Comparison · Updated August 2026
Both platforms will run a small business perfectly well. The interesting question is not which is better in the abstract — it is which fits how your team already works, and what switching would actually cost you in disruption. Here is an honest comparison, including where Google genuinely wins.
The Short Version
Worth stating up front
Brydan Solutions is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, so treat this page with the scepticism that deserves. We have tried to be straight about where Google Workspace is the better answer, because a comparison that concludes "buy the thing we sell" every time is not a comparison. If you are on Google Workspace and it is working, this page is not an argument that you should move.
The honest summary: for most small businesses, the platform you are already on is fine, and the cost of switching outweighs the difference between them. Both handle email, files, calendars, video calls, and collaborative editing competently. Neither will hold your business back.
Switching is worth considering when there is a specific reason — a line-of-business application that only integrates with one, a compliance requirement you cannot meet where you are, a merger that leaves you running both, or genuine day-to-day friction that has persisted rather than settled. "The other one seems better" is not a reason; migration costs real money and real disruption.
Where Each One Wins
Simplicity when nobody is administering it. This is the real one. Google's defaults are more forgiving, the admin console is easier to navigate, and a small team without a dedicated IT person is less likely to leave something dangerously misconfigured. Microsoft 365 offers more control, and more control means more ways to get it wrong.
Genuinely simultaneous collaborative editing. Google built for multiple people in one document from the start, and it still shows. Microsoft has closed most of the gap, but if your team spends its day co-editing the same files in real time, Google's version remains smoother.
Browser-first working. If your team lives in Chromebooks or browsers and rarely opens a desktop application, Google is a more natural fit and you are paying Microsoft for desktop apps you would not use.
Desktop Office, properly. If your work involves complex Excel — heavy formulas, pivot tables, macros, financial models — the desktop applications are not comparable to the web equivalents, and Google Sheets is not a substitute for that specific use. This is the single most common reason businesses stay with or move to Microsoft.
Granular security and device control. Conditional access, Intune device management, and data loss prevention offer more precise control at higher tiers. This is an advantage only if someone configures and maintains them; otherwise it is capability you are paying for and not using.
Windows environments and line-of-business software. If you run Windows machines and industry software that assumes Active Directory or Outlook, Microsoft removes friction that Google introduces. A great deal of legal, accounting, construction, and property management software falls into this category.
Teams as a phone system. If you want voice, meetings and chat consolidated into one platform, Microsoft Teams Voice does this in a way Google does not directly match — see our VoIP and phone systems page.
Side-by-Side
| Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace | |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop apps | Full Office on the desktop; the reference implementation | Browser-first; desktop apps are not the model |
| Real-time co-editing | Good, and much improved | Still the smoother experience |
| Admin complexity | More powerful, more to get wrong | Simpler; safer with no dedicated admin |
| Security ceiling | Higher, at higher tiers, if configured | Solid; less granular |
| Windows & LOB software | Assumed by most business software | Workable, occasionally awkward |
| Voice / phone system | Teams Voice consolidates it | Needs a separate provider |
| Backup | Not included; third-party needed | Not included; third-party needed |
That last row is the one people are most often surprised by, and it applies equally to both. Neither vendor maintains a restorable backup of your data against accidental deletion, a departing employee clearing a mailbox, or ransomware. Retention policies are not backup — we explain the distinction in Microsoft 365 backup: why your data isn't as safe as you think, and the same logic applies to Google.
Cost
Both vendors adjust pricing periodically — Microsoft raised prices on several plans in 2026 — so any specific figure on a page like this is wrong within a year and misleading in the meantime. Check current pricing directly with each vendor, or ask us and we will price it against your actual headcount.
What is more useful is knowing where the money actually goes. At comparable tiers the two are close enough that cost rarely decides it. The overspending we see is almost never caused by picking the wrong vendor. It is caused by:
Fixing those three usually saves more than switching platforms would, and costs nothing but an afternoon of attention.
If You Do Switch
If there is a real reason to move, the mechanics are well understood. Gmail migrates to Exchange Online with history intact, Drive moves to OneDrive and SharePoint, and calendars and contacts travel with the mailboxes. Mail is synchronised ahead of the cutover, so nothing bounces during the switch.
The part that needs genuine planning is shared Drive permissions. Google's sharing model does not map one-to-one onto SharePoint, and the structure has to be agreed before anything moves rather than discovered halfway through. Migrations that go badly usually go badly here, not in the mailboxes.
Timelines, phases, and what happens to your email during cutover are covered on our Microsoft 365 migration page.
Deciding
If you are choosing from scratch, or seriously reconsidering, these four answers decide it more reliably than any feature list:
Three or four answers pointing the same way is a clear decision. A split verdict usually means either platform will serve you, and you should stay where you are.
Common Questions
Related Resources
We will look at how your team actually works and give you a straight answer — including that you should stay where you are, which is the honest recommendation more often than not.
