Gartner: Switching From Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace Delivers No Real Savings

The finding runs against the assumption behind many migrations. Google Workspace licences generally list for less than Microsoft 365 E5, the tier most often used as the point of comparison, which is one reason cited for making the change.

Scriva said that price gap does not survive a full comparison. The E5 subscription bundles capabilities that a Google Workspace subscription does not include, among them telephony, security tooling and operating system licences. Once those differences are counted, along with the fact that Google's Gemini assistant is included in Google plans while Microsoft's Copilot is a paid extra, the analyst calculated that Google still works out about $2 per month more expensive.

According to Scriva, many companies are switching out of dissatisfaction with Microsoft rather than on the basis of a return-on-investment calculation. Being unhappy with a vendor is not in itself a business case for switching, he argued.

Hardware may account for part of the pattern. Scriva said Google Workspace plans can be the most cost-effective option for organizations running Macs, which tend to stay in service longer, and Chromebooks, which are cheaper to acquire in the first place. That could point to a wider shift in hardware strategy, whether a slower device refresh cycle or a move to a different class of machine.

Costs tied to the migration itself can also outweigh the licence math. Scriva warned that retraining staff can immediately wipe out any return on investment that a switch might otherwise have produced.

Gartner's guidance is that enterprises should weigh specific business outcomes rather than act on instinct. With AI expected to change workplace software as a whole, the firm suggests some organizations may be better off staying with their less-preferred suite for now and watching where the market heads before committing to a move.