Google Workspace vs ProtonMail comparison

Google and Proton Technologies are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Google is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.1, while Proton Technologies is ranked #10 with an average rating of 9.0. Google holds a 22.9% mindshare in EA, compared to Proton Technologies’s 4.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Proton Technologies users who would recommend it.

Google Workspace

Read 101 Google Workspace reviews

6,268 Views
5,616 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ProtonMail

Read 1 ProtonMail review

1,107 Views
1,013 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

ProtonMail

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Google Workspace and ProtonMail are contenders in the email and productivity tool market. Google Workspace leads with integration and collaboration, while ProtonMail excels in privacy and security.

Features: Google Workspace offers Gmail, Google Docs, and Sheets for seamless collaboration. Its extensive integration with third-party apps increases its utility. ProtonMail provides encrypted email services with robust security features to protect user privacy. Its primary distinction lies in its dedication to secure communications.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google Workspace offers extensive resources for setup and integration with 24/7 support. ProtonMail provides an uncomplicated setup focused on privacy with limited integration options. Google delivers more varied support channels, accommodating a broader range of business needs.

Pricing and ROI: Google Workspace has scalable pricing tiers suitable for different business sizes, enhancing ROI with productivity capabilities. ProtonMail features flexible pricing for personal users seeking privacy. Google Workspace offers superior ROI for businesses requiring comprehensive tools, while ProtonMail serves as a cost-effective choice for security-focused users.

To learn more, read our detailed Email Applications Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

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

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (2nd), Cloud Storage (6th), Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)

ProtonMail

Ranking in Email Applications

10th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

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 ProtonMail is 4.7%, up from 3.8% 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

Vitor Vicente

Works

Secure email communication facilitates safe financial exchanges and enhances data privacy

I use ProtonMail for exchanging invoicing with clients, managing financial information, and receiving notifications from bank accounts and investment brokers. It's dedicated to high-importance communication involving financial information The auto encryption of attachments is valuable. ProtonMail…

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

"Convenient to share and collaborate documents."

"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."

"We value the collaboration levels that are offered. Having everything integrated in a single platform is a dream come true for us."

"The solution is very intuitive."

"The general ease of use is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's extremely simple to use. You don't even have to look up videos in order to figure things out. It's all very intuitive."

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

"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."

"The most valuable feature of Google Workspace is the sheets and documents."

More Google Workspace pros

"The auto encryption of attachments is valuable."

Cons

"There's a bit of a learning curve."

"Despite being an excellent platform, I would very much like Google Docs to be more compatible with Microsoft Word."

"I have had issues with my Google Address Book. I have an address book and it is available to everyone, but I cannot add additional users. In Microsoft Outlook, I could easily share certain contacts with other members of my team, but I cannot do so on G Suite."

"Not all tools are available in the one facility."

"Some concerns over security, but there are moves to address this and provide admin tools to secure content and adhere to data protection regulations."

"Integration with Microsoft Outlook could be improved. The new integration was implemented last September, and we are facing some issues with OAuth 2.0 authentication."

"If your storage requirements in day-to-day work are large, then it will incur an additional cost since free storage is limited."

"I believe Google Drive has potential for improvement. Enhancements could be made in terms of synchronization and the functionality of the Google Sheets app, particularly in areas like formulas and pivot tables, to make it more comparable to Microsoft Excel. Google Chat needs to make improvements so that we can send Excel and PDFs from the mobile app itself. I would like to see Google Bard integrated with the product."

More Google Workspace cons

"One improvement could be the integration between ProtonMail and Proton Pass, allowing sharing of specific secrets via email."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

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

"The pricing is very high, although I cannot tell if this is the result of the Indian vendors artificially inflating it."

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

"Approximately $6 per user, per month."

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

"The solution is expensive."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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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

13%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Educational Organization

11%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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.

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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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ProtonMail?

The pricing is competitive, offering good value on the average plan. It’s approximately $100 for annual billing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ProtonMail?

The UI was previously cumbersome, however, it has improved. One improvement could be the integration between ProtonMail and Proton Pass, allowing sharing of specific secrets via email. However, thi...

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What is your primary use case for ProtonMail?

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Google Workspace

Compared 29% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 29% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

Office 365 vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

IceWarp vs Google Workspace

Compared 3% of the time

More Google Workspace Competitors

Zoho Mail vs ProtonMail

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Exchange vs ProtonMail

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs ProtonMail

Compared 12% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs ProtonMail

Compared 4% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs ProtonMail

Compared 4% of the time

More ProtonMail Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

April 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

March 2025

Download ProtonMail 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

No data available

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

ProtonMail is the world‘s largest encrypted email provider, with over 11 million users trusting us to secure their data every day. We are the email service of choice for security-conscious enterprises.

Proton Technologies

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.

Wall street journal,The New york times, The Gurdian, Forbes, Fox News

Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: March 2025.

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