Independent Research · Unvarnished Reviews
Unvarnished Reviews Research
On July 1, 2026, Microsoft raised prices on nearly every Microsoft 365 commercial plan, up to 43% on some SKUs, citing its AI investments. The full Copilot those investments built? Still a separate $30 per user per month. What the base suites gained is Copilot Chat, the lighter tier. Industry estimates put roughly 450 million commercial Microsoft 365 users against roughly 15 million paid Copilot seats, about 3%. The other 97% just got the bill for the party they were not invited to.
Note on scope: This report is the suite-pricing teardown. For the capability comparison of the AI assistants themselves, see our separate report on Microsoft Copilot vs. Google Gemini for Workspace vs. Claude for Enterprise.
| Platform | G2 Rating | Reviews (G2) | Primary Market Segment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | 4.6 / 5 | ~5,800-5,900 | Mid-Market (35.3% of reviews) |
| Google Workspace | 4.6 / 5 | ~45,000-48,000 | Broad small-business and mid-market base |
Both platforms are rated identically in user ratings, but Google Workspace's review volume is roughly eight times larger, reflecting its longer history as the default choice for smaller organizations. Microsoft 365 scores marginally higher on meeting enterprise requirements; Google Workspace scores higher on ease of setup and administration.
It scores marginally higher on meeting enterprise requirements, and July 1 inclusions add 50 GB more mailbox on Business tiers, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 in E3, Intune additions and Security Copilot in E5.
It holds a mid-market-skewed base of about 5,800 reviews at 4.6 out of 5.
The July 1, 2026 update raised prices on nearly every commercial plan by up to 43%, while full Copilot remains a separate $30 per user per month.
Security Copilot in E5 is metered at 400 Security Compute Units a month per 1,000 licenses with overage at $6 per unit, and removing Enterprise Agreement volume discounts of up to 12% raised effective costs for some large organizations.
Its full Gemini assistant is included in the price at every business tier, and it scores higher on ease of setup and administration.
It has a review base roughly eight times larger, at about 45,000 reviews and the same 4.6 out of 5 rating.
Switching from a Microsoft stack carries real migration cost: Excel-dependent workflows, retraining, Microsoft-based integrations and a parallel-running period.
Business tier prices are now identical to Microsoft's, so the sticker no longer separates the two.
Microsoft's largest commercial pricing update in years took effect July 1, 2026 (announced December 4, 2025). New customers pay the new list immediately; existing customers move at their next renewal. Standalone Teams and standalone Copilot are excluded. The headline moves, per user per month, list:
| Plan | Old | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Basic | $6.00 | $7.00 | +17% |
| Business Standard | $12.50 | $14.00 | +12% |
| Business Premium | $22.00 | $22.00 | 0% |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | $36.00 | $39.00 | +8% |
| Microsoft 365 E5 | $57.00 | $60.00 | +5% |
| Office 365 E3 | $23.00 | $26.00 | +13% |
| Office 365 E5 | $38.00 | $41.00 | +8% |
| Frontline F1 | $2.25 | $3.00 | +33% |
| Frontline F3 | $8.00 | $10.00 | +25% |
The no-Teams variants fare worse: F1 without Teams rises 43%, Business Basic without Teams 23%, quietly erasing much of the savings the Teams unbundling was supposed to deliver. Windows Enterprise per-device is up 31%, Microsoft 365 Apps per device up 17%. Business Premium and Office 365 E1 hold flat, a deliberate marker of where Microsoft sees its floor.
For large enterprises there is a compounding effect: Microsoft removed Enterprise Agreement volume discounts worth up to 12% in November 2025. Red River's licensing analysis puts the effective increase for some organizations closer to 20% than the stated 5 to 8%.
What you get for it: 50 GB more mailbox on Business tiers, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 folded into E3 (previously ~$2/user/month standalone), Intune additions, and, the E5 headline, Security Copilot included, metered at 400 Security Compute Units per month per 1,000 licenses (capped at 10,000), with overage at $6 per SCU. Note the shape of that: The AI inclusion arrives with a usage meter and a pay-as-you-go tap behind it.
Google made its move eighteen months earlier and in the opposite order: in January 2025 it folded Gemini into Workspace and raised prices roughly $2 per seat, discontinuing the separate Gemini add-ons. The result, since July 1, is a pricing mirror with one crucial difference:
| Tier | Microsoft 365 (new) | Google Workspace | Full AI Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Business Basic $7 | Business Starter $7 | Gemini: Included / Copilot: +$30 |
| Mid | Business Standard $14 | Business Standard $14 | Gemini: Included / Copilot: +$30 |
| Upper | Business Premium $22 | Business Plus $22 | Gemini: Included / Copilot: +$30 |
At every business tier, the list prices are now identical to the dollar. The suites differ in exactly one structural way: Google's full AI assistant is in the number. Microsoft's is $30 on top.
