Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: which one fits your company?

Choose Microsoft 365 if your team works all day in desktop Excel, Word and Outlook, exchanges complex Office files with banks, auditors or government bodies, or runs Excel macros. Choose Google Workspace if most work happens in a browser, several people edit the same documents at once, and you want less to install and update on every laptop.

Most companies in Egypt could run well on either. The deciding factor is where your team spends its day, not the brand.

We resell both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 and set up either one, so we have no reason to push you towards one of them. This comparison is what we tell clients in the first conversation.

Where you work

Google Workspace: Mostly in the browser, with mobile apps and an offline mode for files

Microsoft 365: Desktop apps on Business Standard and Premium; web and mobile apps on every plan

Email

Google Workspace: Gmail on your company's domain

Microsoft 365: Outlook and Exchange on your company's domain

Documents

Google Workspace: Docs, Sheets and Slides, which open and edit Office files

Microsoft 365: Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the formats most outside parties send

Storage

Google Workspace: Pooled: 30 GB per user on Starter, 2 TB on Standard, 5 TB on Plus

Microsoft 365: 1 TB of OneDrive per user, with the mailbox counted separately

Meetings

Google Workspace: Google Meet in the browser: up to 100, 150 or 500 people by plan

Microsoft 365: Microsoft Teams, with chat, channels and meetings in one app

Device control

Google Workspace: Basic on Starter; Vault and advanced endpoint management on Plus

Microsoft 365: Intune, Defender for Business and Entra ID P1 on Business Premium

Business plans

Google Workspace: Up to 300 users

Microsoft 365: Up to 300 users

Both give every employee a mailbox on your company's domain, shared calendars, meeting room booking and spam filtering. The difference is mostly habit. Gmail sorts mail with labels and search and runs in the browser. Outlook uses folders, and many people in Egyptian offices already know it from previous jobs.

Whichever you pick, the setup matters more than the brand. Your domain needs SPF, DKIM and DMARC records so your messages reach customers' inboxes and nobody can send email pretending to be you. We configure and check these as part of our cloud and business email service.

For many companies this is the deciding question. Google Docs and Sheets are built for several people editing the same file at the same time, with every change saved and a full version history. Word and Excel on the desktop are still the standard for heavy work: long contracts with tracked changes, large financial models, and the workbooks a finance team has built over years.

• Google Sheets does not run Excel VBA macros. It has its own scripting language, Apps Script, so macro-driven workbooks have to be rewritten or kept in Excel.
• If banks, auditors, tax advisers or government bodies send you Word and Excel files and expect them back in the same format, desktop Office avoids formatting surprises.
• Google Workspace opens and edits Office files, and many teams handle occasional spreadsheets there without trouble.

You don't have to choose one for everyone. A common setup is Google Workspace for the company and Microsoft 365 Apps for business for the few people who need desktop Excel. That plan includes the desktop apps and OneDrive, without a second mailbox.

Google Meet runs in the browser with nothing to install, which helps when clients join from their own laptops. The participant limit depends on the plan: up to 100 on Business Starter, 150 on Standard and 500 on Plus. Recording starts from Business Standard.

Microsoft Teams puts chat, project channels, meetings and shared files in one application. It suits companies that want day-to-day conversation and meetings in the same place. Google Chat covers the same need in a simpler way.

Google pools storage across the company: 30 GB per user on Business Starter, 2 TB on Standard and 5 TB on Plus, shared by Gmail and Drive. Shared drives belong to the company rather than to one employee, so files stay when people leave.

Microsoft 365 gives each user 1 TB of OneDrive, with the mailbox counted separately, and SharePoint for team sites and shared document libraries. SharePoint handles structured libraries and detailed permissions well, but it needs someone to set it up properly.

The most common problem is the same on both: company files kept in the personal folders of employees who later leave. Decide early where company files live and who owns them.

Both platforms are secure when they are configured properly and weak when they are not. Two-step verification on every account matters more than the plan you pick.

Where the plans differ is control over laptops and phones. Microsoft 365 Business Premium adds Intune to manage Windows laptops and phones, Defender for Business to protect them, and Entra ID P1 for conditional access rules. For a company with many Windows laptops and no other device management tool, that bundle covers a lot. Google Workspace Business Plus adds Vault, to keep and search email and files, and advanced endpoint management.

On every account we run we apply the same baseline: two-step verification, admin rights for the few who need them, and alerts on suspicious sign-ins. See our cybersecurity service.

Google Workspace is designed around a live connection. Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive have an offline mode in Chrome, but it has to be turned on in advance on each device. Microsoft's desktop apps work without a connection and sync when it comes back.

If your office connection is unreliable, fix the connection rather than choosing software around it. Both platforms depend on it, and so does every other cloud system you use. A dedicated line with bandwidth reserved for your company, or a second connection from a different provider, does more than any plan choice.

Both charge per user per month, and both limit their Business plans to 300 users. Larger companies move to Enterprise plans.

• Google Workspace: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise. Google offers flexible monthly billing, or a lower rate with a one-year commitment.
• Microsoft 365: Business Basic (web and mobile apps only), Business Standard (adds the desktop apps), Business Premium (adds Intune, Defender for Business and Entra ID P1), and Microsoft 365 Apps for business (desktop apps without business email).

Prices change and differ by country, currency and tax, so check the current figures on Google's pricing page (opens in a new tab) and Microsoft's plan comparison (opens in a new tab) before you decide. Compare the plan you actually need, not the cheapest one: a company that needs desktop Excel is comparing Google Workspace with Business Standard, not with Business Basic.

You can buy either online with a card, or through a reseller who invoices you locally. We resell both, and we set up and look after whichever you choose.

Moving from one to the other is possible, but it's a project. Mailboxes, calendars, contacts, shared files and their permissions all have to move, and people have to relearn daily habits. Done properly, it starts with a list of every mailbox, alias and shared folder, and the domain's email records are switched at a quiet time. It's cheaper to choose well once.

• Pick Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium if finance, legal or engineering teams depend on desktop Excel and Word, you run macros, or you want to manage many Windows laptops centrally.
• Pick Google Workspace Business Standard if your team works mostly in the browser, collaborates on the same documents, and you want the simplest setup to run.
• Mix them when only a few people need desktop Office: Google Workspace for everyone, and Microsoft 365 Apps for business for those few.

Not sure which describes your company? Tell us how your team works today and we'll recommend one, supply it and set it up.