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Arpeet Kale / 3.31.2023Home / Email Security

Four alternatives to G Suite worth considering

Looking for a cloud workspace beyond Google’s solution? Explore some common alternatives to G Suite and find the best option for your workflow.

Google has been dominating several industries beyond search, most notably the cloud workspace market. With over 3 billion users, G Suite—now known as Google Workspace—is the most popular collaboration platform among individual and business users.Despite its popularity, G Suite is far from perfect. It suffers from several significant drawbacks that might make you think twice before building your workflow around it.This guide will highlight the most notable shortcomings of using Google’s solution and share a few alternatives to G Suite worth exploring. You’ll learn what a collaboration platform must have to ensure a smooth and secure user experience, after which you can compare four options to find the best one.

Protect your data with SkiffSkiff's end-to-end encrypted ecosystem provides a secure alternative to G Suite

Why the dangers of using G Suite outweigh the benefits

G Suite offers a comprehensive set of platforms that streamline cloud collaboration. From Gmail to Google Sheets, you have an app for most major tasks. Pair this with free access to all those platforms, and you can see why Google’s solution has amassed such a broad user base.While you don’t have to pay for G Suite unless you want to upgrade, you’re giving Google something more valuable than money when using its platforms—your data. It’s common knowledge that Google tracks your online activity to target you with personalized ads, which is quite an invasive practice.An even bigger concern is the high number of security breaches in the last few years. Google stores sensitive data on its servers, exposing users to severe threats.Your cloud workspace provider should keep your data safe from everyone—including themselves. Such protection shouldn’t come at the cost of usability, so the right solution needs to check a few important boxes:

Well-designed user interface
Cross-platform compatibility
Affordable plans
A robust set of features

Many platforms promise the above, but only a handful provide it. Let’s discuss some productivity suites users often choose over Google’s option to help you make an informed decision.

G Suite alternatives—features, pros, and cons of four options

Among numerous cloud workspaces, four options stand out:

Microsoft 365
Zoho Workplace
Proton
Skiff

While each platform has advantages over Google Workspace, some might still not meet your needs. Take a look at the concise reviews below to find the best fit.

Microsoft 365

Source: Office.comFormerly Office 365, Microsoft 365 is Google Workspace’s biggest competitor. Higher storage, desktop apps, and several other features give it an advantage over Google’s option, but the free version might be disappointing for some users.

Pricing

Microsoft has various tiers for specific user groups, but the two general pricing categories are:

Personal:
1. Microsoft 365 Personal—$6.99/month
2. Microsoft 365 Family—$9.99/month
Business:
1. Microsoft 365 Business Basic—$6.00/user per month
2. Microsoft 365 Business Standard—$12.50/user per month
3. Microsoft 365 Business Premium—$22.00/user per month

Pros and cons

Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem is more robust than Google’s. Besides web services, you get dedicated desktop apps that sync with the cloud space. Microsoft 365 is a better option if you want to keep local copies of certain documents. If you download any Google Workspace file, it converts to its Microsoft counterpart anyway (Docs > Word, Sheets > Excel, etc.)Even if you only focus on cloud services, Microsoft 365 is more generous than Google Workspace. A good example is storage—Google’s cheapest paid plan (Business Starter, $6/month) gets you 30 GB of storage, while Microsoft 365 Business Basic offers 1 TB for the same price. You also get 50 GB of dedicated Outlook email storage, while Google’s storage is combined.Conversely, the free version of Google Workspace is more comprehensive than Microsoft 365 for the Web—the free, online-only version of the suite.You only get 5 GB with OneDrive compared to Google Drive’s 10 GB, and the overall collaboration is much smoother on Google’s platform. Microsoft 365 for the Web only gives you basic tools without advanced sharing and collaboration features.Microsoft and Google’s workspaces share the same major problem—lack of advanced security. By default, neither option offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE)—the most secure way to send emails and collaborate in a cloud environment. Like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 uses basic protocols like TLS/SSL, which aren’t strong enough to keep your sensitive information safe.

Pros	Cons
Desktop apps alongside cloud tools	Limited free version
Generous storage with the entry-level paid tier	No advanced security
Dedicated email storage	.

Zoho Workplace

Source: Zoho WorkplaceAfter the major success of its CRM platform, Zoho branched out to create a comprehensive workspace. While you can’t use it for free, the platform’s numerous features and affordability might make it worth the investment.

