Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Spending plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites on the planet of software application as a service (SaaS), both using a wide variety of applications that modern companies require.
While the functions of much of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's exclusive offerings each have their own quirks, for much better or worse.
In this post, we will take a look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Separately, the pair are the leading e-mail applications in service by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email might appear simple on the surface area, but the distinctions 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 personal privacy supplied.
Prices
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced each month, per user, and have different tiers of pricing. As it refers to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers usually just impacts storage space.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed yearly), each user gets 50 GB of email storage area, which is independent of the additional 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Remember, the most basic level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users purchasing this strategy will have to be happy with the Outlook web app.
On the other hand, Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), supplies just 30 GB of storage in general, combining email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage attended to Microsoft represent 100% of your overall storage on Google's least expensive 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 of drive storage, and the Plus plan ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft provides 2-5 TB of drive storage with their enterprise offerings, but mailbox storage can basically be unlimited through endless archiving beginning with the E3 strategy ($ 32).
A grid revealing 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 two platforms are comparable, and Gmail's web app could be worth the extra dollar each month.
As you go up plans, the Outlook desktop app might swing your decision, as we will talk about later on. Remember, Microsoft's pricing is based upon an annual commitment, while Google does not use annual discount rates as of this post.
This post is just covering the two suites through the scope of their email applications, and these prices cover many other functions. If price is your primary aspect, consider each suite in total before making a decision.
Reduce of Use
The biggest difference in between the two 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 different 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 complete Exchange server experience, with the added benefit of having the ability to read and prepare e-mails while offline.
For instance, if you are on an airplane, replying to emails and working on documents you prepare to send later may be the best use of your time.
With Outlook, you do not need to wait on the internet to continue working, only to deliver your work.
Gmail's interface can't be reached without web connectivity 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 email via their offline feature, the reliability of which has actually been debatable throughout the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that concern can be worked around, however reacting to a bunch of work e-mails on a mobile phone can be a battle.
The full suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much bigger advantage for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still provide Outlook a minor, however significant, advantage over Gmail due to alleviate of usage.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the company understood for its online search engine permits you to find e-mails you require more reliably.
Gmail's advantage begins with its categorization utilizing labels. Multiple labels can be applied 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 applied to a single email 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 restricted to https://canvas.instructure.com/eportfolios/2504656/dominickgtgg070/What_Types_of_Provider_to_Get_Out_Of_Managed_IT_Company folders, forcing users to classify each email/thread into a singular location.
When it comes to the real search function, both allow users to search using keywords, along with folders/labels, senders, and date got.
Gmail not only has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, but it is also flat-out more accurate.
This is the very first solid win for Gmail, as Outlook's searchability and categorization are not as robust.
Security
Google has come under fire just recently regarding its handling of personal data, with reports that the company scans user e-mails. More especially, Google reportedly 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 information they gather.
If your business sends sensitive or personal information regularly, it most likely goes without stating that you would feel more comfortable using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and receiving personal information, it would take a lot of other benefits to exceed such evident personal privacy issues.
For supervisors, Outlook uses much more internal security in the kind of permissions. While Outlook's folder company does not provide the same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does offer users the capability to allow and prohibit certain actions within folders.
Outlook provides users 10 differing roles to pick from, as well as a custom function where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions consist of whatever from reading, editing, deleting, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's specific conferences or downtime.
Functionally, this enables managers to entrust jobs to their subordinates without providing major access to more vital information. It likewise stops disgruntled workers from possibly stealing or deleting info considered delicate.
You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like handing over the keys to your cars and truck. You can't appoint levels of access, hide private messages, or even see messages sent by your delegate in your place.
Among, if not the most crucial category is a runaway win for Outlook. With comprehensive choices 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 takes 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.
At first, Gmail users lamented the platform's combination with other services or customers who used Outlook.
Some problems consisted of that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the failure to push updated details to participants.
In Addition, Google Calendar will automatically attempt 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, and that function requires 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 functions, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like many things, this choice mostly boils down to individual choice. A number of the differences between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based upon how your company operates, as well as your spending plan.
Eventually, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the more powerful offering. If you find yourself sorting through countless e-mails a day, nevertheless, Gmail might be the right alternative for you.