MS Outlook vs. Gmail – A brief comparison

Read time: 5 minutes

Email communication is vital for every business. Users require suitable applications and platforms to send/receive emails. There are multiple email clients and webmails that offer their email services, but MS Outlook and Gmail are two champions that beat other platforms in all aspects. Now, we will learn about these two services:

• Email Client
  The email client is a downloadable software program that you can install on the system. It will download email messages from mail servers. You can send or receive email here, and the mailbox is accessible even without the Internet. MS Outlook is an email client with its own interface, features, and services to add accounts of multiple email servers like IMAP, POP, Exchange, and Microsoft 365.
• Webmail
  Webmail is an online service accessible through web browsers. It includes inbox, outbox, sent items, contacts, calendar, and other folders for every account. The user can connect with their webmail account universally if the Internet is available. Gmail is an example of webmail where the mailbox will open in any web browser.

As we have discussed email client and webmail, let’s move to the differences between a popular email client and webmail: MS Outlook vs. Gmail.

Comparison between Outlook and Gmail

These are some major differences that make these email clients unique in themselves. Let’s explore:

Other major differences

There are some other major differences between Gmail and Outlook based on various parameters such as user interface, storage, pricing, etc. Let’s discuss each of them in detail.

The user interfaces of both email platforms are completely different. Gmail is a web browser-based app that will open only after providing an email address and password each time you want to open the account. On the other hand, MS Outlook will remain present on the computer and will open with a double click. Once the user has added the account in Outlook, then they will not need to provide credentials again while opening the account.

MS Outlook is integrated with features like Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, OneNote, Address Book, and several other features. Gmail is a simple email service where the primary task is to compose emails and receive them. To manage other apps, the user needs to make changes in Google account settings.

MS Outlook supports multiple email servers like IMAP, POP, Exchange, Office 365, etc.

Gmail uses the Internet to connect with Google servers. For more professional features, users can try Google Workspace (earlier known as G Suite).

Each Google user gets a free 15 GB of space that is shareable between all Google apps. A user can integrate several apps like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc., with Gmail. Similarly, Outlook can synchronize its data with OneDrive cloud space. The free OneDrive account gets 5 GB of space.

The user can purchase more storage space directly or buy a subscription for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

The Gmail account is completely free for usage until 15 GB of space remains available. Later, you can purchase more storage space or get a subscription to Google Workspace.

Google Workspace Business Starter – $7.2/user/month.
Google Workspace Business Standard – $14.4/user/month.
Google Workspace Business Plus – $21.6/user/month.
Google Workspace Enterprise: Contact Sales Team.

On the contrary, a user has many options to use MS Outlook. It is available for individual purchase, with MS Office Suite or via a Microsoft 365 subscription that includes multiple Microsoft applications.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic – $3/user/month
Microsoft 365 Business Standard – $10/user/month
Microsoft 365 Business Premium – $22/user/month

Conclusion

Microsoft Outlook and Gmail differ in features, usage, and benefits. For email communication with a heavy send/receive task, many people use MS Outlook. That’s why it is necessary to ensure the safety of data present in Outlook accounts. Kernel Outlook PST Repair software can assist you in resolving Outlook PST corruption issues and later save it in a new or existing PST file. It can also save Outlook data in Gmail.

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