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 7.9, 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 100 Google Workspace reviews

6,715 Views
6,038 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange Online

Read 88 Microsoft Exchange Online reviews

4,999 Views
3,872 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

Microsoft Exchange Online

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 29, 2024

Microsoft Exchange Online and Google Workspace are leading collaboration and productivity platforms competing for market share. User reviews indicate that Google Workspace holds an upper hand in collaboration tools, while Microsoft Exchange Online excels in integration with other Microsoft products.

Features: Microsoft Exchange Online offers seamless integration with Office 365, advanced email management, and strong security features. Google Workspace provides real-time collaboration with Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Meet for video conferencing.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange Online users find the platform complex and with a steep learning curve, and some report issues with its mobile app. Google Workspace could improve offline capabilities, enhance file management options, and offer more customization features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Exchange Online is effective but can be complicated to set up and manage. Google Workspace is noted for its simplicity and ease of deployment. Microsoft provides comprehensive support options, while Google Workspace's support is responsive but may lack depth.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange Online integrates with existing Microsoft infrastructure, potentially reducing costs. Google Workspace is viewed as slightly pricier but delivers high ROI through improved team collaboration and productivity. Microsoft pricing starts at $4 user/month and Google Workspace at $6 user/month.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Google Workspace

Ranking in Email Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

100

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (2nd), Cloud Storage (4th), Content Collaboration Platforms (3rd)

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

Jerome Poudevigne

CTO at Lounivo

Seamless collaboration with advanced calendaring and real-time document editing

One area of improvement for Google Workspace is the Google Meet functionality. Currently, users cannot upload files directly through Google Meet; instead, they have to share links via Google Drive, which adds unnecessary steps and complexity. This is especially frustrating when dealing with external users who do not have Google IDs. Another area requiring improvement is the chat/messaging feature, which is basic compared to other products like Slack. Having an integrated and efficient messaging system would be beneficial.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features we use quite a lot are the mail and Google Drive. We can store documents and share documents between both employees here, locally in Sweden, and we have an office in the US as well. It's a very easy way to share information and documents, and have online meetings and stuff with Google Meet. We use it quite a lot."

"It's easy to use."

"The most valuable features are the speed at which G Suite Enterprise works."

"The email is excellent."

"It has saved us money."

"The solution offers very good email. It's a very good email provider."

"G Suite is a powerful suite of tools for messaging and collaboration that has met the fundamental needs of my company, both increasing productivity and reducing costs."

"The Hangouts feature is the most valuable aspect of the solution for us."

More Google Workspace pros

"It is very manageable."

"The solution is very easy to set up and quite quick to deploy."

"Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support."

"Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its integration with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams for shared calendars."

"The data prevention and protection feature is good."

"The solution has been stable with good performance on offer."

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

More Microsoft Exchange Online pros

Cons

"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."

"Google Workspace needs to be more flexible, like Microsoft Excel."

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

"I find the price high for the full suite features. Compared to Exchange Online, the price might not be too high, but you cannot choose only one functionality. When you buy Google Workspace, you have to get everything, including file storage and communication tools, which I don't use."

"One area of improvement for Google Workspace is the Google Meet functionality. Currently, users cannot upload files directly through Google Meet; instead, they have to share links via Google Drive, which adds unnecessary steps and complexity."

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

"Their tool called Sheets is the counterpart to Excel but it doesn't have the same functionality that Excel would have. So usually if somebody needs to go back to Excel or Office, it's because of Excel."

"I found that there is no desktop application for this solution, and that's a major fault of this application."

More Google Workspace cons

"The pricing could be cheaper."

"For non-technical people, some configurations might be a little bit difficult. We can use it on our laptops or our portable devices like mobiles and others gadgets, but we have had repeated problems with syncing. That is, when using different gadgets and devices, there are issues with syncing. The configuration could definitely be improved."

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

"Using this solution is initially quite complicated."

"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."

"We would like to have more automation with Microsoft Exchange Online."

"The cost is very high, and not every customer can afford licenses."

"For example, recently there were some spam incidents that Microsoft does not currently mitigate because they have another paid solution to do so. It would be nice to integrate the security and the anti-spam (i.e. the fake links, etc.) along with the Exchange Online default."

More Microsoft Exchange Online cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution can vary."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"We receive value for the price that we pay."

"There are several areas where a G Suite implementation can reduce costs: lower license fees than some competing products, reduced hardware, and IT support costs."

"The price per client within the business is too high."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

"It is a cluster solution."

"The solution costs $12 to $16 per user per month."

"There is a license for Microsoft Exchange Online and I have information on that, but there have been so many changes to the licensing and it's a completely different story nowadays. Microsoft has been pushing users to buy a package of products under one license. Users are becoming more dependent on Microsoft rather than independent, that you can't decide anymore, and from my point of view, that is bad."

"In my opinion, the online license is the best one we have. It is a bundle that we have from Microsoft. It is a bit high in price."

"I have no opinion."

"The cost is around $12 to $16 per user."

"There is an annual enterprise subscription to use Microsoft Exchange Online. The price is reasonable."

"This is an expensive solution."

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

Educational Organization

Government

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

Comparisons

Amazon WorkMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 31% of the time

ProtonMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 6% of the time

IceWarp vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

Zoho Mail vs Google Workspace

Compared 3% of the time

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Amazon WorkMail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 10% of the time

Zoho Mail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 5% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 4% of the time

ProtonMail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 3% of the time

IceWarp vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Online Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

December 2024

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange Online

December 2024

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

Learn More

Google

Microsoft

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.

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.

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

December 2024

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: December 2024.

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