PowerPoint has extra highly effective options than Google Slides, together with methods to customise animations between slides.
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Nonetheless, Google Slides guidelines on the subject of collaboration, which far outstrips the capabilities constructed into PowerPoint. And since Slides presents fewer capabilities than PowerPoint, it’s barely simpler to create slides in it, as a result of it doesn’t pack as many options into the interface.
Slides isn’t as highly effective as PowerPoint, however its interface is much less cluttered and complicated.
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Observe that within the newest model of PowerPoint, Microsoft killed one in every of its most helpful options: QuickStarter, which made it exceptionally simple to get a leg up on constructing a presentation, together with creating an overview, starter slides, templates, and themes. Microsoft now recommends utilizing its Copilot AI to do this, however Copilot isn’t as easy to make use of as QuickStarter was. And Google’s Gemini AI may help you construct shows in an identical strategy to Copilot. (For extra on that, see “Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: AI instruments” later within the article.)
E mail: Gmail vs. Microsoft Outlook
In case you prize simplicity, you’ll favor Gmail over Outlook. Gmail has a cleaner and fewer cluttered interface than Outlook’s, providing the most effective stability between ease of use and highly effective options. Nonetheless, Outlook has made some headway in the direction of being extra simple to make use of with a simplified Ribbon that places your most used options inside simple attain.
Whether or not it’s creating, responding to, or managing electronic mail, Gmail presents an intuitive interface with easy-to-use instruments for getting your work performed quick. My favorites embody an AI-driven possibility that means phrases and phrases as you sort, a “nudge” function for surfacing forgotten messages, and a helpful snooze button for delaying incoming messages. Its capacity to routinely deal with messages by filtering to particular folders is a snap to make use of as properly.
Gmail presents a streamlined interface and intuitive methods to perform your most necessary electronic mail duties.
Preston Gralla / Foundry
On the subject of energy options, nevertheless, Outlook guidelines. For instance, Outlook presents numerous instruments together with Fast Steps and customizations that automate mail handing in subtle ways in which aren’t doable in Gmail. And since the contacts and calendar capabilities are a part of Outlook itself, they’re properly built-in with electronic mail. Gmail depends on the separate Google Contacts and Calendar apps, which is usually a bit extra cumbersome to navigate.
As well as, Outlook has a left-hand pane that hyperlinks on to all of the Microsoft 365 apps, and it enables you to hyperlink to a Gmail account so you may learn and handle all of your mail accounts immediately inside Outlook. Gmail has hyperlinks to the remainder of its Workspace suite, however they’re not inside as simple attain — you’ll must click on the Google apps button to the precise of your account icon on the prime proper of the display, after which hunt for the app you need. And you may’t see all of your different electronic mail accounts on a single display. You’ll must open them on separate tabs.
Outlook is well-known for its complicated interface that bristles with too many options and choices. Nonetheless, the newest model has been simplified, and though Gmail remains to be far simpler and extra simple to make use of, you received’t end up as simply misplaced in Outlook as you had been previously. Outlook’s net interface now mimics its desktop app, so there’s no extra confusion if you change between one and the opposite.
Outlook isn’t as easy to make use of as Gmail, however its latest look is cleaner than previously. Pictured right here is the net interface, which mimics the desktop app.
Preston Gralla / Foundry
In case your customers need each bell and whistle doable, Outlook offers all of them. For getting issues performed shortly, Gmail is a more sensible choice.
Collaboration: Google Meet, Chat, and Areas vs. Microsoft Groups
As I’ve famous a number of occasions on this article, on the subject of collaborating on paperwork, Google Workspace is way superior to Microsoft 365 — it’s baked proper into the interface, reasonably than feeling like an afterthought because it does within the Workplace apps. Every part is in entrance of you to ask individuals to collaborate, set their collaboration rights, and chat with them when you do the work collectively. There’s a deeper studying curve for utilizing collaboration in Workplace, and even if you learn to do it, it’s not practically as seamless as within the Google apps.
