Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace for Small Business: Which Is Better?

Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? It's one of the first decisions when setting up IT for a small business, and one of the most common questions we're asked when a business is thinking of switching. Both provide email, file storage, video calls and collaboration. Both work well. The differences are in security, device management, desktop apps and how your team likes to work.

Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace at a Glance

Area	Microsoft 365	Google Workspace
Email	Outlook and Exchange Online	Gmail
Documents	Full desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus web versions (Business Standard and above)	Docs, Sheets and Slides in the browser
Files	OneDrive and SharePoint, with structured libraries and permissions	Google Drive and shared drives, simpler to use
Chat and calls	Teams: chat, meetings, files and an optional business phone system in one app	Google Meet and Google Chat as separate apps
Real-time co-editing	Good, and improving	Excellent: Google's original strength
Device management	Intune included in Business Premium	Basic in lower plans, more on higher tiers
Endpoint protection	Defender for Business included in Business Premium	Needs a third-party product
Administration	Powerful but spread across several admin centres	One clean admin console
Entry-level cost	Comparable per user	Usually slightly cheaper at the entry tier
Best for	Growing teams, sensitive data, regulated sectors, Microsoft-using clients	Small browser-based teams that value simplicity

Email and Email Security

For sending and receiving email, Gmail and Outlook are both excellent and there's no meaningful difference day to day. Both filter spam and phishing well. The difference is the extra protection available at the plans small businesses usually buy. Microsoft 365 Business Premium adds Defender for Office 365, which checks links when they're clicked and opens attachments in a safe sandbox before they reach the user. On Google Workspace, the equivalent advanced protections are reserved for the higher tiers.

Whichever you choose, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC properly. You can check your domain with our free email security checker.

Files: OneDrive and SharePoint vs Google Drive

Google Drive is simpler and more intuitive, especially for people used to Google at home. For a business, SharePoint and OneDrive offer more structure: document libraries per team, version history, detailed permissions and tight integration with the desktop Office apps. Once 20 or more people are creating files, Drive can start to feel like one big folder unless shared drives are set up carefully from the start.

Collaboration: Teams vs Google Meet and Chat

Microsoft Teams puts chat, video meetings, shared files and app integrations in one place, and with the right licence it becomes a full business phone system. Google has Meet for video and Chat for messaging. They work well individually, but feel less joined up.

Where Google still leads is real-time co-editing. Several people working in the same Google Doc or Sheet at once feels seamless. Microsoft's co-authoring has improved a great deal, but Google remains the smoother experience.

Desktop Apps vs Browser-First

Google Workspace is browser-first. Docs, Sheets and Slides are fast and simple, but don't have the depth of desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If your business builds complex spreadsheets, formatted reports or client presentations, or works with clients who send Office files, the desktop apps are noticeably more capable. Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Business Premium include both the desktop and web versions.

Security and Device Management

This is where Microsoft 365 Business Premium pulls clearly ahead for small businesses. One licence includes:

• Intune: manage and secure company laptops and phones, including wiping a lost device
• Conditional Access: control who can sign in, from where and on which devices
• Defender for Business: endpoint protection and threat detection for Windows, Mac and mobile
• Information protection: sensitivity labels and data loss prevention

Google Workspace has device management and data loss prevention, but the stronger controls sit on the more expensive tiers, and endpoint protection needs a separate product. For businesses working towards Cyber Essentials, Business Premium makes the device and access controls much easier to evidence.

Where Google Workspace Wins

• Simplicity. Easier to set up, easier to administer and easier for non-technical staff. One admin console instead of Microsoft's several (Microsoft 365, Entra, Defender, Intune and Exchange).
• Real-time collaboration in documents and spreadsheets.
• Cost at the entry level for teams that only need email, file storage and video calls.
• Browser-based and Chromebook teams that never need desktop apps.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Microsoft 365 if you:

• Have more than a handful of staff, or plan to grow
• Handle sensitive client data, or work in legal, financial, healthcare or other regulated sectors
• Need to manage and secure company laptops and phones
• Work with clients and suppliers who use Office files and Teams
• Have any on-premise servers or Active Directory to integrate

Choose Google Workspace if you:

• Are a very small team (1 to 5 people) with simple document needs
• Work entirely in the browser, or on Chromebooks
• Value simplicity over advanced security and management features
• Are already on Google and everything is working well: switching takes time, so the case needs to be strong

Switching Between Them

You can move in either direction. Email, calendars, contacts and files can all be migrated, usually over a weekend with no lost email, as long as the DNS changes, user accounts and shared mailboxes are planned first. The parts that need most care are shared drives and their permissions, and making sure every phone and laptop is reconnected on Monday morning.

How We Handle It

We help businesses choose the right platform for how they actually work, then set it up properly or move them across with a planned Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace migration. We support both day to day through our IT support and Google Workspace support. Setting up Microsoft 365 yourself? See our step-by-step Microsoft 365 setup guide.