Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

Google and Microsoft are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Google is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.1, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. Google holds a 23.3% mindshare in EA, compared to Microsoft’s 11.4% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Google Workspace

Read 101 Google Workspace reviews

6,346 Views
5,788 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Read 91 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,559 Views
3,065 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

Microsoft Exchange

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Microsoft Exchange and Google Workspace compete in the business communication and collaboration category. Google Workspace appears to have the upper hand due to its real-time collaboration and cloud accessibility.

Features: Microsoft Exchange offers tools like Message Tracking, Outlook integration, and strong security features catering to on-premise needs. Google Workspace emphasizes collaboration with Google Docs, Sheets, and Meet, providing seamless integration with Google services.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange needs to improve storage management, integration with non-Microsoft products, and simplify initial setup. Google Workspace faces challenges in transitioning from Microsoft tools, lacks offline capabilities, and has function gaps in Google Sheets compared to Excel.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Exchange deployment often requires significant IT resources for on-premises or hybrid setups with reliance on third-party expertise. Google Workspace simplifies cloud-based deployment but has sporadic customer service issues.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange offers varied pricing based on deployment with complex licensing, whereas Google Workspace has straightforward, user-based plans. Both provide potential ROI, with Google Workspace excelling in cloud-based value.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Google Workspace

Ranking in Email Applications

1st

Ranking in Wireless Email

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Storage (5th), Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)

Microsoft Exchange

Ranking in Email Applications

3rd

Ranking in Wireless Email

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

File Archiving (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 23.3%, up from 23.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.4%, down from 12.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Sunil-Nair

IT Manager at Universal Carpets & Rugs

Email collaboration and accessibility have improved team productivity

The valuable features include the email service, email updates, and Google Drive. People are given email access to Google Drive. The team can share manual files and work accordingly. They can access different teams from anywhere, collectively putting files, sharing them, and managing them. Additionally, the manufacturing product does not require any downgrades. It works fine and continuously for the last three or four years. Users can access their emails from anywhere in their browser without a laptop or can directly access from Gmail. This is helpful for salespeople.

Read full review

Hesham Hussain

Head Of Infrastructure at ValU

A good solution for large enterprises, but is expensive when compared to other solutions

Regarding the decision of increasing the number of users, it depends on the organization's choice, whether to opt for CapEx or OpEx. Both options involve expenses over the years. Building an in-house Exchange solution requires investing in hardware, storage, connectivity, and administrative resources. Office 365 shifts the budget solely to OpEx as a subscription service. Scalability is another factor. Starting a new company favors Office 365 due to cost efficiency. As the organization grows, the choice depends on available resources and technical expertise. An internal Exchange setup is feasible with skilled engineers, while Office 365 suits those lacking in-house resources.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It is a stable platform. It is very easy to use, and most importantly, it is very easy to administer. It also gets up and running quite easily."

"The solution helps us to collaborate."

"The solution's technical support is very good."

"The solution is very intuitive."

"The initial setup of Google Workspace is straightforward."

"I like everything that Google does. They have good products."

"Valuable features of the solution are that it's simple and effective."

"What I like most about Google Workspace is the Google Drive app because you can easily access it from anywhere and from any device. I also find the solution easy to use. It's user-friendly."

More Google Workspace pros

"It is stable."

"Exchange has helped us with encryption."

"It is a product that is simple to manage, and easy to use."

"Support is very good."

"It is easy to use and we can allow many users because now our users are scattered They over a wide area. We can use it from anywhere. That is the main benefit for us."

"Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly product that is easy to manage and configure."

"Microsoft Exchange is a powerful solution. It can easily integrate with Active Directory and other business applications. It does not require any training, it is flexible and simple to use. When comparing Microsoft Exchange to other solutions, such as Lotus Note, it is more straightforward for business."

"The exchange functionalities are good."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

Cons

"G Suite could offer something a little more solid in terms of chat — something that is a little more like Slack and integrates with everything. But, unfortunately, the chat is very basic there. It doesn't offer that many features and feels like it doesn't belong there."

"When I compare with Office 365, G Suite has fewer features."

"With Microsoft, you can use it on the web version, and you can use Microsoft Outlook. Google has the web version."

"The solution could improve by having more frequent updates."

"With the Internet of Things, a platform that integrates well with others would be even better."

