Google Workspace Alternatives (2026): 8 Suites and Swaps

Google Workspace bundles a lot under one login: custom business email, cloud storage, video meetings, and its own apps for writing, number-crunching and slide decks. So if you're a small business owner or the person who looks after IT, you're not really replacing one product. You're replacing five or six, all at once, with your whole team watching.

That's why this page groups the options by how much of the bundle they cover. Some replace the lot, some put the code in your hands, and some only do one job well.

Most alternatives cover one slice, not the whole bundle

This is where moves go wrong. Several names on this list aren't full suites at all. Fastmail describes its product as email hosting with calendar and contacts. Collabora Online describes itself as an online document editing suite built on LibreOffice, so it handles your files but not your inbox.

In practice, leaving often means combining pieces: one service for email, another for files and documents, and maybe a third for video calls. That can work well, and it can be exactly what you want if you're after a particular privacy stance for your email. But it means more logins, more admin and more places for things to go missing, so go in with your eyes open.

Before you look at any product, list what your team uses today. Not what's included, what's used. You may find you never touch half of the bundle, and that short list tells you whether you need a full suite or a couple of pieces. Ask two or three colleagues to check it, because the person in charge of IT rarely knows every shortcut the rest of the team relies on.

The eight at a glance

Option	Group	Kind
Collabora Online	Single piece	Open source
Fastmail	Single piece	Commercial
Infomaniak kSuite	Sovereignty-first	Commercial
Microsoft 365	Full suite	Commercial
Nextcloud Hub	Open source platform	Open source
ONLYOFFICE	Open source platform	Open source
Proton Workspace	Full suite	Commercial
Zimbra	Sovereignty-first	Open source

Complete suites from another maker

If you want one supplier for everything, check that each of these covers mail, files and meetings for your team. They're the closest to a like-for-like swap. Our Workspace and Microsoft 365 comparison goes into that pairing in more depth.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft's documentation lists services such as Teams and SharePoint, plus apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If your team already swaps Word and Excel files with clients every day, that familiarity counts in its favour.

Proton Workspace

Proton describes it as your whole team in one encrypted workspace. Its site also lists Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace under a 'Switch from' menu, a sign it's expecting people in your position.

Sovereignty-first options

If your reason for leaving is about where your data lives and who controls it, these two lead with that message. Read their terms carefully, because 'sovereign' can mean different things to different suppliers. Ask exactly which country your data sits in, who can be compelled to hand it over, and whether that holds for backups as well as the live copy.

Infomaniak kSuite

Infomaniak sells kSuite PRO for organisations that want to collaborate in what it calls a '100% sovereign ecosystem'. Ask what that covers in practice, for mail and files alike, before you sign.

Zimbra

Zimbra's own page says it delivers complete data sovereignty. Ask which countries that covers for your account and for its backups.

Open source platforms

Open source platforms put more of the setup in your hands. If you run one yourself, you take on the chores too: patching, backing up and watching for intruders. If nobody on your team wants that job, line up outside help or pick a hosted route.

Nextcloud Hub

Nextcloud bundles its key products, Files and Talk among them, into one platform called Hub. Check which parts your team would use before you plan around the lot.

ONLYOFFICE

Running it on your own server is one of the two routes it offers. Take that route only if someone on your team will own the updates and backups.

Single pieces you can combine

If you only want to move one part, such as your email, these can sit alongside whatever else you use.

Collabora Online

A browser-based document editor rather than a mail service. It covers the documents side of the bundle and leaves the inbox to something else.

Fastmail

Email hosting with contacts and calendar, rather than a full office suite. Pair it with a document editor if your team writes and edits files together.

Questions to put to any supplier

Whatever lands on your shortlist, ask the same handful of questions and write the answers down. Where will our data be stored, and can we choose? How do we get everything out again if we leave? Who do we call when mail stops arriving, and how fast do they answer? Which apps will each person need on their phone and laptop? And what happens to shared folders and calendars during the move?

The answers tell you more than any feature list. A supplier that can't explain how you'd leave is one to be careful of, because one day you might want to.

Training is half the move

Colleagues will hunt for the share button where it used to sit, save documents in odd places and overlook meeting invites during the first fortnight. Run a short walkthrough before switching day, record it for absentees, and name one person as the go-to for questions. A cheat sheet showing where everyday things now live saves more time than anything in the comparison grid above, and it makes the change feel planned rather than imposed.

Who should stay put

If your team is happy, nobody's asking for change and your reason to move is a vague sense that you ought to, stay. A switch takes time, training and patience, and the disruption lands on the busiest people first. Move when there's a clear gain: a privacy requirement, a client who insists on another platform, or a team that already lives in another suite's apps all day.

Moving a small team without losing a single email

The move itself is where small businesses lose a day of work, or worse, a client's message. Plan it in this order and give each step room to breathe.

1. List every tool your team uses today, and who uses it.
2. Choose a replacement for each piece, even if that's the same new supplier for all of them.
3. Set up one test mailbox and live with it for a week.
4. Move shared files before email, so nobody's hunting for documents mid-switch.
5. Change your email routing last, outside working hours, with the old accounts still open.
6. Keep the old accounts readable for a while so nothing important vanishes.
7. Give the team a one-page guide: where mail, files and calendars live now.

Before you cancel anything, check whether there's a lighter way to stay. Our guide on whether there's a free way to use it is worth a read first.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Zimbra open source?

Yes, it's listed as an open source project, and it frames its sovereignty promise around open standards. Check its export tools yourself if an easy exit matters to you.

Can I choose where Fastmail stores my email?

Yes. Fastmail lets you pick the EU or the USA as your primary data residency, which helps if a client contract names a region.

Can I keep Gmail and replace only Docs?

You can mix pieces. An editor such as Collabora Online handles documents, and your mail can stay where it is while you test.

Can I try ONLYOFFICE without installing anything?

Yes. Its homepage offers a cloud option next to the run-it-yourself route, which is a low-effort way to see the editor before you commit to hosting it.

Does Nextcloud Hub include an office suite?

Yes. Office is one of the six products it combines, next to Files, Talk, Groupware, Assistant and Flow.

What does Proton's encryption cover?

Check exactly what's encrypted, and where, before you decide, and ask whether that covers shared files and calendars as well as mail.