Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for Business Email

For email on your own domain, most businesses end up choosing between Google Workspace (Gmail) and Microsoft 365 (Outlook). Both are reliable; the real difference is how your team already works. Here’s how they compare on each company’s own pages, checked October 2026.

At a glance

We don’t print prices: both companies publish them per user per month, and they vary by country and change over time.

Storage works differently

Google describes Workspace storage as pooled — each user adds to a total that’s shared across the organisation, so one person can use more than their share. Microsoft gives each person a fixed mailbox and a separate archive. If a few people keep huge mailboxes, that difference matters.

Pick Google Workspace if…

• your team already uses Gmail, Google Docs and Drive;
• everyone works in the browser or on phones;
• you want the simpler DNS setup — a single MX record.

Pick Microsoft 365 if…

• you rely on Outlook, Word and Excel — and want the desktop apps (Business Standard or higher);
• people keep large mailboxes and want a fixed 100 GB each;
• you already use other Microsoft services.

Neither?

For up to five people on a tight budget, Zoho Mail’s Forever Free plan is the free alternative — see free business email. If your domain is with GoDaddy, it sells Microsoft 365 too: GoDaddy email.

Next steps

• Set it up: how to create a business email address.
• Protect the domain: Google Workspace SPF, DKIM & DMARC or Microsoft 365 SPF, DKIM & DMARC.
• Sending from apps or devices with Microsoft 365: Microsoft 365 SMTP settings.