Google Just Raised Prices… Is Microsoft 365 the Better Deal Now?

Google just had a big launch event, and along with a wave of new Workspace features came a price increase. That raises an obvious question: with Gemini now baked into Workspace and Copilot still sold as a pricey add-on, which ecosystem is actually the better deal in 2026? The answer comes down to the math — and to how your team actually adopts AI.

The New Pricing Math

Google raised Business Standard from $12 to $16.80 per user per month, and Gemini is now included — no add-on, no separate purchase. Microsoft works differently. You buy a base Microsoft 365 business plan (roughly $15 to $26 per user per month), and Copilot is an additional $26 per user per month on top of that. Stack on the full agentic suite with Copilot and Cowork and you’re approaching $99 per user per month. For a 100-person team, Workspace Business Standard with AI included runs about $1,400 per month. Microsoft 365 plus the Copilot add-on lands closer to $7,000 per month — roughly a $66,000 per year difference just for the AI layer.

Where Google Workspace Wins

Adoption is Google’s real advantage. The “take notes for me” feature, with recording and transcription, is already used by around 110 million monthly users — AI that got absorbed into how teams work without a budget conversation. Sheets can now answer questions about your data in plain language with no formulas, which changes the relationship for anyone who’s been intimidated by spreadsheets. Workspace Studio lets you describe an automation and Gemini builds it. And the satisfaction gap is telling: 82% of Workspace users say the AI features deliver real value, versus about 66% on the Microsoft side.

Where Microsoft Still Wins

Copilot’s edge is depth. It has native access to your full Microsoft 365 environment — email, calendar, Teams conversations, SharePoint — and synthesizes across all of it automatically, so you’re not pasting context in. Google doesn’t have an equivalent for that cross-platform reach. If your work is built on complex Excel models or heavily formatted Word documents with custom styles and tracked changes, Microsoft is still the native home. And for regulated industries, Microsoft Purview is more mature and more deeply integrated than anything on Google’s side, which makes Microsoft the safer call when IT has hard compliance requirements.

The Real Cost of Switching

Switching isn’t free. If your organization has years of Excel macros, Word templates, or SharePoint workflows, migration is a real project. Google’s AI-powered converters are up to five times faster than last year, but faster isn’t free — someone still has to do the work and verify everything converts correctly. And it’s worth being honest about that 82% versus 66% satisfaction gap: it’s probably less about Gemini being better than Copilot and more about usage. Where your AI cost lives shapes the behavior around it.

So Which Should You Choose?

With Google, you pay a modest price bump and the AI is just there — no approval process, no second budget conversation. People use it because it’s in the toolbar with zero friction. With Microsoft, every AI capability is a procurement decision, and that friction shapes adoption; plenty of organizations have Copilot licenses barely touched because the people who needed them weren’t part of the buying conversation. If you’re starting relatively fresh, without a heavily regulated environment or deep Microsoft dependencies, Workspace is both the better economic choice and the better AI decision. If you’re already deep in Microsoft, the cost of leaving is real, and staying may be the smarter move.

What are you running today, and which way are you leaning? Let me know in the comments. And if you want the deeper Gemini versus Copilot breakdown, check out the video above.