Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace — which of these two productivity suites is best for
your business?
In this comparison video, I’m going to put the two products head to head, and help you
answer that question.
I’ll start with the reasons to use Microsoft 365 over Google Workspace, and then move on
to the areas where Google Workspace is the winner in this contest.
Before I get stuck in though, a quick reminder to like this video, hit the subscribe button
and click the notifications bell.
This will give you easy access to all the Style Factory business tips and app reviews.
Right, let’s get started — with a look at the key reasons to use Microsoft 365 over
Google Workspace.
One — Microsoft 365 gives you cloud-based AND desktop apps.
While both Microsoft 365 and Workspace let you use their apps in a browser, Microsoft
365 also provides a comprehensive range of desktop applications — programs that you
install on your computer, rather than using online.
This gives you more flexibility around your workflow, and makes editing documents when
you’re offline much easier.
Two — 365 is much better for editing complex Microsoft documents.
Microsoft apps like Word and Excel continue to be the default productivity tools for millions
of businesses worldwide, and it’s fairly impossible to avoid files created with them.
Although Google Workspace can be used to produce and edit Microsoft documents, its functionality
for doing so is limited, and you may encounter formatting problems when you try to edit and
save a complex Microsoft file in Workspace.
So if you have advanced requirements regarding Microsoft files, 365 is by far the better
choice.
Three — the 365 apps are more sophisticated than the Workspace ones.
The 365 desktop apps are generally more feature-rich than the Google Workspace equivalents, because
they can harness all the power of the computers they’re installed on.
If you’re looking to do some advanced number crunching, Excel will usually beat Google
Sheets; if you want to add some ‘Smart Art’ to a document, it’s better to be using Microsoft
Word than Google Docs; and if you need slick slide animations in a presentation, Powerpoint
will do a better job than Google Slides.
Four — Microsoft video conferencing features are more generous.
Microsoft 365 is more generous when it comes to participant limits on video calls.
Its entry level ‘Business’ plans let you host online meetings for up to 300 people;
and some ‘Enterprise’ plans let you host online calls with up to 1,000 participants
and 20,000 view-only attendees.
These limits are much more generous than the Google equivalents, which range from just
100 to 500.
Five — the Microsoft 365 trial is much longer.
The Microsoft 365 free trial is longer than the Google Workspace one — you can use Microsoft
365 for free for a month, whereas the Google Workspace trial lasts 14 days.
You’ll find links to trials for both products in the video description.
Ok, so that’s five reasons why Microsoft 365 might be a better fit for you than Google
Workspace.
Now, let’s take a look at the reasons why you might want to use Google Workspace instead.
One — Google Workspace lets you create Workspace AND Microsoft documents.
Technically, Google Workspace allows you to edit and create both Google Workspace AND
Microsoft documents — but Microsoft 365 doesn’t let you create Google Workspace
files.
Now, depending on how complex your Microsoft file is, you may run into some formatting
issues when you save it using Google Workspace — but if you’re working with simple documents,
you generally won’t encounter any problems.
Two – Google Workspace was built with collaboration in mind.
Google Workspace was built as a collaboration-focused solution from the ground up.
But with Microsoft 365, collaboration features were added onto desktop-based products that
were traditionally used offline.
So the Google Workspace collaboration features are arguably a bit stronger and more intuitive,
and can facilitate online teamwork more easily.
Three — Google Workspace can be easier to deploy, maintain and support.
Because Google Workspace is entirely browser based, there’s nothing to install or update
locally.
And it won’t matter what devices your team use — Google Workspace will look, feel and
function exactly the same.
This can make supporting your team much easier, because everybody will be using the same software
– not lots of different versions of it.
Four — Google Workspace encourages cloud-based working.
With Google Workspace, everything is cloud-based, which means that your team are more likely
to work online.
By contrast, desktop Microsoft apps can tempt people to save files locally.
Saving files online reduces the risk of data loss, but it also nudges people towards cloud-based
working, which is a more collaborative and often more productive way to do business.
And that’s it — our take on the relative pros and cons of Microsoft 365 and Google
Workspace.
I hope you’ve found this video helpful, but there’s lots more to learn about both
products.
Make sure you check out our full comparison, which is available as a blog post on the Style
Factory website.
You’ll find a link to this in the video description, along with links to the free
trials for both products.
Before you go, please do remember to subscribe to this channel and hit the notification bell
– this supports our work and gives you easy access to all our business tips.
And finally, if you have any questions about Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, just drop
them in the comments below.
We read them all and will do our best to help.