"They could increase the number of third-party integrations on offer."

"I believe Google Drive has potential for improvement. Enhancements could be made in terms of synchronization and the functionality of the Google Sheets app, particularly in areas like formulas and pivot tables, to make it more comparable to Microsoft Excel. Google Chat needs to make improvements so that we can send Excel and PDFs from the mobile app itself. I would like to see Google Bard integrated with the product."

"Not all tools are available in the one facility."

More Google Workspace cons

"The filtering of spam needs significant improvement, as many spam emails are not getting detected."

"The support needs to be more knowledgeable."

"In terms of configuring the product, that's definitely an area in which they can make some improvements on."

"When an update wants to come, it should just come maybe once or twice rather than having us deal with constant updating."

"Microsoft needs to make some modifications to meet the current needs of the environment. For example, they need to add more cell service features because people work from home during the pandemic, and certain elements should be available as a mobile service."

"Microsoft could make it easier to combine comments in the GUI. It isn't easy to do certain things in Exchange, primarily if the administrator isn't used to the command line, so I think the customer interface could be improved."

"An area for improvement would be the convenience of working with Azure services from Exchange on-premise installations."

"Exchange can be a little finicky, sometimes, or flakey. Last week, for example, I had gone into my calendar to check on some briefings that I had established, and then went back into my inbox, and suddenly the view had changed. I had no idea what it was that I had done, and I couldn't figure out how to get that view back. I took a productivity hit as a result of that, trying to fix it, due to the fact that it just wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't what I was used to working with. Two different tech support people had to work with me in order to get the view back to what I wanted just so I could be productive."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You pay for Google Workspace based on your usage and the apps you use, but in my case, it's free, but if I used it a lot more, I'd probably need to pay. 15GB is enough for me, but I see myself upgrading and paying the additional charges for more storage regularly."

"Licensing costs are on a yearly basis."

"Approximately $6 per user, per month."

"We pay on yearly basis."

"2,500 Rupees per month per user."

"I give the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most affordable."

"The price of G Suite Enterprise is reasonable compared to HotSpot. I'm not going to say G Suite Enterprise is affordable. It's valuable, you find value in paying your gas bill or your electricity bill, because of what it allows you to do."

"The solution is expensive."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

"They are flexible when it comes to pricing, unlike most of the other vendors I have dealt with."

"The pricing is expensive."

"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."

"We are currently using enterprise licenses for the solution. They are different pricing models available. There are individual, cloud-based, and enterprise licenses all with different pricing models. The larger the number of users, the lesser the price. For small to medium companies like us, we feel it is expensive."

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

"Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable."

"There is an annual cost to use Microsoft Exchange, and the price could be less expensive."

"It is not expensive."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Workspace?

Easy-to-build forms are allowing me to get feedback and information from my internal teams as well as from the customers very efficiently with the result data in structured manner.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Workspace?

I'm not satisfied with the cost because I feel these services should be free as they use our data.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Workspace?

As far as Google Workspace is concerned, it is working fine for us. Our needs are fulfilled, so that's fine. However, integration with Microsoft Outlook could be improved. The new integration was i...

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How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?

Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?

The initial setup was straightforward and fast.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?

The licensing and pricing are quite costly, which can demotivate customers from opting for features and upgrades. However, the solution provides value for money if one is well-acquainted with Excha...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Google Workspace

Compared 32% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 29% of the time

ProtonMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

GoDaddy vs Google Workspace

Compared 2% of the time

More Google Workspace Competitors

Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 21% of the time

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 18% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

ProtonMail vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

February 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

February 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Also Known As

G-Suite Enterprise, G-Suite, Google Apps for Business, G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G-Suite Basic, G-Suite Business, Google Vault

Exchange, MS Exchange

Overview

Similar to G Suite, all Google Workspace plans provide a custom email for your business and include collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.

As we’ve evolved G Suite into a more integrated experience across our communication and collaboration tools, we’ve rebranded to Google Workspace to more accurately represent the product vision.

Google

Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

There are over five million businesses that use Google Apps for Business worldwide. Some key customers include The Roche Group, National Geographic, American Red Cross, City of Los Angeles, Flight Centre, and Konica Minolta.

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange

January 2025

Free Report: Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange

Find out what your peers are saying about Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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