Office 365 Vs G Suite – Which Is Better For Your Business?
One question we’re frequently asked by customers is ‘Should I choose Office 365 or G Suite for my business?’ The answer entirely depends on your team’s distinct needs.
Office 365 Vs G Suite
However, we will tell you from the get-go that we personally prefer Office 365. We use the Microsoft suite for our own business, as well as for many of our clients.
But, we’re not telling you to rule out G-Suite completely. Google also provides competitive packages of productivity tools and the number of businesses using G Suite has doubled from 2 million in 2015 to 4 million in 2018.
Today, we’ve rounded up some of the main differences between the two suites to help you with your decision.
Cloud-based vs desktop.
Office 365 is available as a desktop suite, as well as on the cloud. However, G Suite is exclusively cloud-based.
Either is absolutely fine – we know many businesses that successfully run their whole operation on the cloud. But, if you are a larger company with on-site servers, it may take some time to move everything across to G-Suite.
We love the versatility that Microsoft provides, allowing users to take advantage of the benefits of the cloud, whilst still offering a desktop-based solution.
Collaboration.
On the other hand, because G-Suite is only available online and in the cloud, it encourages real-time collaboration and sharing of files between colleagues.
You can also collaborate in a similar way with your team in Office 365, however, Microsoft users are likely to create and save files locally. This means that your document is saved to a specific laptop or computer and can only be accessed from that machine, rather than on the cloud, where it can be viewed and edited by your whole team.
User-friendly.
One of the main reasons we sway towards Microsoft products is that so many people have grown up using them, so it’s easier to train people.
Whilst Google’s minimal user interface is extremely user-friendly, it could take some time for everyone to get on board.
G-Suite apps, such as Docs, Sheets and Slides are very similar to their cousins Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but there are definitely some differences.
This is an important factor to consider when rolling out a new suite to the rest of your team who may need time to get used to using a different interface.
Price.
No matter how established your business is, the cost is always a key factor when investing in the right software for your company.
G Suite has a very simple pricing structure, offering three packages: Basic, Business and Enterprise.
However, Google has recently announced a slight price hike and, as of 2 April 2019, G Suite Basic will increase from $5 (around £3.80) per user per month to $6 (around £4.50) per user per month. Meanwhile, G Suite Business will go from $10 (around £7.50) to $12 (around £9.10) per user per month.
G Suite Enterprise will remain at $25 per user per month.
Office 365 has a more complex pricing structure, but in general, it will cost you $5 (around £3.80) per user per month for Office 365 Business Essentials, $8.25 (around £6.25) for Business and $12.50 (around £9.50) for Business Premium.
For larger enterprises, prices range from $8 (around £6.10) per user per month up to $35 (around £26.60) per user per month.