Google and Microsoft are two of the most popular enterprise software providers. Their suites of business apps, Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) and Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365) cover the productivity and communication needs of millions of organisations around the world. In this article, we are going to compare the enterprise software pricing between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.
Google and Microsoft aim to be your one-stop shop for enterprise software. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, respectively, check all of the top-level boxes on your organisation’s communications and productivity checklist.
Here are some features are included in each suite:
- Productivity apps for creating and sharing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
- Online storage, with plenty of space for documents and other files.
- Business email service with a custom domain.
- Corporate communication apps, including video conferencing solutions.
- Calendar, contacts and tasks apps.
- Enhanced security, advanced compliance and archiving features.
Enterprise Software Pricing Comparison
For large organisations, both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer flexible enterprise plans; here’s how they compare:
Google Workspace pricing for Enterprise Essentials starts from only £7.70 per user/month and offers reliable collaboration features, including video meetings for up to 150 participants and support for Shared Team Drive and Connected Sheets – two Google Drive features available only for Enterprise users. Each user within your organisation gets 1TB of storage.
Office 365 E1 is the entry-level enterprise plan from Microsoft 365. It starts from £7.50user/month and includes business email and 1TB of storage per user (+50GB for email storage). It includes all the standard office apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook; however, you will only be able to access them through a web browser or mobile app – desktop apps are not included in this plan.
Google Workspace Enterprise Standard is the most affordable enterprise plan that comes with unlimited Google Drive storage. On top of that, your business also gets access to larger video meetings (250 participants) and even live conference streaming. Pricing starts from £15.30 per user/month and includes access to archiving and eDiscovery tools, enhanced support, advanced security, data loss prevention tools and cloud identity features.
The Microsoft alternative, Office 365 E3 starts from £20.20 per user/month and includes everything from the E1 plan, plus the Office desktop programs. It also comes with 100GB of storage for emails (per user) and unlimited file storage. eDiscovery features are also available with this plan.
Google Workspace Enterprise Plus incorporates everything the productivity suite of apps has to offer. This plan focuses on enhanced security features such as S/MIME encryption and support for hardware-based security keys. Organisations can lock down shared files and even scan emails and images to detect leaks of confidential or sensitive data. Apart from all the video meeting features available with other plans, Enterprise Plus also comes with AI Noise Cancellation. This is the only plan that supports AppSheet PRO (which allows users to build apps without code) and integrates with 3rd party archiving tools. For £23 per user/month, users also get access to Compliance Certifications, Security Center and enhanced support.
The top-level plan from Microsoft, Office 365 E5 offers all the benefits of E3 plus advanced security and compliance features such as Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and Office 365 Cloud App Security. It also includes voice capabilities with plans that integrate with conventional phone systems.
Although both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer similar enterprise software features, the learning curve in the case of Microsoft apps can be a bit steep in comparison with the simplicity of Google apps. In terms of pricing, Google Workspace is a cost-effective choice of enterprise software, without compromising on functionality.