Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace for Small Business — An Honest Comparison
Last verified: August 2026
For the 1-25 person shop trying to pick between the two — or stuck running both. Plain English, no fanboy talk, picks a side per situation. The version I wish every small-business owner had before they signed up.
What's inside the 25-page PDF
- The one-page verdict — when M365 wins, when Google wins
- Microsoft 365 plans — Basic, Standard, Premium — what each tier actually includes
- Google Workspace plans — Starter, Standard, Plus — what each tier actually includes
- Side-by-side per-user math for a 5-person shop
- Email — Outlook vs Gmail, custom domain, deliverability
- File storage — OneDrive vs Google Drive (sync, sharing, version history)
- Documents — Word vs Docs, Excel vs Sheets, PowerPoint vs Slides (what each is better at)
- Calendar + meetings — Outlook Calendar + Teams vs Google Calendar + Meet
- Mobile and offline — phone apps that actually work in the field
- Mailbox sizes, attachment limits, daily sending limits
- Admin console — adding users, MFA enforcement, security defaults
- Lock-in — file-format friction and account portability
- The "we mixed both" trap — and how to clean it up
- Migration realities — a weekend, not three months
- When to switch (and when "fine to stay" is the right call)
- Backup — why neither suite backs up your data the way you think
- Security baselines — MFA, conditional access, phishing protection
- 5 common mistakes that cost small shops real money
- The 10-question decision sheet — pick your suite in 5 minutes
The full guide is a 25-page printable PDF with real numbers, real tradeoffs, and Bill's recommendations for small businesses in Portage County. Download it above — it's free, no email required, no signup.
Why I made this guide
About half the small businesses I service in Portage County run Microsoft 365. About half run Google Workspace. And a depressing number run both at the same time — owner on Gmail, office manager on Outlook, new hire stuck in the middle — paying for two suites and using neither one well.
Both suites are excellent in 2026. There's no wrong answer for most shops. But there's a slightly better answer for YOUR shop, and the cost of picking the wrong one — or running both — adds up fast. Mixed-suite shops in my client base average $1,800/year in wasted licensing alone.
No affiliate links. No sales pitch for either Microsoft or Google. No vendor-quoted "3-month migration project." Just plain English from the guy who sets these things up for shops on Main Street.
— Bill Davis
Want me to help you pick — and set it up?
First call is free — 20 minutes, figure out which suite fits your shop. New-suite setup is $99 flat per-visit — no tiers, no surprises. DNS, accounts, MFA, sharing defaults, training. Migration weekends typically run 2-3 visits (still $99 each, scoped up front) with on-call Monday support. Optional $39 Monthly Support Plan for unlimited phone & text help.
Would you rather I just do this for you?
No shame in it — plenty of folks would rather hand it off, and that's what I'm here for. I'll come to your home, set it up right, and make sure it's working before I leave. Flat $99 per visit — no jargon, no upsell, and every visit is 30-day come-back-free.
Not a hardware job? I can often fix it remotely for $49 — a secure screen-share, up to 2 hours, that you watch the whole time and can end whenever (included free for $39/mo Support Plan members, and it counts toward the $99 if it turns out I need to come out).