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Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for a 5-person business

For 5 users, both entry plans cost $420 a year on a yearly plan ($7 a user a month), or $504 paid monthly. How storage, apps, AI and archiving differ by tier.

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For a 5-person business, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cost the same at the entry level: Business Starter and Business Basic are both $7 a user a month on a yearly plan, so 5 users pay $420 a year, or $504 if you pay month to month ($8.40 a user). The real differences are what the next tier up buys you: Microsoft puts the desktop Word, Excel and Outlook apps in Business Standard, while Google gives each tier much more storage and puts Vault, its retention and archiving tool, only in Business Plus. Prices are in US dollars, before tax, as of October 2026.

We haven’t used either suite ourselves. Google’s figures come from its help center and pricing page, read October 25, 2026. Microsoft’s plan pages block automated reading, so its prices come from AskGPU’s data (checked October 17, 2026) and its plan limits from Microsoft Learn, read October 25, 2026.

How much does each plan cost for 5 users?

Plan Yearly plan, per user/month Paid monthly, no commitment 5 users, 12 months (yearly plan) 5 users, 12 months (monthly)
Google Business Starter $7 $8.40 $420 $504
Google Business Standard $14 $16.80 $840 $1,008
Google Business Plus $22 $26.40 $1,320 $1,584
Microsoft 365 Business Basic $7 $8.40 $420 $504
Microsoft 365 Business Standard $14 not in our data $840 not in our data
Microsoft 365 Business Premium $22 (list price) not in our data $1,320 not in our data

How to read it:

  • Google’s two payment plans. Google’s help center lists the Flexible Plan (no commitment) and the Annual/Fixed-Term Plan ($84, $168 and $264 per user a year). On the annual plan you can pay monthly or yearly, but you’re committed for the full year.
  • Microsoft’s prices went up on July 1, 2026. Business Basic went from $6 to $7 and Business Standard from $12.50 to $14; Business Premium stayed at $22 (our report on the change). Existing customers pay the new price from their first renewal after that date.
  • Microsoft’s monthly rates. Our data has $8.40 for Business Basic paid monthly (our Microsoft 365 page). We have no verified monthly rates for Standard or Premium, so we leave them out.
  • Promotions. Google was offering new customers up to 30% off the first 3 months of an annual plan when we last checked on October 18, 2026, after which the usual $7, $14 and $22 apply. See our deals page.

Worked example: what a 5-person team pays in year one

Cheapest option on each side, yearly plan:

  • Google Business Starter: 5 users × $7 × 12 months = $420
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic: 5 users × $7 × 12 months = $420

Same plans, paid monthly: 5 users × $8.40 × 12 months = $504 on either, $84 more a year.

If the team needs desktop Office apps or more storage:

  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard: 5 × $14 × 12 = $840
  • Google Business Standard: 5 × $14 × 12 = $840 (or 5 × $16.80 × 12 = $1,008 on the Flexible Plan)

What a mid-year departure costs. Say one person leaves after 6 months. On Google’s Flexible Plan you remove the user and pay for 4 from then on: Starter would cost 5 × $8.40 × 6 + 4 × $8.40 × 6 = $252 + $201.60 = $453.60 for the year. On Google’s annual plan you keep paying for all 5 licenses until renewal, so the year still costs $420. The annual plan still wins. Flexible wins only if the team shrinks earlier or by more: if two people leave after 6 months, it comes to 5 × $8.40 × 6 + 3 × $8.40 × 6 = $252 + $151.20 = $403.20.

How much storage do you get?

Google Starter Google Standard Google Plus Microsoft Basic / Standard Microsoft Premium
File storage 30 GB per user, pooled 2 TB per user, pooled 5 TB per user, pooled 1 TB OneDrive per user 1 TB OneDrive per user
Mailbox size No separate figure No separate figure No separate figure 100 GB per user 100 GB per user
Email archive Not listed Not listed Not listed 50 GB archive mailbox 100 GB, auto-expanding up to 1.5 TB
5-user total (files) 150 GB 10 TB 25 TB 5 TB, plus team storage 5 TB, plus team storage

Google’s pricing page describes “pooled storage per user that is shared across the organization” and gives no separate mailbox size. Microsoft Learn lists a 1 TB OneDrive and a 100 GB mailbox per user on all three Business plans, plus team (SharePoint) storage of 1 TB per organization and 10 GB per license.

At the entry level this is the biggest gap: 5 users on Google Starter share 150 GB, while 5 users on Microsoft Basic get 5 TB of OneDrive plus their mailboxes, for the same $420 a year. Google Business Standard more than closes the gap, with 10 TB pooled.

Do you get the desktop Office apps?

This is the main reason people compare Business Basic and Business Standard.

  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic has web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, plus Teams. Microsoft Learn marks the desktop apps “No” for Basic, and limits its mobile Office apps to screens of 10.9 inches or less.
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Premium include the desktop apps, among them Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, with 5 installs per user on PC or Mac.
  • Google Workspace has no desktop office suite on any plan. Its pricing page lists Drive for desktop on every plan, which syncs files to your computer, and support for over 100 file types; Docs, Sheets and Slides are not offered as installable desktop apps.

If your team needs Word, Excel or Outlook installed on the desktop, the cheapest plan that covers it is Microsoft 365 Business Standard at $14 a user a month on a yearly plan. If everyone works in a browser, Google Starter or Microsoft Basic both work.

Which AI features are included?

