Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

Google and Microsoft are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Google is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7. Google holds a 23.8% mindshare in EA, compared to Microsoft’s 15.1% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Google Workspace

Read 101 Google Workspace reviews

6,522 Views
5,908 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange Online

Read 89 Microsoft Exchange Online reviews

4,851 Views
3,767 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

Microsoft Exchange Online

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Microsoft Exchange Online and Google Workspace compete in the email and collaboration tools sector. Microsoft Exchange Online appears to have the upper hand with its strong security framework and compatibility with Office applications, while Google Workspace is favored for its exceptional collaboration tools and ease of use.

Features: Microsoft Exchange Online offers stability, comprehensive integration with Office applications, and a substantial security framework. It boasts significant storage capacity and is praised for its spam filtering capabilities. Google Workspace shines with its collaboration tools, document sharing via Google Drive, and seamless application integration. Its interfaces are user-friendly and support real-time collaboration.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange Online could enhance third-party app integrations and simplify administration. It faces challenges with migration processes and security vulnerabilities. Google Workspace needs better integration with traditional email clients, improved performance for offline tasks, and enhanced compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats. Users also seek more flexibility in Google Meet.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Exchange Online is available across private, public, and hybrid clouds, with substantial technical support. However, users desire quicker response times. Google Workspace operates mainly on public clouds with straightforward integrations but receives mixed reviews on technical support, with expectations for faster resolutions.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange Online tends to have a higher price point due to its extensive features and security options, offering a good return on investment by reducing on-premise costs. Google Workspace offers competitive pricing with a flexible suite of tools. Although affordable, some users find its pricing high for the functionalities available compared to alternatives like Microsoft 365 but value its productivity enhancements.

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

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

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

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (2nd), Cloud Storage (4th), Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)

Microsoft Exchange Online

Ranking in Email Applications

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 23.8%, up from 22.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 15.1%, up from 14.4% 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

Babatunde-Olugbode

Technical presales engineer at Avetium Consult Ltd

Offers good user interface and seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft services

I like its user interface. I don't struggle or face any challenges while using it. The design interface is simple. I haven't had any trouble managing it for a long time. Even if I encounter a challenge or two, I can always reach out to Microsoft for help. So, overall, it's been a very positive experience. Having everything under one account was valuable. I just had to go through cybersecurity for licensing and download everything. With one account, you can download Office and use Online features directly from your Exchange. There are security solutions in place, and we take customer data very seriously. For example, if I accidentally create a forwarding rule or send an email with an image attached, I get a notification immediately. Compliance-wise, it's quite good online. We can do many things. Even if I can't click on something or upload a specific file type, it'll still be stored for compliance or investigation purposes. So, subscribing to these features. 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 communication and see user activity. Those are the key points that have proven to be beneficial.

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 quite a useful tool. It allows many people to work on a document. You can actually provide review comments and tag anybody to make the comment changes. You can also attach a document in Google Chat."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is email."

"The email is excellent."

"Good performance, even on relatively slow connections; no local apps required."

"There are several online forums and a lot of support materials online."

"I have found the solution to be pretty stable."

"Ability to co-edit and collaborate on content."

"Only a few competitors can do precisely what Google Workspace does in terms of email management and calendar management through its Gmail and Google Calendar apps. It's a very seamless platform."

More Google Workspace pros

"Exchange Online's most valuable features are two-step verification and security."

"We have found the solution to be stable."

"Message trace is the most valuable feature of the product."

"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."

"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 communication and see user activity"

"Tech support has been great, when necessary."

"With the Exchange Server, there is a lot of capability for version controlling."

"Microsoft Exchange Online has great functionality."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pros

Cons

"Google Workspace doesn't have some of the Excel and PowerPoint presentation functions you get with Microsoft Office."

"The initial setup is not intuitive at all."

"The cost could be improved. It can sometimes be a bit confusing figuring out how we are actually being charged."

"Google Workspace has limitations as a document or file management system. Without a workspace account, manual actions are required to perform tasks such as managing groups of people. Additionally, managing permissions individually is a time-consuming and inefficient process. It's difficult to articulate, but the process is not very streamlined."

"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 problem with the presentation is that if you upload a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and you convert it to Google presentation, the slides or pictures, their images are not editable. You can't edit the slides that you brought in. They're just images."

"They can maybe improve its graphical user interface. Google is not really known for having a PC interface. It is just a nice-to-have feature."

"The price could be reduced."

More Google Workspace cons

"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."

"The solution should have more integration with other platforms."

"I couldn't delete an email account because it was identified as my primary account by the application."

"Microsoft Exchange Online could improve the overall protection of the solution."

"The stability of the solution has room for improvement."

"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."

"I would like to make the solution more user-friendly."

"We'd like to see more integration with other platforms."

More Microsoft Exchange Online cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate Google Workspace's pricing five to six out of ten. We do not pay any extra costs."

"There are different versions of the solution available, such as premium."

"G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 offer products with similar functionality at several different price points. Zoho offer a more extensive range of products and attempts to provide all the applications required to run most small and medium-sized businesses."

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

"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."

"Traffic management tools may be required for larger setups and should be included in any pricing calculations."

"The pricing is comparable, it's pretty decent."

"2,500 Rupees per month per user."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is a bit more expensive than other solutions."

"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."

"The cost of Microsoft Exchange Online is approximately $4 to $36 per user. They do not give a discount which is not good. The solution is expensive if you have 800 to 1,000 users. They should give discounts when you have a lot of users."

"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."

"The pricing is really high. It's higher compared to other services."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable."

"The license for the solution is cheap, but it could be more affordable in the long term."

"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 only requires mailbox features, we can recommend Plan One or Plan 2. We can suggest an E3 or E5 license if they need the entire Office suite. There are also premium subscriptions for enterprise customers, offering additional security features. Overall, I don't find the pricing costly because Microsoft provides many features and security capabilities, making it reliable for all customers, depending on their requirements."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Government

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?

Google Workspace lacks the ability to copy and move files from one folder to another easily. I also find it challenging to perform many operations using the context menu in Google Sheets, Google Do...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?

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 ...

See all answers

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Zoho Mail vs Google Workspace

Compared 3% of the time

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Amazon WorkMail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 11% of the time

Zoho Mail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

January 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange Online

January 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange Online 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 Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online

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

Exchange Online helps protect your information with advanced capabilities. Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering protect mailboxes. Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people. Globally redundant servers, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock safeguard your data.

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.

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

January 2025

Free Report: Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

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

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