Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant efficiency suites on the planet of software as a service (SaaS), both offering a vast array of applications that contemporary companies need.
While the functions of a lot of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's proprietary offerings each have their own quirks, for better or worse.
In this post, we will look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Separately, the pair are the leading e-mail applications in organization by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may seem simple on the surface, but the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail show that things are more complex than sending out and receiving mail.
The workings of each are various, beginning with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and personal privacy provided.
Prices
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.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic plan ($ 5/month/user when billed annually), each user gets 50 GB of email storage space, which is independent of the additional 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Google's Business Basic strategy ($ 6), provides simply 30 GB of storage overall, integrating email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage provided for Microsoft accounts for 100% of your overall storage on Google's most inexpensive strategy.
That inconsistency is likely an attempt by Google to upsell users to their premium plans, with their Standard plan ($ 12) jumping to 2 TB brisbane it support 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 unlimited archiving beginning with the E3 plan ($ 32).
A grid revealing the prices and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the cheapest level, the two platforms are comparable, 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 go over later on. Keep in mind, Microsoft's rates is based upon a yearly commitment, while Google does not provide yearly discounts since this post.
This post is merely covering the 2 suites through the scope of their e-mail applications, and these costs cover lots of other functions. If price is your main aspect, think about each suite in total before making a decision.
Alleviate of Use
The most significant difference between the 2 suites overall is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are much 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 accessible through a web internet browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the full Exchange server experience, with the added advantage of being able to check out and draft emails while offline.
If you are on a plane, responding to e-mails and working on files you prepare to send out later on might be the best usage of your time.
With Outlook, you do not need to await the web to continue working, only to provide your work.
Gmail's interface can't be reached without web connection unless you initially leap through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will require to utilize Google's Chrome browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your e-mail by means of their offline feature, the reliability of which has actually been debatable for many years.
Both have mobile applications, so that issue can be worked around, however responding to a bunch of work emails on a mobile phone 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 small, but significant, benefit over Gmail due to ease of use.
Searchability
As you would expect, the business understood for its search engine permits you to find emails you require more reliably.
Gmail's advantage begins with its classification utilizing labels. Several labels can be used to each e-mail or thread, and subcategories can be developed within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If several labels have actually been used to a single email or term, those messages will appear under each label. In addition, labels enable you to auto-filter incoming emails based on hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, arranging is restricted to folders, requiring users to categorize each email/thread into a singular place.
When it comes to the actual search function, both permit users to search using keywords, in addition to folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not only has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however it is likewise flat-out more precise.
This is the very 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 especially close. Their exceptional standing is not just huge, however it appears on 2 different fronts.
Google has come under fire recently concerning its handling of individual data, with reports that the business scans user e-mails. More especially, Google supposedly tracks your area, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted advertisements.
On the other hand, Microsoft is a lot more transparent about their personal privacy policy and the data they gather.
If your company transfers sensitive or individual data frequently, it probably goes without stating that you would feel more comfy using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and getting personal data, it would take a great deal of other advantages to outweigh such obvious privacy concerns.
For managers, Outlook offers even more internal security in the kind of consents. While Outlook's folder organization does not provide the exact same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does offer users the capability to permit and disallow certain actions within folders.
Outlook offers users 10 differing functions to select from, as well as a customized function where the supervisor can hand-select specific actions one by one.
These actions consist of everything from reading, modifying, erasing, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's particular meetings or spare time.
Functionally, this enables managers to entrust jobs to their subordinates without providing full-blown access to more crucial information. It also stops disgruntled staff members from possibly stealing or deleting information considered sensitive.
You can hand over account access to others in Gmail, which is basically like handing over the secrets to your vehicle. You can't designate levels of access, hide personal messages, or even see messages sent out by your delegate in your place.
One of, if not the most crucial category is a runaway win for Outlook. With detailed alternatives and a privacy policy that is much 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 couple of 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.
Gmail users regreted the platform's combination with other services or clients who used Outlook.
Some grievances consisted of that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the inability to press upgraded details to individuals.
In Addition, Google Calendar will automatically try to turn all of your video meetings into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will automatically post a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, which function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have actually included combinations with the other, and by all accounts, they work seamlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like the majority of things, this decision mainly boils down to individual preference. Many of the differences between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based on how your company operates, in addition to your budget plan.
Ultimately, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the more powerful offering. If you discover yourself arranging through thousands of e-mails a day, however, Gmail might be the right option for you.