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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 product can scale easily."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"It was much easier and cheaper for us than most email solutions as we didn’t have to worry about anything except setting up users."
"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."
"The tool helps me keep a backup of old emails. Like everyone else, I love the Google search engine for searching emails on webmail. The Google Workspace connector for Outlook works well, so I have no issues with that."
"The solution offers a workflow where we can collaborate and share documents. Its most valuable features are Gmail and Google Drive. Google Drive is great for file collaboration. It improves productivity. The product is on the cloud; we don't have to connect to the office through a VPN."
"The implementation was very easy."
"I use Keep to assign tasks to a team of programmers, which is very easy."
"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

"They could increase the number of third-party integrations on offer."
"The UI could be simplified and made more user friendly."
"Integration with Microsoft Outlook could be improved."
"I don't recommend Google Workspace to others. It's expensive. Also, Google doesn't have enough oversight on their partners, so you will face some difficulties dealing with them instead of directly with Google."
"There seems to be a bit of vulnerability on some operating systems, specifically on the iPhone. There isn't as much control as if a person is using an Android. That's a bit of a concern."
"The only inconvenience is the fact that you have limited storage. After a while, you have to buy a surplus."
"It needs better Enterprise controls."
"G Suite is not as powerful as Microsoft Office Suite, so sometimes we have to change to Excel and PowerPoint."
"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 pricing is reasonable."
"There are different versions of the solution available, such as premium."
"The pricing is very high, although I cannot tell if this is the result of the Indian vendors artificially inflating it."
"Traffic management tools may be required for larger setups and should be included in any pricing calculations."
"Approximately $6 per user, per month."
"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."
"We pay a monthly subscription for the use of this solution."
"The price per client within the business is too high."
Information not available
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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.