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 large range of applications that contemporary business need.
While the functions of a number of these applications are similar, Microsoft and Google's proprietary offerings each have their own quirks, for better or worse.
In this post, we will take a look at e-mail through Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail for Business. Independently, the set are the leading email applications in organization by market share and are pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.
Email might seem basic on the surface, but the distinctions in between Outlook and Gmail reveal that things are more complicated than sending and receiving mail.
The workings of each are various, starting with how they are accessed, and ending with the security and privacy offered.
Prices
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced monthly, per user, and have different tiers of prices. As it refers to the mail accounts themselves, the distinction in tiers normally only impacts storage space.
Utilizing Microsoft's Business Basic strategy ($ 5/month/user when billed yearly), each user gets 50 GB of email storage area, which is independent of the extra 1 TB of cloud storage in OneDrive.
Bear in mind, the most standard level of M365 does not consist of any of Microsoft's desktop applications, including Outlook. Users buying this plan will need to be happy with the Outlook web app.
Google's Business Basic plan ($ 6), supplies simply 30 GB of storage overall, integrating e-mail storage and drive storage together.
That's right, 60% of the mail box storage attended to Microsoft represent 100% of your total storage on Google's least expensive plan.
That inconsistency is likely an attempt by Google to upsell users to their premium plans, with their Standard strategy ($ 12) leaping 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 mail box storage can basically be endless through limitless archiving starting with the E3 plan ($ 32).
A grid showing the costs and storage abilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Scoring round 1 here, let's call it a draw. At the most inexpensive level, the two platforms are comparable, and Gmail's web app could be worth the additional dollar per month.
As you go up strategies, the Outlook desktop app could swing your choice, as we will go over later on. Keep in mind, Microsoft's prices is based on an annual dedication, while Google does not use annual discounts as of this post.
This post is merely covering the 2 suites through the scope of their e-mail applications, and these costs cover many other features. If price is your primary aspect, think about each suite in overall before making a decision.
Ease of Use
The greatest distinction between the 2 suites general is Microsoft's desktop apps, which are even more feature-packed relative to Google's web apps.
While the features are not as various between the e-mail applications, the full Gmail experience is just available through a web browser.
With Outlook's desktop app, users get the complete Exchange server experience, with the added advantage of having the ability to read and prepare e-mails while offline.
If you are on an airplane, replying to emails and working on documents you prepare to send later might be the finest use of your time.
With Outlook, you don't need to wait on the web to continue working, only to provide your work.
Gmail's user interface can't be reached without web connection unless you initially jump through some hoops.
At the time of this writing, you will require to use Google's Chrome web browser, have Gmail bookmarked, and sync your email by means of their offline function, the dependability of which has actually been arguable over 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 device can be a struggle.
The complete 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 small, but substantial, advantage over Gmail due to alleviate of use.
Searchability
As you would anticipate, the business understood for its online search engine allows you to find e-mails you need more reliably.
Gmail's benefit starts with its categorization using labels. Several labels can be applied to each email or thread, and subcategories can be produced within labels to produce more of a filing system.
If multiple labels have been applied to a single email or term, those messages will appear under each label. Labels allow you to auto-filter inbound it support services emails based on hand-chosen criteria.
In Outlook, sorting is restricted to folders, requiring users to categorize each email/thread into a singular place.
As for the actual search function, both allow users to search utilizing keywords, along with folders/labels, senders, and date received.
Gmail not only has deeper advanced-search functions, by all accounts, however it is also flat-out more precise.
This is the 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 particularly close. Their remarkable standing is not simply large, however it appears on 2 different fronts.
Google has actually come under fire recently regarding its handling of individual data, with reports that the company scans user e-mails. More especially, Google supposedly tracks your location, your activity, and even your voice for the function of targeted ads.
Microsoft is much more transparent about their personal privacy policy and the data they gather.
If your company sends sensitive or individual data frequently, it probably goes without saying that you would feel more comfy utilizing Microsoft and Outlook. Even if you aren't sending and getting personal data, it would take a great deal of other advantages to outweigh such evident personal privacy concerns.
For supervisors, Outlook offers even more internal security in the form of permissions. While Outlook's folder company does not present the exact same searchability as Gmail's labels, it does give users the capability to allow and disallow particular actions within folders.
These actions include everything from reading, editing, erasing, and sending messages to seeing your calendar's specific conferences or downtime.
Functionally, this permits managers to entrust jobs to their subordinates without giving them full-scale access to more important info. It likewise stops unhappy staff members from potentially taking or deleting info considered sensitive.
You can hand over account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like turning over the keys to your automobile. You can't assign levels of gain access to, conceal personal messages, or even see messages sent out by your delegate in your place.
One of, if not the most crucial category is a runaway win for Outlook. With comprehensive options 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 two 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.
Initially, Gmail users lamented the platform's combination with other companies or customers who utilized Outlook.
Some problems included that updates to standing conferences made from Outlook accounts would not update in Google Calendar, and the failure to press updated information to individuals.
Furthermore, Google Calendar will automatically try 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, and that function requires to be disabled by an administrator.
Otherwise, both platforms have actually added integrations with the other, and by all accounts, they work effortlessly. For all intents and functions, this function is a draw.
Decision
Like many things, this decision mostly comes down to personal preference. Many of the distinctions in between Outlook and Gmail have actually advantages based on how your company runs, as well as your budget plan.
Ultimately, the openness and security of Outlook make it the more powerful offering. If you find yourself arranging through thousands of emails a day, however, Gmail may be the right choice for you.