Microsoft 365 & Cloud

Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: which is right for your business?

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace compared for UK SMEs: email, apps, storage, meetings, device management, security and pricing tiers, plus migration notes.

By Dig IT SolutionsUpdated 8 September 20269 min read

Short answer

Microsoft 365 suits businesses that rely on desktop Word, Excel and Outlook, run Windows devices, or need conditional access and device management, which is most established UK SMEs. Google Workspace suits browser-first teams that value simple real-time collaboration and lighter administration. Both are secure when configured well, and neither includes full third-party-style backup.

Email, documents, meetings and shared files sit on one of two platforms for almost every UK SME. Both do the job. The decision comes down to how your staff work, what devices you run, what your clients send you and how much control you need over security. This comparison sets out the differences area by area, who should pick which, and what moving between them actually involves.

The short version

Microsoft 365 is the default choice for most established UK businesses. Its desktop Word, Excel and Outlook remain the standard that clients, accountants and solicitors exchange files in, and its Business Premium tier bundles security and device management that would otherwise need separate products. If you run Windows PCs, have or had a server, or work in a regulated sector, it is the safer choice.

Google Workspace is the better fit for browser-first teams that started without legacy files, collaborate constantly on shared documents, and want an administration console a non-specialist can run. Start-ups, agencies, education-adjacent organisations and teams on Chromebooks or mixed devices often prefer it.

Neither platform is meaningfully cheaper than the other once compared at equivalent tiers, and neither includes full third-party-style backup.

Side-by-side comparison

Area	Microsoft 365 (Business plans)	Google Workspace (Business editions)
Email and calendar	Exchange Online with Outlook desktop, web and mobile. Large mailboxes, shared mailboxes, familiar to most UK staff	Gmail and Google Calendar in the browser and mobile apps. Strong search and spam filtering, simpler folder model using labels
Office applications	Word, Excel, PowerPoint on desktop from Standard tier upward, web and mobile on all tiers. Full fidelity with client files	Docs, Sheets, Slides in the browser. Real-time co-editing is the design centre. Opens Office files with some fidelity loss on complex documents
Storage	OneDrive per user plus SharePoint for team libraries. Generous per-user allocation on all Business tiers	Google Drive with pooled storage across the organisation. Allocation rises sharply between Starter and higher editions
Video meetings	Microsoft Teams, including chat, channels, webinars and phone integration. Larger meetings on higher tiers	Google Meet, integrated with Calendar. Simpler, lighter, with recording and larger meetings on higher editions
Device management	Intune included in Business Premium for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android	Basic endpoint management on all editions, advanced controls on Business Plus and Enterprise
Security add-ons	Business Premium bundles conditional access, Defender for Business and information protection. Lower tiers need add-ons	Two-step verification and phishing protection throughout. Vault retention and advanced controls from Business Plus
Pricing tiers	Basic (web and mobile), Standard (adds desktop apps), Premium (adds security and device management), each per user per month	Starter, Standard, Plus, each per user per month, then Enterprise
User cap on business tiers	Business plans cap at 300 users, then Enterprise	Business editions cap at 300 users, then Enterprise
Backup included	Recycle bin, version history and retention only. Third-party backup recommended	Trash, version history and Vault retention only. Third-party backup recommended

For the current per-user figures, use Microsoft's published UK list prices and Google Workspace's published pricing. Both change periodically and both offer monthly and annual commitment options at different rates.

Email, documents and collaboration in practice

Email is where staff feel the difference first. Outlook organises by folders and rules, and most UK office workers have used it for years. Gmail organises by labels and search, which some people find faster and others never adjust to. Shared mailboxes for info@ and accounts@ exist on both, but Exchange's model is more mature for teams that live in them.

Documents are where the platforms diverge most. Google built Docs and Sheets around several people editing the same file at once in a browser, and it remains the smoother experience for that. Microsoft has caught up in Word and Excel co-authoring, and Teams and SharePoint provide the shared workspace, but desktop Office remains the reason most businesses choose it. If clients send you complex spreadsheets, if your accountant works in Excel, or if you produce documents with precise formatting, desktop Office is not optional.

