G Suite or Office 365: Which is the best office suite?
There was a time when Microsoft Office ruled the business world. By the late 1990s, Microsoft’s office suite had swept away its rivals. So, there was no competition on the horizon. Then, in 2006, Google arrived with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, an online word processor and spreadsheet. This software duo was combined with other business services to later form G Suite.
Although Google’s suite didn’t immediately capture the business world, it gradually gained popularity. It now has over 5 million paying customers. Microsoft, meanwhile, has abandoned its traditional Office software in favor of Office 365, a subscription-based version. There are frequent updates and new features. This article focuses on Office 365.
Today, choosing an office suite is no longer as simple as it used to be. We’re here to help.
Commonalities between G Suite and Office 365
G Suite and Office 365 have a lot in common. Both are subscription-based and charge businesses a monthly fee per person. There are different pricing tiers, depending on the features customers are looking for. While G Suite is web-based, it can also work offline. And while Office 365 is based on installed software, it also offers lightweight web-based versions of its applications.
Both suites work well with a wide range of devices. Web-based G Suite runs in most browsers on any operating system. Google also offers apps for Android and iOS. Microsoft offers Office client apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Its web apps also work on all browsers.
The suites also offer the same basic applications. Each has programs:
- word processing,
- spreadsheet,
- presentation,
- messaging,
- calendar
- of contacts,
- videoconferencing software,
- messaging
- note-taking.
Each is paired with a cloud storage system. But these individual applications vary greatly from one suite to the next. And both suites also offer a host of additional tools. Deciding which suite is best for your business can be extremely difficult.
That’s where this article comes in. We offer a detailed examination of all aspects of office suites. Here, we focus on how the suites work for businesses, rather than individual use.
Word processing: Google Docs or Microsoft Word
Deciding whether your business is better off using Google Docs or Microsoft Word is pretty straightforward. What’s more important to your users? Easy-to-use collaboration or the widest range of document creation and editing features? For collaboration, Google Docs is better. For the most comprehensive word processor you can find, you need Word.
Word has exceptional capabilities that make your workflow easier and more productive. Whether you’re creating a report, brochure, or resume, Word offers an excellent set of pre-designed templates. These allow you to write quickly, knowing that your document will have a solid and useful design. For example, Word offers nearly 50 different report templates, while Google Docs only offers five. Word also offers more types and styles of charts to integrate into your documents.
Microsoft Word has far more powerful features than Google Docs. This includes numerous pre-made templates to choose from when creating a new document. (Click the image to enlarge.)
But Google Docs outperforms Word when it comes to live collaboration. Seamless collaboration was built in from the start. In Word, however, it’s more difficult to use and isn’t as comprehensive. It feels like an add-on rather than an integral part of the program.
When it comes to live collaboration, Google Docs far surpasses Microsoft Word. (Click the image to enlarge.)
When it comes to offline collaboration, Word has always been the gold standard. But Google Docs has come a long way and is now almost as good as Word. Word’s editing tools offer slightly more precise controls, but they’re roughly on par.
Spreadsheets: Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel
Do your company’s users mostly work alone on spreadsheets? Or do they frequently collaborate with others? The answer to this question will determine whether Excel or Google Sheets is better for your business.
For those who work primarily alone, Excel is the clear winner. As with Word, its wide selection of templates offers incredible depth. For example, there are over 60 templates for different types of budgets. For example, for a marketing event, you’re likely to find one that suits your needs. In contrast, Google Sheets only offers three different budget templates.
Excel also offers many more chart types than Google Sheets—17 in total. Additionally, many chart types have multiple subtypes. For example, bar charts include clustered bars, stacked bars, and so on. Google Sheets only has seven main chart types. It’s also easier to create charts in Excel than in Google Sheets.
Excel has far more sophisticated features than Google Sheets, including many more chart types. (Click the image to enlarge.)
However, Google Sheets far surpasses Excel when it comes to real-time collaboration. Like Docs, collaboration is built right into Sheets. Not only are the tools more powerful, but they’re naturally integrated and easy to access. The same goes for editing and commenting on spreadsheets.
