A company will always have documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that need to be done. When doing these tasks, you’ll either think about Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace and which is best. It’s always a question that regularly pops up around the internet.
But before diving in, let’s discuss what they are. An office suite (also called office application suite or office productivity software) is a collection of productivity software typically containing the following programs:
- Word processing,
- Spreadsheets,
- Presentation,
- Email,
- Note taking,
- Database,
- Collaboration;
- and other related types of software.
It simplifies the tasks and processes of office workers and increases their productivity. Now, there are many office suites to choose from, and of course, the most popular ones, as mentioned, are Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace. So, how do they differ from each other?
Which Office Suite is Right for You
We can make it easy to compare these office suites by setting a set of parameters starting from pricing, storage, apps, collaboration features, security, and support.
Pricing
Office 365
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic – $5/user/month
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard – $12.50/user/month
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium – $20/user/month
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Business – $8.25/user/month
For Enterprise Plans (All Annual Commitment):
- Microsoft 365 E3 – $32/user/month
- Microsoft 365 E5 – $57/user/month
- Microsoft 365 F3 – $8/user/month
Google Workspace
- Business Starter – $6/user/month
- Business Standard – $12/user/month
- Business Plus – $18/user/month
- Google Workspace Enterprise Plans – Custom pricing
Storage
Office 365
- 1TB of OneDrive storage
- 50GB email storage
Google Workspace
- Business Starter – 30GB per user
- Business Standard – 2TB per user
- Business Plus – 5TB per user
Apps
Office 365
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Teams, Outlook, Exchange, SharePoint
Google Workspace
Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Sites, Drive, Calendar, Meet, Gmail, Chat
Collaboration and Communications
Office 365
- Supports online meetings and video calls for up to 300 people
- Allows you to connect with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams
- Allows you to access team chats, meetings, files, and apps and collaborate from one place
Google Workspace
- Supports live multi-user editing
- Supports up to 250 participants through video and voice conferencing (plan dependent)
- Advanced chat rooms with chat thread support and guest access
Security
Office 365
- Microsoft cloud security technology
- Data loss prevention
- Multi-factor authentication
- Built-in spam, malware, and unusual activity detection
Google Workspace
- Google cloud security protection
- Data loss prevention
- Two-step verification
- Built-in spam, phishing, and unusual activity detection
Support
Office 365
- 99.9% financially backed uptime guarantee
- 24/7 phone and online support
Google Workspace
- 99.9% application availability guarantee
- Standard Support
- Enhanced Support Upgrade Option
Bonus: A Third and Open-Source Option
Businesses will likely stick with business and enterprise offerings for either of the two options listed above, but what if you’re running a small business and just starting and can’t afford a subscription?
That’s where LibreOffice comes in. It’s the successor to Apache’s OpenOffice and is still open-source, meaning it’s free to download and install on as many devices as you like. It can be used for any purpose as well.
It has all the essential office apps you need, like a word processor, spreadsheet, vector graphics, presentation graphics, database, and a math or formula editor.
While it doesn’t have the other extensive features of its otherwise well-known counterparts, it does have the potential to be everything that a small business would ever need.
Jumpstart Your Productivity
Now that you’re well-informed about office suites and their prime examples, you can choose what you’ll use for your business for the foreseeable future.
While the examples above are popular choices, you may still need to look for specific solutions, so we have an extensive library of office suite case studies for you to browse thoroughly.
Choose the right solution for your business and start your journey to more opportunities today.
