Google Classroom vs. Microsoft 365

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Classroom
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$0
per month
Microsoft 365
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a Microsoft Cloud subscription service that includes Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access). The software can be installed across multiple devices and ensures that users always have the most up-to-date version of the included Office applications.
$5
Per User Per Month
Pricing
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Editions & Modules
Education Fundamentals
$0
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Standard
$3
per student/per year
Teaching and Learning Upgrade
$4
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Plus
$5
per student/per year
Business Basic
$5.00
Per User Per Month
Individual
$5.84
*Per Month
Business - Apps
$8.25
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - F3
$10.00
Per User Per Month
Business Standard
$12.50
Per User Per Month
Business Premium
$20.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E3
$32.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E5
$57.00
Per User Per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsEducation Fundamentals Version - 30-day free trial for qualifying institutions.*When billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Considered Both Products
Google Classroom
Chose Google Classroom
Google Classroom ties to the Google G Suite for EDU which has very good support and documentation as needed, at no additional cost, which is a big deal for setting it up. The integration with Chromebooks, Active Directory, Clever and other common platforms make it very …
Chose Google Classroom
Google Classroom is the best because it is user-friendly and the students can easily find the information and assignments they need. Google Classroom was selected because it interfaces with Google Drive for Education which students used. Students can view other students' work …
Chose Google Classroom
The good thing about Google Classroom is that you can easily repurpose or reuse an assignment you have created before, which saves much time for me. It is also easy for me to manage my online courses and it is very accessible to my learners. Google Classroom is also easily …
Microsoft 365
Chose Microsoft 365
It's more secure and has more powerful tools for the classroom and it integrates well with our LMS. Office 365 provides our students with the ability to work on or offline and having a tool that has the immersive reader, translator built right into the system is extremely …
Features
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
7.5
60 Ratings
9% below category average
Microsoft 365
-
Ratings
Course authoring8.652 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library7.739 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal6.938 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content7.841 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.457 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.344 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.358 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.134 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.446 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.142 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning8.551 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification4.58 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.612 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(80 ratings)
8.8
(259 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(4 ratings)
9.5
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(11 ratings)
8.7
(29 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.9
(14 ratings)
8.9
(54 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google ClassroomMicrosoft 365
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google Classroom allows teachers to post for daily lessons and assignments. It also allows teachers to be able to communicate with students easily outside of class. Students are able to stay connected and know where to find all information and resources easily in a streamlined manner for all of their classes.
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Microsoft
Microsoft 365 would be well suited for medium to large enterprises. This is where there are several hundreds or thousands of people. Since most everyone has used one of the applications the learning curve would be reduced. Another reason would be the ability to implement security measures to prevent access to sensitive data. This could justify the cost of an Enterprise license.
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Pros
Google
  • Student-teacher communication - I love using Classroom for this because my students can always go back and check what was on Classroom by looking through the stream. This way they don't have to go dig through emails to find what they're looking for.
  • Posting to multiple classes - I can post the same announcement or assignment to multiple classes at once without having to repeat the process or send separate emails.
  • Streamlining grading - when students turn work in on Classroom, it all goes to one place and then when I'm grading I can open their documents directly from Classroom or my Drive folder. This way, I'm not looking through emails and Google Doc shared files for their assignment.
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Microsoft
  • Chat with teams and the integrations with the other apps, and many more smaller ones, like to-dos, news, and the recent Outlook integration.
  • Easy embedding on SharePoint to broadcast all the content created in the different tools.
  • The office package is still robust with the good things from the past and new additions.
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Cons
Google
  • The content management of the Classroom is not that good. The sub-section for notes, syllabus, or discussion is missing.
  • It doesn't have parental control feature.
  • It converts the excel output into a normal file. All the formulas and pivots got changed into plain text.
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Microsoft
  • Slack is 1000x better than teams. Why put a 250 limit on a chat? Our company hasn't moved fully to channels and it's making us lose transparency. Plus, the teams channels we do have nobody is going to. 90% loss in visibility and engagement.
  • Teams for web meetings. I think the UI/UX should match Zoom which is the standard for all our customers. They don't like it when we use Teams.
  • Chats and Channels need to somehow be on one screen automatically without having to choose that view because majority of our company hasn't opened Teams Channels and only stays in chats.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
Testing is particularly important in online learning, and Google Classroom falls far short of other learning management systems in this regard. Security is also a concern: while account control is reasonable for the account used with Google Classroom, the person controlling a particular account is often able to, for example, forward or download proprietary materials.
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Microsoft
There are many features of Office that we cannot replicate in any other tool. Plus people know it already. It's not going away anytime soon.
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Usability
Google
Simple design and seamless integration with Google tools and drive, but missing some key features. However, since it is limited in overall functions and ability to truly personalize / customize, it is quite user friendly and easy to set up and get going, other than sending out the code to your course or dropping students in via their gmail account. Users of Google Forms and sites will find the layout similar in design.
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Microsoft
Microsoft 365 is the gold standard for performing project tasks in a professional environment, enabling the quick transfer and exchange of files and ideas for team members who work locally and remotely. Its suite of tools is familiar and has evolved to being cloud based, allowing for files to be updated in real time from near and far.
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Reliability and Availability
Google
We have had very little trouble in accessing Google Classroom. Our issues, if any, have risen from our server and not the Google servers.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Google
Since this platform is provided by Google, the technical support is better than any others, and we are not required to bother about the space constraints for adding the contents. If we have a good uninterrupted internet facility we can access Google Classroom without any delay or lag. They have app support in both Android and iPhone.
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Microsoft
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
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Implementation Rating
Google
It was relatively easy to implement due to the simplicity of the platform. Even our more technology challenged teachers found it easy to get started with Google Classroom.
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Microsoft
Everything works and I use it all the time.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
I haven't tested or evaluated another digital classroom website or application. I feel like Google Classroom is convenient for many reasons such as compatibility to Google docs, slides, etc. I also love the ability to link to YouTube and other sites. I don't know if there would be a site that is easier to maneuver.
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Microsoft
Its very user-friendly, collaborative and efficient that boosts productivity using cloud tools. their security is strong and it provides data protection. There are regular updates that shields us from attackers too. It offers a wealth of learning resources, including tutorials, help articles and video guide to help users make the most of the application and personally upgrade their skills.
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Scalability
Google
It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Google
  • Students are able to continue learning in a remote environment
  • Parents have a single, consistent organization structure to make it easy to track assignments and progress for multiple children
  • Much better solution than the quickly assembled Zoom-and-gloom of the previous spring when school abruptly went remote with no planning
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Microsoft
  • We have a lot of nonprofit users, so they have a good ROI.
  • I like the constant updates without having to purchase the software repeatedly.
  • I used to purchase each Office (insert year here) often, so the software was up to date and had the newest options and connectors. I think my return on investment would have been much better if Microsoft had updated those versions to keep them current; after all, we did pay for them.
  • Microsoft 365's offering a monthly fee or a discount for a year helps, and you can look at it as a free backup if you have everything set to back up to One Drive. (Cloud-based document filing you can access anywhere ( with an internet connection)—you Can't beat that!)
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ScreenShots