Presentations : Google Slides ou Microsoft PowerPoint
The question of whether Google Slides or PowerPoint is the best choice comes down to one thing. Do you value collaboration or powerful features in a presentation program? If collaboration is king in your business, Google Slides is the best choice. For all other reasons, PowerPoint is.
For example, PowerPoint’s QuickStarter feature lets you quickly jump-start a presentation. Choose your presentation topic, and QuickStarter guides you through creating an outline, starter slides, and more. Google Slides has no equal.
PowerPoint has many features that Google Slides can’t match. QuickStarter helps you create an outline, starter slides, templates, and themes. (Click the image to enlarge.)
Likewise, PowerPoint makes it easier to add charts, transitions, animations, and multimedia. It also offers more types of charts and tables. And it’s packed with features when it comes to delivering the presentation itself. Innovative features like Rehearse Timings calculate how much time you spend on each slide during a rehearsal. That way, you don’t get bogged down on a single slide. And you can practice giving each slide its rightful place. Google Slides has nothing like that.
However, Google Slides is the gold standard for collaboration, with far greater capabilities than PowerPoint. And because Slides offers fewer features than Excel, it’s slightly easier to create slides.
Email: Gmail and Microsoft Outlook
If you value simplicity, you’ll prefer Gmail to Outlook. Gmail has a much cleaner, less cluttered interface than Outlook’s default, offering the best balance between ease of use and powerful features. However, Outlook has made some strides toward becoming easier to use with a new, simplified ribbon that you can activate.
Gmail offers an intuitive interface with easy-to-use tools to get things done quickly. These include an option that suggests words and phrases as you type. There’s also a “nudge” feature to help you find forgotten messages. Finally, a handy “snooze” button lets you delay the arrival of messages.
However, when it comes to powerful features, Outlook is the best. For example, Outlook’s Focused Inbox lets you respond to the most important emails first. Its Clean Up feature does a great job of streamlining long email threads to make them easier to follow up on. And because the Contacts and Calendar features are part of Outlook, they’re well integrated with email. Gmail relies on the separate Google Contacts and Calendar apps, which can be a bit more complicated to navigate.
If your users want all the bells and whistles, Outlook provides them all. To get things done quickly, Gmail is a better choice.
Collaboration: Google Hangouts Chat and Meet vs. Microsoft Teams
When it comes to collaborating on documents, Gmail is much better than Office 365. Collaboration is built into the interface, rather than being treated as an afterthought like in Office 365. Everything is right in front of you: inviting people to collaborate, setting their collaboration rights, and chatting with them. The learning curve for collaboration in Office 365 is steeper. And even if you do learn to master it, it’s nowhere near as seamless as it is in G Suite.
Working together on individual documents is only part of the equation, however. For more complex, enterprise-wide collaboration features, Office 365 includes tools that surpass G Suite. Microsoft Teams, for example, combines
- the group chat,
- online meetings,
- videoconferencing,
- personalized workspaces,
- shared team file repositories…
And Teams offers effortless integration with Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business and more.
Who Should Use G Suite
Given all this, what type of business should use G Suite? If document collaboration is a core part of your company’s DNA, G Suite is for you. Its live collaboration features far surpass anything Office 365 has to offer. They’re so integral to the suite’s design that the learning curve is very small.
G Suite is also a good choice if your business doesn’t need all the sophisticated features of Office 365. Each individual app in G Suite is easier to use than the one in Office 365. Gmail, in particular, is easier to use than Outlook. And if your users do a lot of document searches, Google Drive search outperforms Office 365.
Who Should Use Office 365
If you prioritize powerful and sophisticated collaboration features, then Office 365 is for you. Each of its apps outperforms its G Suite counterpart. And it’s not like you can’t do live collaboration in Office 365. It’s just a little more difficult and less straightforward than in G Suite. Additionally, Office 365’s markup features are exemplary, making it an ideal solution for people who need to review each other’s work.
There are other reasons why a business should use Office 365. While G Suite Teams is useful for sharing, it can’t compete with SharePoint’s collaborative environments. If you want to manage your email server, rather than using hosted email, you’ll also need Office 365. And Microsoft Teams is a great way for teams to share their work with each other.