Pricing re-checked October 2026 against Microsoft's Copilot pricing page. Base suite prices are as listed; the $30 full Copilot figure is the long-standing enterprise list price and was not shown on the page checked. Microsoft also sells Copilot Business at $21 per user per month billed yearly, $18 in a first-year promotion through December 31, 2026.
Scenario A, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, 20 power users on full Copilot: Base: 100 × $14 × 12 = $16,800/yr. Copilot: 20 × $30 × 12 = $7,200/yr. Total: $24,000/yr → $72,000 over three years. (Before July 1 the same stack cost $22,200/yr; the increase alone is $5,400 over the term.) At Copilot Business pricing ($21 per user per month), the Copilot line falls to $5,040 a year, or $4,320 under the $18 first-year promotion.
Scenario B, Google Workspace Business Standard, Gemini for everyone: 100 × $14 × 12 = $16,800/yr → $50,400 over three years.
The gap is $21,600, every dollar of it the Copilot line. Which brings us to the twist.
If the mirror pricing tempts you to switch, price the move itself. Migration of mail, files, and calendars is the cheap part; the real costs are Excel-dependent workflows (macros, Power Query, financial models that do not survive Sheets), retraining, third-party integrations built on the Microsoft stack, and the parallel-running period. For a deeply integrated 100-person Microsoft shop, one-time migration commonly runs into tens of thousands of dollars and months of drag, against a $21,600 three-year software saving that only materializes if you needed the AI seats at all. If you were not buying Copilot, the three-year totals are identical, and the switch buys you nothing but the project.
That is the quiet genius of the July 1 structure: Microsoft raised the base, kept full Copilot separate, and priced the base exactly at Google's number, so the sticker comparison shows no reason to leave, and the AI comparison only matters to the 3%.
Set the identical sticker prices aside: How hard is each suite to administer, and how hard is it to leave? Google Workspace is easier to set up and administer, Microsoft 365 is stronger on enterprise requirements, and switching between them is the real cost.
| Dimension | Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Setup and administration | Scores marginally higher on meeting enterprise requirements | Scores higher on ease of setup and administration |
| AI assistant structure | Copilot Chat in base suites; full Copilot is a separate $30 per user per month | Gemini is included in the base price at every business tier |
| Pricing mechanics | Plan changes by SKU, no-Teams variants, Enterprise Agreement discounts removed, and metered Security Copilot | One price per tier, now matching Microsoft at $7, $14 and $22 |
| Switching effort | Excel macros, Power Query and financial models may not survive Sheets | Migration of mail, files and calendars is the cheap part; retraining and integrations are the cost |
Every finding below is independently documented and material enough to influence a purchasing decision.
Microsoft 365
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Google Workspace
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Both suites
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Renewing between now and December: Model an early renewal. Existing customers keep old pricing until their first renewal after July 1. Locking the old rate for a full new term is the single highest-leverage move available, and it compounds across the term.
E3/E5 shops paying for Defender for Office P1, Intune Plan 2, or Security Copilot as add-ons: Re-run the bundle math. The new inclusions may make the increase net-neutral or better; paying twice for newly bundled capabilities is the avoidable error.
Frontline-heavy organizations: You absorbed the steepest percentages in the update. If Teams is not in use on the floor, note that the no-Teams variants no longer save what they used to.
Considering the switch to Workspace: Do it because your workflows fit Google's model and your Copilot appetite is broad, not because of the sticker: the stickers are now the same by design. Price the migration before believing the savings.
E5 security teams: Treat Security Copilot as a metered resource from day one. Build SCU consumption assumptions before adoption accelerates; the $6/SCU tap opens mid-fiscal-year for teams that do not.
Design decides what you are buying. Microsoft 365 is an enterprise-oriented suite whose full AI assistant is a separate $30 per user, and Google Workspace is a suite with its Gemini assistant included in the price.
Audience decides which one fits. Microsoft 365 fits organizations with Excel-dependent workflows and Microsoft-stack integrations, and Google Workspace fits organizations whose workflows fit Google's model and whose AI use is broad.
Price depends on the plan and the unit. For a 100-person company over three years, Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot for 20 power users costs $72,000 and Google Workspace Business Standard with Gemini for everyone $50,400, a gap of $21,600 that is entirely the Copilot line. Without Copilot the three-year totals are identical.
Choose by situation:
July 1 was not a price increase with an AI justification; it was an AI pricing strategy executed as a price increase. Microsoft moved everyone's base cost up to fund an assistant most customers have not bought, kept that assistant a separate line, and parked its base pricing exactly on Google's numbers so the exit math never quite closes. It is commercially brilliant. Whether it is worth $39 per head for E3 depends entirely on whether the security and management inclusions replace things you were already paying for, check that before your renewal does.
Free trials and test-drives. Microsoft offers a one-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Business Standard for up to 25 users, with a credit card required and no charge until the trial ends, then $14 per user a month with Teams or $10.79 without, paid yearly. Google offers a 14-day free trial of Workspace for up to 10 users, with payment setup required and billing starting automatically if you add an 11th user or the trial ends. Migrate one real team, including mail history and shared drives, during the trial.