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 22.9% 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

6,268 Views
5,616 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Read 91 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,291 Views
2,842 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

Microsoft Exchange

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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: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange

March 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 (6th), 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 April 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 22.9%, down from 23.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.4%, down from 12.5% 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's easy to use."

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

"Google seems to be a more stable environment than our current on-premise Microsoft solution that we're replacing."

"All the Microsoft Office features are available in Google Workspace."

"It's certainly easier to meet. We have offices around the world and the ability to have a company meeting on Google Meet platform makes it a whole lot easier to actually have everybody virtually in one room at the same time."

"The document sharing in which multiple people can work on the same document. To go along with that is the archiving of documents. If you mess up a document, it's easy to go get a previous version."

"It's stable. There isn't really any downtime."

"The collaboration features are valuable."

More Google Workspace pros

"For me, the solution is very user-friendly. I've used it a long time and I know where everything is."

"Provides unlimited storage for our mailbox."

"The most valuable features are that you can exchange information, tasks, attachments, and enhance the process in a short amount of time."

"The best features are that Exchange is very customer-friendly, its interface is self-explanatory, it doesn't hang, and it keeps evolving."

"It's user-friendly."

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

"We've been using Exchange as an email platform. Our clients require multi-country, multi-regional email collaboration with controlled mail flow. The most valuable feature is the capability of message tracking and the protection of user data."

"The functionality on the user side is quite good. Exchange provides an excellent platform for collaboration between users."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

Cons

"The UI could be more graphic and sassy, but otherwise, it is quite functional."

"The price could be reduced."

"To a degree, the project management service could be improved."

"Google could integrate Gemini AI with Google Workspace to enhance user experience."

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

"We noticed that sometimes when we forward emails to somebody, it is being relocated as part of the communication somewhere else. The traceability and other features should be improved."

"There are 120 different products and Google is ready to copy their competitors and vice versa. Some of them work, and some of them don't. There are many newer tools with no-code environments which allow for a leaner self-owned system, where I'm not tied to paying hundreds and thousands of dollars a year to another company."

"Better integration without visual misrepresentation with the Microsoft suite is required."

More Google Workspace cons

"It doesn't work very well on a virtual machine. We had to move it around. There are also issues when you try to move it between computers."

"The licensing model could be improved."

"From a security perspective, Microsft Exchange can be improved. All that needs to be added is security, but that's an internal hierarchical problem from the product itself and not the end-users."

"The desktop version of Microsoft Exchange receives emails a little slower than the online version."

"I think it could be more scalable."

"They could improve on the search function, it takes too much time."

"In the version we have, I would like to see better communication between the end device and the Exchange server."

"One major area for improvement is the need for repeated authentication when running a meeting."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's low in cost as compared to Office 365. There is an annual licensing cost."

"The main challenge regarding startups with identity services is you could be on a platform that works well but the services are expensive. For example, Microsoft Azure costs approximately $30 per user which is expensive. You end up choosing a different platform, such as G Suite Enterprise because it is priced reasonably and is less expensive than other solutions."

"It's cheaper to run a couple of users in a Google platform than what it would be with Microsoft Exchange."

"Pricing is something concerning. We find the solution very expensive."

"We normally purchase the license on a yearly basis."

"It's about $8.30 up a user per month."

"The pricing of Google Workspace, so far, has been reasonable."

"We have purchased an annual subscription."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

"The pricing is expensive."

"It's working very well. There is no problem, but the price is not the best."

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

"The product is quite cheap."

"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."

"Microsoft Exchange itself does not require a license, but users who will have mailboxes will require a license. It depends on the number of users to choose which license. If you exceed 2,000 mailboxes, it's preferable to get the enterprise license."

"I rate Microsoft Exchange's pricing a six out of ten."

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

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

11%

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 30% 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 20% of the time

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 18% of the time

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 11% of the time

ProtonMail vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

March 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

March 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

March 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: March 2025.

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