Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

This question comes up at almost every company moving from personal accounts to a company system. The answers you get, though, are usually about which is the better product, and that isn't the question. Both are mature, reliable systems used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

The real question is which one fits the way your team works. Four criteria are enough for that, and there's a fifth that used to matter a great deal and in 2026 barely does: the price.

The short version

• On 1 July 2026 Microsoft raised its prices, which put the entry and mid tiers of the two systems at effectively the same cost. Price no longer decides it.
• If the team works heavily in installed Excel and Word with complex spreadsheets, the balance tips towards Microsoft.
• If the work happens mostly in the browser and several people edit the same document together, it tips towards Google.
• For device management and more advanced protection, Microsoft 365 Business Premium gives the most in this price bracket.
• The storage logic differs: Google gives the company a shared pool, Microsoft gives per-user storage plus a separate shared area.

The price: what changed in 2026

For a long time the simple argument was that Google is cheaper. That ended in the summer of 2026.

On 1 July 2026 Microsoft raised prices on part of its business range. Business Basic went from 6 dollars a month to 7, Business Standard from 12.50 to 14, and Business Premium stayed unchanged at 22. These are per-user monthly list prices on an annual commitment; paying monthly is typically 20 per cent more expensive.

Google Workspace sits in the same band: Business Starter 7, Business Standard 14, Business Plus 22 dollars per user per month on an annual commitment.

So the three tiers cost effectively the same: 7, 14 and 22 dollars.

Anyone choosing on price today isn't really choosing anything.

Two notes on that. First, these are international list prices; in Hungary billing is in forints or euros, and the actual amount depends on the exchange rate and the reseller, so it's worth checking the provider's current local price list. Second, alongside the price you should count in the one-off cost of the rollout and the migration, which at many companies is a bigger item than the first year's subscription.

Criterion 1: do you need installed Office?

This is the fastest filter.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic doesn't include the desktop programs, only the browser versions and the email. Business Standard does: installable Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Google Workspace works in the browser by design. Docs, Sheets and Slides are strong tools with a different logic, and they handle Office file formats too.

The practical decision doesn't hinge on which is the better word processor, it hinges on this: is there a spreadsheet in the company the operation can't run without? If the answer is yes, and it contains macros, pivot tables or complex formulas, Microsoft is the safe choice. Spreadsheets like that generally don't behave exactly the same in a browser or in another spreadsheet tool, and that isn't a risk worth taking.

Criterion 2: how does the team work?

Here it's the nature of the work that decides, not the technology.

The balance tips towards Google if several people edit the same document at once, if the team works from different places and devices, if sharing files and managing permissions is a daily operation, and if nobody wants to install and update software.

It tips towards Microsoft if colleagues are used to desktop Office, if documents often go to external partners who also use Office, if the folder structure and local file handling matter to how you operate, and if the Office format is the default in your industry.

Co-editing now works in both systems. The difference is more in the starting position: Google thinks in terms of a shared document from the outset, Microsoft in terms of a file that can be shared.

Criterion 3: security and device management

This criterion matters more the more of you there are and the more kinds of device you work on.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium gives a lot for the money in this category: more advanced mail filtering, device management, remote wiping of company data from a lost phone, and more granular access rules. If you have ten to twenty colleagues reading company mail on their own phones, that isn't a luxury.

The upper Google Workspace tiers also provide device management and more advanced security settings, and the baseline protection here is sound too.

One important detail: after the July 2026 increase the gap between Standard and Premium at Microsoft narrowed to 8 dollars. At many companies that means Premium became the better offer, because buying the extra security features separately would cost more.

Criterion 4: the storage logic

People rarely look at this, and yet it's what causes the surprise as you grow.

Google Workspace gives the company a shared pool: on Business Standard it's 2 TB per user, but it adds up and is shared out at company level. Whoever stores a lot uses more of the common pool.

Microsoft 365 gives per-user storage in OneDrive, and the shared SharePoint area gets its own separate allowance.

The practical difference shows up when a few colleagues store far more data than everyone else. For a team working with video, raw photography or design files, that isn't a theoretical question.

On the AI features

Both systems have built in features based on artificial intelligence, but not in the same way. Google has built Gemini's capabilities into the Workspace plans. At Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Copilot is typically a separately purchasable add-on with its own per-user fee.

This area changes quickly, so it's worth checking the current terms at the moment you decide. What doesn't change: an AI feature is worth something when it fits into the daily work, not when it appears in the package description.

The real cost of migration

The switch doesn't begin with buying the licence, and it doesn't end there either.

What transfers: email, contacts, calendar, files. Technically that's a solved task in both directions.

What takes work: rethinking the shares and permissions, setting up mailing lists and group addresses, switching over the domain and the mail records, standardising the signatures, and the external systems connected to the email.

What most often gets left out: preparing the colleagues. A well-planned switchover is technically a weekend, but habits take weeks to move. It's worth spending time on a short walkthrough and a one-page description of what went where.

Migration is worth doing properly once. If it turns out six months later that you needed the other system after all, you have to go through the whole thing a second time.

So which one?

A short summary for the most common situations.

• A team of a few people working in the browser, lots of shared documents: Google Workspace Business Starter or Standard.
• Heavy Excel spreadsheets, installed Office, external partners with Office files: Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
• More than ten colleagues, own devices, sensitive data: Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
• Lots of large files, video, raw photography: look at the storage logic first, because that's what will decide it.
• No strong argument either way: stay with what the team already knows. Familiarity is a real asset, and migration is a real cost.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper in 2026, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

• Effectively the same. After Microsoft's 1 July 2026 increase, both systems are 7 dollars at the entry tier, 14 at the middle tier and 22 at the upper tier, per user per month on an annual commitment. The Hungarian forint price depends on the reseller and the exchange rate.

Can I use my own domain for company email?

• Yes, in both systems. That's one of the main reasons it's worth moving from a personal account to a business plan.

Can I move to the other system later?

• Yes, email, calendar and files can be transferred. The larger part of the work isn't moving the data, it's rearranging the permissions, the shares and the connected systems.

Do I need desktop Office alongside Google Workspace?

• Not necessarily. Google's tools handle Office file formats. If, however, there's a complex Excel spreadsheet with macros that is part of how you operate, then Microsoft is the one to choose.

What's the difference between Business Standard and Business Premium at Microsoft?

• Premium gives more advanced security and device management. After the July 2026 price change the gap between the two narrowed to 8 dollars, which is why Premium became the better offer at many companies.

Is Microsoft 365 Business Basic enough?

• If the team works in the browser and installed Office isn't needed, then yes. Email, calendar and the file solution are all included.

In summary

Price no longer decides it, and the feature lists on both sides are long and largely overlapping. What remains is the question that matters most: how does your team work today, and what is it you don't want to risk.

If the answer isn't obvious, it's worth starting from the existing files and processes. We carry the rollout and the migration through in either direction, and the assessment is what shows which one comes with less breakage.

Sources

• Microsoft 365 July 2026 price change and current plan prices: teamascend.com, bestructured.com, beancount.io (2026)
• Google Workspace current plan prices: workspace.google.com/pricing, cloudwards.net, emailtooltester.com (2026)
• The prices are international list prices. Hungarian forint fees are in the provider's or the reseller's current price list.