This is part five of a five part series on comparing the features & services in G Suite by Google versus those in Microsoft 365. To directly jump to the other blog articles in the series, select from the following:

  1. Which Cloud Office Suite Should Your Business Use?
  2. G Suite Basic vs Microsoft 365 Business Basic
  3. G Suite Business vs Microsoft 365 Basic Standard
  4. G Suite Enterprise vs Microsoft 365 Business Premium
  5. G Suite Enterprise vs Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 & Office 365 Enterprise E1/E3/E5

G Suite Enterprise by Google vs Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 & Office 365 Enterprise E1/E3/E5

In part 1 of this blog series, we outlined the flagship features and services that are offered and embedded within the various licenses offered in G Suite by Google and Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office 365). In this blog article, we will specifically talk to the features, services and pricing of G Suite Enterprise Plan by Google versus the Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3, E5 & Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 & E5 Plans

When selecting the version of the license you are about to purchase for each cloud business suite, it’s very important that you make an informed decision based on the pricing, quality, and quantity of the features and services that are available in each company suite version.

At my organization, Creospark, we specialize in helping organizations understand each cloud productivity license and associated features they are purchasing, and in turn helping them deploy and migrate to the services included with that license. For Microsoft cloud services, we also provide free 24 by 7 phone bilingual support to our customers when purchasing the licensing from us.

Please note, that this article has been created in August 2020, so it may be out of date as soon as Microsoft or Google alter their pricing or services.

During our analysis, we found that G Suite by Google does not have any comparable plans that have the rich feature sets of the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans. The closest is the G Suite Enterprise Plan (which is more equivalent to the lower tier Microsoft 365 Business Premium Plan which we compared in Part 4 of this series). It is important to note that Microsoft 365 Enterprise has more plans tailored for larger organizations while G Suite does not offer anything comparable to Microsoft’s Enterprise plans. Either way though, this blog article aims to compare the G Suite Enterprise Plan and Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3, E5 and Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 & E5 Plans.

Enterprise plans are best suited for organizations that require access to full featured productivity apps, advanced security, compliance, voice and analytical capabilities.

Microsoft has made things a little more confusing with their Enterprise plans naming by now offering “Microsoft” 365 Enterprise plans and “Office” 365 Enterprise plans.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans usually have an associated Office 365 Enterprise plan (e.g. E3 & E5 but NOT E1). These plans are basically equivalent except that the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans additionally have OS, security, device management, and device/application deployment related features such as:

  • Microsoft Intune
  • Windows 10 Enterprise
  • Windows Autopilot
  • Windows Analytics Device Health
  • System Center Configuration Manager
  • System Center Endpoint Protection management license equivalency

See below for a more detailed Pricing and Feature comparison of all of these plans.

Pricing Comparison

The tables below provide pricing as of August 2020 for the Enterprise plans for G Suite by Google Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 / E5 & Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 & E5.

G Suite Enterprise Plan by GoogleOffice 365 Enterprise E1 PlanOffice 365 Enterprise E3 PlanMicrosoft 365 Enterprise E3 Plan*
US Pricing$25.00 USD / per user / per month$8.00 USD / per user / per month$20.00 USD / per user / per month
$32.00 USD / per user / per month
CAD Pricing$34.00 CAD / per user / per month$10.20 CAD / per user / per month$26.60 CAD / per user / per month
$42.60 CAD / per user / per month
Office 365 Enterprise E5 PlanMicrosoft 365 Enterprise E5 Plan*
US Pricing$35.00 USD / per user / per month$57.00 USD / per user / per month
CAD Pricing$46.60 CAD / per user / per month$73.00 CAD / per user / per month

* Includes Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows Autopilot, Windows Analytics, Device Health, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Endpoint Protection management license equivalency

Feature Comparison G Suite Enterprise vs Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 & Office Enterprise E1/E3/E5

Let’s first by comparing G Suite Enterprise plan features and services with the Microsoft’s enterprise Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E3 / E5 plans. As you will see from below, for a more worthy comparison, it would be better to compare Google’s G Suite Enterprise plan with Microsoft’s lower tier Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan which we described in part 4 of this blog series due to the lack of enterprise feature sets & services in G Suite Enterprise.

