Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites in the world of software as a service (SaaS), both offering a large range of applications that modern-day companies need.
While the functions of a number of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's proprietary offerings each have their own quirks, for much better or even worse.
In this post, we will look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Independently, the pair are the leading email applications in service by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email might seem basic on the surface area, but the differences between Outlook and Gmail show that things are more complicated than sending out and getting mail.
The operations of each are different, beginning with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and privacy offered.
Rates
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced each month, per user, and have different tiers of rates. As it pertains to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers normally only affects storage area.
Utilizing Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed every year), each user gets 50 GB of email storage area, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, the most standard level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users buying this strategy will have to more than happy with the Outlook web app.
Meanwhile, Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), offers just 30 GB of storage overall, combining email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage attended to Microsoft represent 100% of your total storage on Google's most affordable plan.
That discrepancy is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium strategies, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) leaping to 2 TB of drive it support companies brisbane 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 showing the rates and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the most affordable level, the 2 platforms are similar, and Gmail's web app could be worth the additional dollar each month.
As you go up strategies, the Outlook desktop app could swing your decision, as we will discuss later on. Keep in mind, Microsoft's prices is based on a yearly dedication, while Google does not use annual discounts as of this post.
This post is simply covering the 2 suites through the scope of their e-mail applications, and these rates cover numerous other features. If cost is your main aspect, consider each suite in overall prior to making a decision.
Ease of Use
The biggest difference in between the two 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 email applications, the complete Gmail experience is just accessible through a web browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the complete Exchange server experience, with the included advantage of being able to check out and draft e-mails while offline.
For example, if you are on a plane, responding to emails and dealing with files you prepare to send out later on may be the very best use of your time.
With Outlook, you do not need to await the web to continue working, just to deliver your work.
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 reliability of which has actually been debatable throughout the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that problem can be worked around, but reacting to a bevy 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 benefit for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still offer Outlook a minor, however significant, advantage over Gmail due to ease of use.
Searchability
As you would expect, the business understood for its online search engine enables you to discover emails you require more reliably.
Gmail's benefit starts with its categorization using labels. Several labels can be applied to each e-mail or thread, and subcategories can be created within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If several labels have been applied to a single e-mail or term, those messages will appear under each label. Moreover, labels enable you to auto-filter inbound emails based on hand-chosen criteria.
In Outlook, arranging is restricted to folders, requiring users to classify each email/thread into a singular location.
When it comes to the actual search function, both permit users to browse utilizing keywords, in addition to folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not only has deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however 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 remarkable standing is not just vast, however it is apparent on two various fronts.
Google has actually come under fire recently concerning its handling of individual information, with reports that the company scans user e-mails. More significantly, Google reportedly tracks your place, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted ads.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is far more transparent about their privacy policy and the data they collect.
If your company transmits sensitive or individual data regularly, it probably goes without saying that you would feel more comfortable using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending out and getting private information, it would take a lot of other benefits to exceed such evident personal privacy issues.
For supervisors, Outlook provides even more internal security in the kind of permissions. While Outlook's folder organization does not provide the exact same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the capability to permit and prohibit specific actions within folders.
Outlook offers users 10 varying functions to pick from, along with a custom-made function where the manager can hand-select specific actions one by one.
These actions consist of everything from reading, editing, erasing, and sending out messages to seeing your calendar's particular meetings or free time.
Functionally, this allows supervisors to entrust jobs to their subordinates without providing full-blown access to more important info. It likewise stops disgruntled employees from possibly taking or erasing information considered delicate.
You can entrust account access to others in Gmail, which is basically like handing over the keys to your cars and truck. You can't designate levels of access, conceal private messages, or even see messages sent out by your delegate in your place.
One of, if not the most crucial classification is a runaway win for Outlook. With comprehensive alternatives and a personal 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 2 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.
Initially, Gmail users lamented the platform's integration with other companies or customers who utilized Outlook.
Some problems consisted of that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not upgrade in Google Calendar, and the inability to push upgraded info to participants.
In Addition, Google Calendar will immediately 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, and that function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have included combinations with the other, and by all accounts, they work perfectly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Decision
Ultimately, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the stronger offering. If you find yourself sorting through thousands of emails a day, nevertheless, Gmail might be the right choice for you.