Working collectively on particular person paperwork is just one a part of the equation, although. On the subject of extra advanced, enterprise-wide collaboration options, Microsoft 365 consists of instruments that beat something Google Workspace presents. Microsoft Groups, for instance, combines group chat, on-line conferences, videoconferencing, custom-made workspaces, calendars, and shared crew file repositories in a approach that’s extra subtle and helpful than something Google has. And Groups has deep ties to the remainder of the Workplace platform, providing easy integration with Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive for Enterprise, and extra.
The Groups group-chat platform integrates intently with the remainder of Microsoft 365.
Howard Wen
Groups was once included with all M365 enterprise and enterprise plans, however after going through antitrust scrutiny within the European Union, Microsoft partially unbundled Groups from its M365 enterprise plans, first within the EU and then globally. Enterprise and small enterprise prospects can now purchase M365 variations both with or with out Groups.
For its half, Workspace presents Google Meet for videoconferencing and Google Chat for messaging. There’s additionally Areas, a workflow integration and collaboration software that’s accessible as a part of Google Chat and built-in with Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Duties. Areas enables you to create shared workspaces the place you may chat, share recordsdata, and assign duties.
Creating a brand new shared workspace in Google Areas.
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These instruments are helpful and easy, though switching amongst them is just not as seamless as having all these capabilities within the Groups app.
Storage and file sharing: Google Drive vs. Microsoft OneDrive for Enterprise and SharePoint
Each suites include substantial quantities of storage, apart from the most cost effective Google Workspace model, Starter, which presents solely 30GB per particular person. The Normal plan consists of 2TB per particular person, the Plus plan has 5TB per particular person, and the Enterprise and Enterprise+ variations primarily supply limitless storage per particular person.
Microsoft 365’s small enterprise and lower-tier enterprise plans embody 1TB of storage per consumer, whereas its E3 and E5 plans embody 5TB of storage per consumer. Prospects with E3 and E5 plans can request extra storage from Microsoft. (Subscriptions with fewer than 5 customers get solely 1TB of storage, which may’t be expanded.)
There’s little to distinguish Google Workspace’s and Microsoft 365’s storage-and-shared-documents options from each other. Each Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive for Enterprise combine immediately with their very own workplace suites, and each assist you to entry the recordsdata on any system. In Workspace, the recordsdata reside within the cloud by default reasonably than on the units themselves, though you may also retailer them domestically. In Microsoft 365 they sometimes reside on every system and in addition within the cloud, and all of it syncs collectively, though you have got the choice of holding particular recordsdata and folders cloud-only.
In case you’re anxious about offline entry for the cloud-first Google Workspace, it presents administration instruments that permit directors to set whether or not customers can entry their paperwork and use Docs, Sheets, and Slides when their computer systems aren’t related to the web. The instruments permit admins to put in a coverage on every pc permitting that entry, or else let every consumer determine whether or not to permit offline entry.
OneDrive has a pleasant function known as OneDrive Information on Demand that lets customers determine, on a file-by-file and folder-by-folder foundation, which recordsdata to retailer on particular person units and which to depart within the cloud, though the recordsdata and folders within the cloud are nonetheless accessible for obtain if you need them on a tool.
Nearly all Microsoft 365 enterprise and enterprise plans additionally embody a free model of Microsoft’s SharePoint service, known as SharePoint On-line. SharePoint On-line provides substantial options to storage and sharing. It manages and organizes paperwork, workflows, and different shared data, sometimes through a sequence of mini-sites.
SharePoint On-line is delivered as a service and is hosted by Microsoft, so companies don’t have to buy and handle their very own servers and infrastructure for it. Nonetheless, they might want admins to deal with numerous SharePoint On-line duties, comparable to content material administration and portal design.
There’s additionally a for-pay model of SharePoint, known as SharePoint Server, that’s accessible underneath a separate license and isn’t included as a part of Microsoft 365. With SharePoint Server, your enterprise hosts and manages the bodily and software program infrastructure required for SharePoint. Which means performing duties comparable to racking servers; making use of safety patches and have updates; and monitoring uptime, reliability, and safety. With SharePoint On-line, these duties are dealt with by Microsoft.
