Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for Australian Small Business

How do Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 compare at a glance?

For most small businesses, the choice turns on these seven points.

How much do Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cost in Australia?

Business tiers of either suite list at roughly A$10 to A$40 per user per month, checked in October 2026 on Google's Australian Workspace page and on Microsoft's Australian pages for Business Basic, Business Standard and Business Premium.

Check the fine print. Microsoft's Australian prices exclude GST. Google's pricing doesn't say either way, though its billing help notes that invoices issued by Google Australia include 10% GST on taxable services. Resellers and billing terms also move the number. For how Microsoft's billing terms change what you pay, see what changed in Microsoft's 2026 price rise.

Eligible not-for-profits pay far less on both sides: Google lists a no-cost Google Workspace for Nonprofits edition, and Microsoft offers Business Premium at a 75% discount. Our not-for-profit IT page sets out Microsoft's current nonprofit offers.

How do the apps and everyday experience differ?

Both suites cover email, calendars, file sharing, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, chat and video meetings. Google describes Workspace as cloud-first and browser-based, so staff mostly work in a browser tab. Microsoft's Business Basic gives web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and Business Standard adds the installed desktop apps.

Google says Docs, Sheets and Slides can edit Office files without converting them first. Even so, if your bookkeeper relies on desktop Excel or your team lives in Word's tracked changes, using the same apps as your clients removes friction. For professional services firms swapping Office files all day, that alone can settle it. If your people mostly write and comment together in the browser, Google suits that style, and its pooled storage lets heavy users borrow space light users don't need.

Which plans include the security a small business needs?

Google's plan comparison lists 2-Step Verification and the Advanced Protection Programme on every plan. Business Plus adds Vault for retaining, archiving and searching data, plus advanced endpoint management. Data loss prevention and context-aware access appear only in Google's Enterprise plans, which are priced through its sales team.

Microsoft's Business Premium FAQ says Premium includes everything in Business Standard, plus Defender for Business alongside Defender for Office 365 Plan 1. Its Premium security FAQ confirms full Intune and Entra ID P1, the licence behind Conditional Access sign-in rules, and the Australian product page adds Purview data loss prevention.

So at similar list prices, Premium bundles device protection, phishing protection, sign-in rules and data loss prevention, while Business Plus bundles Vault, more storage and stronger device management. None of it protects anything until someone configures and maintains it. Our guide to Microsoft's three Business plans has the feature-by-feature detail.

How does each suite manage laptops and phones?

Google's endpoint management comparison gives Business Starter and Standard its fundamental tier: basic passcode rules, remote wiping of the work account on a phone, and Google sign-in on Windows PCs. Business Plus adds advanced management, including device approval, remote wiping of the whole device and Windows device management.

Business Premium includes Intune, which Microsoft says covers full device management for iOS, Android, Mac and other platforms, and its security FAQ also explains Windows Autopilot for setting up new PCs before they reach staff. There's an Australian angle too: ASD's Blueprint for Secure Cloud has a current focus on Microsoft 365. It was developed primarily for government, though ASD notes businesses outside government may find it useful as well.

Can your business data stay in Australia?

With Microsoft 365, yes for the core services. Microsoft's Product Terms data residency page (updated 8 October 2026) says a tenant provisioned in Australia has its Exchange Online mailbox content, SharePoint and OneDrive files and Teams chat messages stored at rest only in Australia, at no additional cost.

With Google Workspace, not in Australia. Google's data regions setting offers the United States, Europe or no preference on Business Standard and above, and lists no Australian option. Business Starter isn't covered at all.

Does offshore storage break Australian privacy law? Not automatically. The OAIC's APP 8 guidelines don't ban it. Giving personal information to an overseas provider is usually a disclosure; cloud storage counts as a mere use only in limited cases where you keep effective control by contract. For a disclosure, you must take reasonable steps first and can answer for the provider's breaches. If clients, funders or insurers expect Australian storage, that can decide it.

How hard is it to switch between them?

Moving either way is a project, not a setting, but both vendors supply their own tools.

From Google Workspace to Microsoft 365

Microsoft's built-in Google Workspace migration moves mail, rules, calendars and contacts in batches of users. Its migration guide says room bookings, shared calendars, event colours and vacation settings stay behind, and rules arrive switched off. Files go through Migration Manager, which, per Microsoft's unsupported files list, converts Google Docs, Sheets and Slides to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but can't bring across Google Sites or Maps. Microsoft's Migration Manager FAQ adds that external sharing links aren't recreated and only each file's latest version is copied by default.

Key IT runs this as a project-managed cloud migration: assess what you have, plan the target setup and cut-over dates with a rollback point, move mail and files in checked stages, then tune security settings and hand over to ongoing support, with cut-overs often scheduled outside business hours.

From Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace

Google announced on 13 October 2026 that its data import tool moves Microsoft 365 inboxes, calendars and files at no additional cost, and is generally available for files from Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Teams. Its migration matrix says Google Workspace Migrate drops Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and OneDrive at the end of 2026, so older guides may name the wrong tool.

Either way, budget for DNS and mail records, apps that send email or sign in through your current suite, permission checks and staff training.

Which should your business choose?

Google Workspace tends to fit when:

• your team works mostly in the browser and rarely trades Office files with outsiders;
• you value pooled storage, such as 2 TB per user on Business Standard;
• nothing in your contracts or obligations requires Australian data storage.

Microsoft 365 tends to fit when:

• staff rely on desktop Excel, Word or Outlook, or swap Office files with clients daily;
• clients, funders or insurers expect your data kept in Australia;
• you want endpoint protection, device management and sign-in rules in one licence, which is Business Premium.

If Microsoft 365 is your direction, Key IT's Microsoft 365 service sets the right licence for each person and keeps security settings current after go-live. Whichever suite you choose, keep an independent backup; for Microsoft 365, Key IT adds an immutable copy through its disaster recovery service.