Both are serious productivity platforms. But they’re designed for different kinds of businesses — and choosing the wrong one has a real cost. Here’s an honest breakdown, with a clear recommendation for each type of user.
- Choose Microsoft Office if you’re a professional, a business user, or anyone who values owning software outright with no ongoing fees
- Consider Google Workspace if you’re a very small, remote-first team with simple document needs and a tight budget
- A 5-user business pays over £3,500 more for Workspace over five years compared to a one-time Office licence at £79 per user
- Google raised Workspace prices by up to 22% in 2024 — there’s no price ceiling on a subscription
- Need advanced Excel, Access, or Power Query
- Work offline or on the move regularly
- Want to own your software outright
- Handle sensitive or regulated data
- Send documents to external clients or suppliers
- Use specialist add-ins, macros, or VBA
- Want predictable costs with no subscription risk
- Run a very small, browser-based team
- Need seamless real-time co-editing above all else
- Are already deep in the Google ecosystem
- Have minimal document complexity
- Want the lowest possible month-one cost
Two Different Philosophies
Microsoft Office — particularly the one-time purchase versions like Office 2024 — gives you powerful, fully-featured desktop applications installed locally on your PC. Your work stays on your machine. You own the software permanently. There are no monthly fees, no price increases, and no dependency on an internet connection to do your job.
Google Workspace is cloud-native. Everything runs in a browser, collaboration is seamless and real-time, and setup is fast. But you’re paying indefinitely — per user, per month — and your productivity depends entirely on a stable internet connection.
Feature Comparison: What You Actually Get
| Feature | Microsoft Office 2024 | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One-time purchase from £79 — own it permanently | From £5.90/user/month — ongoing subscription |
| Word processing | Word — industry standard, full professional feature set | Google Docs — strong for collaboration, limited for complex formatting |
| Spreadsheets | Excel — unmatched for advanced analysis, Power Query, macros | Google Sheets — capable for basics, significant gaps for power users |
| Presentations | PowerPoint — professional design control, animation, transitions | Google Slides — functional but limited design fidelity |
| Email client | Outlook — rules, calendars, offline access, desktop app | Gmail — excellent web client, no dedicated desktop application |
| Real-time collaboration | Available and improving — not the core strength | Google’s defining feature — seamless live co-editing |
| Offline working | Full offline capability — no internet required | Requires setup, limited functionality without a connection |
| Advanced data tools | Access database, Power Query, Power Pivot, advanced VBA | No equivalent to Access; limited automation |
| File format standard | Native .docx/.xlsx/.pptx — universal professional standard | Converts to/from Office formats — occasional formatting loss |
| Data & compliance | Data stored locally; suited to regulated industries | Data stored in Google’s cloud — third-party dependency |
| Cross-device access | Primarily Windows/Mac desktop; web apps available | Any device with a browser — fully cross-platform |
| Price certainty | Fixed cost — no future price increases on your licence | Subscription — Google controls future pricing |
If You Use Excel Seriously, the Decision Is Already Made
This is the clearest differentiator in the entire comparison. Google Sheets is a capable tool for straightforward data management, shared trackers, and basic budgeting. It is not a substitute for Excel for anyone using it professionally.
Advanced Excel capabilities — Power Query, Power Pivot, complex nested formulas, VBA macros, custom add-ins, large dataset performance — have no meaningful equivalent in Sheets. Accountants, financial analysts, operations managers, and project managers will find Sheets a material step backwards in capability and performance.
The Real Cost Over Five Years
Monthly subscription pricing looks modest in isolation. Across a team over five years, it tells a very different story. The figures below compare Google Workspace Business Standard — the plan most businesses actually need for meeting recording, 2TB storage, and full collaboration — against a one-time Office Professional Plus 2024 licence per user at the current sale price of £79.
| Year | Office Pro Plus 2024 · £79/user | Google Workspace Standard · £11.80/user/month |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | £395 (one-time, 5 users) | £708 (5 × £141.60/yr) |
| Year 2 | £0 | £708 |
| Year 3 | £0 | £708 |
| Year 4 | £0 | £708 |
| Year 5 | £0 | £708 |
| 5-Year Total | £395 | £3,540 (£3,145 more than Office) |
That £3,145 difference assumes current Workspace pricing holds. Given Google’s 22% price increase in 2024, there is no reason to assume it will. With a perpetual Office licence, your year-one cost is your total cost — permanently.