Google doesn’t supply a real equal to SharePoint On-line in Google Workspace. All variations of Workspace besides Enterprise Starter can use a function known as Shared Drives, that are Google Drive folders that may be accessed and managed by a couple of particular person. They can be utilized as helpful repositories for members of a crew to retailer and share paperwork, photographs, and different recordsdata, however Shared Drives will not be built-in intranet websites like these provided by SharePoint.
One remaining be aware: Google’s search instruments for locating paperwork in Google Drive are much better than Microsoft’s search instruments in OneDrive, and its Cloud Search operate extends Google’s search energy throughout all of an organization’s content material. That being stated, it’s typically simpler to browse OneDrive utilizing File Explorer than it’s to browse Google Drive on the internet.
Suites like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are super productiveness boosters; it’s virtually unimaginable for any enterprise to not use them or one thing like them. Many individuals consider the identical factor will ultimately be stated of AI — each conventional AI and newer generative AI instruments like Microsoft 365 Copilot and Gemini.
Each suites have included built-in AI options for years. Microsoft 365’s Energy Automate (beforehand known as Microsoft Stream) makes use of AI to assist individuals construct workflows utilizing pure language prompts. Microsoft Energy BI is an information visualization app connects to Excel and different knowledge sources. And Microsoft Editor works in Phrase and Outlook for textual content prediction and spelling and grammar checking.
Constructed-in AI instruments in Google Workspace embody Good Compose for creating paperwork and Good Reply for responding to feedback. Workspace additionally has Good Cleanup, which identifies errors in Sheets and corrects them, and Good Fill, which automates including knowledge to Sheets.
However many of the buzz is round extra lately launched genAI instruments, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Gemini. GenAI may be significantly efficient when mixed with the productiveness suites, and including new genAI options is clearly a prime precedence for each firms. There are those that consider that genAI instruments have already change into essential addition to workplace suites.
Google Workspace consists of Gemini in its apps without spending a dime. As for Copilot, it’s sophisticated. Copilot Chat, a fundamental model of Microsoft’s chatbot, is now accessible in Workplace apps without spending a dime underneath any M365 subscription for enterprise. Entry to extra superior options requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on subscription, which prices $30 per consumer per 30 days for big companies or $21 per consumer per 30 days for small companies. That stated, extra performance is deliberate for Copilot Chat this yr, together with value will increase for many M365 plans in July 2026.
Microsoft 365 Copilot has been accessible longer than Gemini in Google Workspace. It integrates with Phrase, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Groups.
In Phrase, it may possibly create paperwork based mostly in your prompts, or by being given an present doc and requested to create a brand new one from that — for instance, creating a brand new gross sales pitch based mostly on an present advertising doc. In PowerPoint, it really works equally and may create shows based mostly on prompts or present paperwork. In Excel, it may possibly analyze knowledge, generate formulation, automate repetitive duties, and use Python for superior evaluation.
Copilot created this primary draft of a presentation in PowerPoint based mostly on a one-paragraph description.
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In Outlook, it may possibly write emails based mostly on prompts or paperwork, reply emails and summarize electronic mail threads, and prioritize your inbox so you may shortly see which emails are most necessary. In Groups, it may possibly summarize major dialogue factors of conferences and recommend motion objects, amongst different capabilities.
It can also present a big-picture view of tasks after which allow you to drill all the way down to get extra granular data — for instance, discovering a selected spreadsheet with income projections for the subsequent 5 years for brand spanking new strains of enterprise.
Past that, there are capabilities outdoors the core Microsoft 365 apps, comparable to Copilot Pages, designed for AI-driven collaboration. In contrast to the standard ephemeral genAI output, this shared canvas offers a persistent setting the place customers can work together with the AI and one another, with every little thing saved to be constructed on sooner or later.
Different options embody Researcher and Analyst brokers, which present in actual time how they attain their conclusions if you work together with Copilot, and Copilot Notebooks, which may search and summarize knowledge throughout Microsoft 365 and third-party apps.
