Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Spending plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites worldwide of software application as a service (SaaS), both providing a wide variety of applications that modern-day companies need.
While the functions of a number of these applications are comparable, Microsoft and Google's proprietary 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 pair are the managed it service gold coast leading email applications in company by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may appear basic on the surface, but the differences between Outlook and Gmail reveal that things are more complex than sending and receiving mail.
The functions of each are various, beginning with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and personal privacy supplied.
Pricing
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced monthly, per user, and have different tiers of prices. As it refers to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers normally only affects storage space.
Utilizing Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed every year), each user gets 50 GB of email storage space, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, the most fundamental level of M365 does not include any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users acquiring this plan will have to be happy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic strategy ($ 6), offers just 30 GB of storage in general, integrating email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage offered Microsoft accounts for 100% of your total storage on Google's cheapest strategy.
That disparity is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium strategies, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) jumping to 2 TB of drive storage, and the Plus plan ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft offers 2-5 TB of drive storage with their business offerings, however mailbox storage can essentially be endless through endless archiving starting with the E3 plan ($ 32).
A grid showing the rates and storage capabilities 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 go up strategies, the Outlook desktop app could swing your decision, as we will talk about later. Remember, Microsoft's rates is based upon an annual commitment, while Google does not offer annual discount rates since this post.
This post is merely covering the two suites through the scope of their email applications, and these prices cover lots of other features. If price is your main factor, think about each suite in total prior to making a decision.
Ease of Use
The most significant difference in between the 2 suites overall is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are even more feature-packed relative to Google's web apps.
While the features are not as different between the email applications, the complete Gmail experience is only available through a web internet browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the full Exchange server experience, with the added advantage of having the ability to read and prepare emails while offline.
If you are on a plane, replying to emails and working on documents you prepare to send later may be the best use of your time.
With Outlook, you don't require to wait for the web to continue working, just to deliver your work.
Gmail's user interface can't be reached without internet connectivity unless you first jump through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will need to use Google's Chrome internet browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your e-mail via their offline function, the dependability of which has been debatable over the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that problem can be worked around, however reacting to a bunch of work e-mails 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 give Outlook a small, however substantial, benefit over Gmail due to ease of use.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the company understood for its search engine enables you to find e-mails you need more reliably.
Gmail's advantage starts with its classification using labels. Multiple labels can be used to each email or thread, and subcategories can be developed within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If numerous labels have been used to a single e-mail or term, those messages will appear under each label. Labels allow you to auto-filter incoming e-mails based on hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, sorting is limited to folders, requiring users to categorize each email/thread into a singular location.
When it comes to the real search function, both enable users to search using keywords, in addition to folders/labels, senders, and date got.
Gmail not just has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, but it is likewise flat-out more accurate.
This is the very 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 superior standing is not just vast, but it is apparent on two various fronts.
Google has come under fire recently regarding its handling of personal data, with reports that the business scans user emails. More significantly, Google apparently tracks your location, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted advertisements.
On the other hand, Microsoft is much more transparent about their privacy policy and the information they gather.
If your company transmits sensitive or personal information regularly, it most likely goes without stating that you would feel more comfortable utilizing Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and getting personal data, it would take a lot of other advantages to surpass such apparent privacy issues.
For managers, Outlook provides a lot more internal security in the type of approvals. While Outlook's folder company does not present the same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the capability to allow and disallow specific actions within folders.
Outlook gives users 10 varying functions to select from, in addition to a customized role where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions include everything from reading, editing, erasing, and sending out messages to seeing your calendar's particular meetings or downtime.
Functionally, this enables supervisors to entrust jobs to their subordinates without providing full-scale access to more vital details. It also stops dissatisfied staff members from possibly taking or erasing details considered sensitive.
You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is basically like handing over the keys to your vehicle. You can't appoint levels of access, hide private messages, or perhaps see messages sent out by your delegate on your behalf.
One of, if not the most important category is a runaway win for Outlook. With detailed alternatives and a personal privacy policy that is a lot more transparent, Microsoft 365's email platform stands alone.
Calendar
Technically, Google Calendar is not a part of Gmail, though all it takes to sync the two is a Workspace account and a few clicks through Gmail's menu.
For the sake of taking a wider look at Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we'll compare Outlook's calendar to Google Calendar here.
Gmail users lamented the platform's combination with other services or customers who used Outlook.
Some grievances included that updates to standing conferences made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the failure to push updated info to individuals.
Furthermore, Google Calendar will instantly try to turn all of your video conferences into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will automatically post a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, and that function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have added combinations 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 boils down to personal choice. A lot of the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail have actually benefits based on how your business runs, along with your budget.
Ultimately, the openness and security of Outlook make it the stronger offering. If you find yourself sorting through countless e-mails a day, nevertheless, Gmail may be the right alternative for you.