Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the very best for Your Budget?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites on the planet of software application as a service (SaaS), both offering a wide variety of applications that modern-day business require.
While the functions of a number of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's exclusive offerings each have their own quirks, for better or worse.
In this post, we will take a look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Independently, the itleaders.com.au set are the leading e-mail applications in business by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may seem simple on the surface, but the distinctions in between Outlook and Gmail show that things are more complex than sending and getting mail.
The operations of each are different, beginning with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and privacy offered.
Pricing
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced monthly, per user, and have different tiers of prices. As it pertains to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers usually only impacts storage area.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed yearly), each user gets 50 GB of email storage space, which is independent of the additional 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Remember, the most standard level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users buying this plan will need to enjoy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), supplies simply 30 GB of storage overall, combining email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mail box storage offered Microsoft accounts for 100% of your overall storage on Google's cheapest strategy.
That discrepancy is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium plans, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) jumping to 2 TB of drive storage, and the Plus plan ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft supplies 2-5 TB of drive storage with their enterprise offerings, but mailbox storage can essentially be unlimited through unrestricted archiving beginning with the E3 strategy ($ 32).
A grid revealing the rates and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the most inexpensive level, the 2 platforms are similar, and Gmail's web app could be worth the extra dollar per month.
As you move up strategies, the Outlook desktop app might swing your choice, as we will talk about later. Remember, Microsoft's prices is based upon a yearly commitment, while Google does not use annual discounts as of this post.
This post is simply covering the 2 suites through the scope of their email applications, and these costs cover lots of other functions. If rate is your primary element, consider each suite in overall before making a decision.
Reduce of Use
The biggest distinction in between the 2 suites general is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are far more feature-packed relative to Google's web apps.
While the features are not as various between the e-mail applications, the complete Gmail experience is just available through a web internet browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the full Exchange server experience, with the added benefit of having the ability to check out and draft e-mails while offline.
For example, if you are on a plane, replying to e-mails and working on documents you prepare to send out later may be the best usage of your time.
With Outlook, you don't require to wait for the internet to continue working, only to deliver your work.
Gmail's interface can't be reached without web connection unless you initially jump through some hoops.
Both have mobile applications, so that concern can be worked around, but responding to a bevy of work emails on a mobile phone can be a struggle.
The complete suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much bigger advantage for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still give Outlook a small, but significant, advantage over Gmail due to ease of use.
Searchability
As you would expect, the company known for its online search engine enables you to discover emails you need more dependably.
Gmail's benefit starts with its classification using labels. Multiple labels can be used to each e-mail or thread, and subcategories can be produced within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If multiple labels have been applied to a single email or term, those messages will appear under each label. Additionally, labels permit you to auto-filter incoming e-mails based on hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, sorting is limited to folders, forcing users to categorize each email/thread into a singular place.
As for the actual search function, both enable users to search utilizing keywords, along with folders/labels, senders, and date got.
Gmail not only has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however it is likewise flat-out more accurate.
This is the first solid win for Gmail, as Outlook's searchability and categorization are not as robust.
Security
Microsoft is the leader in this category, and it is not particularly close. Their remarkable standing is not just large, but it is apparent on two various fronts.
Google has actually come under fire just recently concerning its handling of personal data, with reports that the business scans user e-mails. More significantly, Google supposedly tracks your location, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted ads.
If your organization transfers delicate or personal data routinely, it most likely goes without stating that you would feel more comfortable using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending out and receiving personal information, it would take a lot of other advantages to exceed such evident personal privacy issues.
For supervisors, Outlook provides much more internal security in the kind of authorizations. While Outlook's folder organization does not present the same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the ability to allow and prohibit particular actions within folders.
Outlook offers users 10 varying roles to choose from, as well as a custom-made function where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions consist of whatever from reading, modifying, erasing, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's specific conferences or leisure time.
Functionally, this permits supervisors to delegate tasks to their subordinates without providing major access to more important details. It also stops unhappy employees from potentially stealing or erasing information deemed sensitive.
You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like turning over the keys to your vehicle. You can't appoint levels of gain access to, hide personal messages, or even see messages sent by your delegate in your place.
One of, if not the most important classification is a runaway win for Outlook. With thorough choices and a personal privacy policy that is much more transparent, Microsoft 365's e-mail platform stands alone.
Calendar
Technically, Google Calendar is not a part of Gmail, though all it requires to sync the 2 is a Workspace account and a few clicks through Gmail's menu.
For the sake of taking a broader look at Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we'll compare Outlook's calendar to Google Calendar here.
Initially, Gmail users regreted the platform's integration with other companies or customers who used Outlook.
Some problems included that updates to standing conferences made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the inability to press upgraded information to participants.
In Addition, Google Calendar will instantly attempt to turn all of your video conferences into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will immediately publish a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, and that function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have actually included integrations with the other, and by all accounts, they work flawlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like many things, this choice mainly comes down to personal choice. Much of the differences between Outlook and Gmail have advantages based on how your business runs, in addition to your budget plan.
Ultimately, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the more powerful offering. If you find yourself arranging through thousands of e-mails a day, however, Gmail may be the right choice for you.