Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Google Workspace VS Notion

Compare Google Workspace VS Notion and see what are their differences

Google Workspace logo Google Workspace

Google's encompassing suite of cloud-based business apps.

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.
  • Google Workspace Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-11-19
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Google Workspace features and specs

  • Integrations
    Google Workspace integrates seamlessly with other Google services like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Meet, providing a unified experience.
  • Collaboration
    Real-time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations increases productivity and promotes efficient teamwork.
  • Cloud Storage
    Offers generous cloud storage options, allowing users to store and access files from anywhere with an internet connection.
  • Security
    Advanced security features, including data encryption and two-factor authentication, ensure that sensitive information is protected.
  • Scalability
    Easy to scale according to the size and needs of an organization, from small businesses to large enterprises.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Accessible from various devices including PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets, offering flexibility and convenience.
  • Integration with Third-Party Apps
    Supports integration with a wide range of third-party applications via the Google Workspace Marketplace, enhancing its functionality.
  • Frequent Updates
    Regular updates and new features are rolled out, ensuring that users have access to the latest tools and functionalities.

Possible disadvantages of Google Workspace

  • Cost
    Subscription fees can add up, especially for larger organizations, making it a significant ongoing expense.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might face a learning curve, particularly if they are unfamiliar with Google's suite of tools.
  • Internet Dependence
    Reliance on a stable internet connection can be a drawback in areas with poor connectivity or during internet outages.
  • Limited Customization
    Customization options are somewhat limited compared to other enterprise solutions, which may not meet the needs of all organizations.
  • Data Privacy Concerns
    Some users may have concerns about data privacy and Google's data handling policies, especially given its advertising business.
  • Complex Administration
    Managing and configuring all the settings in Google Workspace can be complex and time-consuming for administrators.
  • Feature Overlap
    There's a potential for feature overlap with other existing tools in an organization, which might lead to redundant functionalities.
  • Offline Limitations
    While offline capabilities exist, they are limited, and many features require an active internet connection to function optimally.

Notion features and specs

  • All-in-One Workspace
    Notion combines note-taking, task management, databases, calendars, and collaboration features in a single platform, reducing the need for multiple tools.
  • Highly Customizable
    Users can tailor Notion to fit their specific workflow with customizable templates, pages, and databases, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Collaboration Features
    Notion offers seamless collaboration with real-time editing, comments, mentions, and shared workspaces, enhancing teamwork and productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Notion is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, providing flexibility and accessibility from anywhere.
  • Integration Capability
    Notion supports integrations with various third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Trello, allowing for a more interconnected workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Notion

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and customization options, new users might find Notion challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that Notion can become slow or experience lag, especially with large databases and complex pages.
  • Offline Limitations
    While Notion offers some offline capabilities, its functionality is significantly reduced without an internet connection, which can be inconvenient for some users.
  • Pricing for Teams
    Though Notion offers a free version, its premium plans can be expensive for larger teams, which may be a constraint for startups or small businesses.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there are potential privacy and data security concerns, especially for users handling sensitive information.

Google Workspace videos

G Suite Business Review – Top 5 Reasons To Use Google Apps For Business (Digital Agencies)

More videos:

  • Review - G Suite vs. Free Google Apps | What is the difference?
  • Review - How We're Using G Suite as a Business? (G Suite Business Solutions Review)

Notion videos

The Most Powerful Productivity App I Use - Notion

More videos:

  • Review - I switched to Notion for a week... Here's what happened!
  • Review - Notion is Truly an All-in-One Productivity Tool (App Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Google Workspace and Notion)
Productivity
20 20%
80% 80
Project Management
14 14%
86% 86
Office Suites
100 100%
0% 0
Task Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Google Workspace and Notion

Google Workspace Reviews

Top Alternatives to Microsoft Office Suite
Google Workspace offers a suite of cloud-based tools including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Its real-time collaboration features empower teams to work together seamlessly on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. With the ability to access files from any device and share them with colleagues, Google Workspace is an ideal choice for businesses seeking...
Source: saaszeal.com
10 Best Alternatives to Microsoft Outlook to Try in 2023
Any worthwhile list covering Outlook alternatives needs to begin with Gmail, or its paid version, Google Workspace. The abundance of Google services that seamlessly integrate into email, excellent accessibility, and an intuitive email search feature make it a good option for most personal and business users.
Source: mysignature.io
11 Top Outlook Alternatives to Try
Gmail is a free email service from Google that consistently ranks highly among free email clients. Google Workspace is the G Suite business version. With Google Workspace, an administrator can create, edit, and delete accounts within their organization.
Source: kinsta.com
The BEST Email Hosting Providers for Small Business in 2021
G Suite is Google’s hosted email service that provides smart cloud search functionalities, top-of-the-line security layers, and administrative control. Getting started with Google email hosting is easy. All you need to do is input some information, such as administrator contact and size of the company, after which you will need to associate a domain to your account. When you...
6 Contenders for Best Microsoft Exchange Alternative
Any list of Exchange alternatives would be incomplete without G Suite, Google’s collaboration and productivity software suite. Although its vast array of applications makes it a more fitting analogue for Office 365 than Exchange alone, Gmail — a cloud-based email server included in G Suite — is a leading competitor for both Exchange Server and Exchange Online. For the...

