Can I run Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace side by side?

Yes, technically, but it's rarely a good idea. You pay twice, staff get confused about where things live, and compliance gets muddled. Pick one.

Which is cheaper, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?

Microsoft 365 is slightly cheaper at entry and mid-tier (Business Basic £4.83 vs Starter £5.75; Standard £10.08 vs £11.50). Google is fractionally cheaper at the top tier. The difference is small enough it shouldn't drive the decision.

Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace UK (2026): Honest Comparison for Small Business

Last updated: April 2026

If you're choosing an office suite for a UK small business today, it's almost always Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace. Both are mature, both are reliable, both will do the job. They just do it differently.

We work with customers on both sides. This is an honest comparison — not a "Microsoft is always right" piece. There are genuine reasons to pick Google Workspace. There are also reasons most UK SMBs end up on Microsoft 365.

Pricing — near identical

For the most comparable tiers:

Tier	Microsoft 365 (per user/month)	Google Workspace (per user/month)
Entry	Business Basic £4.83	Business Starter £5.75
Standard	Business Standard £10.08	Business Standard £11.50
Upper	Business Premium £17.75	Business Plus £17.50

Prices ex-VAT, annual commitment. Microsoft is slightly cheaper at the entry and mid tier; Google is fractionally cheaper at the top.

Not a meaningful difference — don't pick on price alone.

What they actually include

Microsoft 365 Business Standard gets you: desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook installed on 5 devices; Teams; 50GB mailbox; 1TB OneDrive; SharePoint.

Google Workspace Business Standard gets you: web-based Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail; Google Meet; Google Drive (2TB); Google Chat; shared team drives.

The big practical difference: Microsoft has proper installed desktop apps. Google is browser-based.

This matters if:

Staff work with large Excel files (Google Sheets still struggles above ~50,000 rows)
You use Excel power features (pivot tables, macros, Power Query, XLOOKUP) — Google has equivalents but they're not 1:1
You work offline on trains / planes — Microsoft desktop apps are better offline
You exchange Word/Excel files with clients who are on Microsoft (converting introduces formatting quirks)

It matters less if:

You live in a browser anyway
Your docs are mostly short-form, collaborative (Google Docs genuinely does collaboration better)
You like the simplicity of everything being web-native

Email: Outlook vs Gmail

This is where people have the strongest opinions.

Outlook (Microsoft 365) is the heavyweight. Rules, categories, calendar integration, shared mailboxes, PST archives, delegation, mail merge, threaded conversations (optional). If your business uses email as the primary workflow — sales teams, client services, finance — Outlook with Exchange is hard to beat.

Gmail (Google Workspace) is lightweight and fast. Powerful search, labels, excellent spam filtering, tight Google Chat integration. If email is transactional and you want it to stay out of your way, Gmail is lovely. But complex email workflows (multiple assistants, shared inboxes, compliance retention) are rough.

For UK SMBs in professional services (accountants, solicitors, consultants) — Outlook wins by a wide margin. For younger/tech businesses or anyone coming from Gmail personal accounts — Google Workspace is a gentler step.

Security: honest tradeoff

At the entry tier, both are fine. At the upper tier, they diverge.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium (£17.75) bundles Microsoft Defender for Business, Intune device management, and Entra ID P1 with conditional access. That's a proper security stack.

Google Workspace Business Plus (£17.50) gives you Vault (email archiving) and enhanced endpoint management, but Google's endpoint protection story is weaker — most customers bolt on third-party antivirus.

For regulated sectors (SRA, ICO, FCA), Microsoft 365 Business Premium has the documentation and audit story already written. Google's equivalents exist but are less well-trodden with UK auditors.

Familiarity and staff training

Here's the one most people underweight: what do your staff already know?

If everyone already uses Office at home or from past jobs, putting them on Google Workspace triggers months of "how do I…?" tickets. Docs formatting quirks, Sheets formula differences, the mental shift from Outlook to Gmail.

Google Workspace users often don't come back the other way either. Once a team is living in Docs and Sheets, switching to Word and Excel feels clunky.

Whichever you're closer to today is probably the right answer. Don't switch for theoretical reasons.

Which do UK SMBs actually pick?

In our customer base — and this is real numbers, not opinion — about 85% of UK small businesses end up on Microsoft 365. The reasons are consistent:

Staff already know Office
Clients and suppliers send Word / Excel files
Accountants want .xlsx files, not .gsheets
Outlook is better for professional services workflows
Business Premium's security story is easier to explain to insurers and auditors

The 15% who go Google Workspace are typically:

Tech / creative startups
Businesses built entirely around collaborative docs
Teams migrating from personal Gmail with no Office history
Non-Windows shops (pure Mac + Chromebook)

Migration reality check

Moving from one to the other is a real project.

Google → Microsoft: Mailbox migration is well-tooled (Microsoft provides free migration utilities). Documents convert, but Sheets formulas with Google-specific functions need manual fixes. Expect 1-2 weeks for a 10-person firm.

Microsoft → Google: Harder. Gmail importing from Outlook is doable but complex shared mailboxes and calendar delegations often don't survive the trip. Word/Excel → Docs/Sheets conversion loses formatting.

Neither is a five-minute job. Don't switch on a whim.

Our recommendation

Professional services (accountants, solicitors, consultants, finance): Microsoft 365 Business Premium
General SMB with 5+ staff on Windows and existing Office use: Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Email-only / field-based teams (trades, distribution, warehouse): Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Tech startup, creative agency, or teams already living in Google: Google Workspace Business Standard
Non-Windows shops, heavy collaboration culture, no regulatory burden: Google Workspace

For Microsoft 365, we're an authorised UK CSP reseller at Microsoft's prices, with a 10% bundle discount if you take VoIP too. Get a quote in 2 minutes.

For Google Workspace we don't resell, but we'll tell you honestly if it's the better fit and point you towards a good Google partner.

FAQs

Can I run both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace side by side?

Yes, but don't. You end up paying twice, staff get confused about where things live, and compliance gets muddled. Pick one.

Is Microsoft Teams better than Google Meet?

Teams is more feature-rich (channels, tabs, apps, deeper integration). Meet is simpler. For meetings alone they're comparable. For team collaboration beyond meetings, Teams is ahead.

Does Microsoft 365 work on Mac?

Yes, fully. All desktop Office apps run natively on macOS. OneDrive, Teams, Outlook — all first-class Mac citizens.

Which is more private — Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

Business tiers of both contractually exclude ad targeting and AI training on your data. At the free/personal level Google uses email for ads, Microsoft doesn't — but that's irrelevant for paid business plans.

Can I get Microsoft Copilot on Google Workspace?

No. Copilot is Microsoft-only. Google Workspace has Gemini for Workspace (£20-ish per user per month), which is roughly equivalent but plugged into Docs/Sheets/Gmail instead of Word/Excel/Outlook.