Google Workspace. Gemini comes with every Business plan, but the entry plan gets less:

  • Business Starter: Google lists Gemini in Workspace apps as “Limited.” Gemini in Gmail is included; Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Chat is not. Gemini Notebook has “Basic access,” with up to 3 Audio Overviews a day.
  • Business Standard and Plus: Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Chat, and “Expanded access” to Gemini Notebook with up to 20 Audio Overviews a day.
  • Google is also rolling out AI Inbox and Gmail Live to paid plans for US users with English (US) set, with Starter getting AI Inbox later (our report).

Microsoft 365. Every Business plan includes Copilot Chat; the full Copilot is a paid add-on:

  • Included: Microsoft Learn says Copilot Chat “doesn’t require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.” It offers web-grounded chat, file upload and image generation, and in Outlook it can answer questions about your email, calendar and meetings. Without the add-on, Microsoft says users may not get Copilot chat inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, depending on licensing and tenant setup.
  • Add-on: Microsoft Copilot Business is for organizations with up to 300 users on Business Basic, Standard or Premium, sold with an annual commitment. Microsoft’s Partner Center listed it at $21 a user a month when it launched in December 2025. For 5 users that would be 5 × $21 × 12 = $1,260 a year on top of the suite, more than Business Premium itself. Check Microsoft’s current price before you budget for it.

In short: at $7 a user, Google gives you AI in Gmail and Microsoft a chat assistant that can read your Outlook. For AI inside documents, Google Business Standard ($14) includes it; on Microsoft you pay for the add-on.

If you must keep email for a set number of years, or might face a legal hold, this decides the tier.

Google: Vault is Google’s tool to retain, hold, search and export data. Google’s pricing page shows Vault in Business Plus, not in Starter or Standard, and its Vault help page lists Business Plus among the editions with Vault. Google says Vault keeps data even after users delete it, holds preserve data indefinitely, and exports stay available for 15 days, but also that “Vault isn’t a data archive.” Some editions can add Vault for a fee; Google points you to sales for which.

Microsoft: Microsoft Learn’s Purview service description lists Business Premium (not Basic or Standard) among the licenses for organization-wide retention policies. Of those retention policies, Basic and Standard are licensed only for Teams chats and channels, and the Exchange limits page gives them a 50 GB archive mailbox. Business Premium’s archive starts at 100 GB per user and, with auto-expanding archiving turned on, grows to 1.5 TB. All three Business plans include Audit (Standard).

So for retention and archiving, the matching pair is Google Business Plus against Microsoft 365 Business Premium, both $22 a user a month on a yearly plan, or $1,320 a year for 5 users.

Can you switch later? Migration tools on both sides

Google to Microsoft. Microsoft’s Exchange admin center can migrate Gmail mail and rules, calendars and contacts in batches. Microsoft says vacation and auto-reply settings, room bookings, shared calendars and Gmail tags don’t come across, and migrated rules arrive turned off. For files, Microsoft’s Migration Manager moves Google Drive files, metadata and permissions to OneDrive and SharePoint; a simpler “Lite” version is on by default for tenants with fewer than 300 licenses.

Microsoft to Google. Google’s data migration service imports email from Microsoft Exchange Online, other Google Workspace accounts or IMAP servers, and files from OneDrive business editions into users’ My Drive. Google’s page doesn’t say whether calendars and contacts are included, so check first.

What to watch for

  • Annual plans lock in the seat count. On Google’s annual plan you can add users anytime but remove them only at renewal; cancel early and you pay the rest of the contract with no refund. On Microsoft (accounts with a Microsoft Customer Agreement), you can remove licenses or cancel for a prorated refund only within 7 days of buying or renewing; after that, you can only turn off recurring billing. If you pay monthly on an annual Microsoft subscription, you’re charged every month until the term ends.
  • Monthly billing costs 20% more on Google’s Flexible Plan ($8.40 against $7 for Starter). For a team that’s stable at 5 people, the yearly plan is cheaper even if one person leaves halfway through the year (see the worked example).
  • Price rises arrive at renewal. Microsoft’s July 2026 increase reached existing customers at their first renewal after July 1.
  • Trials. Microsoft’s one-month free trial needs a credit card and turns into a paid subscription unless you cancel; Google’s free trial is 14 days.
  • Data after you leave. Microsoft says data left behind after cancellation may be deleted after 30 days, and is deleted no later than 180 days. Export it before you cancel.
  • Google Starter’s storage is small. 30 GB per user, pooled, against Microsoft Basic’s 1 TB of OneDrive plus a 100 GB mailbox.

Which should a 5-person business choose?

  • Email, calendar and video calls on a tight budget, all in the browser: either entry plan at $420 a year. Pick Microsoft 365 Business Basic if storage matters (5 TB of OneDrive for the team against 150 GB pooled), or Google Business Starter if your team already lives in Gmail and Google Docs and wants Gemini in Gmail.
  • You need desktop Word, Excel and Outlook: Microsoft 365 Business Standard, $840 a year for 5 users on a yearly plan.
  • You want lots of storage and AI in documents without an add-on: Google Business Standard, $840 a year on the annual plan (10 TB pooled, Gemini in Docs, Sheets and Meet).
  • You must keep email for a set period or prepare for legal holds: Google Business Plus or Microsoft 365 Business Premium, both $1,320 a year for 5 users on a yearly plan.
  • Your headcount changes often: Google’s Flexible Plan lets you remove users anytime, at $8.40 a user for Starter.
  • You only need email on your domain: neither suite may be worth it. Zoho Mail starts at $1 a user a month billed yearly; see our Google Workspace alternatives and the business email page.

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