Outlook vs Gmail: Price, Features and Security Comparison

James 22, Jul, 2021

Information Technology

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the main productivity suites in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) space, and both provide a wide range of applications required by modern businesses.

Although many of these apps have similar functions, the proprietary products of Microsoft and Google have their own quirks, good or bad.

In this article, we will check emails through Microsoft Outlook and Google’s Gmail for Business.

In any case, in terms of market share, these two applications are the industry’s leading e-mail applications, and are the pillars of M365 and Workspace, respectively.

E-mail looks simple on the surface, but the differences between Outlook and Gmail show that things are much more complicated than sending and receiving mail.

Everyone works differently, starting with the access method and ending with the security and privacy provided.

Outlook vs Gmail: Pricing Plans

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are priced on a monthly basis per user and have different pricing tiers.

As far as the email account itself is concerned, the difference in tiers usually only affects storage space.

Using Microsoft’s Business Basic plan ($5/month/user when billed annually), each user gets 50GB of email storage space, this is the same as the extra 1TB of cloud storage space on OneDrive.

Please note that the most basic level of M365 does not include any Microsoft desktop applications, including Outlook. Users who purchase this plan must be satisfied with the Outlook Web application.

At the same time, Google’s Business Basic plan ($6) provides a total of 30GB of storage space, combining email storage and disk storage. Yes, in Google’s cheapest plan, 60% of the mailbox storage space provided for Microsoft accounts for 100% of its total storage space.

This difference is likely to be an attempt by Google to sell its premium plans to users. Its standard plan ($12) jumped to 2TB of disk storage space, while the Plus plan ($18) jumped to 5TB. Microsoft provides 2 to 5 TB of disk storage through its enterprise products, but starting with the E3 plan ($32), mailbox storage can be infinitely large through unlimited archiving.

The score in the first round here is called a tie. At the cheapest level, the two platforms are similar, and the Gmail web application may be worth the extra money each month.

When you finish your plan, the Outlook desktop application may change your mind, as we will see later. Please note that Microsoft’s pricing is based on annual commitments, and Google does not offer annual discounts as of the publication of this article.

This article simply covers these two kits through the scope of the email application, and these prices cover many other features. If price is your main factor, please consider the ease of use of each kit before making a decision.

Main Difference

The biggest difference between the two kits is Microsoft’s desktop applications, compared to Microsoft’s web applications , It has more functions than Google.

Unlike the email application, the full Gmail experience can only be accessed through a web browser.

Using the Outlook desktop application, users can get a complete Exchange server experience, plus the benefit of being able to read and write emails offline.

For example, if you are on an airplane, reply to emails and process documents that you plan to send later.

This may be the best use of your time. With Outlook, you don’t need to wait for the Internet to continue working, just deliver the work.

Unless you overcome some obstacles first, you won’t be able to access the Gmail interface without an internet connection.

At the time of writing this article, you need to use Google’s Chrome browser, bookmark Gmail, and synchronize your email with its offline feature. The reliability of this feature has been controversial for many years.

They all have mobile apps, so they can solve the problem, but replying to a lot of work emails on a mobile device can be difficult.

Compared with other applications, the complete Microsoft Office desktop application suite will be a greater advantage for Microsoft, but due to ease of use, we will still provide Outlook with slightly more but considerable advantages over Gmail.

Search Functions

As you might expect, the company knows that Gmail’s search engine allows you to find the email you need more reliably.

The advantage of Gmail is that it uses labels for classification. Multiple tags can be applied to each email or subject, and subcategories can be created within the tags to generate multiple filing systems.

If multiple labels have been applied to a single email or term, these messages will be displayed under each label. In addition, tags allow you to automatically filter incoming emails based on manually selected conditions.

In Outlook, sorting is limited to folders, forcing users to sort each email/thread in a unique location.

For the actual search function, both allow users to search using keywords as well as folders/tags, sender and received date. Gmail not only has more in-depth advanced search capabilities (available to all accounts), but it is also more accurate.

This was the first solid victory for Gmail, because Outlook’s search capabilities and classification were not as powerful.

Which One is More Secure?

Microsoft is the leader in this category. , And not particularly close. His dominant position is not only extensive, but also obvious in two different aspects.

Google has recently come under fire for processing personal data, with reports that the company scans users’ emails.

Most notably, it is reported that Google will track your location, activity, and even your voice in order to deliver targeted ads. At the same time, Microsoft is more transparent about its privacy policy and the data it collects.

If your company regularly transmits sensitive or personal data, then using Microsoft and Outlook may be more suitable for you.

Even if you do not send and receive private data, many other benefits are needed to overcome these obvious privacy issues.

For administrators, Outlook provides more internal security in the form of permissions. Although Outlook’s folder organization does not have the same searchable features as Gmail tabs, it does allow users to allow and prohibit certain operations within folders.

Outlook provides users with 10 different roles to choose from. And the administrator’s custom roles can be passed one by one-select specific actions.

These operations include everything from reading, editing, deleting, and sending messages to viewing specific meetings in calendar or free time.

Functionally, this allows managers to delegate tasks to their subordinates without having to give them large-scale access to more important information.

It also prevents disgruntled employees from stealing or deleting information that is considered confidential.

You can delegate account access to others in Gmail, which is essentially like handing over your car keys. You can’t assign access levels, hide private messages, or even view messages sent by representatives on your behalf.

One of the categories (if not the most important) is the uncontrolled victory of Outlook. With comprehensive options and a more transparent privacy policy, the Microsoft 365 email platform is unique.

Conclusion

As with most things, this decision depends largely on personal preference. Many of the differences between Outlook and Gmail have advantages, depending on how your business operates and budget.

Ultimately, the transparency and security of Outlook make it the most powerful product. However, if you find yourself checking thousands of emails every day, Gmail may be the right choice for you.