It's one of the most common decisions facing UK businesses today — and one that people often overthink. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are both excellent, mature productivity platforms. Both will give your team email, documents, spreadsheets, video calls and cloud storage. Both have strong security, compliance tools and mobile support.
The real question isn't "which is better?" — it's "which is better for your business specifically?" And that depends on factors that go well beyond the feature list.
This guide cuts through the noise. We'll compare both platforms across the dimensions that actually matter for UK businesses in 2026, and give you a clear framework for making the right call.
Licensing and pricing
Both platforms offer tiered pricing models, and the headline prices are competitive. But the right comparison isn't just the monthly seat cost — it's what you get at each tier, and what you'd need to add on to make it work for your business.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft's business plans start at Microsoft 365 Business Basic (cloud-only, around £5.10 per user/month) and scale up through Business Standard (with desktop Office apps, around £10.30/user/month) to Business Premium (with full security and compliance tools, around £18.60/user/month). Desktop applications — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook — are included from Business Standard upward.
Google Workspace
Google's plans start at Business Starter (around £4.60/user/month) and scale through Business Standard (around £9.20/user/month) to Business Plus (around £15.40/user/month) and Enterprise tiers. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are browser-based and included at all tiers — there are no desktop apps to install.
"The headline per-seat price rarely tells the whole story. Factor in add-ons, migration costs and training before comparing total cost of ownership."
For most UK SMEs with 10–100 users, the total cost of ownership difference between the two platforms over three years is smaller than you might expect. Where M365 can cost more, it typically reflects the inclusion of desktop applications and more advanced security features that would otherwise need to be purchased separately.
Applications and features
Both platforms cover the essentials comprehensively. The differences lie in depth, desktop vs. browser approach, and how deeply integrated the tools are.
| Feature | Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook — full-featured, offline capable | Gmail — clean, excellent search | |
| Documents | Word — industry standard, desktop & web | Google Docs — fast, real-time, browser-only |
| Spreadsheets | Excel — unmatched depth, complex modelling | Google Sheets — excellent for simple-medium tasks |
| Presentations | PowerPoint — richer formatting, animations | Google Slides — simpler, faster collaboration |
| Video conferencing | Teams — deeply integrated with M365 | Google Meet — clean, browser-native |
| Real-time collaboration | Excellent (web versions) | Excellent — Google's original strength |
| Offline access | Full desktop apps available | Limited offline capability (browser extensions) |
| Cloud storage | OneDrive — 1TB per user (Business Standard+) | Google Drive — pooled storage across org |
| File format compatibility | Native .docx, .xlsx, .pptx (industry standard) | Converts to/from Microsoft formats (can introduce errors) |
Security and compliance
For UK businesses — particularly those in regulated sectors or those handling sensitive client data — security and compliance capabilities often tip the decision.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Microsoft Defender for Business, Azure AD (Entra ID) with conditional access, Intune device management, and Advanced Threat Protection. This is a genuinely enterprise-grade security stack, and it's the reason many professional services firms, law firms and financial organisations standardise on M365.
Google Workspace includes Google Vault for eDiscovery and archiving, endpoint management, and data loss prevention. It's solid — but the equivalent enterprise-grade security features require the higher Business Plus or Enterprise tiers.
Both platforms meet UK GDPR requirements and both have data residency options for UK data. Microsoft has a longer track record with large enterprise compliance certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2, Cyber Essentials Plus), which matters to larger organisations or those supplying to the public sector.
Which businesses suit each platform?
🔵 Microsoft 365 works best for:
- Businesses that rely heavily on Word, Excel or PowerPoint (law, finance, consulting)
- Organisations with complex security or compliance requirements
- Teams that work offline or in environments with unreliable internet
- Businesses migrating from on-premises Exchange Server or SharePoint
- Organisations that need to exchange files with clients who use Office formats
- Businesses already using Windows and Azure infrastructure
🔴 Google Workspace works best for:
- Startups and fast-growing businesses wanting frictionless collaboration
- Organisations where most work happens in a browser
- Teams spread across multiple devices and platforms (Chrome OS, Mac, Android)
- Businesses that prioritise simplicity and fast onboarding
- Organisations with limited IT resource that prefer a lower-admin model
- Education-adjacent or creative sector businesses
Migration: what nobody tells you
Whatever platform you're switching from (or to), migration is the piece that most businesses underestimate. Moving email history, documents, contacts, calendars and shared drives is a technical process — and doing it poorly results in lost data, confused users and weeks of disruption.
If you're switching from on-premises Exchange to Microsoft 365, Microsoft's own migration tools make this relatively streamlined. If you're switching from Google Workspace to M365 (or vice versa), the process is more involved — and format conversion of documents can introduce subtle formatting changes that require review.
A well-managed migration includes: pre-migration audit, pilot group testing, staged rollout, user training, and a parallel running period. Skipping any of these steps is where migrations go wrong.
Our recommendation
Techfident's verdict
For most UK SMEs, Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Premium is the right default choice. The combination of desktop Office applications, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive and enterprise-grade security at Business Premium provides the most complete and flexible platform for a business of 10–200 users.
If your team is already comfortable with Google's tools, your business is under 30 people, and you don't have complex security or compliance requirements, Google Workspace is a perfectly capable and cost-effective choice.
The mistake to avoid is choosing based on price alone. The right platform is the one your team will actually use effectively, in a way that supports your business processes — and that keeps your data secure.
If you're uncertain, we'd always recommend a short discovery conversation before committing. The cost of choosing the wrong platform — in migration effort, retraining time and lost productivity — is invariably higher than the cost of getting independent advice upfront.
How Techfident helps
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, Techfident is well positioned to help UK businesses deploy, migrate to and get the most from Microsoft 365. We handle licensing (often at better rates than going direct), migration planning and execution, Teams configuration, security hardening and ongoing support.
We also work with businesses on Google Workspace — and we're genuinely vendor-neutral in our advice. Our recommendation will always be based on what's right for your business, not on which platform we prefer to sell.
Not sure which platform is right for you?
Get a free, no-pressure consultation with Akbar. We'll assess your current setup, your team's needs, and give you a clear recommendation — with a migration plan if you need one.
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