Where Google Workspace Genuinely Wins
An honest comparison means acknowledging where Workspace has real strengths.
Real-time collaboration is still smoother
If multiple people editing the same document simultaneously is your primary workflow, Workspace’s native cloud architecture still delivers a marginally smoother experience than Office’s equivalent. For remote teams where live co-editing is everything, that fluency has genuine value.
Setup speed and device flexibility
Workspace requires no installation and works on any device with a browser. For a new business getting started quickly, or a team spread across mixed devices, that frictionless access is a practical advantage.
Very small teams with minimal document needs
A sole trader who primarily needs a professional email address with their own domain, shared Docs, and video calls has less reason to pay for Office’s full desktop suite. At that scale and level of document complexity, Workspace Starter is a reasonable fit.
The Decision, Plainly
Choose Microsoft Office if you are…
- A professional or knowledge worker
- A business sending documents externally
- In finance, legal, HR, or a regulated sector
- A developer or technical user needing Access or macros
- Someone who works offline or travels regularly
- A business that wants to own software, not rent it
- Anyone using Excel for anything beyond basic tracking
Consider Google Workspace if you are…
- A team of 1–3 with very simple document needs
- Browser-first and device-agnostic by default
- Already running your business on Google platforms
- A startup minimising every pound of upfront spend
- Someone for whom live co-editing is the primary workflow
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft Office is the better choice for most small businesses. It provides full-featured desktop applications that work offline, handles complex documents and spreadsheets without limitation, and with a one-time purchase licence at £79 per user avoids the ongoing per-user subscription costs that Google Workspace charges indefinitely. A 5-user business would spend over £3,500 on Workspace over five years versus £395 for Office Pro Plus 2024. Google Workspace is a reasonable alternative only for very small teams with simple document needs and a preference for browser-based working.
Google Docs can replace Microsoft Word for basic document creation and real-time collaborative editing. It cannot replace Word for complex formatting, advanced styles, mail merge, long-form professional documents, or any workflow that requires native .docx fidelity. Businesses that send documents externally to clients, solicitors, or accountants should use Word, as Google Docs files must be converted to .docx and complex formatting does not always survive that conversion accurately.
Google Workspace is not cheaper than Microsoft Office over any meaningful time period for most businesses. While Workspace has lower month-one costs, it charges per user per month indefinitely. Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus is a one-time purchase at £79 per user with no further fees. For a 5-user team, Workspace Business Standard costs £3,540 over five years compared to £395 for Office 2024 — a difference of over £3,100. Google also raised Workspace prices by up to 22% in 2024, and future increases cannot be ruled out.
Yes. Microsoft Office 2024 is installed locally on your PC and works fully offline. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook all function without any internet connection. Google Workspace is cloud-dependent — while limited offline access can be configured in Chrome, it is not equivalent to a full desktop application and some features are unavailable without a connection. For anyone who works remotely, travels frequently, or operates from locations with unreliable connectivity, this is a significant practical advantage for Office.
Google Workspace can open and edit Microsoft Office files including .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. However, the conversion is imperfect — complex formatting, macros, pivot tables, and advanced layouts do not always translate cleanly between formats. Businesses that regularly exchange documents with external parties who use Microsoft Office will encounter formatting inconsistencies when working natively in Google’s format and converting on export. For professional document exchange, working natively in Office formats is more reliable.
Office 2024 is a one-time purchase that licences you to use the software permanently with no ongoing fees. Microsoft 365 is a subscription product billed monthly or annually that includes the latest version of Office apps, OneDrive cloud storage, and ongoing feature updates. For businesses that do not need continuous feature updates or bundled cloud storage, Office 2024 perpetual licensing is significantly better value — you pay once at £79 and own the software outright, with no subscription to cancel, increase in price, or renew.
Gary Walsh is the Head of Tech Support at Software Supplies, with more than 20 years in the IT industry. Fully Microsoft-certified and experienced across the full business software stack — from Windows and Office to cloud infrastructure and device management — Gary delivers practical, no-nonsense advice that helps users and businesses get the most from their technology.
