Teams look past Google Workspace when the per-user bill grows with headcount, when files must stay on their own servers, or when staff need the Microsoft desktop apps. Most go to Microsoft 365 or Zoho Workplace for a full workspace, to ONLYOFFICE or Nextcloud for editors they control, and to LibreOffice for a suite with no subscription.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Microsoft 365
The reference Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps · United States
Offers the desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps as well as browser versions, so staff keep the file format their clients send. Like Google it is a per-user subscription from a US vendor. Its business pricing page blocked our fetch, so we cannot say how its tiers compare.
Switch from Google Workspace if your clients exchange complicated Excel or PowerPoint files and fidelity matters more than live co-editing.
Pricing: Consumer plans are $9.99 to $19.99 per month on the page we fetched; business and enterprise plans are per user per month and their pricing page blocked our fetch. (free trial)
Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Microsoft 365 →
2. Zoho Workplace
Mail, files and editors under one Zoho login · India
The closest bundle to Google's: mail on your own domain, Writer, Sheet and Show, WorkDrive storage, chat and meetings under one login. Zoho states that it has a built-in migration tool for mail, contacts and calendars from Google Workspace. It also has a free Mail plan for up to five users.
Switch from Google Workspace if you want mail, files and editors in one bundle and an Indian vendor instead of a US one.
Pricing: Per user per month, billed annually on Standard and Professional; Enterprise is quoted; a free Mail plan covers up to 5 users; the page we fetched rendered the figures client-side. (free trial)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Zoho Workplace →
3. ONLYOFFICE
Open-source editors with a per-admin cloud plan · Latvia
Editors only, with no mail or calendar. The hosted Business plan charges administrators, not editors, so a company with many occasional collaborators pays for few seats. The same editors run on your own server. You must keep Gmail or another mailbox elsewhere if you leave Google.
Switch from Google Workspace if few people manage documents and many only edit, and mail can stay where it is.
Pricing: Free Startup plan with up to 3 admins and 2 GB; Business is $20 per admin per month with unlimited users and guests; self-hosted pricing is a separate tab. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit ONLYOFFICE →
4. Nextcloud Office
Editors inside a self-hosted file platform · Germany
A self-hosted file platform with Write, Spreadsheet and Present built in, and a choice between Euro-Office and Collabora Online as the editing engine. Your IT team runs the server and updates, in return for control of where every file sits. Hosting providers sell ready accounts to firms without staff.
Switch from Google Workspace if files must sit on your own servers or with a hosting partner you choose.
Pricing: Server software is downloadable for self-hosting and hosting providers sell accounts; Nextcloud Enterprise support is quoted and its pricing page was not fetched. (open source)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Nextcloud Office →
5. Proton Docs
Encrypted documents inside Proton Drive · Switzerland
Documents and spreadsheets encrypted end to end, which Proton says it cannot read, and a free account with 5 GB. Docs and Sheets are the editors we found on the pages we read. Mail, Calendar and Meet exist in the same suite, but no slide editor was shown.
Switch from Google Workspace if privacy of the content matters more than a full presentation tool.
Pricing: Free account with 5 GB and the online editors; Drive Plus lists at $4.99 a month for 200 GB; business plans are on a separate page we did not read. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Proton Docs →
6. LibreOffice
Free desktop suite from a Berlin foundation · Germany
A desktop suite installed on each machine, with no accounts, tenants or admin console. Files stay on the device or wherever you save them. It has no live co-editing or hosted mail of its own, so a team that works on one file together has to add a collaboration layer.
Switch from Google Workspace if staff mostly write and calculate alone and you want no vendor account at all.
Pricing: No licence fee; the project asks for voluntary donations and sells nothing per seat. (open source)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit LibreOffice →
7. SoftMaker Office
German desktop suite with native Microsoft formats · Germany
Local software from a German publisher, billed per computer rather than per person, with TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations. Volume bands are published up to 100 machines. There is no hosted co-editing, so shared documents move as files or through a folder service you already own.
Switch from Google Workspace if you prefer software installed on company computers and a yearly per-machine fee.
