Google’s Google Suite is so much better than the Microsoft Office productivity package that it is beyond wordplay. It has features that you won’t find in other software, and there are no monthly fees. However, some people might be looking for a bit more options with their office suite.
They need something free or paid, too — not just the cloud-based G Suite service. That’s why we put together this blog post all about alternatives for Google Workspace!
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In this blog post, you’ll learn about 10 Google Workspace alternatives as well as how to use them to work better in your office without paying a dime.
G Suite Alternatives
The first thing you need to know about is that I’m not just talking about alternatives for the Google Workspace, but also the entire G Suite platform. In other words, there are plenty of cool office productivity apps out there that aren’t Google-related.
If you are someone who is looking for alternatives to the popular G Suite software, then this article may be worth checking out. Here, we have compiled ten different web-based options that can be used in place of Google’s workspace. Whether it be free or pay software, we have got your back with some great alternatives.
Before we get started, I’d like to state that the software listed below is not officially endorsed by the G Suite team. The goal of this article is to present an unbiased comparison of free and paid, web-based platforms that can help you get things done while on the move.
List of 10 Google Workspace Alternatives: G Suite Alternatives
Fastmail
Fastmail is one of the best alternatives to Google Workspace and the like. Fastmail has a highly clean and functional interface with excellent tools for collaborative work. There is an easy overview of all your activities, where you can sort and filter everything in your account from emails, contacts, cloud storage to calendar events.
What also makes Fastmail stand out from a lot of other web services is the daily email reminder feature which sends relevant information about current projects that are due for completion. The notifier covers dates, tasks and type of notifications that you would need based on project due date or deadline that you have set. This is done in such a way that it helps bring back productivity levels by keeping your team updated with the necessary info they need to complete their project successfully.
Pros
- Let you to work from anywhere
- Improve productivity
- Offers advanced security provisions
Cons
- Requires Internet access all time
Slack
Slack is another great alternative to Google Workspace. It is one of the best communication tools available on the web. Its unique integrations and features set that it offers its users make it extremely useful for team collaboration. You can integrate Slack to your Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive to send files directly from these cloud locations to your workspace.
You can also create specific channels for different team members in your workplace which makes it easier for you to share files with people who need them at the moment rather than sending emails back and forth or going through the process of commenting on documents on Google Docs. Slack has an enormous number of features that make it one of the most interactive and interesting collaboration tools available today.
Pros
- Also offers work from anywhere
- Improves productivity
- Prevents loss of data
- Reduces risk to security
Cons
- Required Internet at all time
Samepage
Samepage is also one of the best alternatives to Google Workspace and other collaborative workspaces. It is a small tool with an easy-to-use interface which takes away all the complexities of sharing documents and files between team members.
You can create file folders that are secure and get access to them with a single click. You can also share folders with other members of your team if you need their help in specific projects, adding them as members to the file folder so they can work on it along with you.
There is a real time chat feature which allows you to communicate via text, audio or video conferencing based on your needs for better understanding of the project goals and objectives.
Pros
- Offers team collaboration
- Also prevents data loss
- Provides advanced security provisions
Cons
- Internet requirement all time
Zoho Workspace
Zoho Workspace is one of the best among the alternatives to Google Workspace that offers utmost collaborative effort with innovative tools in a very easy to use interface. Their collaborative tools are completely free and support all the major cloud storage and storage sources such as Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, to name a few.
There is a feature that manages your calendar effectively in such a way that you can create tasks, notes and delegate them to any of your team members for their collaboration over them. You can manage your time effectively to enable the right number of Slack notifications so that you do not miss anything important in your work.
Pros
- Provides email marketing and automation features
- Offers a Form builder app
- Offers comprehensive reporting of the services
Cons
- Requires customization for functioning
- Offers limited customer support
Dropbox
Dropbox is another platform among the alternatives to Google Workspace. It is a cloud-based file hosting service that allows users to store and share files online. Dropbox is available on the web and can be used on all platforms, because the website employs HTML5 technology that makes use of the latest browser versions like mobile Safari and Chrome. The user interface can also be accessed via a mobile phone or tablet device, giving access to users who do not have computing devices with desktop browsers installed.
