Google Workspace enables teams of all sizes to connect, create and collaborate. It includes productivity and collaboration tools for work: Gmail for custom business email, Drive for cloud storage, Docs for word processing, Meet for video and voice conferencing, Chat for team messaging, Slides for presentation building, and shared Calendars.
$6
per user/per month
Microsoft 365
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a Microsoft Cloud subscription service that includes Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access). The software can be installed across multiple devices and ensures that users always have the most up-to-date version of the included Office applications.
Since our company is structured around Google Workspace at the moment, it is well suited for our entire workflow. I do have concerns though, for when it comes time for our company to have our own intranet built and how well the data migration will be from Google Workspace to that intranet that gets built.
I usually recommend Microsoft 365 to my clients to keep them away from the Exchange server (sorry!) Our business has a lot of issues with exchange email functions and copy machines. I always recommend they download the desktop version and use the online version as needed. You never know when you will be without an internet connection, but you can usually trust your laptop will have a decent charge, and you can still be productive! Let it sync when the powers are back on - or your connection is alive.
It's terrific to have a suite of products that is built to work together, rather than having to piece tools together.
The email and calendar are the tools I use most often together. I use Gmail through Apple Mail rather than in the browser, and it works great. Also really easy to access and use my calendar.
I use the other suite of features both for my own company internally and to share files with clients. Super easy to use and share.
keeps me extremely organized. It is so easy to link calendars, emails, and documents.
keeps me well connected. It is so easy to send a quick message on teams or send an email to a group (for example, my particular team within the company).
easy to use. Everything is straightforward, making it easy to find an answer to a question. There is even a search option to figure out how to do something within Microsoft.
A single Google Workspace user should be able to have more than one Google Voice phone number (ideally)
At times, Google Meet seems a little clumsy (but I think they're about to address that with the new release...It may or may not be better. Who knows? :))
Some screen layouts are a tad clumsy, but they are sufficiently malleable that once one gets the hang of it, one can customize the environment quite a bit.
A viable (for small business), relatively-inexpensive, virtual desktop that would include/could include a Windows license or, at least close-to-perfect emulation.
It would be great if there was accommodation for those who send out a great deal of mail in a given day. Not everyone who does that is a spammer. Although, by Google standards, and relative to some others, Google allows for sending out a good bit of mail, for those who do mass volumes and would prefer not to have their own mail server, it would be good if Google could find a way to accommodate them.
I wish it was a little simpler to integrate things from one Microsoft Feature into another one. Perhaps I just don't know the tricks for that yet...after all these years of using it.
I didn't like how it defaulted to saving the document automatically with changes, like Google Docs, but it seems that has now changed, and is better now.
Generally, I really like how the suite works as is.
There is no better solution for cloud storage and real time collaboration. The amount of features included in G Suite is unmatched and out of other things we’ve tried over the years, nothing comes close to being as great of a tool.
I am completely satisfied with the product, and helps me on a daily basis. I do not the exact cost (it is not a cheap suite) but on the medium and long term the return on investment is guaranteed.
On the user end, it's great, probably some of the most user friendly products out there. On the admin side, it can get a little more arcane, but it's still better than a lot of other services. At worst I wrangle some CSVs to perform mass changes, but it's a far cry from the days of Powershell scripts or purely manual entry.
I have not had to use much support for G Suite, but I imagine it would be a great service, as is everything else that Google provides. I've searched for questions through the help center, and that was easy to use and easy to find. I'm sure I would have no complaints.
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
We selected Google Workspace for it's ease of use and clean UI. Microsoft Office granted does have a lot of features and may be more advanced in certain areas (Excel vs sheets), however for the range of functions we need, google workspace provided the necessary features for an affordable price. In particular Outlook compared to Gmail is more outdated and clunky, and I have found more issues with Outlook's deliverability in the past than I do with Gmail. Meet is also much more modern and clean, with useful features like record and Gemini that feel much cleaner than Teams. I have also found that inviting external users (ones that don't use the same workspace as you) is much easier through google meet than teams calls. Drive also has a much cleaner UI, and easier to adopt than OneDrive.
BTE, this search bar is not the best; I couldn't find Google Suite. In any case, it's challenging to find a suite with advanced tools that serves as an office. Google comes close, no one uses OpenOffice (hyperbole), and there isn't much else to use. If you add to that the recent collaborative functionalities, nothing really stacks up or compares; this has everything a person in an office (oversimplifying) needs to get work done.