Meetings and chat are closer than they were. Teams does more, particularly for larger organisations that want channels, webinars and telephony integration. Meet does less and is easier. For a business of 20 people that mostly needs video calls and quick messages, either is fine.

Security, compliance and device management

Both vendors run secure infrastructure, and both leave user and data security to you. The NCSC's cloud security guidance applies equally. The practical difference is what controls each platform gives an SME at a price it will pay.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the standout package here. In a single per-user licence it includes conditional access to restrict sign-in by device, location and risk, Intune to manage and wipe devices, Defender for Business for endpoint protection, and information protection for labelling sensitive documents. A business that wants to enforce "only company-managed laptops can open company data" can do so without buying anything else. Our guide to conditional access explains why this matters. Note that Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025 according to Microsoft's lifecycle pages, so device management now also means making sure every PC is on Windows 11.

Google Workspace provides strong identity protection, good phishing and malware filtering, and context-aware access on higher editions. Its endpoint management is simpler and covers the basics on every edition, with advanced controls and Vault retention from Business Plus. For a browser-first team on mixed devices this is often enough. For a regulated firm with Windows laptops it usually is not.

Compliance features exist on both. Retention policies, legal hold, audit logs and data loss prevention are available, with Microsoft offering more depth in its higher tiers and Google offering more simplicity. UK or EU data location options exist for core services on both. Under UK GDPR you remain the controller either way, and the ICO expects you to know where data sits.

Pricing tiers and what you actually get

Rather than quote figures that change, here is how to read each vendor's tiers.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic gives you email, Teams, OneDrive and the web and mobile Office apps. Business Standard adds the installed desktop apps, which is the tier most office-based businesses need. Business Premium adds the security and device management described above and is the tier we recommend for any business handling client data or supporting remote staff. Our comparison of Business Basic, Standard and Premium goes through each in detail.

Google Workspace Business Starter gives you Gmail, Meet, Drive and the Docs suite with the smallest storage allocation. Business Standard raises storage substantially and adds meeting recording and larger meetings. Business Plus adds Vault, advanced endpoint management and more security controls. Enterprise sits above for organisations past the user cap or with advanced needs.

In both cases the sensible approach is to match tiers to roles rather than buy one plan for everyone. Depot or field staff who only need email can sit on a lower tier than the office team.

Who should pick which

Choose Microsoft 365 if any of these apply:

Staff use Windows PCs and you have, or recently had, a Windows server with Active Directory
Clients, accountants or solicitors exchange Word and Excel files with you regularly
You work in law, accountancy, finance, healthcare or another sector with compliance obligations
You need to control which devices can access company data
You want one licence that covers security, device management and productivity

Mr Plant Hire is a typical example. Established in 1981 and headquartered on Hertford Road, Enfield, the business runs Microsoft 365 with SharePoint for document sharing between its depots and companies, alongside Windows servers and local plus cloud backup. The Mr Plant Hire case study shows how the platform fits a multi-site business with existing infrastructure.

Choose Google Workspace if any of these apply:

The business started in the browser and has no legacy of Office files or Windows infrastructure
Staff work on Chromebooks, Macs or mixed personal devices
Collaborative editing of shared documents is the core of daily work
You want an admin console a non-specialist can run day to day
Your clients and partners are already on Google and share files that way

If you are genuinely undecided, run a two-week pilot with a small group on each, using real files and real meetings. The result is usually obvious within days.

Migrating in either direction

Businesses do move between the two, and the process is well understood.

Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. Microsoft's migration tools bring Gmail, calendars and contacts into Exchange Online, and the SharePoint migration tool moves Drive content into OneDrive and SharePoint. Shared drives map to SharePoint document libraries. Google Docs native files are converted to Office formats, so check any complex spreadsheets afterwards. Chat history in Google Chat does not migrate cleanly and is usually archived rather than moved. Plan a pilot group, a communication to clients about no change to addresses, and a weekend cutover. Dig IT's Microsoft 365 migration service handles this end to end, and the migration checklist lists the steps.

Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace. Google's data migration service moves mail, calendars and contacts from Exchange Online. Drive migration tools move OneDrive and SharePoint content, though SharePoint permissions and metadata do not map directly to Drive and need reworking. Office files remain Office files in Drive, so nothing is lost, but staff editing them in Docs will notice fidelity differences. Teams chat and channel history does not migrate. Devices managed by Intune need moving to Google endpoint management or a third-party tool.

In both directions, the technical migration is the easy part. Training, folder structure, sharing rules and the first month of "where has my file gone" questions are where projects succeed or fail. Take a full backup of the source before starting and keep it after cutover.

Neither includes full backup

This catches businesses on both platforms. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace keep their services running and give you recycle bins, version history and retention policies. Those cover a deleted email or an overwritten document for a limited window. They do not give you an independent, point-in-time copy of your data that you control and can restore after ransomware encrypts synchronised files, a leaver deletes a shared folder, or an error is found months after the retention window closed.

Our article on whether Microsoft 365 includes backup sets out the specifics, and the same logic applies to Google Vault, which is a retention and discovery tool rather than a backup. A third-party Microsoft 365 backup for mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams, or the equivalent for Workspace, should be part of the budget for either platform from day one.

What to do next

If you are choosing a platform for a new business, moving off an old server, or weighing up a switch, the fastest route to a decision is a short conversation about your devices, your clients' files and your security needs. Dig IT engineers support both platforms for businesses across Hertfordshire, west Essex and London, with a particular depth in Microsoft 365. Talk to an engineer about which suite fits and what a migration would involve.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper for a small business, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?

At the entry tiers the two are priced similarly, and the difference is what you get rather than what you pay. Microsoft's entry plan includes web and mobile apps only, with desktop Office arriving at the Standard tier. Google's entry plan has the smallest storage allocation. Compare the tier you would actually need against each vendor's published UK pricing page, and add the cost of third-party backup to both.

Can Google Workspace open and edit Word and Excel files?

Yes. Google Docs and Sheets open Office files and can save back to them. For everyday letters and simple spreadsheets the result is fine. Complex Excel workbooks with macros, pivot tables, external data links or intricate formatting often lose functionality, and tracked changes in Word documents do not always survive the round trip. Teams that exchange heavy Office files with clients usually find this friction outweighs Google's collaboration benefits.

Which is more secure, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?

Both are secure platforms when configured properly, and both are insecure when multi-factor authentication is left off and sharing is left open. The difference is in the controls available at SME tiers. Microsoft 365 Business Premium bundles conditional access, device management and endpoint protection in one plan. Google offers strong phishing protection and simpler administration, with advanced device and data controls reserved for its higher editions.

Can we move from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365, or the other way?

Yes, in either direction. Microsoft provides tools to migrate Gmail, calendars, contacts and Drive files into Exchange, Outlook and OneDrive or SharePoint. Google's data migration service handles the reverse for mail and calendars, with Drive tools for files. Email and calendars move cleanly. Files, sharing permissions, shared drives and chat history need planning, and staff need time to adjust to a different way of working.

Does either platform include a proper backup of our data?

No. Both keep the service available and offer recycle bins, version history and retention settings that cover accidental deletion for a limited window. Neither gives you an independent, point-in-time copy you can restore after ransomware, a malicious deletion or a mistake found months later. Third-party backup for mailboxes, files and collaboration data is recommended for both platforms.

Can we run Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace side by side?

Technically yes, and some businesses do it during a migration or because two merged companies arrive with different suites. As a permanent arrangement it doubles the licensing, doubles the administration and gives leavers two sets of access to remove. Pick one platform for email, files, chat and meetings, and treat the other as something to retire on a fixed date.

Which platform is better for a business that already runs Windows PCs and a server?

Microsoft 365, in almost every case. Windows devices, an existing Active Directory and desktop Office files all integrate directly, and Business Premium adds device management through Intune. Introducing Google Workspace into that environment means running two identity systems and two sets of tools. A Google-first business with Chromebooks, Android devices and no server faces the same argument in the other direction.