Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: Which Should Your Business Use?

Choose Google Workspace if your team already lives in Gmail, Docs, and shared drives, and Microsoft 365 if it depends on desktop Word, Excel, and Outlook. Both give you email on your own domain, video meetings, and cloud storage for a per-user monthly fee, and Microsoft's entry plan is the cheaper of the two. The deciding factor is which apps your staff already know, not the monthly price.

The quick verdict

Both suites do the same core job: business email on your own domain, shared files, calendars, and video calls. Neither is a wrong choice for a Malaysian SME.

The real split is habit. Microsoft 365 is the natural home for teams built on desktop Office files. Google Workspace is the natural home for teams that work in the browser.

	Microsoft 365	Google Workspace
Entry plan	Business Basic	Business Starter
Entry price (per user/month)	about USD 3.50 (roughly RM14)	RM29.20
Storage on the entry plan	1 TB	30 GB
Desktop Office apps	From the Standard tier up	Web-based, no desktop suite
Best for teams that live in	Word, Excel, Outlook	Gmail, Docs, Drive

Source: microsoft.com (USD) and workspace.google.com (RM) pricing, annual commitment, accessed September 2026.

What do they cost?

Both are sold per user, per month, on an annual commitment. Microsoft shows its Malaysian prices in US dollars, so a ringgit figure for it is a rounded approximation. Google now lists its Malaysian prices in ringgit.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic runs about USD 3.50 per user each month (Microsoft, accessed September 2026), roughly RM14 at September 2026 rates. It includes 1 TB of storage plus web and mobile Office apps.

Google Workspace Business Starter lists at RM29.20 per user each month on an annual plan (Google, accessed September 2026). It comes with 30 GB of pooled storage per user.

So Microsoft starts at a lower price and with far more storage. Google costs more at entry but opens the full Workspace app set from the first tier.

Higher tiers change the picture again. Google Workspace Business Standard lists at RM58.40 with 2 TB, and Business Plus at RM91.70 with 5 TB, on an annual plan. Microsoft's Standard and Premium tiers add the desktop Office apps. On the Malaysian site, Microsoft now sells them bundled with its Copilot AI assistant, so read the exact plan card before you commit.

Which apps does your team already use?

This is the question that actually decides it. Software your staff already know saves more time than any price gap.

If your team writes in desktop Word, tracks numbers in complex Excel files, and books meetings in Outlook, Microsoft 365 fits without retraining.

If your team already shares Google Docs, comments in real time, and stores everything in Drive, Google Workspace fits.

Moving a team off tools it knows has a hidden cost: lost hours, broken habits, and a month of "where did that button go?". We weigh that against the fee, and it usually outweighs the fee.

Picking a suite on price alone can backfire when retraining the team costs more than the fee ever saved. Match the tools to the people first.

Email, storage, and meetings compared

On the fundamentals the two are close, with a few real differences worth knowing.

Email is a wash on quality. Both give you a professional address on your own domain, strong spam filtering, and support for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC so your mail reaches the inbox.

Storage is where the entry tiers differ most. Microsoft 365 Basic gives 1 TB per user; Google Workspace Starter gives 30 GB. A team that keeps large files should weigh that gap before choosing the lower-priced plan.

Meetings favor whoever your clients use. Microsoft Teams is common in larger companies; Google Meet opens straight from the browser with nothing to install. Pick the one your customers already join.

Security tools sit higher up. Both support two-factor authentication on every plan, while Microsoft's Premium tier and Google's Plus tier add advanced device management for larger teams.

When our verdict flips

Our "match the apps your team knows" rule has real exceptions. Three cases flip it.

A brand-new business with no habits yet can choose freely, and here the lower Microsoft entry price and larger storage make Business Basic the easier start.

A team that needs heavy desktop Excel, with macros and large spreadsheets, should lean Microsoft 365 regardless of habit, because the web versions handle those files less fully.

A fully remote team that never touches a desktop app and lives in the browser is better served by Google Workspace, even if a few staff once used Outlook.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep my current email address if I switch suites?

Yes. Your address stays the same because it belongs to your domain, not the suite. You move email by pointing your domain's MX records at the new provider, a change in your DNS settings. The mailbox contents can be migrated across too, and staff keep writing from the same you@yourbusiness.com address throughout. In our experience, many businesses do not know who holds their domain account, so confirm that before you switch.

Do I need web hosting as well as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?

Usually yes, because these suites run your email and files, not your website. Your website sits on separate web hosting, and the two are billed apart. They only share a domain. Our guide on email hosting versus web hosting explains why the inbox and the website are different services.

Which costs less for a small Malaysian business?

Microsoft 365 has the lower entry price, about USD 3.50 (roughly RM14) per user against Google Workspace's RM29.20, and it includes more storage at that tier. Once you need desktop Office apps or larger meetings, the tiers converge. Price rarely decides it on its own, because retraining a team onto unfamiliar tools costs more than the monthly difference.

Can two businesses share one Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account?

No, and you should not try. Each suite is licensed per user within one organization, tied to your own domain and billing. Two separate businesses each need their own account, which also keeps their files, email, and domain names cleanly separated for ownership and security.

Is my data safe with either provider?

Both Microsoft and Google run enterprise-grade security, encryption, and backups that a small business could not match on its own. The bigger risk is a weak login, not the provider. Turn on two-factor authentication for every user, and your account is far harder to break into than a mailbox on basic shared hosting.

Choosing and setting up the right suite

Storming Solutions builds and maintains websites for Malaysian businesses, and part of that is setting up email and productivity tools so each is reliable and clearly owned. We set up both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and we recommend by watching which apps your team already opens every day, not by defaulting to one brand.

Not sure which suite fits your team, or how to move without losing email? Ask on WhatsApp or start with why a business pays for email, then talk to us about web development.