Pricing: NX Universal is €49.90 a year (€39.90 the first year) or €4.99 a month, VAT included, for 5 home computers or 1 company computer; volume licences start at 5 computers for €199. (free trial)
Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SoftMaker Office →
8. Collabora Online
LibreOffice-based online editor for integrators · United Kingdom
A browser editor based on LibreOffice that integrators place inside a file platform. You do not buy it as a workspace: there is no mail, no accounts and no storage. A free development edition exists for tests, and the supported edition is quoted. Suits firms with a Nextcloud or similar server.
Switch from Google Workspace if an IT partner will run the editor against your existing file platform.
Pricing: The supported edition is quoted through a contact form; the CODE development edition is free for testing, home use or small teams but not for production. (open source)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Collabora Online →
9. WPS Office
Kingsoft's Office-style suite with a free tier · Singapore
A free-to-start suite that imitates the look of Microsoft Office on Windows, Mac, Linux and phones, with PDF tools and cloud documents. Its privacy policy names a Singapore company as controller. It lacks Google's pooled storage and mail, and we found little on central admin controls.
Switch from Google Workspace if staff only need familiar-looking editors and your procurement rules accept the vendor.
Pricing: A free tier exists with 1 GB of cloud storage and limited AI; paid plans add storage and AI, but the pricing page showed no figures in the HTML we fetched. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit WPS Office →
10. Polaris Office
Korean multi-device suite with NOVA AI · South Korea
A Korean suite sold in subscription, perpetual and business forms, with a free web office and a tool for Korean HWP files. It bundles an AI chat assistant with several models. Prices did not appear on the page we fetched. Documentation of shared drives and admin controls is thin in English.
Switch from Google Workspace if your documents include Korean HWP files or you want a perpetual licence.
Pricing: Subscription, perpetual licence and business subscription plans are listed, with a free web office; no price figures appeared in the page we fetched. (free plan)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Polaris Office →
11. Apache OpenOffice
Free desktop suite from the Apache foundation · United States
The older free desktop suite, kept by the Apache Software Foundation. It has no cloud, no co-editing and no support contract, and its releases come about once a year. It remains usable for plain letters and spreadsheets on old machines, where LibreOffice is the better maintained free pick.
Switch from Google Workspace if you need a basic free word processor for an old computer and expect nothing shared.
Pricing: Free to download; the project is an Apache Software Foundation project and sells nothing. (open source)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Apache OpenOffice →
Questions and answers
Can I export everything from Google Workspace before I leave?
Yes, while the subscription is active. Administrators can use the Data Export tool, which exports the same data Google Takeout offers users plus some admin-only data, and users can run Takeout themselves if allowed. Google states that core service data is excluded once a subscription is cancelled or suspended, so start the export first.
Which file formats come out of Docs, Sheets and Slides?
Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats, among others. Google's Drive help says that when you download a file you can choose formats such as PDF, Microsoft Word (.docx) and PowerPoint (.pptx). Native Google files are converted when you download them, so check the result in the target suite.
How much notice do I give to cancel Google Workspace?
At least 15 days before the end of the current term for a fixed-term plan, according to the Google Workspace terms. Flexible plans renew monthly and are canceled in the Admin console. Fees owed at termination become due, and the terms state that termination or non-renewal brings no refund unless the agreement or law says otherwise.
Can Google raise the price at renewal?
Yes. The terms say Google may change fees and, for Workspace, must notify the customer at least 30 days in advance, with the new pricing applying when the order term renews. A customer who objects may terminate for convenience under the terms. Check the order form for any price commitment you agreed.
Will Excel macros and linked sheets survive a move to Google, or away from it?
Not reliably in either direction. Google's help says macros are not supported when editing Office files and should be rewritten in Apps Script, and linked Excel spreadsheets are not supported. A destination suite built on Microsoft formats keeps more, but test your own files.
Does leaving Google Workspace cost less?
It depends on who edits and where mail goes. ONLYOFFICE bills only administrators on its hosted plan, LibreOffice has no licence fee, and Zoho Workplace is a per-user bundle. Add the cost of the mail, storage and migration work you replace, because an editor alone does not substitute for Gmail and Drive.