Additionally new is Agent Mode, which may construct and edit paperwork, spreadsheets, and shows from chats, and also can run multi-step duties such analyzing an Excel spreadsheet and drafting a abstract of its findings.
In Google Workspace, Gemini presents options much like M365 Copilot’s, with a few of its personal distinctive twists. Gemini can write new paperwork and emails based mostly on prompts. In Docs, Sheets, and Slides it may possibly summarize, analyze, and generate new content material from scratch or based mostly in your present recordsdata and emails. Gemini also can scan individuals’s calendars and suggest assembly occasions the place everyone seems to be free, and take assembly notes in Google Meet.
A launch plan for beginning a small enterprise created by Gemini in Google Docs.
Preston Gralla / Foundry
Gemini additionally has Workspace Flows, which may automate work throughout Workspace apps, comparable to a stream of jobs required for doc critiques, buyer help requests, or product evaluation. Gemini’s Gems customized AI agent builder serves as a sort of entrance finish to Flows so that individuals with no coding expertise can use it.
Gemini’s NotebookLM enables you to carry out analysis based mostly by yourself paperwork, notes, audio, web sites and different sources. It might probably then reply questions, generate summaries, and assist you to brainstorm. NotebookLM is offered to anybody with a Google account, however extra superior options are included with a Workspace subscription.
In Gmail, Gemini can summarize electronic mail threads, discover information from earlier emails, and recommend reply choices. In January 2026 it was publicly testing new Gemini Gmail options, together with letting it create to-do lists based mostly on current emails. In Slides it may possibly create photographs, take away backgrounds from photographs, and generate new slides. In Sheets it may possibly create tables and formulation, in addition to create templates for venture schedules, budgets, charts, and different functions.
In Docs, Gemini can be utilized to collaboratively create paperwork with co-workers — a number of individuals, for instance, can work on the identical doc, and every particular person can use prompts to generate concepts that everybody can work on collectively. And in Meet, it may possibly take assembly notes and share them along with your crew, create translated captions in a number of languages, and create customized background photographs. It might probably additionally recommend inquiries to ask throughout a gathering and supply key takeaways from conferences.
It’s price noting that with generative AI a prime precedence for each firms, each Copilot and Gemini will quickly achieve extra options and extra integrations with their respective app suites and with third-party software program. As this text was being ready, each firms launched a number of new options of their genAI instruments, and we’ve little doubt that they’ll proceed to take action for the foreseeable future.
Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Different apps and extras
Microsoft 365 goes properly past suite fundamentals, with loads of further functions and smaller apps. Amongst them is Entry, which can be utilized to construct enterprise functions, both based mostly on templates or fully from scratch. It’s designed for non-developers, though it does require some coding smarts. Entry is offered for Home windows solely, and it’s solely included with sure subscriptions: Enterprise Normal and Premium, M365 Apps for Enterprise, Workplace 365 E3 and E5, and M365 E3 and E5.
Entry for Home windows is among the many instruments included with some M365 subscriptions.
Preston Gralla / IDG
The OneNote note-taking app, accessible with most M365 subscriptions, is a really helpful but underutilized a part of the Workplace suite. Enterprise-level plans additionally include Microsoft Kinds, an app that allows you to create surveys, quizzes and polls, and Microsoft Planner, which, as its identify implies, helps groups create plans, and assign duties, share recordsdata, chat about what you’re engaged on, and hold monitor of updates. It might probably work by itself or combine with Microsoft Groups.
One other utility included with some Microsoft 365 enterprise plans is Energy Automate (beforehand known as Microsoft Stream), which permits companies to automate repetitive duties and combine them into workflows — for instance, routinely sending an alert when a brand new merchandise is added to SharePoint. Microsoft Clipchamp presents video enhancing and design instruments, and Microsoft Loop is a collaborative software that allows you to construct workspaces that combine all of the components of a venture.
