Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget plan?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant productivity suites on the planet of software as a service (SaaS), both offering a wide range of applications that modern business need.
While the functions of a lot of these applications are comparable, Microsoft and Google's proprietary offerings each have their own quirks, for much better or even worse.
In this post, we will take a look at email through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Individually, the pair are the leading e-mail applications in company by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may appear basic on the surface area, but the differences in between Outlook and Gmail show that things are more complex than sending out and receiving mail.
The workings of each are different, starting with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and privacy provided.
Rates
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced per month, per user, and have different tiers of rates. As it relates to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers usually only impacts storage area.
Using Microsoft's Business Basic plan ($ 5/month/user when billed annually), each user gets 50 GB of email storage space, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, one of the most standard level of M365 does not include any of Microsoft's desktop applications, consisting of Outlook. Users buying this plan will need to be happy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic strategy ($ 6), provides simply 30 GB of storage in general, integrating email storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mailbox storage offered Microsoft represent 100% of your total storage on Google's least expensive plan.
That inconsistency is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium strategies, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) jumping to 2 TB of drive storage, and the Plus plan ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft supplies 2-5 TB of drive storage with their business offerings, however mailbox storage can essentially be endless through unrestricted archiving starting with the E3 strategy ($ 32).
A grid revealing the prices and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the cheapest level, the two platforms are comparable, and Gmail's web app could be worth the additional dollar per month.
As you move up plans, the Outlook desktop app might swing your decision, as we will discuss later. Keep in mind, Microsoft's rates is based upon a yearly dedication, while Google does not provide yearly discounts since this post.
This post is just covering the two suites through the scope of their email applications, and these rates cover many other features. If price is your main aspect, think about each suite in overall prior to deciding.
Reduce of Use
The greatest distinction 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 functions are not as different in between the e-mail applications, the complete Gmail experience is just accessible through a web browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the full Exchange server experience, with the included advantage of having the ability to check out and draft e-mails while offline.
For instance, if you are on a plane, responding to e-mails and working on documents you prepare to send out later on might be the best usage of your time.
With Outlook, you do not require to wait for the internet to continue working, just to provide your work.
Gmail's user interface can't be reached without internet connectivity unless you first leap through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will need to use Google's Chrome internet browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your e-mail through their offline feature, the reliability of which has actually been debatable over the years.
The complete suite of Microsoft Office managed it support desktop applications will be a much larger benefit for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still give Outlook a slight, but substantial, benefit over Gmail due to reduce of usage.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the company understood for its search engine allows you to discover emails you require more dependably.
Gmail's benefit starts with its categorization utilizing labels. Numerous labels can be applied to each email or thread, and subcategories can be developed within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If multiple labels have actually been used to a single e-mail or term, those messages will appear under each label. Labels allow you to auto-filter inbound e-mails based on hand-chosen requirements.
In Outlook, arranging is limited to folders, requiring users to classify each email/thread into a singular location.
As for the real search function, both allow users to search utilizing keywords, along with folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not just has deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however it is also 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 classification, and it is not particularly close. Their superior standing is not simply vast, but it appears on 2 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 notably, Google supposedly 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 collect.
If your organization sends delicate or personal data routinely, it probably goes without saying that you would feel more comfortable utilizing Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending out and getting personal information, it would take a great deal of other advantages to outweigh such apparent personal privacy concerns.
For supervisors, Outlook provides even more internal security in the form of approvals. While Outlook's folder company does not present the same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the ability to allow and prohibit certain actions within folders.
Outlook offers users 10 varying roles to select from, along with a custom-made function where the manager can hand-select particular actions one by one.
These actions consist of everything from reading, editing, deleting, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's particular conferences or downtime.
Functionally, this allows managers to delegate tasks to their subordinates without providing full-scale access to more important details. It also stops disgruntled staff members from potentially taking or erasing details considered delicate.
You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like turning over the keys to your cars and truck. You can't appoint levels of gain access to, conceal personal messages, or perhaps see messages sent by your delegate on your behalf.
One of, if not the most crucial classification is a runaway win for Outlook. With thorough choices 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 two is a Workspace account and a couple of 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.
At first, Gmail users regreted the platform's combination with other services or clients who utilized Outlook.
Some problems consisted of that updates to standing meetings made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the failure to press updated info to individuals.
Additionally, Google Calendar will immediately attempt to turn all of your video conferences 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 integrations with the other, and by all accounts, they work flawlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like the majority of things, this choice mainly boils down to individual choice. Much of the distinctions in between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based upon how your company runs, as well as your budget.
