Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant efficiency suites on the planet of software application as a service (SaaS), both providing a wide range of applications that modern-day companies need.
While the functions of many of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's exclusive offerings each have their own peculiarities, for much better or worse.
In migration services to microsoft office 365 this post, we will look at e-mail through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Separately, the pair are the leading email applications in business by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may seem easy on the surface, but the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail show that things are more complicated than sending and getting mail.
The operations of each are various, starting with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and privacy supplied.
Pricing
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced each month, per user, and have different tiers of rates. As it refers to the mail accounts themselves, the difference in tiers generally only affects storage space.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic plan ($ 5/month/user when billed every year), each user gets 50 GB of e-mail storage area, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, one of the most fundamental level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, including Outlook. Users acquiring this plan will have to enjoy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), offers simply 30 GB of storage in general, combining email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mail box storage provided for Microsoft accounts for 100% of your total storage on Google's most affordable strategy.
That discrepancy is likely an attempt by Google to upsell users to their premium strategies, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) leaping to 2 TB of drive storage, and the Plus strategy ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft supplies 2-5 TB of drive storage with their enterprise offerings, however mail box storage can essentially be endless through limitless archiving beginning with the E3 plan ($ 32).
A grid showing the prices and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the least expensive level, the two platforms are similar, and Gmail's web app might be worth the extra dollar each month.
As you move up strategies, the Outlook desktop app might swing your decision, as we will talk about later. Bear in mind, Microsoft's pricing is based upon a yearly commitment, while Google does not use yearly discounts since this post.
This post is just covering the two suites through the scope of their e-mail applications, and these rates cover lots of other features. If price is your main element, consider each suite in total before making a decision.
Relieve of Use
The biggest distinction between the two suites general is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are far more feature-packed relative to Google's web apps.
While the functions are not as various in between the email applications, the complete Gmail experience is just available through a web internet browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the complete Exchange server experience, with the added advantage of being able to check out and draft e-mails while offline.
If you are on a plane, responding to emails and working on documents you plan to send out later may be the finest usage of your time.
With Outlook, you don't require to wait on the internet to continue working, only to provide your work.
Gmail's user interface can't be reached without internet connection unless you initially jump through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will require to utilize Google's Chrome web browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your email via their offline function, the dependability of which has actually been debatable for many years.
Both have mobile applications, so that concern can be worked around, however responding to a bevy of work emails on a mobile device can be a battle.
The complete suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much bigger advantage for Microsoft in comparing other apps, but we'll still offer Outlook a minor, however considerable, advantage over Gmail due to ease of use.
Searchability
As you would expect, the business understood for its search engine enables you to find e-mails you need more dependably.
Gmail's advantage starts with its classification using labels. Numerous labels can be used to each e-mail or thread, and subcategories can be created within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If multiple labels have been applied to a single e-mail or term, those messages will appear under each label. Furthermore, labels enable you to auto-filter incoming e-mails based upon hand-chosen criteria.
In Outlook, arranging is restricted to folders, forcing users to categorize each email/thread into a singular location.
As for the actual search function, both allow users to browse using keywords, as well as folders/labels, senders, and date got.
Gmail not only has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, but it is also flat-out more precise.
This is the first strong win for Gmail, as Outlook's searchability and classification are not as robust.
Security
Microsoft is the leader in this category, and it is not especially close. Their exceptional standing is not just vast, however it appears on two various fronts.
Google has come under fire just recently regarding its handling of individual information, with reports that the company scans user emails. More notably, Google apparently tracks your location, your activity, and even your voice for the function of targeted ads.
If your company sends delicate or individual information frequently, it probably goes without stating that you would feel more comfy utilizing Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and receiving private information, it would take a great deal of other benefits to surpass such evident privacy issues.
For managers, Outlook offers a lot more internal security in the kind of authorizations. While Outlook's folder company does not provide the exact same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the ability to enable and prohibit certain actions within folders.
Outlook provides users 10 differing functions to pick from, in addition to a custom function where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions consist of whatever from reading, modifying, erasing, and sending out messages to seeing your calendar's particular conferences or downtime.
Functionally, this permits managers to hand over tasks to their subordinates without giving them major access to more vital info. It also stops unhappy employees from potentially stealing or deleting information deemed delicate.
You can entrust account access to others in Gmail, which is basically like handing over the keys to your automobile. You can't assign levels of gain access to, conceal private messages, or even see messages sent by your delegate in your place.
Among, if not the most essential category is a runaway win for Outlook. With extensive options and a privacy policy that is far more transparent, Microsoft 365's email platform stands alone.
Calendar
Technically, Google Calendar is not a part of Gmail, though all it requires to sync the two is a Workspace account and a few clicks through Gmail's menu.
For the sake of taking a more comprehensive take a look at Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we'll compare Outlook's calendar to Google Calendar here.
Initially, Gmail users lamented the platform's combination with other businesses or customers who used Outlook.
Some grievances consisted of that updates to standing conferences made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the failure to press updated info to individuals.
Furthermore, Google Calendar will immediately attempt to turn all of your video meetings into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will automatically publish a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, and that function requires to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have actually added integrations with the other, and by all accounts, they work seamlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Verdict
Like most things, this choice largely comes down to individual choice. A lot of the differences in between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based on how your company runs, as well as your budget plan.
Eventually, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the stronger offering. If you find yourself arranging through thousands of e-mails a day, nevertheless, Gmail may be the right choice for you.