Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both give a small business a custom-domain mailbox, calendars, online meetings, file storage and an admin console. The practical differences are the plan ladder, the storage and meeting limits, which security and device-management features sit in which tier, and which desktop applications your staff already depend on. This article compares the published plan structures and shows you how to check current prices yourself.
Who this is for
This guide is for owners and part-time administrators of businesses with roughly 1 to 300 people who are choosing a productivity suite or reconsidering the one they have. By the end you will have a short comparison of the plan tiers, a list of the questions that decide the choice, and a way to confirm current pricing from each vendor.
A note on pricing: vendors change list prices, run introductory promotions and show different amounts by country, currency and billing term. The figures below for Google Workspace come from the vendor's pricing page as viewed in October 2026. No Microsoft dollar amounts are quoted, because they vary by country and billing term. Use the official Microsoft pricing page for your country.
Plan ladders at a glance
Google Workspace sells four tiers for businesses: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus and Enterprise. Microsoft's small-business family is Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium, plus Microsoft 365 Apps for business, which has the desktop apps without the email and Teams services. Larger organizations move to Microsoft 365 enterprise plans.
| Question | Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Small-business tiers | Business Starter, Standard, Plus | Business Basic, Standard, Premium |
| Seat limit | Starter, Standard, Plus: up to 300 users. Enterprise: no limit | 300 seats in total across Basic, Standard and Premium |
| Larger organizations | Enterprise (contact sales) | Microsoft 365 enterprise plans |
| Price shown by vendor | Pricing page, excluding tax, with new-customer promotions | Pricing page for your country |
The Microsoft seat limit is a combined cap. Microsoft's Business Premium FAQ gives the example that an organization with 250 Business Premium seats can provision only 50 more seats across the whole Business family, and it reserves the right to enforce the 300-license tenant limit.
Google Workspace Business plans
Google's own comparison page lists these differences between the three Business tiers.
| Feature | Business Starter | Business Standard | Business Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pooled storage per user | 30 GB | 2 TB | 5 TB |
| Meet participants per meeting | 100 | 150 | 500 |
| Meet recording | Not listed | Record to Drive | Record to Drive |
| Attendance tracking | Not listed | Not listed | Included |
| Google Vault | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Endpoint management | Fundamental | Fundamental | Advanced |
Storage is pooled, meaning it is shared across the organization rather than reserved for each person. The pricing page also notes that meetings can last up to 24 hours on all plans.
Google Workspace prices
On the vendor pricing page viewed for this article, the list prices are 7.00 USD per user per month for Business Starter, 14.00 USD for Business Standard and 22.00 USD for Business Plus, before tax. These are the prices with an annual commitment; Google's billing help lists the month-to-month Flexible Plan at 8.40 USD, 16.80 USD and 26.40 USD per user (Flexible Plan). The page labels these as list prices effective from a future date, so they may differ from what you pay today. It also advertises 50 percent off introductory pricing: one footnote says the introductory price applies to the first 20 users for 12 months, while the headline offer mentions three months. The page does not reconcile these terms, so treat the amount on the final checkout screen as the only reliable figure.
Enterprise pricing is not published: the page directs you to sales. Enterprise adds items such as S/MIME encryption, data loss prevention, context-aware access and enterprise data regions.
Microsoft 365 Business plans
Microsoft's Learn documentation describes the tiers like this. Business Standard includes Microsoft Teams, secure cloud storage, business email and premium Office applications across devices. Business Premium includes everything in Business Standard plus Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1, which add advanced threat protection, endpoint detection and response, and threat and vulnerability management. Business Basic is the lowest tier of the Business family.
For storage, mailbox size and the exact app list per plan, use Microsoft's current plan comparison and service descriptions rather than a summary written months earlier: they are updated as features move between plans. Two points do matter in a comparison. First, security and management benefits of Business Premium apply only to users and devices that have a Business Premium subscription, so a mixed deployment gives mixed protection. Second, Microsoft recommends deploying Business Premium to all users for the best protection.
If you plan to run on Microsoft, the Microsoft 365 tenant security baseline covers settings to apply from day one, and group-based licensing shows how to assign these plans without clicking through every user.
How to decide
Price per seat rarely decides the choice. These questions usually do.
Which applications do people already use
If staff exchange Excel workbooks with macros, Word documents with tracked changes or Access databases with customers and accountants, the desktop Office applications included from Business Standard upward matter. If work is mostly email, shared documents and meetings in a browser, either suite fits.
What devices will you manage
Both vendors have device management. Google places advanced endpoint management in Business Plus. Microsoft ties the Defender for Business capabilities to Business Premium. If you have laptops that hold customer data, decide who can wipe them and how you enforce encryption, then see which tier gives you that control.
What must you retain or search
Google Vault is included from Business Plus. If you need to hold and search email and chat for legal or regulatory reasons, confirm the equivalent in your Microsoft plan against its current service description.
Who will administer it
A single part-time administrator benefits from the suite whose admin console they already know. Microsoft's admin and security surfaces are larger. Google's console is smaller. Neither is free of learning cost.
How large will you grow
If you could exceed 300 people, price the Enterprise tier at Google or the Microsoft 365 enterprise plans from the start, since both vendors move you off the small-business ladder at that point.
Check current prices step by step
- Open the vendor pricing page for your country. Note the currency and whether tax is included.
- Select annual or monthly billing. Prices and discounts can differ by commitment term.
- Add up seats for every person who needs a mailbox, including shared roles, then check whether shared mailboxes need a licence in your suite.
- Open the checkout or quote screen and read the first-year and renewal price separately, especially if an introductory discount applies.
- Record the date and the figure in your decision notes.
Migration and exit considerations
Both vendors publish migration tools for mail, calendars and files, and both let you keep your existing domain name. Your DNS records for mail, such as MX, SPF and DKIM, change when you move; the guide on SPF, DKIM and DMARC for Microsoft 365 shows what correct records look like on the Microsoft side. Plan a cutover window, lower the DNS time-to-live in advance and keep the old suite active until mail flow is verified. Moving later is possible, but it is real work, so pick the suite with a three-year view.
If you choose Microsoft 365, the Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration step-by-step guide walks through the whole move, and the migration cost and timeline guide helps you budget the overlap.
Decision checklist
- Count users now and in three years, and compare with the 300-user thresholds.
- List the Office file types and add-ins your business depends on.
- Decide whether you need eDiscovery, retention or advanced device management, and map each to a tier.
- Read the current price at checkout for your country and billing term, and note any promotion end date.
- Confirm tax treatment and invoicing needs with your accountant.
- Trial each suite with two or three real users before committing.
References
- Google Workspace pricing: https://workspace.google.com/pricing
- Google Workspace Business editions comparison: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/getting-started/editions/compare-business-editions
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium frequently asked questions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-premium/microsoft-365-business-faqs?view=o365-worldwide
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium resources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-premium/
- Microsoft 365 plans and pricing for business (check for current prices): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/with-teams-plans-and-pricing
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