G Suite Enterprise Plan by GoogleOffice 365 Enterprise E3 PlanMicrosoft 365 Enterprise E3 Plan
Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations (Web based applications)YES
(Google docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets)
YES
(Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher – PC only, Access – PC only)
YES
(Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher – PC only, Access – PC only)
Desktop version of appsNOYES
YES
Email (including business domain), calendar, video conferencingYES
(Gmail, Meets, Chats)

Email storage
(Unlimited)

Attachment Size
(25 MB sending / 50 MB receiving)
YES
(Microsoft Teams, Outlook & Exchange)

Email storage
(100 GB)

Attachment Size
(150 MB)

YES
(Microsoft Teams, Outlook & Exchange)

Email storage
(100 GB)

Attachment Size
(150 MB)

Cloud storageGoogle drive with unlimited cloud storage or 1 TB per user if fewer than 5 usersOneDrive with UNLIMITED storage with 5+ users- subscriptions with fewer than 5 users receive 1 TB  storage per user
OneDrive with UNLIMITED storage with 5+ users- subscriptions with fewer than 5 users receive 1 TB  storage per user
Additional Tools*Keep, Currents, Endpoint managementSharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneNote, Microsoft Bookings, MileIQ, Microsoft Whiteboard, Yammer, Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Sway, Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Shifts, MyAnalytics, Microsoft Lists
SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneNote, Microsoft Bookings, MileIQ, Microsoft Whiteboard, Yammer, Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Sway, Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Shifts, MyAnalytics, Microsoft Lists
Security and Management– Advanced protection program (includes defense against phishing, safeguard data by limiting access to it, block fraudulent account access)
– Data regions
– Data loss prevention for Gmail and Drive
– Archive and set retention policies for emails and chats
– Archive and set retention policies for emails and chats
– Endpoint management
– Enterprise grade access control with security key enforcement
– eDiscovery for emails, chats, files
– Audit reports to track user activity
– Protect email against spam, malware
– Meet- s international, regional, industry specific standards
– Control access to business information with security groups and custom permissions
– Create password policies
–  Create approved mobile device lists, enforce PIN lock, and remove confidential company data from lost phones.
– Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people
– In-place archive
– Use Exchange Online Archiving so that you never lose an email
– Microsoft 365 Admin Center
– Microsoft Graph API
– Group Policy support, Office telemetry, roaming settings
– Shared computer activation
– On-premises Active Directory sync for single sign-on (SSO)
– Information protection —message encryption, rights management, and data loss prevention for email and files
– Azure Information Protection for Office 365
– Protect email against spam, malware
– Meet- s international, regional, industry specific standards
– Control access to business information with security groups and custom permissions
– Create password policies
–  Create approved mobile device lists, enforce PIN lock, and remove confidential company data from lost phones.
– Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people
– In-place archive
– Use Exchange Online Archiving so that you never lose an email
– Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics
feature is included
– Windows Defender Antivirus and Device Guard
– Windows Information Protection and BitLocker
– Azure Information Protection P1
– Information protection —message encryption, rights management, and data loss prevention for email and files.
– Microsoft Secure Score
– Microsoft Security and Compliance Center
– Microsoft 365 Admin Center
– Microsoft Graph API
– Group Policy support, Office telemetry, roaming settings
– Shared computer activation
– On-premises Active Directory sync for single sign-on (SSO)
OS / Windows Device Related toolsNo extra OS toolsNo extra OS tools– Windows 10 Enterprise E3 license
– Microsoft Intune
– Windows Autopilot
– Windows Analytics Device Health
– Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager
– Windows Hello, Credential Guard, and Direct Access
– Azure Active Directory Premium plan 1
feature is included
– System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Endpoint Protection management license equivalency

*”Keeps” is a G Suite application for Shared notes which is similar to Microsoft’s “OneNote“. “Currents” is a G Suite application to engage employees which is similar to “Microsoft Teams“. “SharePoint” is a Microsoft intranet and document management system that is used internally. “Microsoft Bookings” makes it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments via online tools. “MileIQ” gives your business tools for real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting. “Microsoft Intune” is a Microsoft cloud-based mobile management tool with a purpose of protecting corporate data. “Microsoft Information Protection” is a Microsoft cloud-based tool that allows organizations to classify and protect documents. “Advanced Threat Protection” helps protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts. “Information Rights Management” allows organizations to control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward. “Azure Active Directory Premium Plan 1” provides single sign-on and multi-factor authentication to protect users from cybersecurity attacks. “Power Apps “is used to build custom apps for your business. “Power Automate” allows you to create automated workflows.

