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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Workspace Essentials

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AGoogle now offers Google Workspace Essentials (formerly G Suite Essentials), providing a solution for users of Outlook or Office whose teams want to use Google Meet and Google Apps without needing to involve a personal gmail account. Google Workspace Essentails includes Google Slides, Sheets, and Docs, as well as Google Meet, Google Drive, Forms, Sites, and Keep, in a bundle minus a gmail account. Basic Essentials supports (via Meet) meetings with up to 150 participants, and Google Drive with…

    $8

    per month per user

    Shopify

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AShopify is a commerce platform designed for both online stores and retail locations. Shopify offers a professional online storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the Shopify POS application to power retail sales.

    $39

    per month

    Pricing
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Basic Shopify
    $39
    per month
    Grow
    $105
    per month
    Advanced
    $399
    per month
    Shopify Plus
    2,000
    per month
    Shopify Plus
    2,300
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—A 25% discount is offered for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Shopify
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    80 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    17 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    77 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    76 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    79%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    68 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    16 Answers
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    69 Answers
    Features
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Online Storefront
    Comparison of Online Storefront features of Google Workspace Essentials and Shopify
    Feature
    Google Workspace Essentials
    -
    Ratings
    Shopify
    8.4
    149 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Product catalog & listings00 Ratings8.7149 Ratings
    Product management00 Ratings8.2147 Ratings
    Bulk product upload00 Ratings8.3125 Ratings
    Branding00 Ratings8.6146 Ratings
    Mobile storefront00 Ratings9.1142 Ratings
    Product variations00 Ratings7.9139 Ratings
    Website integration00 Ratings8.7140 Ratings
    Visual customization00 Ratings8.7146 Ratings
    CMS00 Ratings7.6118 Ratings
    Online Shopping Cart
    Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Google Workspace Essentials and Shopify
    Feature
    Google Workspace Essentials
    -
    Ratings
    Shopify
    8.5
    141 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Abandoned cart recovery00 Ratings8.2131 Ratings
    Checkout user experience00 Ratings8.8139 Ratings
    Online Payment System
    Comparison of Online Payment System features of Google Workspace Essentials and Shopify
    Feature
    Google Workspace Essentials
    -
    Ratings
    Shopify
    9.4
    143 Ratings
    12% above category average
    eCommerce security00 Ratings9.4143 Ratings
    eCommerce Marketing
    Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Google Workspace Essentials and Shopify
    Feature
    Google Workspace Essentials
    -
    Ratings
    Shopify
    8.3
    146 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Promotions & discounts00 Ratings8.4140 Ratings
    Personalized recommendations00 Ratings8.432 Ratings
    SEO00 Ratings8.1135 Ratings
    eCommerce Business Management
    Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Google Workspace Essentials and Shopify
    Feature
    Google Workspace Essentials
    -
    Ratings
    Shopify
    8.1
    147 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Multi-site management00 Ratings6.719 Ratings
    Order processing00 Ratings9.0144 Ratings
    Inventory management00 Ratings7.6143 Ratings
    Shipping00 Ratings8.4135 Ratings
    Custom functionality00 Ratings8.7136 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Small Businesses
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Ecwid by Lightspeed
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Google Workspace
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Shopify Plus
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft 365 Business Premium
    Score9 out of 10
    IBM Digital Commerce
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.7
    (20 ratings)
    8.4
    (162 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (16 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (5 ratings)
    8.3
    (16 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google Workspace EssentialsShopify
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    Well-suited for: Fast-paced drafting ideas, docs, charts, sheets, etc. Love it for client calls as well. Google Meet runs in a web browser; you don't need to download any special software. Shared Drives are great for sharing information; the ability to add a Google Notebook to them is the icing on the cake. It is less appropriate when Wi-Fi or the internet is spotty, or when you need heavy-duty Excel macro data crunching.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shopify
    Shopify allowed us to handle matrix items and combined listings. Both of which we could not do on our previous platform. There was some customization involved but overall, it did what we needed it to. The one downside was that if we want to change anything we would have to reload the entire set of matrix items manually.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Google
    • Google Docs & Google Slides are essential to our company as we are remote. Multiple people can work on the documents at one time.
    • Easy to share and store files in Google Drive.
    • Google Calendar is amazing, it integrates seamlessly with other Google products and it's our company's primary calendar tool.
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    • It's base security and integration with trusted security partners (such as NoFraud) is a game-changer when it comes to reliability and a "hands off approach" for our IT department. The up-time is also very good.
    • It offers a wide range of verified plugins that are (for the most part) easy to install and use for any specific scenario you're looking for.
    • It's Analytics area in the admin is actually nice and offers a wide variety of reports that you can run.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Google
    • Record option to be there in Google meet
    • ability to share documents outside google accounts need to be looked at
    • Improvement in conversion to MS office based documents and converting those documents to googles format needs a little work.
    • Will be good to have a pdf to word converter and vice versa
