Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace for UK Small Businesses

We’re stuck on a broken printer, the deadline’s looming – which suite should we be using? Imagine you’re at the front desk, a client has just dropped off a contract, and the printer jams while you try to email the PDF. You reach for the cloud‑based office suite you’ve been told will “save the day”, but you’re not sure whether Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is the better fit for a five‑person team. What do the names actually mean? Microsoft 365 is a subscription that bundles the classic Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) with cloud services like OneDrive, Teams and Exchange email. Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) bundles Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive, all running in a browser. Which one is cheaper for a small UK business? We see this a lot – the pricing tables are easy to compare. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs £5.10 per user per month (annual commitment) and includes web‑only Office, 1 TB OneDrive and Teams. The Business Standard tier, £10.20 per user, adds desktop Office apps. Google Workspace Business Starter is £5.20 per user, giving 30 GB Drive and Gmail. The Business Standard plan is £10.40 per user and adds 2 TB Drive and additional security tools. In practice the price gap is a few pence per head, so the deciding factor is usually features, not cost. Do the apps work offline? Microsoft’s desktop apps run fully offline – you can edit a Word file with the fan screaming on a 2‑year‑old laptop and sync later. Google’s Docs, Sheets and Slides have offli