Different apps and companies included with some plans embody PowerApps, a low-code app growth software; Viva Insights, a productiveness evaluation software; Sway, a software for creating web-based shows; To Do, a to-do record app that integrates with different M365 apps; Visio, a diagramming app; and Bookings, an appointment scheduling app.
Google Workspace has extras as properly. Google Kinds, which works hand-in-hand with Sheets, is especially helpful. Because the identify implies, it enables you to create types for all kinds of functions, comparable to an order type, a piece request, a time-off request, or getting suggestions about an occasion.
Google Kinds enables you to shortly and simply create custom-made types to get suggestions.
Preston Gralla / Foundry
Google Websites is one other helpful one. It enables you to create crew and firm web sites for particular person tasks, occasions, and different comparable functions. There’s additionally the Google Preserve note-taking app, which is simple, bare-bones, and never practically as subtle as Microsoft’s OneNote. AppSheet offers a low-code app growth setting.
And if you wish to create drawings, significantly diagrams, you’ll admire Google Drawings, which isn’t included with Google Workspace however works in live performance with it (and is free). In case you create a drawing with Drawings and embed it right into a Google Doc, after which make a change within the drawing file itself, the drawing in Google Docs will get up to date as properly.
None of those extras presents knock-your-socks-off capabilities, apart from Microsoft’s Entry and Clipchamp and Google’s AppSheet, which may permit these with restricted programming expertise to create really helpful functions. So they might not have an effect on your resolution on which suite is greatest for your enterprise. For a lot of firms, they’re nice-to-have instruments, not must-have ones.
Selecting the productiveness suite with the most effective options for your enterprise is one factor, however usually ignored is how simple or tough it’s to handle the suite and defend your knowledge. Even the most effective user-facing options can’t make up for poor or inadequate safety and administration instruments.
Each suites are managed from an online interface, and in each cases, the interface leaves one thing to be desired, with considerably complicated choices and layouts. Nonetheless, the simplified view within the Microsoft 365 admin middle beats something in Google Workspace due to how simply it enables you to accomplish the most typical duties, together with and enhancing new and present customers, altering licenses, paying payments, and putting in Workplace on units.
Interfaces apart, Microsoft 365 presents higher admin account safety, superior cell administration, and extra administration controls. Each suites defend your knowledge with enterprise-grade safety and supply a central safety middle for managing consumer permissions and protections.
For an in-depth comparability, take a look at “Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Which has higher administration instruments?”
Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Service and help
In a really perfect world, nothing goes flawed with an workplace suite, and nobody ever wants technical help. However we don’t reside in that very best world. So that you’ll need to know the sort of help and updates that Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 supply.
Google Workspace presents 24/7 tech help through cellphone, electronic mail, and chat, however for Workspace directors solely. There’s additionally a searchable assist middle for directors and a weblog protecting launch data for Google Workspace updates. Additionally helpful is the Google Workspace Neighborhood, which incorporates boards in addition to YouTube movies to assist directors accomplish frequent duties. Non-administrators must go to Google’s common assist space, which covers many Google merchandise comparable to YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Photographs along with the person parts of Google Workspace. There’s additionally a Google Workspace Studying Heart for consumer coaching.
Google releases Google Workspace updates a number of occasions a month, and publishes a schedule of all present and deliberate updates.
Microsoft additionally has 24/7 tech help through cellphone, a web-based help web site, and chat for Microsoft 365 directors. The Microsoft 365 admin middle assist web site consists of assist focused at small companies in addition to enterprises. There’s a large variety of boards dedicated to Microsoft 365. And the Microsoft Workplace Assist & Coaching space has all kinds of assist, all the way down to the applying degree and together with troubleshooting for each shoppers and admins.
As for updates, Microsoft typically releases Microsoft 365 updates a number of occasions a month and publishes data on-line about each replace.
Can Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace work collectively?
As you’ve seen all through this piece, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have their very own strengths and weaknesses, so that you could be tempted to make use of each of them — for instance, Microsoft 365 for doc creation and Google Workspace for collaboration.
