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 23.3% mindshare in EA, compared to Proton Technologies’s 4.2% 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

6,330 Views
5,707 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ProtonMail

Read 1 ProtonMail review

1,079 Views
999 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

ProtonMail

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Google Workspace and ProtonMail are competing in the productivity and secure email communication categories respectively. Google Workspace has the upper hand in integration and collaboration, whereas ProtonMail takes the lead in privacy and security.

Features: Google Workspace includes tools such as Gmail for email, Calendar for scheduling, and Docs and Drive for document management and storage. These features make it ideal for teams looking for workflow efficiency. ProtonMail prioritizes email security with end-to-end encryption, ensuring privacy for users concerned about secure communication. It provides a user-friendly interface with distinct security attributes that cater to privacy-centric users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google Workspace offers an easy deployment process coupled with extensive support resources for enterprises. Businesses can benefit from its various integration options and customer service capabilities. ProtonMail offers a secure and privacy-focused deployment, which may require some technical skills to set up. Its service emphasizes secure installations over ease of deployment, targeting users who prefer a more controlled setup process.

Pricing and ROI: Google Workspace provides scalable pricing plans suitable for businesses of various sizes, offering significant ROI through its broad application suite and integration. ProtonMail employs a premium pricing structure tailored to providing robust email security, which may be more appealing to users prioritizing privacy. Google Workspace's cost-effectiveness is beneficial for comprehensive productivity, while ProtonMail justifies its price through unmatched privacy features.

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

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

February 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 (3rd)

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 March 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 23.3%, up from 23.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ProtonMail is 4.2%, up from 4.0% 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

"The valuable features include the email service, email updates, and Google Drive."

"Everything is synchronized across every single device you use to access G Suite. That is why we like it."

"The security and privacy policies of G Suite make it efficient, and the organizational data is secure."

"The collaboration features are valuable."

"Convenient to share and collaborate documents."

"The solution is very stable."

"The product can scale easily."

"We haven't had any issues with scalability - we have over a thousand employees, and G Suite just scales."

More Google Workspace pros

"The auto encryption of attachments is valuable."

Cons

"Sometimes, I would like to be able to use the solution offline, and I can't do so. It would be ideal if there was some sort of offline mode available."

"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."

"There could be more options in Google G Suite. They can include HD calling for Google Meet. The layout portion in the calendar for Google G Suite can be better designed. When we get into the calendar and start scheduling meetings, we do have few hiccups here and there. The layout can be a little easier. People from different backgrounds are finding it a little bit tough to understand. It should be more intuitive. At the moment, it has a completely white background. To do power saving, it would be good if they can release a darker background. There are a few issues with the formatting of Google Docs when they get converted to Microsoft docs. It would be amazing if they can resolve it in the next release."

"And I think Google Translate could add more features. For example, it could be integrated when typing in a document or a web browser like Grammarly."

"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."

"There are times the plugins or extensions in the solution do not work properly and I need to disable and enable the solution."

"With the Internet of Things, a platform that integrates well with others would be even better."

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."

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

"The overall cost is very reasonable when considering all of the security features that you are receiving. It is a bit more expensive than our local host and/or other hosting companies that are available on the market, but it is worth it."

"We pay on yearly basis."

"I give the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most affordable."

"The pricing of Google Workspace, so far, has been reasonable."

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

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

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

Educational Organization

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

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.

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?

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ProtonMail?

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Google Workspace

Compared 31% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 29% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

IceWarp vs Google Workspace

Compared 4% of the time

Zoho Mail 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 6% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs ProtonMail

Compared 3% of the time

More ProtonMail Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

March 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

February 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: February 2025.

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