Refer to part 1 of this blog series to get a more thorough understanding of what each individual services like “Keeps”, “Currents”, “OneNote”, “Microsoft Teams”, “Microsoft Bookings”, “MileIQ” and “SharePoint” are.

Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E5

Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E5 plans are the top most supercharged cloud workplace productivity plan that has everything above in the Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E3 plans plus the following:

  • Windows 10 Enterprise E5
  • Advanced eDiscovery
  • Secure attachments
  • Secure URLs
  • Advanced Access Controls
  • Power BI Pro
  • Microsoft 365 Advanced Threat Protection
  • Cloud App Security
  • PSTN conferencing
  • Advanced Data Governance
  • Advanced Threat Protection
  • Customer Lockbox
  • Audio Calling
  • Phone System
  • Azure Active Directory Premium plan 2
  • Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection
  • Azure Advanced Threat Protection
  • Azure Information Protection P2
  • Service Encryption with Customer Key
  • Privileged Access Management
  • Workplace Analytics

These Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E5 plans are meant for enterprises that have the utmost requirements when it comes to security & compliance and want the latest eDiscovery, automated data loss prevention, data protection, data retention, workplace analytics tools for their data using built-in machine intelligence and machine learning capabilities and much more.

Pricing & Service Conclusion for G Suite Enterprise vs Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E3 / E5:

Microsoft & Office 365 365 Enterprise E3 & E5 plans are on whole separate level versus G Suite’s Enterprise plan. You can’t really compare them in terms of feature sets as there is so much additional functionality bundled in that Microsoft & Office 365 Enterprise E3 & E5 that enterprises and any organization would love. Furthermore, “Microsoft” 365 Enterprise E3 & E5 plans have everything that “Office” 365 Enterprise E3 & E5 plans have including a Windows 10 Enterprise license and many other cloud device management capabilities such as Intune, Endpoint management & Autopilot. For a more worthy comparison, it would be better to compare Google’s G Suite Enterprise plan with Microsoft’s lower tier Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan which we described in part 4 of this blog series.

The Microsoft 365 E3 Plan provides strong security protection, while equipping your enterprise with the necessary solutions to work efficiently and productively. Tools such as SharePoint, Yammer are great to maintain internal communication, while Planner and To Do helps you remain on track with your project and tasks. Not to mention the Power Apps and Power Automate allows you to integrate Microsoft 365 seamlessly into your business. The unlimited cloud storage offered is also a huge benefit with this plan.

The Microsoft 365 E5 plan provides strong security protection services that cover the entire spectrum- from threat protection to information protection, security management and advanced compliance tools, your enterprise will be tightly protected from security threats with this plan. Not only this, but the addition of the Power BI Pro, Power Apps and Power Automate applications equips your enterprise with increase capabilities and flexibility to develop solutions tailored to your business’s needs. The unlimited cloud storage offered is also a huge benefit with this plan that allows your enterprise to work on the cloud without restriction.

Both G Suite Enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise E3 & E5 plans offer high security protection but Office 365’s Enterprise E3 & E5 plans have the edge with a more robust security & compliance feature set. G Suite’s Business Plan is also more costly than Office 365’s Enterprise E3 plan which possibly can be attributed to the fact that they offer more cloud storage per user but again, way less features. At a lower cost, the Office 365 Enterprise E3 plan comes with desktop versions of their apps although it has less storage. G Suite’s Enterprise plan offers unlimited cloud storage if your business signs up with more than 5 users. Compared to Microsoft 365’s plan which offers a max of 1 TB of storage, G Suite does offer more storage at a higher price.

Microsoft’s Enterprise E3 & E5 plans offer desktop version of apps which is advantageous because of reasons such as greater user experience, faster performance running on a desktop/laptop and more feature rich functionality in the client tools. G Suite currently does not offer desktop versions of their applications. So from a pricing perspective, it still makes sense to go with at least the Office 365 Enterprise E3 plan since it is cheaper, more feature rich and is more robust in terms of the security & compliance, device, and endpoint management capabilities.

Although the G Suite Enterprise plan offers applications similar more so to the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan, the Microsoft 365 apps have an edge over the ones available in G Suite. The security & compliance and endpoint management features are fairly are much more robust so Microsoft’s security & compliance capabilities still have the edge when you go into the weeds, especially with the bundled Microsoft Intune, Information Rights Management, Information Protection, & Advanced Threat Protection capabilities. The desktop version of the Microsoft 365 apps allows the user to have access to more complex functions compared to G Suite web-based apps. Not to mention that SharePoint is a great collaboration tool that allows your business to share documents and to customize a platform just for your employees. G Suite’s alternative to SharePoint is a combination of Google Drive which allows for document sharing and Google Sites to create a team site. SharePoint’s edge over G Suite’s solution lies within its ability to be a one stop shop to create websites, manage and storage documents while allowing greater customization capabilities. Let’s not forget Microsoft Teams, G Suite’s equivalent to Google Meet.

Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork that allows for video conferences, chats, file storage and collaboration, with Microsoft apps integrated seamlessly within. The experience with Microsoft Teams vastly surpasses that of Google Meet whose main use is video meetings as Microsoft Teams is so much more than video meetings with the clever implementation of “teams” and “channels” and other features such as document collaboration and other integrations that allows for a great teamwork experience. Microsoft Teams in E5 plans specifically also have conference bridge add-on capabilities as well as calling features built in. Furthermore, additional great services such as Microsoft Bookings and MileIQ are available with Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans which Google doesn’t have any competing products for. If you’re interested in learning more about incorporating Microsoft 365 in your business, feel free to contact us to get started.

Next, let’s compare G Suite Enterprise plan features and services with the most basic Office 365 Enterprise E1 plan.

Feature Comparison G Suite Enterprise vs Office 365 Enterprise E1

G Suite Enterprise Plan by GoogleOffice 365 Enterprise E1 Plan
Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations (Web based applications)YES
(Google docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets)
YES
(Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher – PC only, Access – PC only)
Desktop version of appsNONO
Email (including business domain), calendar, video conferencingYES
(Gmail, Meets, Chats)

Email storage
(Unlimited)

Attachment Size
(25 MB sending / 50 MB receiving)
YES
(Microsoft Teams, Outlook & Exchange)

Email storage
(50 GB)

Attachment Size
(150 MB)
Cloud storageGoogle drive with unlimited cloud storage or 1 TB per user if fewer than 5 users
OneDrive with 1 TB of storage on top of 50 GB mailbox
Additional Tools*Keep, Currents, Endpoint managementSharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneNote, Microsoft Bookings, MileIQ, Microsoft Whiteboard, Yammer, Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Sway, Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Shifts, MyAnalytics
Security and Management– Advanced protection program (includes defense against phishing, safeguard data by limiting access to it, block fraudulent account access)
– Data regions
– Data loss prevention for Gmail and Drive
– Archive and set retention policies for emails and chats
– Archive and set retention policies for emails and chats
– Endpoint management
– Enterprise grade access control with security key enforcement
– eDiscovery for emails, chats, files
– Audit reports to track user activity
– Protect email against spam, malware
– Meet- s international, regional, industry specific standards
– Control access to business information with security groups and custom permissions
– Create password policies
–  Create approved mobile device lists, enforce PIN lock, and remove confidential company data from lost phones.
– Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people
– In-place archive
– Use Exchange Online Archiving so that you never lose an email

* Microsoft 365 in addition includes Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows Autopilot, Fine-tuned user experience, and Windows Analytics Device Health, & System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Endpoint Protection management license equivalency

Pricing & Service Conclusion for G Suite Enterprise vs Office 365 Enterprise E1

Unlike E3 and E5, there is no “Microsoft” 365 Enterprise E1 plan, only an “Office” 365 Enterprise E1 plan. The Office 365 Enterprise E1 plan is suited for users at organizations that don’t have a need for the client / desktop version of the Office apps such as Word, Outlook, PowerPoint or Excel but they still need at least some security & compliance, data governance, Discovery, and collaboration. Biggest differences for G Suite Enterprise vs Office 365 Enterprise E1 here is that the Office 365 Enterprise E1 is a quite a bit cheaper as shown above but it is missing many of the Endpoint management as well as Security & Compliance features that Google has built-in to their Enterprise plan such as advanced eDiscovery and advanced protection. Google also has unlimited storage. Although, Office 365 Enterprise E1 does come with a lot more of the apps that an end user in an enterprise might need along with Microsoft Teams which is much more feature rich than what Google offers.

Hopefully now you have a good understanding of G Suite Enterprise Plan versus the Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3, E5 and Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 & E5 Plans and how they correlate to one another for both G Suite by Google and Microsoft 365.

Posted by: Noorez Khamis & Linda Chen

4 thoughts on “Feature Comparison of Google G Suite vs Microsoft Office 365 – G Suite Enterprise vs Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/E5 & Office 365 Enterprise E1/E3/E5 – Part 5”

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