Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites worldwide of software as a service (SaaS), both using a wide range of applications that modern-day companies need.
While the functions of a lot of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's proprietary offerings each have their own peculiarities, for better or worse.
In this post, we will look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Independently, the set are the leading e-mail applications in business by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may appear simple on the surface, however the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail reveal that things are more complicated than sending and receiving mail.
The workings 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 per month, per user, and have various tiers of prices. As it relates to the mail accounts themselves, the difference in tiers usually only impacts storage area.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed each year), each user gets 50 GB of email storage area, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Remember, one of the most standard level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users buying this strategy will need to enjoy with the Outlook web app.
That's right, 60% of the mail box storage offered Microsoft represent 100% of your total storage on Google's most affordable 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 offers 2-5 TB of drive storage with their business offerings, however mailbox storage can basically be limitless through limitless archiving starting with the E3 strategy ($ 32).
A grid revealing the costs and storage capabilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the cheapest level, the 2 platforms are similar, and Gmail's web app could be worth the additional dollar per month.
As you go up plans, the Outlook desktop app could swing your choice, as we will discuss later on. Remember, Microsoft's prices is based upon a yearly dedication, while Google does not use yearly discount rates since this post.
This post is simply covering the two suites through the scope of their e-mail applications, and these prices cover lots of other functions. If rate is your main aspect, think about each suite in total before deciding.
Reduce of Use
The biggest difference 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 different in between the e-mail applications, the complete Gmail experience is only accessible through a web internet browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the complete Exchange server experience, with the managed service providers brisbane included advantage of having the ability to read and prepare e-mails while offline.
For example, if you are on an airplane, replying to emails and working on documents you prepare to send out later might be the very best usage of your time.
With Outlook, you do not need to wait on the web to continue working, just to provide your work.
Gmail's interface can't be reached without web connection unless you first jump through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will need to use Google's Chrome web browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your email by means of their offline feature, the dependability of which has been arguable over the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that problem can be worked around, but reacting to a bevy of work emails on a mobile phone can be a battle.
The full suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much larger benefit for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still give Outlook a slight, however considerable, benefit over Gmail due to ease of usage.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the company known for its search engine permits you to find e-mails you need more reliably.
Gmail's benefit begins with its categorization utilizing labels. Numerous labels can be applied to each email or thread, and subcategories can be produced 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. Furthermore, labels allow you to auto-filter incoming emails based upon hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, arranging is restricted to folders, requiring users to classify each email/thread into a singular place.
When it comes to the real search function, both enable 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, but it is likewise flat-out more accurate.
This is the very first strong 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 is apparent on 2 various fronts.
Google has come under fire just recently regarding its handling of individual data, with reports that the business scans user e-mails. More especially, Google apparently tracks your area, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted advertisements.
Microsoft is much more transparent about their privacy policy and the data they gather.
If your organization sends delicate or individual information regularly, it most likely goes without stating that you would feel more comfy utilizing Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and receiving personal data, it would take a lot of other advantages to surpass such evident personal privacy issues.
For managers, Outlook provides much more internal security in the type of authorizations. While Outlook's folder company does not present the very same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does give users the ability to permit and disallow specific actions within folders.
Outlook offers users 10 varying roles to pick from, along with a custom-made function where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions include everything from reading, modifying, erasing, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's specific conferences or leisure time.
Functionally, this permits supervisors to entrust tasks to their subordinates without providing full-scale access to more important info. It also stops disgruntled workers from potentially stealing or deleting information considered delicate.
You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is basically like turning over the secrets to your automobile. You can't designate levels of access, conceal personal messages, and even see messages sent out 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 far 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 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 businesses or customers who used Outlook.
Some grievances included that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the inability to push updated details to individuals.
Additionally, Google Calendar will automatically try to turn all of your video meetings into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will instantly post a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, which function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have included combinations with the other, and by all accounts, they work effortlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Verdict
Like many things, this decision mainly boils down to individual preference. A lot of the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based on how your business operates, in addition to your spending plan.
Eventually, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the stronger offering. If you discover yourself sorting through countless e-mails a day, however, Gmail may be the right alternative for you.