Google Drive vs. OneNote

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Drive
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.
$6
per month
OneNote
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's OneNote is a digital note-taking app, supporting photos, annotating, web page clipping, emailing, and synchronizing notes across devices.N/A
Pricing
Google DriveOneNote
Editions & Modules
Basic
$6.00
per month
Business
$12.00
per month
Enterprise
Contact Vendor for Quote
per month
Microsoft OneNote
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google DriveOneNote
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for students, educators, and non profit organizations.—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google DriveOneNote
Considered Both Products
Google Drive
Chose Google Drive
We are using Google Drive and other google products from their very first versions. We didn't feel any drawbacks to replace them.
Due to OneNote sync requirement we use MS OneDrive which we found we complex to use.
Chose Google Drive
Google Drive is the best in all aspects. It is affordable, secure, offers better features and most importantly, it enhances collaboration.
OneNote
Chose OneNote
OneNote was the best choice over Google Drive because Google keeps changing their products too often removing some features and adding others that we do not need. We also looked at self hosting with ownCloud but the ability to use OneNote on a multitude of devices and no …
Chose OneNote
OneNote has much more structure and more ability to break out current notebooks/topics than Google Drive. This alone is the selling point of OneNote. Easy to show current notes vs. old notes.
Chose OneNote
I tried organizing various online hard drive storage products like Dropbox, iCloud and Google Drive and One Drive. However, I like the visual aspects of OneNote when I save a document or webpage. It's simpler and I am able to know immediately if I have found the item I am …
Chose OneNote
Evernote worked really well for this - Better than OneNote, but no Pabbly integration which I was switching to. Google Keep is ok, but more for doing sticky-note type notes (even if big ones) rather than sorting a large number of notes. I've also used Nimbus Note - This …
Chose OneNote
Integration with other Microsoft Office products is much better with OneNote than any other note-taking tool. It's also crucial to have cloud-based syncing because I have used other products that only do local storage and you lose a lot of important information if that software …
Chose OneNote
Because many of our organizations use Windows and Microsoft Office suite as business tools, it makes sense to choose OneNote for notetaking and storing information. Other tools don't integrate as well with the Office desktop.
Chose OneNote
OneNote provides better integration into the Microsoft platform. It also excels over Evernote due to OneNote being ad-free and offline supported.
Chose OneNote
I had used IBM Doors for requirement gathering though a document repository. It was hard to maintain as we had to always download the latest docs on a local [drive]. OneNote overcame this issue.
Chose OneNote
I feel that OneNote is a good take on Evernote and even Google Keep which is not listed as far as cloud note taking abilities is concerned with some collaborative abilities. One would use OneNote as they would be more familiar with how MS products works as it is the staple …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Google DriveOneNote
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
8.6
202 Ratings
2% above category average
OneNote
-
Ratings
Versioning8.3178 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files8.0171 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files8.1165 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration9.2199 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.9197 Ratings00 Ratings
File search8.9201 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync9.0188 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
8.3
196 Ratings
4% below category average
OneNote
-
Ratings
User and role management8.3185 Ratings00 Ratings
File organization7.9195 Ratings00 Ratings
Device management8.799 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
8.7
196 Ratings
3% above category average
OneNote
-
Ratings
Performance8.7194 Ratings00 Ratings
Reliability9.1196 Ratings00 Ratings
Storage Reports8.587 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google DriveOneNote
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 10.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google DriveOneNote
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(203 ratings)
8.1
(70 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(5 ratings)
10.0
(13 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(36 ratings)
9.5
(10 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(7 ratings)
8.8
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(48 ratings)
8.7
(10 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google DriveOneNote
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
It is possible to share files and folders with up to 200 email addresses, as well as with persons outside the company.Use the drop-down arrow to select who may see, comment on, or change the file or folder before sending out an invitation.I am very much impressed with this feature
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Microsoft
In my opinion OneNote is a must for anyone who does business. It’s versatile, stable and sustainable. It can keep private information private - like passwords. It can be used for collaborative work - like standard operating procedures. It is fairly easy to use and far superior to pen and paper. When used for meeting notes, it can be flagged with icons that are searchable - like ideas or important items. You can even create Outlook tasks on the fly
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Pros
Google
  • Any user with access can store a file using different platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, or Ubuntu (Desktop version)
  • You can share files with any number of different users with different access rights or you can even keep it public by providing the access link and assign different rights for public access
  • You can open Excel/Word files using google software Sheets/Docs in the browser environment without having to install software like Microsoft Office etc on your Windows OS
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Because of its flexibility and ability to hold different types of content (text, images, tables), it is a great tool for collecting content from different resources and organizing it in one place.
  • Technical support analysts are using sections for their support case analysis; they paste pieces of logs, screen-shots, document their steps in troubleshooting etc., all in one section, to get the full picture yet stay organized.
  • The logic of content structure; Notebook>Section>Page>Paragraph, allows you to manage and collect all needed information by the areas of the user's responsibility. For example; each of my projects has its own section, in which each page is a task.
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • Having a little bit more control and clarity over what is shared and how it is shared would be a useful improvement.
