Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Google Workspace vs ProtonMail comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Workspace
Ranking in Email Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (1st), Cloud Storage (7th), Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)
ProtonMail
Ranking in Email Applications
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 14.7%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ProtonMail is 7.8%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Workspace14.7%
ProtonMail7.8%
Other77.5%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Assosiate Professor at Palazzo del Mediterraneo
Collaborative work with students has improved but storage limitations and support issues remain
We have Google Workspace, and we use it primarily for Drive to collect items. We categorize folders with topics and material either for students or for research. We use Google Doc to share documents, especially when we assign homework to be corrected for peer correction or classroom correction. With Teams and Microsoft, we use it for collective calls and exam supervision because we use video surveillance through camera with Teams. We use Teams for meetings and to share material with students. The ability to share documents with students and assign them things and correct them in real time has been beneficial. You can verify what they write, and they can contribute and cooperate to create a collective document, which is something that our society nowadays requires. The ability to cooperate, especially those who work with languages and those who work with writing, need to learn how to cooperate. There is co-editing and co-writing, all these sorts of things. I love the fact that I can easily have access to folders that I can categorize and where I can upload research material and teaching material.
AP
Media Content Creator Intern
Trust and anonymity play a key role in secure communications
I am uncertain about the two-factor authentication feature. I have had integrations with other Proton services and have used Proton VPN once, though it has limited features. Simple Mail, which was acquired by ProtonMail, has been very useful for me. The pricing is moderate. I have not used any paid services from ProtonMail. It is not very costly, but I have not used any premium services. I am a customer of ProtonMail. I would rate ProtonMail an eight out of ten due to their transparency and the utility of their simple login feature. My job and company name should remain hidden.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution is very stable."
"The valuable feature of Google Workspace is its integrated environment where everything is pre-integrated, like chat and document sharing in Gmail."
"I think the most valuable feature is Gemini, which is now included in Google Workspace."
"Reduces IT spend, freeing up cash for other areas: sales, marketing, recruitment, etc."
"If I'm addressing certain emails from banks — automatic emails, like OTP, etc. — I can create rules and forward that OTP to the specific email IDs. You can create rules and deliver mail to different groups using the forwarding feature. It's handy."
"Being able to back up our data on Google Drive is a critical and valuable feature for our customers. It is just in sync. Imagine you change a file on the desktop, and it gets updated directly to your Google Drive. Our laptop is completely in sync with Google Drive. Google Meet, Google Sheets, and Google Docs are also amazing products. They're very versatile and easy to use as compared to Office 365. I am using Google Sheets and Google Docs, which first save the work on my memory or ROM, and then on my RAM. It gives me better productivity through Google Sheets and Google Docs."
"Google seems to be a more stable environment than our current on-premise Microsoft solution that we're replacing."
"The features we use quite a lot are the mail and Google Drive. We can store documents and share documents between both employees here, locally in Sweden, and we have an office in the US as well. It's a very easy way to share information and documents, and have online meetings and stuff with Google Meet. We use it quite a lot."
"The auto encryption of attachments is valuable."
"What I appreciate most about ProtonMail is that they are trusted, which is why I choose them."
 

Cons

"Everything is online, so you don't have a client on your desk. Working on email is online work, so can't do work offline and go back online. Sometimes it's not so intuitive. If you answer an email, it puts your answer at the bottom of the existing email."
"And I think Google Translate could add more features. For example, it could be integrated when typing in a document or a web browser like Grammarly."
"One area of improvement for Google Workspace is the Google Meet functionality. Currently, users cannot upload files directly through Google Meet; instead, they have to share links via Google Drive, which adds unnecessary steps and complexity."
"Google Workspace needs to be more flexible, like Microsoft Excel."
"The synchronization is a bit of an issue."
"The meeting platform of Google Workspace has room for improvement."
"There is some redundancy in the functionality between certain modules."
"It glitches a lot because it still operates under the browser."
"One improvement could be the integration between ProtonMail and Proton Pass, allowing sharing of specific secrets via email."
"I think it is good but I feel that only tech-savvy people use ProtonMail. It is not that popular among other people."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"The main challenge regarding startups with identity services is you could be on a platform that works well but the services are expensive. For example, Microsoft Azure costs approximately $30 per user which is expensive. You end up choosing a different platform, such as G Suite Enterprise because it is priced reasonably and is less expensive than other solutions."
"Pricing is something concerning. We find the solution very expensive."
"We normally purchase the license on a yearly basis."
"The price of Google Workspace is reasonable. I pay less than 100 a month."
"The price of G Suite Enterprise is reasonable compared to HotSpot. I'm not going to say G Suite Enterprise is affordable. It's valuable, you find value in paying your gas bill or your electricity bill, because of what it allows you to do."
"I rate Google Workspace's pricing five to six out of ten. We do not pay any extra costs."
"Traffic management tools may be required for larger setups and should be included in any pricing calculations."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Applications solutions are best for your needs.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
24%
Educational Organization
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise28
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Workspace?
The company made the decision to migrate, so I'm not sure why specifically. The company is moving the data and the Microsoft subscription is no longer continued, so I have the choice to use Google ...
What needs improvement with Google Workspace?
Before I was in a Microsoft environment, which had its own software that was not website-based. When I moved to Google Workspace, it was not seamless because I have to access it through a web view ...
What is your primary use case for Google Workspace?
I have been using Google Workspace for file organizing, including Google Drive, Spreadsheet, Gmail, and Google Form, with most of my usage being in Spreadsheet. I do use Google Groups, which combin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ProtonMail?
The pricing is competitive, offering good value on the average plan. It’s approximately $100 for annual billing.
What needs improvement with ProtonMail?
In terms of what can be improved in ProtonMail, I think it is good but I feel that only tech-savvy people use ProtonMail. It is not that popular among other people. Therefore, we do not use it for ...
What is your primary use case for ProtonMail?
My use cases include using ProtonMail for Drive occasionally for storing files. After some time, I stopped using that feature. Primarily, I use it for sending emails when I want to maintain anonymi...
 

Also Known As

G-Suite Enterprise, G-Suite, Google Apps for Business, G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G-Suite Basic, G-Suite Business, Google Vault
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

There are over five million businesses that use Google Apps for Business worldwide. Some key customers include The Roche Group, National Geographic, American Red Cross, City of Los Angeles, Flight Centre, and Konica Minolta.
Wall street journal,The New york times, The Gurdian, Forbes, Fox News
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Workspace vs. ProtonMail and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.