Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: Which Is Right for Your SMB?

Choosing between Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace is one of the most common decisions growing businesses face. Both platforms offer email, file storage, video calling, and collaboration tools. On paper, they look similar. In practice, for most small and medium-sized businesses, one is a significantly better fit than the other.

Spoiler: we work with Microsoft 365 every day, and we recommend it to virtually every SMB we support. Here is why the Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace debate almost always ends the same way.

Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: A Quick Overview

Before diving into the comparison, here is what each platform actually includes.

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is Microsoft’s cloud-based productivity suite. It includes Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and a growing range of security and device management tools. Plans for businesses start from around 6 euros per user per month and scale up depending on the features you need.

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is Google’s equivalent. It includes Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Drive, and Chat. Pricing is comparable at the entry level.

Both are reputable, cloud-based platforms used by millions of businesses worldwide. The question is which one works better for your team, your workflows, and your IT environment. According to Statista, Microsoft 365 has over 400 million paid seats globally, making it by far the most widely adopted productivity suite in business.

Familiar Software: Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace on Document Standards

This is perhaps the most straightforward argument in the Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace comparison. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are the global standard for business documents. Your clients use them, your accountant uses them, your suppliers use them. When you send a .docx or .xlsx file, everyone can open it without any conversion or compatibility headaches.

Google Docs and Sheets are capable tools, but they are not the standard. Files often need to be converted when sharing externally, formatting can shift between platforms, and complex Excel models with macros or advanced formulas frequently break when opened in Google Sheets. For businesses that work heavily with spreadsheets, presentations, or formal documents, this matters a lot.

Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet: No Contest for Business Collaboration

Microsoft Teams is one of the most feature-rich collaboration platforms available. It combines chat, video calls, file sharing, task management, and deep integration with the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite into a single hub. Teams has become the central nervous system of many modern workplaces.

Google Meet is a solid video conferencing tool, but it is primarily just that. Google Chat exists alongside it, but the integration between Google’s communication tools feels more fragmented compared to the seamless experience Teams provides. If your team relies heavily on internal collaboration, Teams is the stronger platform by a wide margin.

Security and Compliance: Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace for Regulated Industries

For SMBs operating in regulated industries or handling sensitive client data, security and compliance features matter enormously. Microsoft 365 includes a comprehensive set of built-in security tools, including Microsoft Defender, advanced threat protection, data loss prevention policies, and Microsoft Intune for device management.

According to Gartner, Microsoft consistently ranks as a leader in endpoint security and cloud productivity, in large part because of how deeply integrated its security tooling is across the suite. Google Workspace has improved its security offering over the years, but it does not yet match the depth and maturity of Microsoft’s security ecosystem.

This is especially relevant if your business needs to meet compliance standards like ISO 27001, NEN 7510, or GDPR requirements around data residency. For more on building a secure IT environment, see our post on how to create a secure IT workplace for hybrid teams.

IT Management and Device Control

If you work with an IT partner or have any kind of managed IT setup, Microsoft 365 is far easier to manage at scale. Microsoft Intune allows IT administrators to enrol, configure, and monitor devices from a single dashboard. Conditional access policies mean you can enforce rules like “only managed devices can access company email” with a few clicks.

This kind of control is particularly valuable for businesses with remote or hybrid teams, or those running a BYOD programme. Google’s device management tools are improving, but they remain less mature than Microsoft’s equivalent. Our guide on BYOD policies for SMBs covers what to look for in device management.

Where Google Workspace Has an Advantage

To be fair, in the Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace debate, Google does have genuine strengths. Real-time collaboration in Google Docs is excellent, particularly for teams that work simultaneously on the same document. The interface is clean and intuitive, and for teams without any existing Microsoft infrastructure, the learning curve can be lower.

Google Workspace also tends to perform better in browser-heavy environments and on Chromebooks, which makes it a natural fit for businesses already committed to Google’s ecosystem. For very small teams doing basic tasks, the entry-level pricing is competitive.

But for most SMBs with more than a handful of employees, the advantages of Microsoft 365 outweigh the benefits of Google Workspace across almost every dimension that matters in a business context.

Switching from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 for Small Business

Migrating from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 is a well-trodden path. Microsoft provides migration tools, and most IT partners (including us) have run this process many times. Email, contacts, and calendar data migrate cleanly. Files stored in Google Drive can be exported and reorganised in OneDrive or SharePoint.

The main consideration is user adoption. If your team has been using Google tools for years, there will be a short adjustment period. With proper training and support, most teams are fully up to speed within a few weeks. The Microsoft Adoption Centre provides free resources to help teams get the most out of the platform after migration.

Our Recommendation

For the vast majority of SMBs, Microsoft 365 is the right choice. It offers deeper security tooling, better compliance controls, industry-standard Office applications, and a more integrated collaboration experience through Teams. It scales well as your business grows, and it integrates cleanly with the tools and systems most businesses already rely on.

The Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace decision comes down to what your business actually needs. For a typical Dutch SMB looking for a reliable, secure, and professional IT foundation, the answer is clear. If you want help setting up or optimising Microsoft 365 for small business use, get in touch with EvolvingDesk. We are a Microsoft house through and through, and we know the platform inside out.