Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: Which is Right for Your Perth Business?

Almost every new Perth business we onboard asks the same question in the first conversation: Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? Both are capable, both are reliable, and both will run your email, files, and video calls without drama. The right answer depends less on which platform is "better" and more on how your team actually works day to day.

What You Get at Each Pricing Tier

Microsoft and Google both sell tiered subscriptions per user, per month. Pricing changes periodically and is usually quoted in USD then converted, so treat these as a guide rather than a quote - but the relative gaps between tiers are useful for budgeting:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic (~$9.40/user/month) - web and mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plus Teams and 1TB OneDrive storage. No desktop apps.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard (~$19.20/user/month) - everything in Basic plus the full desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium (~$35.10/user/month) - everything in Standard plus Microsoft Intune device management, Microsoft Entra Conditional Access, and Microsoft Defender for Business endpoint protection.
• Google Workspace Business Starter (~$8.40/user/month) - Gmail, Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, Google Meet, and 30GB storage per user.
• Google Workspace Business Standard (~$16.80/user/month) - 2TB storage per user, longer Meet recording and noise cancellation, and access to AppSheet for basic app building.
• Google Workspace Business Plus (~$26.40/user/month) - 5TB storage per user, Vault for e-discovery and retention, and enhanced endpoint management.

At the entry tier, Google is marginally cheaper. Once a Perth business needs proper desktop Office apps and serious security controls, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the tier most of our clients land on - and it remains competitive against Google Workspace Business Plus once you factor in what's actually included.

Desktop Apps vs Browser-First

This is the single biggest practical difference between the two platforms. Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Premium include the real desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook - the full applications you install on a PC, with offline access and every advanced feature (pivot tables, macros, complex conditional formatting, mail merge).

Google Workspace is browser-first by design. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are genuinely good for everyday documents and run identically on any device with a browser, but they're lighter-weight than their Microsoft equivalents. A bookkeeper running complex spreadsheet models, or an office relying on Word mail merge for mailouts, will usually feel the gap in Sheets and Docs. A team that mostly writes emails, simple documents, and basic spreadsheets often won't notice it at all.

Storage and File Management

Microsoft 365 gives every user 1TB of OneDrive storage from the Business Basic tier up, with SharePoint handling team and shared document libraries. Google Workspace starts much lower at 30GB on Business Starter, then jumps to 2TB on Standard and 5TB on Business Plus - so if storage matters to you (photographers, architects, businesses with large file libraries), check which Google tier you actually need before comparing price against Microsoft.

Collaboration and Meetings

Microsoft Teams and Google Meet are both solid for video calls and screen sharing. Where they diverge is in how deeply collaboration ties into the rest of the platform. Teams is built around persistent channels, file co-authoring inside SharePoint, and integration with the rest of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem - it's a genuine hub, not just a calling app. Google's equivalent is more spread across Gmail, Google Chat, and Meet as separate but connected tools, which some teams find simpler and others find disjointed.

Security and Compliance

Both platforms are ISO 27001 certified and capable of strong security when configured correctly. Where Microsoft 365 pulls ahead for Perth businesses with compliance obligations is the depth of its security tooling at the Business Premium tier: Conditional Access policies that can require a managed, compliant device before granting access; Intune for enforcing encryption and patch compliance across every laptop and phone; and Microsoft Defender for Business for endpoint threat detection - all included in the one subscription. These are also the controls most directly referenced in the Essential Eight, which matters if your business is being asked about cyber maturity by an insurer or a client's procurement team.

Google Workspace Business Plus includes solid equivalents - 2-Step Verification, context-aware access, and endpoint management - but the policy granularity and the surrounding ecosystem of compliance documentation are generally less mature than Microsoft's, which still leans more heavily on enterprise and government customers.

Which Should a Perth Business Choose?

For most Perth small and medium businesses, especially those already running Windows PCs, dealing in invoices, quotes, and spreadsheets, or with any compliance or cyber insurance requirements, we recommend Microsoft 365 Business Premium. The combination of full desktop Office apps, deep Windows integration, and built-in security controls gives you the most coverage for the cost, and it's the platform most Perth IT providers (including us) are set up to support and secure properly.

Google Workspace remains a genuinely good choice if your team works almost entirely in a browser, has minimal need for advanced Excel or Word features, or is already standardised on Chromebooks and Android devices. Startups, creative agencies, and tech-forward teams who value simplicity over depth often prefer it.

Whichever way you lean, the decision is rarely permanent - both platforms support migration tooling to move the other way later if your needs change. Top Tier Computing supports both platforms and can migrate your Perth business to either one with minimal downtime and no lost data.

Frequently Asked Questions

For related reading, see our Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration guide and our guide to Microsoft Copilot for Perth Businesses.