Theoretically, it’s doable. In follow, it’s a nasty thought. Partially that’s as a result of Google Workspace’s paperwork aren’t saved as native paperwork with their very own file codecs. As an alternative, they reside on Google’s servers. It can save you them in numerous file codecs, together with Microsoft 365’s .docx, .xlsx and .pptx, and you’ll import recordsdata from these and different codecs as properly. There’s even a strategy to natively edit Phrase, Excel, and PowerPoint recordsdata of their unique codecs on Google’s servers. However I’ve discovered that formatting and layouts are sometimes misplaced in translation between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, embedded movies don’t work, not all feedback are proven, resolved feedback don’t seem, feedback you make in Google aren’t introduced again into Workplace, and so forth.
As well as, the workflow is a nightmare in the event you’re transferring recordsdata forwards and backwards between the 2 suites. The thought behind enhancing on-line is to have a single location the place everybody can collaborate on the newest model of every file, however in the event you use each Workspace and Microsoft 365, numerous variations of the file could also be saved in Google Drive, OneDrive for Enterprise, or each.
However what about utilizing one suite for content material creation, collaboration, and storage and the opposite for communications like electronic mail, shared calendars, group chat, and videoconferencing? Once more, it’s theoretically doable, however I don’t see the purpose. It makes every little thing rather more tough due to convoluted workflows, and also you’d lose the integrations constructed into every suite. And there’s additionally the difficulty of companies having to pay for, handle, and preserve two workplace suites, not one, when there aren’t any apparent advantages to be gained by it.
As for integrating with different enterprise software program comparable to Salesforce, Shopify, HubSpot, and others, there are many instruments for doing that with each suites. If any explicit piece of enterprise software program is especially necessary to your enterprise, you’d do properly to check out the integrations with each Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 earlier than deciding on a set.
Who ought to use Google Workspace
Based mostly on all this, what sort of firm ought to use Google Workspace? It’s fairly simple: If collaborating on paperwork is baked into your organization’s DNA — otherwise you need to bake it in — Google Workspace is for you. Its reside collaboration options far outstrip something Microsoft 365 has to supply. They’re such an integral a part of the suite’s design and so easy to make use of, it requires virtually no time in any respect to stand up and working with them.
Google Workspace can also be guess if your organization doesn’t want all the subtle options of Microsoft 365’s particular person apps. Every particular person utility in Google Workspace is easier to make use of than Microsoft 365’s, with Gmail particularly extra simple than Outlook. And in case your customers do numerous looking for paperwork, Google’s search capabilities for Google Drive simply outstrip what Microsoft 365 has to supply.
All of Gemini’s capabilities are included without spending a dime as a part of most Google Workspace plans, whereas Copilot’s strongest options require an costly add-on subscription to Microsoft 365. So if you’d like a totally powered AI assistant as a part of your enterprise’s productiveness suite, Google Workspace is a compelling possibility.
Who ought to use Microsoft 365
If highly effective and complicated options are extra necessary to you than the most effective in collaboration, then Microsoft 365 is for you. Each one in every of its functions beats out its Google Workspace equal. And it’s not as in the event you can’t do reside collaboration in Microsoft 365. It’s only a bit extra of a chore and never as simple as in Google Workspace. And Microsoft 365’s markup options are exemplary, so it’s guess when individuals have to evaluation one another’s work.
Till lately, the most important argument in favor of Workspace over Microsoft 365 was the previous’s inclusion of Gemini instruments at no extra value. With Copilot Chat now embedded in M365 apps without spending a dime, a lot of that argument has been eliminated — though essentially the most highly effective options nonetheless require a separate M365 Copilot subscription.
There are different causes for a enterprise to make use of Microsoft 365 as properly. Though Google Workspace’s shared drives are helpful for sharing paperwork and supplies, they’re no match for the absolutely collaborative environments that SharePoint presents. If you wish to handle your mail server, reasonably than use hosted electronic mail, you’ll additionally need Microsoft 365. And Microsoft Groups offers a good way for groups to share work with each other.
Arms-on assist:
This story was initially revealed in February 2020 and most lately up to date in March 2026.