Notion Reviews

  1. jk22
    · consultant at GFI ·
    Notion has helped in documenting our business

    It's been very very helpful to streamline different people on our team, especially remote workers to help them understand what's going on in our business without 100s of meetings.

    👍 Pros:    Ui is very attractive|Easy to use|Great for collaboration|Good customer service|Free to use
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve
  2. Ramesh Kumar
    · Product Manager at Aerial ·
    Extremely helpful- made life easier

    My remote-first start-up has eliminated more than 200+ hours of meetings and 1000s of mismanaged documents because our entire communication happens through Notion.

    👍 Pros:    Clean ui|File sharing|Modular
    👎 Cons:    Learning curve
  3. Boyd Richardson
    · Writer at SE ·

    As someone who's always on the lookout for the perfect productivity app, I was excited to try out Notion. It promises to be an all-in-one tool for everything from note-taking to project management to personal wikis.

    From the moment you open Notion, you can tell that it's different from other productivity apps. The interface is sleek and modern, and it's easy to navigate. The app is divided into pages, which can be customized with different templates to fit your needs. You can create to-do lists, databases, wikis, calendars, and more.

    One of the things I love about Notion is the ability to create relationships between pages. For example, you can create a database of your favorite books and then link to a page with your book reviews. Or you can create a to-do list and link to a page with notes about the task. This feature makes it easy to keep all of your information in one place and to connect related items.

    🏁 Competitors: Microsoft Loop
    👍 Pros:    Highly customizable|All in one|Collaboration|Cross platform
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve

Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
If you're looking for a Notion alternative that supports real, scalable teamwork, you're not alone. Whether you’ve outgrown Notion or are just exploring more robust, team-friendly platforms, here’s a breakdown of the top 10 alternatives in 2025—and why Ledger is becoming the go-to choice for modern teams.
How Tight-Knit Teams Get More Done with Innovative Project Management Tools
Notion: More than a task manager, it acts as a knowledge base. You can store guidelines, references, wikis, and to-do lists all under one roof.
Source: medium.com
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025 
Notion AI (Optional Add-on) – $8 per user/month (billed annually). Available for all plans (including the free plan)
Source: knowmax.ai
11 Best Google Keeps Alternatives for 2024
Unlike other note-taking apps, Notion stands out for its endless customization. It’s like an all-in-one workspace structured by pages and blocks.
Source: upbase.io
20 Obsidian Alternatives: Top Note-Taking Tools to Consider
Notion is a popular alternative to Obsidian for its simplicity, minimalistic interface, and large community. On top of note-taking, you can use Notion as a task management tool to create simple to-dos or build a personal knowledge base. You can also embed links, images, videos, code snippets, etc. Notion also has bi-directional functionalities enabling you to interconnect...
Source: clickup.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion should be more popular than Google Workspace. It has been mentiond 441 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Google Workspace mentions (54)

  • Creating unlimited free domain emails
    To create custom domain emails, one of the easiest options is to use a paid service like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. However, these services can be expensive, especially if you have created many apps and are yet to find paying users. For such use cases, the Cloudflare + Gmail combination works perfectly without any cost involved. In this blog, we will discuss how to create domain emails. In this blog, let... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Maximizing ROI: Content Operations and Headless CMS - hack you can't miss
    Google Workspace, is a cloud-based productivity suite developed by Google. It includes various collaborative tools such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Meet, and Google Calendar, among others. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: How do you manage your “family data warehouse”?
    My approach is to look at contents as data-first with tools on the top. A few simple patterns of file systems manage this. Right now, I use Dropbox[1] as a primary container, with a family’s Google Workspace[2] account to augment when it needs spreadsheets, documents, forms, etc. I use Insync[3] to convert and back up a copy in open formats for all documents from Google Workspace. I have been doing this for quite... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Unveiling the Mystery: Why Your Google Workspace Account Got Suspended
    Let’s explore the common reasons behind Google Workspace account suspensions in more detail. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Precaution to Take While Deleting Google Workspace Account
    Deleting your Google Workspace account doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Notion mentions (441)

  • Cool SHIT you can do with docker
    Two of the most popular open source note taking app are affine (basically notion but open source) and obsidian (which stores notes in markdown). - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2024)
    Notion | https://notion.so | Android Engineer | SF | hybrid (in office 2x a week) | Full time
      Level: Mid/Mid+ (4-6yrs experience).
    - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Karyam: Simples everyday writing app
    Advanced Notion and Google Doc writing editor. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • My blog post workflow
    I manage my non-work and work-adjacent tasks in Notion. Whenever I have an idea, regardless of how big or small or silly or achievable it is, I'll add it to Notion, and use labels to categorise it by type of output (e.g. blog, silly project, website update). Today I wanted to write a short post for my site. I clicked on the filtered blog post view, and selected this one (because I hoped it would be a quick one!). - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • 6 AI tools that feels illegal to know🤖
    Notion.so redefines workspaces. With its intelligent organization and collaboration features, it's more than a productivity tool—it's a digital haven. Discover the art of streamlined and efficient teamwork. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Google Workspace and Notion, you can also consider the following products

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

Microsoft 365 - Boost your productivity with reliable access anywhere with services like email, calendar, file sharing, meetings, instant messaging, and Office Online

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.

Zimbra - Zimbra is trusted by over 500 million users to increase productivity with a complete set of collaboration tools while maintaining total control over security and privacy.