Both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are excellent platforms. Either will run a 5-person consultancy or a 500-person manufacturer perfectly well. So the decision rarely comes down to "which is better" — it comes down to which fits your business, your people and your existing software stack.
We deploy and support both at Axia, so this is a comparison from a UK MSP that has no preference to sell you.
The short answer
- Choose Microsoft 365 if you live in Excel, run line-of-business apps that integrate with Outlook, have a Windows fleet, or have any regulated/document-heavy workflows.
- Choose Google Workspace if you're fully cloud-native, collaboration-first, comfortable with Chrome/ChromeOS or mixed-device fleets, and have no legacy desktop-app dependencies.
1. Productivity apps
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook remain the most powerful desktop productivity suite in the world — particularly Excel, which has no real equivalent. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are excellent for real-time collaboration but lag in raw depth. If your finance team builds complex models, Microsoft wins. If your team mostly co-edits documents in a browser, Google often feels lighter and faster.
2. Email
Exchange Online (the Outlook back end) and Gmail are both rock-solid. Exchange has stronger shared-mailbox, calendar delegation and policy controls; Gmail has stronger search and a cleaner mobile experience. For most SMEs this is a tie, decided by user preference.
3. Collaboration & meetings
Microsoft Teams and Google Meet/Chat now do broadly the same things. Teams has deeper integration with files, third-party business apps and telephony (especially via direct routing). Meet is simpler and just works in a browser.
4. Security & compliance
Both platforms offer strong baseline security, MFA, conditional access, DLP and audit logging. Microsoft 365 Business Premium currently offers the deepest security feature set per pound for SMEs — including Defender for endpoints, Intune device management and email anti-phishing. Google's Business Plus tier is closing the gap quickly.
Whichever you pick, the platform alone is not a security strategy. Both need to be properly configured — MFA enforced, legacy auth disabled, conditional access tuned, alerts monitored.
5. Cost (UK, 2025)
Headline pricing is broadly similar at the entry tiers. Microsoft 365 Business Premium (£18.10/user/month at time of writing) is the sweet spot for most SMEs because it bundles security and device management that you'd otherwise buy separately. Google Workspace Business Plus is the equivalent comparison, not Business Standard.
6. Devices
Microsoft 365 + Intune is the strongest stack for managing Windows laptops, and works well for Macs and mobiles too. Google + ChromeOS is the strongest stack for fleets of Chromebooks. If you have a mixed Mac/Windows environment with no Chromebooks, Microsoft 365 generally gives more management depth.
7. Migration
Migrations in either direction are well-trodden. A clean 25-user move typically takes 2–4 weeks elapsed, with cutover over a weekend. The real work is data hygiene, mail-flow planning and user comms — not the technical lift.
The honest verdict
For the majority of UK SMEs we work with — particularly in professional services, finance, legal, healthcare and anything Excel-heavy — Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the better-fit choice and offers more bundled value. For cloud-native, design-led or education-adjacent businesses with no Windows legacy, Google Workspace is genuinely excellent and often lighter to live with.
Either way, pick deliberately, configure properly, and review annually.