Outlook vs Gmail: Which Email Platform is the Best for Your Budget?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the dominant efficiency suites on the planet of software application as a service (SaaS), both providing a wide range of applications that modern-day business need.
While the functions of a number of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's exclusive offerings each have their own quirks, 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. Individually, the pair are the leading e-mail applications in organization by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email may appear easy on the surface, however the distinctions 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 provided.
Pricing
Utilizing Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed each year), each user gets 50 GB of email storage space, which is independent of the additional 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Keep in mind, one of the most fundamental level of M365 does not include any of Microsoft's desktop applications, including Outlook. Users purchasing this strategy will have to be happy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), offers simply 30 GB of storage in general, integrating e-mail storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mail box storage provided for Microsoft accounts for 100% of your total storage on Google's most affordable plan.
That inconsistency is likely an effort by Google to upsell users to their premium strategies, with their Standard plan ($ 12) jumping to 2 TB of drive storage, and the Plus strategy ($ 18) going to 5 TB.
Microsoft offers 2-5 TB of drive storage with their business offerings, however mail box storage can essentially be unlimited through unlimited archiving starting with the E3 plan ($ 32).
A grid showing the prices 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 comparable, and Gmail's web app could be worth the additional dollar each month.
As you go up plans, the Outlook desktop app might swing your decision, as we will go over later on. Keep in mind, Microsoft's prices is based upon an annual commitment, while Google does not use yearly discounts as of this post.
This post is simply covering the 2 suites through the scope of their email applications, and these rates cover lots of other features. If cost is your main element, consider each suite in total cloud solutions brisbane before making a decision.
Relieve of Use
The biggest distinction between the 2 suites total is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are much more feature-packed relative to Google's web apps.
While the functions are not as various between the e-mail 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 included advantage of having the ability to read and prepare e-mails while offline.
If you are on an aircraft, replying to e-mails and working on files you prepare to send out later may be the finest use of your time.
With Outlook, you do not require to await the internet to continue working, only to provide your work.
Gmail's interface can't be reached without internet connection unless you first leap through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will need to utilize Google's Chrome browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your e-mail through their offline feature, the reliability of which has actually been arguable throughout the years.
Both have mobile applications, so that problem can be worked around, but reacting to a bunch of work e-mails on a mobile phone can be a struggle.
The full suite of Microsoft Office desktop applications will be a much bigger advantage for Microsoft in comparing other apps, however we'll still provide Outlook a slight, however substantial, advantage over Gmail due to ease of usage.
Searchability
As you would expect, the business understood for its search engine enables you to find emails you require more dependably.
Gmail's advantage starts with its categorization utilizing labels. Several labels can be used to each e-mail or thread, and subcategories can be created within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If multiple labels have actually been applied to a single email or term, those messages will appear under each label. Labels permit you to auto-filter incoming emails based on hand-chosen criteria.
In Outlook, arranging is restricted to folders, requiring users to classify each email/thread into a particular location.
As for the real search function, both allow users to browse using keywords, as well as folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not only has much deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however it is also flat-out more accurate.
This is the 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 simply vast, however it appears on two various fronts.
Google has actually come under fire recently concerning its handling of personal data, with reports that the business scans user e-mails. More notably, Google reportedly tracks your area, your activity, and even your voice for the purpose of targeted advertisements.
On the other hand, Microsoft is much more transparent about their privacy policy and the information they collect.
If your organization transmits delicate or individual information regularly, it most likely goes without saying that you would feel more comfortable using Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending out and receiving personal data, it would take a lot of other benefits to outweigh such apparent privacy concerns.
For supervisors, Outlook offers even more internal security in the kind of authorizations. While Outlook's folder company does not present the very same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does provide users the ability to enable and prohibit particular actions within folders.
These actions consist of whatever from reading, modifying, deleting, and sending out messages to seeing your calendar's specific conferences or leisure time.
Functionally, this allows managers to entrust tasks to their subordinates without giving them full-scale access to more important information. It also stops dissatisfied workers from potentially taking or erasing info considered sensitive.
You can entrust account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like turning over the keys to your automobile. You can't assign levels of access, conceal private messages, or even see messages sent out by your delegate in your place.
Among, if not the most essential classification is a runaway win for Outlook. With comprehensive choices and a personal privacy policy that is much more transparent, Microsoft 365's e-mail 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 broader look at Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, we'll compare Outlook's calendar to Google Calendar here.
At first, Gmail users lamented the platform's combination with other services or customers who utilized Outlook.
Some problems consisted of that updates to standing conferences made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the inability to press updated info to individuals.
Additionally, Google Calendar will instantly attempt to turn all of your video conferences into a Google Meet call. Its default setting will instantly publish a Google Meet link into your calendar entry, which function needs to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have added combinations with the other, and by all accounts, they work effortlessly. For all intents and purposes, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like most things, this choice mainly boils down to personal preference. Much of the distinctions between Outlook and Gmail have benefits based upon how your company operates, as well as your spending plan.
Ultimately, the openness 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.