Choose privacy-first collaborationSkiff's free plan grants you access to the fully E2E-encrypted productivity suite

Pricing

Zoho Workplace offers three plans based on platform and feature availability:

Mail-Only—€0.90 ($0.98)/user per month
Standard—€2.70 ($2.73)/user per month
Professional—€5.40 ($5.85)/user per month

Pros and cons

Zoho Workplace encompasses various tools to let you build a streamlined workflow:

Zoho Mail
Zoho Calendar
Zoho WorkDrive
Zoho Office Suite (Writer, Sheet, and Show—equivalents of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides)
Zoho Cliq (for team communication)
Zoho Meeting

You get all of the above with the Standard plan, and you can unlock Zoho’s intranet platform Zoho Connect with the highest tier.Another difference between the plans is storage. Standard offers 30 GB of email storage alongside 100 GB of shared WorkDrive storage allocated between up to 10 users, with an extra 10 GB for each new user. With Professional, you get 100 GB of email storage and 1 TB of shared storage, with each new user getting an extra 100 GB.The Office Suite is quite capable and offers full-featured tools similar to Google’s. You can invite up to 50 collaborators to each document, which is enough for a cohesive workflow.As for security, you get some handy features like password-protected sharing links. Zoho Workplace also supports E2EE, but only with the highest tier. It uses the S/MIME standard, which is better than nothing but is an outdated protocol tied to significant vulnerabilities.

Pros	Cons
Affordable tiers	No free plan
Numerous productivity tools	Outdated end-to-end encryption standard
Up to 50 document collaborators	.

Proton

Source: ProtonProton is best known for its famous VPN service, which has been touted for its strong security. The company extended its focus on privacy to three additional tools to create a secure online workspace. It’s a better option for privacy-conscious users than any Big Tech solution, but the company’s recent reputation issues made some users skeptical about using it.

Pricing

Proton offers a free plan alongside several tiers:

Proton Unlimited (individual plan)—$11.99/month
Mail Essentials—$7.99/user per month
Business—$12.99/user per month
Enterprise—Custom pricing

Pros and cons

Proton is based in Switzerland, a country known for strict data privacy laws. Besides being compliant with them, the company ensures confidentiality through zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption. No sensitive information gets stored on Proton’s servers, so users can enjoy more privacy and security.The free plan gives you access to four platforms:

Mail
Calendar
Drive
VPN

It’s good to have a VPN alongside productivity tools for added security, so this certainly makes Proton stand out. The problem is that the free plan might not be robust enough even for casual users due to limited storage. You only get 500 MB and can unlock another 500 MB by completing simple actions. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan for more storage, but even that might not be enough as all plans besides Enterprise cap the storage at 500 GB.While Proton is more secure than most cloud workplaces, it’s not without flaws. It uses PGP, an encryption standard tied to the same issues as S/MIME. The company’s reputation was questioned in 2021 when it collaborated with the authorities and revealed information on one user. While this was an isolated case, it still made some users concerned about the levels of confidentiality they get.

Pros	Cons
End-to-end encryption with all tiers	Limited storage, even with paid plans
Free to use	Reputation issues caused by information handout
VPN included alongside productivity tools	.

Skiff

Source: SkiffSkiff is a comprehensive, privacy-first productivity suite using advanced end-to-end encryption to ensure complete confidentiality and security. It offers all the tools individuals and businesses need to ensure safe collaboration and maximize efficiency.

Pricing

Skiff offers a rich free plan alongside three paid tiers:

Essential—From $3/month
Pro—From $8/month
Business—From $12/user per month

Pros and cons

Skiff includes four end-to-end encrypted platforms to let users create a secure workflow:

Skiff Mail—Send secure emails and attachments inaccessible to everyone but the recipient with the decryption key
Skiff Drive—Store files of all types and share them through end-to-end encrypted links
Skiff Pages—Create unlimited docs and ensure streamlined invite-based collaboration
Skiff Calendar—Stay organized and schedule private events and meetings

All platforms feature zero-knowledge E2EE protecting your data with two separate keys. The public key is shared among users and used to send encrypted emails, while the private decryption key is safely stored on the user’s device. Data is encrypted before leaving the user’s device, so nobody—including Skiff—can access it until you decide to share it.The free plan gets you access to all platforms and 10 GB of secure storage. You can unlock up to 1 TB alongside additional features:

15 custom email domains
15 Skiff.com aliases and one short alias
10 GB per-file upload limit
Unlimited folders, labels, and collaborators

While Skiff doesn’t offer as many specific platforms as Google Workspace (e.g., dedicated apps for spreadsheets or presentations), the Pages app features a rich text editor you can use to create comprehensive documents. You also get file versioning and lightning-fast text search to boost your productivity.Skiff is compatible with all major browsers, iOS, Android, and MacOS. It also offers optional integration with IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and various crypto wallets, including:

You can learn more about Skiff’s features and security measures in this whitepaper. The platform is open source, so you can inspect the source code on Skiff’s GitHub.

Pros	Cons
Strong end-to-end encryption across the entire workspace	Doesn’t offer dedicated apps for processing different file types
Robust free plan	.
Open source platform	.

Get started with Skiff

You can start using Skiff’s products in three quick steps:

Visit the signup page
Choose your account name and password (you don’t need to leave any personal information
Explore Skiff’s workspace

If you’re switching from G Suite or another provider, you can transfer your data in one click to secure it with Skiff’s numerous security measures.

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