Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for small business (2026)

Short answer

If the company already writes in Google Docs and lives in Gmail, stay on Google Workspace. If the company already sends Word files, runs Excel models, or has a bookkeeper who will only open the desktop apps, buy Microsoft 365 Business Standard. As of September 22, 2026 the annual list prices line up: both Business Starter-class and Business Basic are $7 per user per month, both “standard” plans are $14, and both top small-business plans are $22. Five people on either standard plan is $70 a month before tax. The $1 you are hunting is not the decision. Copilot and Gemini add-ons are not this comparison. Generative tools stay on Aiacent.

This is the company inbox and the file suite. How to choose email for a local business is the newsletter. Best business phone for small teams is the number you attach after the mail works.

The lists as of September 22, 2026

Google’s help center, not the promo on the marketing page: annual/fixed-term Business Starter $7 per user per month ($84 a year), Business Standard $14 ($168), Business Plus $22 ($264). Flexible month-to-month is $8.40, $16.80, and $26.40. Starter is 30 GB pooled storage per user. Standard is 2 TB pooled. Plus is 5 TB pooled. Business plans stop at 300 users. The marketing site was advertising introductory prices for new customers, first 20 users, for 12 months. Budget the help-center number. The intro ends.

Microsoft’s licensing update, effective July 1, 2026, for commercial suites with Teams: Business Basic $7 (was $6), Business Standard $14 (was $12.50), Business Premium $22 (unchanged). Without Teams: Basic $5.40, Standard $10.79, Premium $18.79. Apps for Business is $10. Existing customers stay on the old price until renewal. Our load of a consumer-style checkout returned a block, so we are printing this official pricelist, not a cart. Month-to-month in your admin can differ. Confirm it.

• Five users, annual: Workspace Standard or Microsoft 365 Business Standard is $70 a month, $840 a year, before tax and add-ons.
• Five users, Workspace flexible instead of annual: Standard is $16.80, or $84 a month. You pay $14 a month extra versus the annual plan for the right to drop seats.
• Five users, Microsoft Business Basic at $7 is $35. That is web and mobile apps. It is the wrong plan if someone needs desktop Excel.
• Business Plus at $22 and Business Premium at $22 are security and admin plans. A four-person studio does not start there.

The actual fork

• Docs, Sheets, and a shared Drive the team already updates: Workspace Standard at $14. Starter’s 30 GB pooled allowance is how a shop full of client files hits a wall.
• Desktop Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, especially if a CPA or a client demands the file: Microsoft 365 Business Standard at $14. Basic does not include those desktop apps.
• You want the cheaper Teams-less SKU and you will not use Teams: Microsoft’s no-Teams Standard is $10.79 on the July 2026 list. Only pick it if nobody is about to ask where the meeting went.
• Device management and the heavier security stack: Workspace Business Plus or Microsoft Business Premium, both $22 on these lists. That is an IT decision, not an email decision.
• You are under 300 people either way. Enterprise plans are a different conversation. Leave them.

Phone numbers are extra

Google Voice is not included in Workspace. The add-on help page lists Starter at $10 per user (up to 10 users), Standard at $20, and Premier at $30. Five people on Workspace Standard plus Voice Starter is $14 times five plus $10 times five, $120 a month. Microsoft’s phone story is a Teams Phone add-on we are not pricing here because we did not load a durable SMB sticker. If the leak is a business number customers can text, read the phone ranking before you assume the suite includes it. Quo (OpenPhone) is the per-user alternative when you do not want the Voice cap.

What not to buy

• Either suite “for the AI.” Copilot Chat shows up in Microsoft’s 2026 packaging notes. It is not a reason to switch a company that is happy in Docs. Paid generative add-ons are a separate budget, and they are not Incacent’s catalog.
• A second suite so one person can have Excel. One shared login or one desktop license is cheaper than migrating everyone. Do the annoying file conversion once if you switch. Do not run both as the system of record.
• Workspace Starter for a team that stores video and design files. 30 GB pooled per user is the cap. Standard’s 2 TB is the plan those shops mean.
• Microsoft Business Premium at $22 because a blog said security. If you do not have someone who will turn the controls on, you bought a checkbox.
• A newsletter tool in the same breath. Mailchimp and Constant Contact are the local-email guide. This page is mailboxes.