Security
Dropbox uses AES-256 encryption for data at rest as well as two factor authentication such as codes sent via text message. Users are required to enter their login information before accessing their account again after suspension or termination.
Pros
- Allows to work from anywhere
- Team collaboration
- Prevents loss of data
- Offers mobile access
Cons
- Threat to Data loss
- Requires internet all time.
Citrix ShareFile is also an alternative to Google Workspace. The site does not host any files and is a file sharing service for users. The service allows users to share files with many of the world’s leading online services, including Microsoft SharePoint, Google Docs and Box, Dropbox, Copy and even OneDrive. Users can also upload their files to the Citrix ShareFile cloud storage account.
They can then access and manage those documents through their devices or applications. Easy security features make access easy to monitor as well as to grant access with more complex rules such as File permissions such as read only or delete, etc.
Pros
- Allows shared calendaring
- Offers instant messaging
- Has Tasks and Notes
Cons
- Little bit costly
Bitrix 24
Bitrix 24 is one of the best G Suite alternatives released to date. Its design and features are tailored for smaller businesses, however since it’s available on Google’s cloud platform, it has the same unlimited storage capacity as its bigger brother.
So why not give Bitrix 24 a go? It offers many of the same features that G Suite does, including similar levels of security and management tools.
The main differences between these two services are in their pricing plans: G Suite is free whereas Bitrix 24 is regularly priced at $50 per active user per month with no time limits or bandwidth restrictions.
Pros
- Provides great group administration
- Offers unified correspondences
- Offers automation and visual work creator
Cons
- Hard to handle as an admin
- Bundled options
- Costly
ProtonMail
ProtonMail is also one of the best G Suite alternatives available. This secure email service is based in Switzerland and has been praised for its adherence to data protection and privacy. The ProtonMail website itself is protected by a bank-grade encryption system, and the emails themselves are completely protected from snoopers too, which is better than G Suite’s enhanced security features.
Protonmail pricing is much lower than Google’s at just under $5 per month for the general version of its service. The company also offers a free version that comes with limited storage capacities, but it has limitations on sending large attachments – so this might not be the best choice for businesses with big files to send.
Pros
- Offers end-to-end encryption
- It can import contacts and emails
- Strips IP address from the emails
Cons
- Confusing and costly
Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice is also one of the best G Suite alternatives available, and it is much more than a Microsoft Office alternative. It can be used for almost any kind of office work, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and more.
OpenOffice is available on Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems, but it’s free to use on all of them. Some aspects of the program are not as intuitive as Google’s G Suite apps are, but there is a community forum where users can ask support questions if they get stuck – and many experts within that community are willing to help for free too.
Pros
- Open-source platform
- Similar features to MS office
- Easy to use
Cons
- File format is not convenient
MediaFire
MediaFire is one of the best G Suite alternatives out there. It is a cloud storage service that can be synced with your desktop and mobile devices, offering much greater flexibility than Google’s G Suite storage system. MediaFire allows you to store files up to 2GB in size, which is more than adequate for most businesses.
The main downside to MediaFire is that it has stricter caps on bandwidth usage than G Suite does. You get 25GB of data transfer per month on MediaFire Pro (the monthly plan), whereas Google gives its users 1TB each month on G Suite (the business plan). However, for many small businesses, this could still be an acceptable compromise.
Pros
- Offers a great transfer speed
- Very easy to navigate
- Cost effective and reliable
Cons
- Data consumption could be more customizable
- Management can be better
Conclusion
We hope that this article was helpful for you and it does meet your requirements too. All these alternatives are very rich in features and also contain some similar features to G Suite. If you will use these alternatives then I can personally say that it will be worth your time.
So, try out these alternate apps and stay connected with us for more updates.