Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: Which Is Right for an Australian Small Business in 2026?

TL;DR

• Both platforms give you email on your own domain, shared calendars, file storage, video calls and office apps, so the wrong choice is the one that fights how your team already works.
• Choose Google Workspace if you work in a browser on a mix of devices and want the simplest admin. Choose Microsoft 365 if your business lives in Excel and Outlook on Windows, or if you need to manage staff laptops.
• In Australia the entry plans are close in price, and above that level Microsoft costs more because it now bundles Copilot into its Standard and Premium plans.
• Whichever you pick, turn on two-step verification for every account on the first day, because that one setting stops most email scams.

Which one should a small business choose?

For most trades and service businesses with fewer than twenty people, Google Workspace is the easier platform to live with. It runs in a browser, it works the same way on a phone, a Mac and a Windows laptop, and the admin console is something an owner can manage without an IT contractor. We run I Love Digital on it, and it is what we set up for most clients.

Microsoft 365 is the better choice when your business already depends on Excel for anything complicated, when your accountant or your industry sends you Word and Excel files all day, or when you need to control what happens on staff devices. It is the more common answer in professional services, in construction admin, and in any business that already runs a fleet of Windows machines.

If you are not sure which of those describes you, this is the kind of question our consulting work answers in a single conversation, and the rest of this article is what I would tell you in it.

What do they cost in Australia?

The entry plans are within a dollar of each other, and the gap opens above that. The prices below are per user per month on an annual commitment, excluding GST, as published on each company's Australian pricing page on 6 September 2026. Both companies change their pricing from time to time, so check the live page before you sign.

Two things stand out. Google's entry plan is the cheapest way to get a professional email address, but its 30 GB fills up quickly if you attach photos of every job, so budget for the Standard plan if you do. Microsoft's mid and top plans cost more than they did a year ago because Copilot, its AI assistant, is now built in rather than sold separately, and if you will not use it you are paying for nothing, which makes the entry plan the better buy. If you pay month to month on either platform, expect to pay more, because Google's page shows the annual commitment saving as 16 per cent.

What do you get on both?

Nearly the same list, which is why the decision comes down to fit rather than features. On either platform you get the following.

• Email on your own domain, with spam and phishing filtering.
• Shared calendars, and booking pages on every plan except Google's entry plan.
• Cloud storage with a desktop sync app.
• Word processing, spreadsheets and presentations that several people can edit at once.
• Video meetings and team chat.
• An AI assistant inside the apps, which is Gemini on Google and Copilot on Microsoft.
• An admin console for adding and removing staff and controlling who sees what.
• A published uptime commitment of 99.9 per cent.

Where is Google Workspace stronger?

Google is stronger wherever simplicity and working together matter more than any single app.

• Working together in one document. Several people editing at once has been Google's home ground for close to twenty years, and it still feels more natural than the Microsoft equivalent, so a team that shares quotes and job sheets gets less friction.
• Simplicity. There is one login and one browser, and new staff need almost no training because most of them already use Gmail, which means less time lost on setup.
• Mixed devices. A team on iPhones, Android phones, Macs and the odd Windows laptop gets the same experience on all of them, so nobody is the odd one out.
• Search. Finding an old email or a file in Google takes seconds, whereas finding one in Outlook takes practice, and that adds up across a year of looking for the invoice from March.
• Admin an owner can run. Adding a staff member, resetting a password and setting up email on a phone are each five-minute jobs, so you do not need an IT provider on retainer.

Where is Microsoft 365 stronger?

Microsoft is stronger wherever a specific application or a level of control is the deciding factor.

• Excel. If your quoting, job costing or reporting lives in complicated spreadsheets, Excel on the desktop is still the tool for it. Google Sheets handles most things but not everything, and files sent by accountants and suppliers open cleanly in Excel first.
• Outlook and Teams. If the businesses you deal with all use Teams, being on it removes friction from every meeting they invite you to.
• Device management. Business Premium includes the tools to set up, lock down and wipe staff laptops and phones. Google has device management too, but Microsoft's goes deeper on Windows, which matters once you have a dozen machines to look after.
• Desktop apps. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are installed on the machine, work offline, and carry every feature, so nothing depends on the signal at the job site.
• Compliance-heavy industries. If you work with government, legal or finance clients who ask about the Essential Eight or data controls, Microsoft usually has the longer answer, and that can decide a tender.

What is the one thing to do on either platform?

Turn on two-step verification for every user, including yourself, on the day you set the platform up. Most business email compromise, which is the scam where an invoice gets paid into a criminal's bank account, starts with a stolen password and no second step, and both platforms make the second step a checkbox. Tick it and that scam mostly stops at the login screen.

Then have someone check your domain's email records. Both platforms will sign your outgoing mail once the DNS records are in place, but neither does it for you automatically, and unsigned mail is easier to spoof and more likely to land in spam. We fixed exactly this on our own domain this year, and the gap was invisible until someone looked.

Can you move from one to the other?

Yes, and both platforms have migration tools that bring email, contacts and calendars across while you keep your existing domain. Files are the slow part, because shared folders and permissions do not map one to one. Plan the move for a weekend, tell your staff which day their email changes, and keep the old platform paid for a month afterwards in case something was missed. If you are on the free version of Gmail or an old address from your internet provider, either platform is a step up, and that move is easier than a migration between the two.

How do you decide in five minutes?

Answer these five questions in order, and the platform picks itself.

1. Open the file you use most. If it is an Excel workbook with formulas you would not want to rebuild, choose Microsoft.
2. Look at what is on your staff's desks. If they are all Windows machines and you want control of them, choose Microsoft. If it is a mix, or mostly phones, choose Google.
3. Decide who will administer it. If that is you, choose Google. If it is an IT provider, either will do.
4. Decide whether you need the AI assistant. If you do, compare Gemini and Copilot on a trial before you pay the difference. If you do not, compare the entry plans on price.
5. Find out what your biggest clients use, because matching them removes friction from every shared file and meeting.

FAQs

Can I use Outlook with Google Workspace? Yes. Google provides a sync tool for Outlook on Windows, and Outlook on Mac and on mobile connects to Gmail directly, so staff who prefer Outlook can keep it.

Can I keep my existing domain and email addresses? Yes, on both platforms. Your domain stays where it is registered, you point its email records at the new platform, and the addresses carry across.

Is the free version of Gmail enough for a business? No. A free address is not on your own domain, it cannot be handed to a new staff member, and it looks like a hobby on a quote. Business Starter is the smallest step up, and it costs under ten dollars a month before GST.

Do I need both platforms? Almost never. Running both doubles the cost and splits your files, so pick one and use the other's free tools for the odd file a client sends you.

Which one do you set up for clients? We set up Google Workspace unless one of the reasons in the Microsoft list above applies. If you want it set up properly, with the security switched on and the email records checked, get in touch.