Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is Microsoft's equivalent of a company suite: email on your domain plus productivity apps and user administration. It's a good alternative to Google Workspace if you and your team already work with Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Unlike the Google Workspace page, we don't have screenshots of the process here, this is a general overview of how it works so you can decide. The exact steps can change over time, so also check Microsoft's documentation when you set it up.
What you get
- email on the company domain via Outlook / Exchange Online (e.g.
contact@company.com); - the Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint (web, and on higher plans, desktop);
- OneDrive for personal files and SharePoint for company documents;
- Teams for communication, calls and collaboration;
- user administration via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), similar to Google Workspace.
The plans, in short
Microsoft 365 is billed monthly, per user, like Workspace. In short:
| Plan | In short | Good when |
|---|---|---|
| Business Basic | email + Office in the browser + Teams, no desktop apps | you want cheap company email and work mostly in the browser |
| Business Standard | all the above + the desktop Office apps | you use installed Word/Excel/Outlook daily |
| Business Premium | Standard + security and device management | larger team, sensitive data, you want tighter control |
Setup, in short
- create a Microsoft 365 Business account and open the Admin Center;
- add the company domain and verify it (Microsoft gives you a record to add in DNS);
- configure the MX / DNS records so email reaches Microsoft;
- create users and assign licenses;
- (optional) set up shared addresses, groups and SharePoint.
As with Workspace, the sensitive part is domain verification and configuring the MX / DNS records. Until they propagate, email may not work correctly. See Domain for the DNS part.
Ownership and company administration
Just like with Workspace, the big advantage over personal accounts is that everything lives in the company's organisation. From the Admin Center / Entra ID you can:
- create and suspend users;
- reset passwords and control access;
- transfer ownership when someone leaves;
- see which accounts and devices are connected.
For a game studio this matters at an audit, investment or acquisition: it's much cleaner if important platforms (Apple Developer, Google Play Console, Steamworks, publisher, ads, financial accounts) are tied to company emails, not a personal Outlook/Gmail.
Shared addresses without a separate license
Microsoft's equivalent of "groups" are shared mailboxes and distribution lists / Microsoft 365 Groups. You can have addresses like contact@, support@, invoices@, legal@, jobs@ that deliver to one or more people.
A shared mailbox doesn't need a separate license (within the provided storage limit), so you don't pay for an extra user for every functional address. You only use licenses for the real people on the team.
Company SharePoint / OneDrive
For files, Microsoft 365 offers OneDrive (each user's space) and SharePoint (company document libraries). Like Google Drive, the idea is that important files, contracts, invoices, builds, assets, GDDs, marketing, legal, HR, live under the company, not scattered across personal accounts. If someone leaves, the documents stay in the company's infrastructure.
Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace
| Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace | |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook / Exchange | Gmail | |
| Apps | Word, Excel, PowerPoint | Docs, Sheets, Slides |
| Company files | OneDrive + SharePoint | Google Drive |
| Communication | Teams | Meet / Chat |
| Shared addresses | shared mailboxes, groups | Groups |
| Cost | monthly, per user | monthly, per user |
| Natural if… | you already use Office / Outlook | you already use Gmail / Drive |
Both solve the same basic need: email on a domain + a productivity suite + company administration. The real difference is the ecosystem you're already comfortable in.
Practical recommendation
Choose Microsoft 365 if you and your team already live in Office/Outlook or work with partners on Microsoft. Choose Google Workspace if you prefer Gmail and Google Drive. For something very small and cheap, email via cPanel can be enough at the start.
After setup and domain verification, save the official address in My Own Company Details.