’re capable enough for most everyday tasks, but they lack the depth of Excel for complex financial modelling, and compatibility with heavily formatted Word or PowerPoint files can be imperfect.
If your business relies on complex spreadsheets, advanced Word formatting, or PowerPoint presentations with specific formatting requirements, the full Microsoft desktop applications are the practical choice.
Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet and Chat
Teams has become a central hub for many Microsoft 365 users, combining chat, video meetings, and file sharing in one interface. It’s deeply integrated with the rest of Microsoft 365. It’s also acknowledged to be complex, with a learning curve for new users and a tendency to blur the lines between email, chat, and file storage in ways that can be confusing.
Google Meet handles video well and integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar. Chat handles messaging. They’re separate applications with clear, distinct purposes. The experience is simpler but less integrated than Teams.
For a team that needs a video conferencing and messaging platform with minimal complexity, Google’s approach is cleaner. For a team that benefits from having communication and file collaboration in a single hub, Teams (once learned) is hard to leave.
Administration and Security
Both platforms provide administration consoles for managing users, licences, and security settings.
Microsoft 365 admin tools are more comprehensive but also more complex. Business Premium includes Microsoft Intune (device management), Defender for Business (endpoint protection), and Conditional Access policies, making it a strong choice for businesses that take security seriously and have someone to configure and manage it.
Google Workspace administration is simpler and more accessible to non-technical administrators. Security features are solid but less extensive at the standard tier than Microsoft’s premium plans.
If security tooling and device management are priorities, Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers more at a comparable price point. If simplicity of administration is the priority, Google Workspace is easier to manage for a small team without dedicated IT support.
Cost
Both platforms are priced per user per month, with multiple tiers. At similar feature levels, pricing is broadly comparable. The main consideration is that to get the full desktop Office applications with Microsoft 365, you need at least Business Standard. This is more expensive than Business Basic.
For teams that only need the web versions of productivity apps, Google Workspace Business Starter is a cost-effective entry point.
The Practical Decision
| If… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Your team uses Outlook and is comfortable in Windows | Microsoft 365 |
| Your team lives in a browser and uses Gmail personally | Google Workspace |
| You need the full desktop Office applications | Microsoft 365 |
| You prioritise simple, real-time document collaboration | Google Workspace |
| You need advanced security and device management | Microsoft 365 Business Premium |
| You want simpler administration for a small team | Google Workspace |
| You have other Microsoft infrastructure (Azure AD, Intune) | Microsoft 365 |
There’s no objectively wrong answer. Both platforms are capable, reliable, and supported. The right choice is the one that fits how your team actually works, not the one with more features on paper.
Mixing Platforms
Some businesses use Microsoft 365 for email and Teams while using Google Drive for file storage, or vice versa. This is possible but adds complexity, file links don’t work as neatly, and staff have more accounts and apps to manage. Where possible, choosing one platform and committing to it is cleaner.