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    • I would love it if Shopify built an in house app which helped us post UGCs and social proof from platforms such as Instagram, Youtube etc. more seamlessly on our website. Right now, we are able to do it through third party apps but the look and feel is just okay.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    Now that our department has used G Suite Essentials for close to 2 years, I can't imagine not using it. It has proven to be a very practical tool for sharing files / folders on a shared drive. It also makes it easy to modify and update content. It is user friendly and the interface is simple.
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    Nothing we have used in the past or have seen thus far even comes close to offering what we get with Shopify Plus, especially for the price. You cannot even come close to getting what we are getting at the price we pay. We are beyond thrilled and Shopify Plus meets and exceeds all of our needs and expectations. We love it!
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Google
    It is so easy to use, very intuitive and the site looks nice. There is no hint of the old DOS days in the look and functionality. Let's be real, Google Workspace Essentials is attractive and easy on the eyes and even offers a dark mode if you want to rest your eyes a bit or are in a mood for such
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    It is fairly easy to use Shopify regardless of what task you are attempting to perform. Most things are customizable to a degree without requiring coding ability. I have very limited coding experience and have still been able to navigate my way around changing features of the website that require edits to the code with the use of AI and trial-and-error. This previously wasn't possible with the WooCommerce platform.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    Shopify support is always available when you need them.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    Shopify website speed is quite impressive. Even if we integrate couple apps, it does not hamper the site speed.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    In terms of support I give Shopify a 9 out of 10 because they're always very friendly and thorough, and they personally can't solve my problem for me they always point me in the proper direction with the proper information I need to move forward
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    Shopify offered us several trainings to setup a Shopify store, how to build a brand, SEO, product photography etc. All this content have been super helpful in our journey.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    Just start now and make the switch, the sooner the better. You will love it and it is really a simple process
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    Google Workspace Essentials is more robust than Dropbox with the other features that are available. Google Workspace Essentials is very comparable to Microsoft 365, and we ultimately went with Google because at the time, it was free/priced better than MS, and now we have lots of legacy files already stored on Google servers, so a switch would be too time-consuming. We went with Google Workspace Essentials over OpenOffice because of the email features of using Google.
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    Big Commerce and SAP Hybris are two other platforms we've investigated and Shopify is by far easiest to use and customize. While it doesn't do everything out of the box, the apps do fill in many gaps. The cost however, is probably the biggest selling point against these other two options.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Shopify
    Shopify has basic to high-end plans. The plans grow with the brand`s growth and I love that about Shopify.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Google
    • Our fundraising and development efforts nearly doubled 2020-2022, largely in part to the organizational tools within Google Workspace Essentials.
    • We've opened up the capacity to work more closely with contractors in a more collaborative nature because of GWE's capabilities.
    • It was integral to our brand overhaul.
    Incentivized
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    Shopify
    • It got the store up quickly so the client could start selling. She was previously selling products on Etsy and Facebook and wanted to consolidate everything onto one website, so the main thing Shopify solved was to reduce the store owner's time in managing all her products on multiple sites. Also, we had previously built a website on Wix with all the custom functionality and branding she needed - a truly great, high-end website - but it performed so slowly that it was unusable. So the speed at which Shopify can be set up and then works on the page is appreciable.
    • The website was manageable by the client - she could figure the system out herself after a while so she saved money on costs for hiring developers. She did have to hire developers to customize some of the plug-ins but costs are all relative; it wasn't a high investment compared to building a full e-commerce website. With the complexity and size of her product base and the functionality and branding she wanted to have in a website, and the potential of her business, she would have needed to invest well over $10,000 to get to where she really needs to be. In the end she kept the budget under $5000.00.
    • Costs kept climbing with plug-ins having to be added with everything. My client became more involved in building the website and began to try multiple plugins, and she did not have the skill base to evaluate the plugins functionalities so she chose plugins that did not do everything she needed, and then ended up paying the plugin developers to customize the plugins. So on one hand, it's pretty amazing to be able to bring up an e-commerce website as quickly as a week or so, but on the other hand if you need anything customized or deeper functionality in regards to product searching and filtering on the web page, and management on the backend, it quickly goes beyond the skills of the average person to manage, and above their expected budget as well. In the end my client really did not get anything close to the functionality for the website we had originally envisioned.
    • Shopify was the easiest way we could find to bring the client's products to a global market. We evaluated several other platforms and the functionality simple did not seem to be adequate, so Shopify seemed like the only solution that could do enough of what we needed and still stay within this client's budget. Really the problem in this project was not platform per se but that the budget wasn't large enough. Shopify managed to provide a solution for an ecommerce store with thousands of products on a tiny budget, so in the sense of pure functionality it provided the best value of all the platforms we evaluated. The solution still isn't big enough for this client's business though so, without having insights into this client's post-build sales results, my guess is that because her new website did not make her products easier to sort through, and she likely didn't have much more budget left to invest in SEO and other marketing of the website, her sales probably didn't increase substantially as a result of having built the website. So I think this project all in all did not likely have a high ROI.
    Incentivized
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