Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites on the planet of software as a service (SaaS), both using a wide range of applications that modern companies require.
While the functions of a number of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's exclusive offerings each have their own peculiarities, for much better or even worse.
In this post, we will take a look at e-mail through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Separately, the pair are the leading email applications in company by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may seem easy on the surface area, but the differences in between Outlook and Gmail reveal that things are more complicated than sending and receiving mail.
The functions of each are different, starting with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and personal privacy supplied.
Rates
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced monthly, per user, and have different tiers of pricing. As it refers to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers generally only impacts storage area.
Utilizing Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed annually), each user gets 50 GB of email storage area, which is independent of the additional 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, the most basic level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users buying this strategy will have to enjoy with the Outlook web app.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage offered Microsoft represent 100% of your overall storage on Google's most affordable plan.
That inconsistency is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium plans, 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, but mailbox storage can essentially be limitless through unlimited archiving beginning with the E3 plan ($ 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 affordable level, the two platforms are comparable, and Gmail's web app might be worth the extra dollar each 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 prices is based on an annual commitment, while Google does not use annual discounts since this post.
This post is merely covering the two suites through the scope of their email applications, and these costs cover numerous other functions. If rate is your primary element, consider each suite in overall prior to making a decision.
Ease of Use
The biggest difference 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 in between the email applications, the full Gmail experience is only accessible through a web browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the complete Exchange server experience, with the added benefit of being able to check out and draft emails while offline.
For instance, if you are on an airplane, replying to e-mails and dealing with files you prepare to send later on may be the very best use of your time.
With Outlook, you do not require to wait on the internet to continue working, only to provide 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 require to utilize Google's Chrome browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your email via their offline function, the reliability of which has actually been arguable throughout the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that issue can be worked around, however responding to a bevy of work emails on a mobile device can be a battle.
The complete suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much larger benefit for Microsoft in comparing other apps, but we'll still give Outlook a small, however substantial, benefit over Gmail due to reduce of use.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the company known for its online search engine permits you to discover e-mails you need more reliably.
Gmail's advantage starts with its classification using labels. Numerous 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 numerous labels have been used to a single email or term, those messages will appear under each label. Labels permit you to auto-filter incoming e-mails based on hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, sorting is restricted to folders, requiring users to classify each email/thread into a particular place.
When it comes to the real search function, both enable users to browse utilizing keywords, along with folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not just has deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, but it is also flat-out more accurate.
This is the 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 particularly close. Their superior standing is not simply huge, however it appears on two different fronts.
Google has come under fire just recently concerning its handling of individual data, with reports that the company scans user e-mails. More significantly, Google supposedly tracks your place, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted ads.
Microsoft is much more transparent about their privacy policy and the information they gather.
If your organization transmits sensitive or personal information routinely, it most likely goes without stating that you would feel more comfy using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending out and getting private information, it would take a great deal of other benefits to exceed such evident privacy concerns.
For supervisors, Outlook uses a lot more internal security in the type of approvals. While Outlook's folder company does not provide the same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the ability to enable and check here prohibit particular actions within folders.
These actions include everything from reading, modifying, erasing, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's particular meetings or spare time.
Functionally, this enables managers to hand over jobs to their subordinates without giving them major access to more crucial information. It also stops disgruntled staff members from potentially taking or erasing details deemed sensitive.
You can entrust account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like handing over the keys to your automobile. You can't designate levels of gain access to, conceal private messages, or even see messages sent by your delegate on your behalf.
One of, if not the most crucial category is a runaway win for Outlook. With extensive options 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 2 is a Workspace account and a couple of clicks through Gmail's menu.
For the sake of taking a broader take a look at Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we'll compare Outlook's calendar to Google Calendar here.
Gmail users regreted the platform's integration with other businesses or customers who utilized Outlook.
Some grievances included that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not upgrade in Google Calendar, and the inability to push upgraded information to participants.
In Addition, Google Calendar will instantly attempt 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, and that function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have actually added 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 mostly boils down to individual choice. A number of the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based on how your business operates, along with your budget.
Eventually, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the stronger offering. If you find yourself sorting through thousands of e-mails a day, however, Gmail may be the right choice for you.