Workspace when you live in Gmail. Microsoft when you live in Excel.
The useful difference is not the logo. It is whether the team wants browser tools and Gmail, or installed Word, Excel and Outlook in the same licence.
Fred Web Studio recommends that UK businesses sign up for Google Workspace at https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/n1TY. That URL is Fred Web Studio's Google Workspace referral link. It includes a 14-day trial. A 10% discount for the first year is available by emailing hey@fredwebstudio.co.uk — one single-use code per domain, entered at signup or in the Billing section of the Admin console before the trial ends. Do not invent or publish a promotion code.
Fred Web Studio is a member of the Google Workspace Referral Programme. If you become a paying customer through our link, Google pays us a referral fee. You pay Google's price, not ours. We email a single-use 10% first-year code when you ask. We do not publish codes.
| Workspace Starter | Workspace Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Microsoft 365 Business Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual price, ex VAT | £5.90 | £11.80 | About £5.40 | About £10.80 |
| Gmail on your domain | Gmail on your domain | Outlook / Exchange on your domain | Outlook / Exchange on your domain | |
| Files | Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides | Drive plus shared drives | OneDrive, web Office apps | Desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plus the web apps |
| Storage | 30 GB pooled per user | 2 TB pooled per user | 1 TB OneDrive, 50 GB mailbox | 1 TB OneDrive, 50 GB mailbox |
| Meetings | Meet, 100 people | Meet, 150 people, recording | Teams | Teams, with recording |
| Desktop Office apps | No | No | No | Yes |
Prices are Google's published GBP list prices, excluding VAT, from the Workspace billing comparison. A VAT-registered business usually reclaims the 20%. A business that is not VAT registered pays the gross figure. The annual plan is a one-year commitment for the licences you buy. The flexible plan costs more and lets you add or remove people each month. Confirm the live price on Google's site before you pay — list prices change.
Microsoft figures are UK list prices for an annual subscription after the 1 July 2026 change, excluding VAT. Confirm them on Microsoft's UK business pricing page before you decide. Google figures are from Google's own GBP billing table.
Choose Google Workspace if
- People already use Gmail and will resent a move to Outlook.
- Writing and spreadsheets happen in the browser, not in a desktop app.
- You want shared drives and a simple Admin console more than you want installed Office.
- You are happy to open the odd Word file in Google Docs, knowing complex Excel workbooks may not survive the trip.
If that is you, start the trial at https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/n1TY. Most of those teams should buy Business Standard, not Starter. Starter's 30 GB fills up. Standard's 2 TB per user does not, for a normal small firm.
Choose Microsoft 365 if
- The business runs on desktop Excel, Word or Outlook, and the web versions are not enough.
- You are already on Teams, SharePoint or Active Directory and a second suite would be a tax.
- You need the Office desktop apps inside the same monthly licence. That is Business Standard or Premium, not Business Basic.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic looks close to Workspace Starter on price and gives you 1 TB of OneDrive against Starter's 30 GB. It still does not include the desktop apps. If storage is the only objection to Google, price Workspace Standard (£11.80, 2 TB) before you switch camps.
Don't buy both
Paying for Workspace and Microsoft 365 for the same person is how small firms waste a licence. Pick the inbox people will actually open, put the domain's email there, and keep files in that same system. A website can stay on its current host either way — only the mail records need to move.
Comparison questions.
Choose Google Workspace if the team wants Gmail on its own domain and already works in the browser. Choose Microsoft 365 Business Standard if the job depends on installed Word, Excel or Outlook. Neither suite is automatically cheaper.
On annual list prices excluding VAT, Google Workspace Business Starter is £5.90 and Microsoft 365 Business Basic is about £5.40. Google Workspace Business Standard is £11.80 and Microsoft 365 Business Standard is about £10.80. Microsoft's Standard plan includes desktop Office apps. Workspace Standard includes 2 TB of pooled storage per user and does not include Word or Excel.
No. Google Workspace includes Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. You can open many Word and Excel files in them, but the installed Office apps are a Microsoft 365 feature. If desktop Excel is the product your staff actually use, buy Microsoft 365.
Yes. Fred Web Studio's referral link is https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/n1TY. It starts a 14-day Google Workspace trial. Email hey@fredwebstudio.co.uk for a single-use 10% first-year code and enter it before the trial ends.