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Summary: In the digital age, organizations require document management solutions like Microsoft SharePoint and Google Drive. This article compares the two, discussing cost, storage, applications, file sharing, and security, helping organizations make an informed choice for their needs. SharePoint offers more features but comes at a higher cost.

In our contemporary digital landscape, a robust document management solution stands as an indispensable tool for organizations of all sizes. With the ever-increasing volume of documents generated daily by businesses, the need for software that seamlessly generates, organizes, securely stores, and facilitates effortless file sharing across the entire enterprise becomes paramount. Moreover, this technology empowers business teams to effortlessly access and collaborate on documents, unrestricted by location or device, ensuring productivity and efficiency are never compromised.

Microsoft SharePoint and Google Drive stand out as the preeminent and widely embraced content and document management systems. With a global user base numbering in the millions, these platforms are the top choices for organizations seeking to optimize their cloud-based collaboration capabilities.

Certainly, SharePoint and Google Drive each offer distinct features, advantages, and drawbacks. However, when your organization faces the pivotal decision of selecting one over the other, the crucial question arises: which is the optimal choice? To address this query comprehensively, this article will furnish a comprehensive overview of both platforms, delving into their key differentiators and helping you make an informed decision between SharePoint and Google Drive.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is an integral component of the Microsoft 365 business suite. This cloud-based platform serves as a robust document management and storage system, enabling seamless real-time collaboration and document editing among users. Moreover, SharePoint plays a pivotal role in the creation of internal business portals, facilitates workflow management, and serves as a hub for content management and collaboration sites.

What is Google Drive?

This service is a cloud-based file storage and collaboration platform that empowers users to seamlessly create, store, upload, edit, and access files through popular applications such as Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets. Its core objective is to consolidate information and provide teams with effortless real-time collaboration capabilities, enabling them to work together efficiently from any location and across all devices.

Comparison Between SharePoint and Google Drive

Both Google Drive and SharePoint offer centralized solutions for storing and collaborating on company documents. In this comparison, we will assess SharePoint and Google Drive to determine which one aligns better with your organization’s specific business requirements.

Cost and Storage

SharePoint and Google Drive both provide a range of business and enterprise plans to cater to diverse organizational needs. SharePoint’s entry-level plan commences at just $5 per user per month, with a more robust plan available at $10 per user per month. However, a noteworthy advantage for those already subscribed to Microsoft 365 is that SharePoint is included as part of the package, incurring no extra charges. Furthermore, you have the option to augment your capabilities and storage by opting for Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise plans, which offer an array of additional tools and enhanced features.

In a personal Google Drive account, you receive a generous 15GB of complimentary storage space. For businesses in need of greater storage capacity, they can opt for a Google Workspace plan, with prices beginning at just $6 per user per month. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that the cost may vary as you incorporate extra features and expand your storage requirements.

When we compare both, SharePoint is more expensive than Google Drive with a Microsoft 365 subscription, but it has additional features and tools for business teams.

Cloud Plan Price/User/Month Storage
SharePoint Online(Microsoft 365) Business Basic $6.00 1 TB
Business Standard $12.50 1 TB
Business Premium $22.00 1 TB
Microsoft 365 F3 $8.00 1 TB
Microsoft 365 E3 $36.00 1 TB
Microsoft 365 E5 $57.00 1 TB
Google Drive (Google Workspace) Business Starter $6.00 30 GB
Business Standard $12.00 2 TB
Business Plus $18.00 5 TB
Enterprise Customize Quote Scalable

Note – Initially, Microsoft provided 1TB/User storage for OneDrive for Business which can increase to 5TB/user by contacting Microsoft Support.

Applications

SharePoint and Google Drive are part of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, respectively. It provides teams access to additional apps to promote productivity and collaboration.

With Google Drive, businesses get access to other Google apps like Gmail, Meet, Chat, Docs, Calendars, and more. These apps help businesses in document creation, collaboration, and meetings.

SharePoint offers a wide array of robust capabilities that extend beyond mere document storage and management. It seamlessly integrates with various Microsoft applications, including OneDrive, Exchange, Excel, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and many others, empowering users to accomplish much more.

Both these platforms also have options to integrate third-party apps from their respective marketplaces.

File Sharing

Google Drive offers an easy way to share files and folders through direct sharing and shareable links. Even users can edit the permission level before sharing the content. Similarly, SharePoint allows users to share files and folders through shareable links and direct permission sharing.

Security

Microsoft and Google boast some of the most secure data centers globally, setting the gold standard in data security. Both SharePoint and Google Drive go above and beyond to safeguard data, employing robust encryption protocols to protect it both at rest and during transit. Microsoft’s SharePoint, in particular, stands out with its enterprise-grade security measures, providing businesses with a formidable shield against external cyber threats, assuring data integrity and confidentiality. The improved and advanced security features of SharePoint, like encrypted connections, SMTP ports, SMTP encryptions, and more, provide business teams with more flexibility and control over users.

On the other hand, Google also provides adequate security. However, SharePoint holds a significant advantage over Google Drive in terms of security.

Conclusion

Certainly, when it comes to sharing and collaboration tools, SharePoint and Google Drive are top contenders. However, as highlighted in our blog, Google Drive stands out due to its affordability, making it an ideal choice for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking to boost their cloud collaboration capabilities without breaking the bank. On the other hand, SharePoint shines with its advanced and robust security features, making it a superior option for both enterprises and SMBs aiming for comprehensive collaboration and data protection. In summary, Google Drive caters excellently to SMBs seeking cost-effective solutions, while SharePoint excels in providing extensive collaboration capabilities and top-notch security to meet the needs of a wider range of businesses.

If security and better collaboration are essential, we suggest you go with SharePoint Online. It is better equipped for document management, collaboration, and organization with advanced security features. To migrate data to SharePoint, we have an easy-to-use tool named Kernel Migration for SharePoint Tool which quickly migrates your files/folders from local and remote servers to SharePoint. To learn more about the tool, Download its free demo version.

Kernel Migration for SharePoint