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Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

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
91
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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Hesham Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

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."
"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."
 

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."
"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."
 

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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

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.
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.
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...
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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
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...
 

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

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.