3 min read

Which is the Better Cloud Office Suite: Microsoft 365 vs G-Suite

The battle between Microsoft 365 and Google’s G-Suite has been brewing for a while but has picked up in recent years. Both continue to add new features and functionality as they compete for users. Google’s G-Suite may have an edge in market-share across the board, but many businesses and governments still run on Microsoft platforms.

So, how can you decide between the two? Let’s compare the two across three important categories.

Personal

Personal preference matters, but it shouldn’t be the highest weighted of the three. It really comes down to which platform you’ve had more experience with and which you find easier to use.

G-Suite vs Microsoft 365 Aesthetics and Usability

G-Suite tends to get better reviews on how it looks and feels. Its intuitive design aids new users in learning the platform more quickly. Microsoft 365 has a longer initial learning curve because of the additional features.

There’s not a clear-cut winner in this category and it often depends on previous experience. However, it's common for employees to prefer G-Suite over Microsoft 365.

Professional

Word vs Docs. Excel vs Sheets. PowerPoint vs Slides. These two platforms offer much of the same core functionality, but Microsoft has a clear advantage in several respects. Since so much of business and government run on Microsoft, you end up having to convert Google documents into Microsoft files at some point.

Excel gives Microsoft an added advantage. Excel outperforms Sheets with more formulas and options to visualize the data. If you’re dealing with massive amounts of data, Excel is the clear winner.

To put the cherry on top of the application sundae, Microsoft offers added applications like OneNote, Cortana, Power BI, and others to further distinguish itself from G-Suite.

Here’s a more comprehensive look at comparing applications.

Organizational

This is the most technical of the three categories but should play a very important factor in your decision-making process. Microsoft has an advantage when it comes to administrative controls and security.

Administrative Management

This may not mean much to your employees, but it means a lot to your IT department or IT partner. Microsoft’s ability to manage multiple users at scale within clearly defined groups is unmatched.

Security

Both platforms have multiple certifications, tools, and regular updates to offer a strong security foundation. However, we feel more comfortable with Microsoft because they’ve gone further to support compliance within heavily regulated industries like health care and government. Microsoft's superior administrative management also allows for greater control to create customized security plans for more compliance-driven organizations.

Additionally, company data and user privacy play a large role in your security considerations. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t have the best track record with user privacy.

Pricing

Ultimately, both are priced similarly with multiple tiers that increase the number of features and the per-user monthly cost.

G-Suite Pricing

Basic: $6/month per user
Business: $12/month per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Full details from Google.

Microsoft 365

Basic: $5/month per user
Standard: $12.50/month per user
Premium: $20/month per user
Apps: $8.25/month per user

Full details from Microsoft.

Takeaway

Both of these platforms are strong candidates to help your organization. Certain factors like size, compliance requirements, your current IT set up, and industry can sway your decision in favor of one over the other. Thankfully, we’re all winning since the heated competition between the two is driving more innovation and features for all.