  • Could be more robust and flexible as far as assigning restrictions.
  • Google Sheets could be enhanced because Excel really is not there yet as a product with equal capabilities as there are still quite a few limitations to the functionality.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The table editing tools are too simplistic and lack the features found in other Office products.
  • Some content loses its rich text formatting when being pasted into OneNote. A workaround is to paste the content first into Outlook or Word and then copy/pasting that into OneNote.
  • Microsoft is moving away from a local install of OneNote, which means notebooks have to be in the cloud in Office 2019. This will actually reduce the usefulness of OneNote in some environments and opens the door to competitor products.
  • Update: Microsoft has now announced that it will continue to support OneNote 2016 through 2023. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/Your-OneNote/ba-p/954922
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
For its compatibility, easiness, quick responses, user interface, storage capacity, files management and file listings. These are some of the reasons for giving higher ratings and Google Drive has become an integral part of my professional life. We use this software on daily basis and most of the time saving lot of time.
Read full review
Microsoft
As this is not a compulsory tool in our organization, I would say all depends on the decision makers, however since this is a part of MS Office, I am sure we will have it for as long as we will possibly need it. However, I would not be so sure, if it was a separate product
Read full review
Usability
Google
It's easy enough to use for computer users of all ages and skill levels. I am an advanced user, and I think the hardest part might be showing someone how to download and set up the app on their device if they weren't too familiar with computers, but overall it is very easy to understand.
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Microsoft
I find OneNote incredibly usable. I'm fairly middle of the road when it comes to tech savvy-ness. The platform was very easy to learn and explore. I like that OneNote is no clunky and offers a clean interface. This is important when it comes to deciding if a tool is usable for multiple people.
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Reliability and Availability
Google
Always available
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Google
The documents load fairly quickly and also update in real time, especially given the fact that multiple people can be using it at once. The "Offline" feature works great to allow the user to make edits and access the document without access to the internet, and then sync changes later once they're back.
Read full review
Microsoft
Overall, I rate OneNote's performance highly. In general, notebooks, sections and pages load quickly. OneNote integrates with other apps and info ca easily be shared/copied to and from the tool to other tools. Moreover, Notebooks tend to sync quickly meaning shared notebooks are up to date almost immediately provided there are no syncing issues.
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Support Rating
Google
It takes a few days for customer support to get back to you. Although, I have not had to use support too often. Once you get an email back, they are very thorough and work hard to fix the problem quickly. It is a really great resource and a great way to get the help you need if you're stuck. A phone call also works quickly but you have to call during specific times.
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Microsoft
Since it is part of Microsoft Office and used across the globe there are a lot of support options available. It's quickest to just do a google search which will have plenty of articles to help you since there are so many OneNote users but as an Office customer you also have access to Microsoft support and I have had good experiences with their support (probably because I'm with a large company who is a large customer to them).
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In-Person Training
Google
The effective google workspace using training that my organization received and was conducted by me (as a team lead of the ICT team) was mind-blowing and as a result, our staff is performing well in terms of using the application for their daily jobs than before. Now, in my institution, all teachers and all the administrative personnel are very much interested in cloud storage facilities, in previous my institution was afraid of losing all important documents in the cloud storage. But, after having received the training they are now realized that if anyone has only one google account then he or she can use 15GB of cloud storage freely and they are now happy because now it is not necessary for anyone to carry the traditional pen drive.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Google
It's an extremely easy software to implement, once you sign up for a google account you automatically have access to google drive with a set amount of storage space. The business or Google Suite accounts have more storage space than a regular free account, but setting up and accessing google drive is very easy in both cases
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google
In short, Google Drive is better for independent users who store a normal amount of stuff. OneDrive makes more sense for businesses and teams that are doing heavy-duty storage or large-scale syncing. Realistically, though, most users will fall somewhere in between the two, where either platform would meet their needs.
Read full review
Microsoft
I tried using Evernote and it is an equally usable tool, however, I prefer the interface and capabilities of OneNote. OneNote seems much easier to use and understand. I think that may primarily be because OneNote is a Microsoft application and I am very used to using Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, etc. I also use OneNote to keep my grocery list. It does as good of a job as the grocery list applications out there, only I like the flexibility I have with OneNote and how I specifically do my shopping.
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Scalability
Google
I have always been able to access
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Google
  • It has given our operation remote capabilities
  • Easier to access and understand client's need through collaborative enviroment
  • availability to digital resources fast and easy
  • saved our operation hundreds of dollars in physical storage (both investment and maintenance)
  • our operation became easier for new staff to get onboard: small learning curve to use it
Read full review
Microsoft
  • OneNote has become our organizational standard method of taking electronic notes (though some still prefer pen and paper.) It has been a zero cost outlay due to its freely available nature.
  • Its integration with other Microsoft Office products makes it easy to share notes and content between products, allowing for easy collaboration where needed.
  • OneNote's integration with OneDrive ensures that individual's notes are always safe and secure, taking away the tedious responsibility of backup from the user, and makes it happen seamlessly in the background.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives