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Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (2nd), Cloud Storage (6th), Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)
Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Online is 14.1%, down from 15.4% 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.
NancyHartman - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective collaboration achieved with versatile features and good customer service
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot of scripting and programming knowledge is necessary. I am not an IT person; I am an educator, a trainer, a user. I want to get the work done. However, I find that the Exchange Server and possibly the way our company has set up access permissions require extensive programming knowledge. It might take six to eight weeks to get a programmer's time to build something, whereas I can use something like Smartsheet that will do everything I want without needing a programmer. Smartsheet is more end-user friendly compared to a Microsoft product. Microsoft believes an expert IT person should manage everything, however, I want to manage things on my own in a simplified way. That is not easy using the Exchange Server or Microsoft Office. It is not end-user friendly for development, and a programmer is needed. Once set up, using them as an end-user is fine. I find that the automations are not robust, and the FedRAMP systems are not robust. I have a few issues with Exchange and Office, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Extremely reliable, providing great collaboration features."
"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."
"We use Google Sheets extensively for things like sharing plans, data, test reports, and more."
"The most valuable feature is that it is simple to use."
"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."
"If I'm addressing certain emails from banks — automatic emails, like OTP, etc. — I can create rules and forward that OTP to the specific email IDs. You can create rules and deliver mail to different groups using the forwarding feature. It's handy."
"The user interface is fantastic. It's also available for the individual person, so that's also a great thing about it."
"Convenient to share and collaborate documents."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to -use email solution."
"The solution is very easy to set up and quite quick to deploy."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the online archive."
"It is a fantastic solution."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is a very stable solution."
"Exchange Online plays a significant role in our business. It controls all our emails, so we'd be in a lot of trouble if we didn't have that. It's an essential product."
"Microsoft Exchange Online has great functionality."
"When you used to write to someone, you would often begin typing their name and their email address would appear; you would simply click and you would have the correct email address. That has been working for a while, but having the location address appear was a pleasant surprise. It was amazing."
 

Cons

"With the Internet of Things, a platform that integrates well with others would be even better."
"The UI could be more graphic and sassy, but otherwise, it is quite functional."
"They could increase the number of third-party integrations on offer."
"Google Workspace needs to be more flexible, like Microsoft Excel."
"There seems to be a bit of vulnerability on some operating systems, specifically on the iPhone. There isn't as much control as if a person is using an Android. That's a bit of a concern."
"The feature set of Google Sheets is limited."
"We need more functionality with Google Sheets"
"The solution is not user-friendly and it doesn't integrate that well with Microsoft Office, which is one of the bigger business apps on the market, compared to Google Sheets and applications of that sort."
"When initially setting up, it took a bit of time because we had a lot of PST files with the users, and we had to migrate them batch by batch."
"In terms of areas for improvement, I think Microsoft could enhance security. Right now, there are limited options for security within Exchange Online, and much of it relies on third-party security and compliance tools. I'd like to see more security features directly integrated. One specific area that needs improvement is the configuration of SMTP for third-party applications. It's challenging to manage without an on-premise SMTP server, and this is an issue many organizations face, including ours. If Microsoft could offer better SMTP configuration for third-party applications within Exchange Online, it would greatly benefit us."
"Microsoft Exchange Online should have a faster search feature."
"The solution could be a bit cheaper."
"In the next release, I would like to see more features added to the security of the solution."
"This solution involves a lot of work for an administrator. It is not always easy to find exactly what you are looking for within the system."
"The solution should have a stand-alone application instead of us having to go through an internet browser."
"I would like to make the solution more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are benefits that can provide a competitive advantage, e.g., improved productivity (with appropriate training), increased collaboration (with correct use of tools), flexible working - work from home or remote locations, easy to scale - fast onboarding of new employees, and ability to add and remove licenses, as required."
"The solution is expensive."
"It's low in cost as compared to Office 365. There is an annual licensing cost."
"We have purchased an annual subscription."
"The pricing is very high, although I cannot tell if this is the result of the Indian vendors artificially inflating it."
"Approximately $6 per user, per month."
"The price of Google Workspace is reasonable. I pay less than 100 a month."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."
"The product is expensive and has an annual subscription."
"I think it's just awesome. There's no argument about how much value you get on the per user, for user expenditure. It's really great, I don't have any issues with it. I think it's excellent."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an affordable solution."
"The pricing is really high. It's higher compared to other services."
"Our organization pays for a corporate license to use the solution."
"I pay approximately $120 or $150 per year, and as long as I pay that amount, they will do regular updates so that I always have the most recent and greatest version of the application."
"They have raised their prices, and obviously, it hits our customers. Some of them are deciding to step back from Office 365. For customers who have bought the annual subscription, they are moving to the monthly subscription."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online?
The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track comm...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
The pricing for Microsoft Exchange Online is quite reasonable, in my opinion. Many licensing options are available so that we can choose based on the customer's needs. For example, if a customer on...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot o...
 

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 Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

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.
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.