Google Workspace to
Microsoft 365 Migration Cost

Part 1: Microsoft 365 licensing (ongoing)

This is the recurring subscription cost you'll pay regardless of who performs the migration. Pricing scales per user, per month:

This cost is identical whether you migrate yourself, use free Microsoft tools, or hire a migration partner — licensing goes directly to Microsoft either way.

Part 2: The migration itself (one-time)

This is the part that varies the most, and depends on how you approach it:

• DIY using Microsoft's built-in tools — no direct cash cost, but consumes significant internal IT time, and carries more risk of unnoticed errors (missing mail, broken permissions, incomplete calendar sync) since there's no dedicated validation step.
• Self-service migration software — usually priced per mailbox, a middle-ground option where you run the tool yourself but get more structure and error checking than a fully manual approach.
• Managed migration service — a specialist handles discovery, planning, batching, cutover, and validation for you. Priced either per mailbox or as a fixed project fee, scaling with organisation size and complexity.

The right choice depends on your internal IT capacity and risk tolerance, not just sticker price — the cheapest option on paper isn't cheapest if a botched cutover causes a day of company-wide email downtime.

What actually drives migration cost up or down

• Number of mailboxes — the most obvious factor, though per-mailbox cost often decreases at higher volumes due to batching efficiency.
• Data volume — mailboxes with years of accumulated email and large attachments take longer to migrate than lean, recently-created ones.
• Shared drives and permissions complexity — Google Shared Drives with deeply nested folder permissions take considerably more planning than a simple flat file structure.
• Third-party integrations — tools connected to Google Workspace (e-signature platforms, CRM email sync, scheduling apps) need to be reconnected to Microsoft 365 post-migration, and this is frequently underestimated.
• Compliance requirements — regulated industries (legal, healthcare, financial services) often need additional validation and documentation steps.

The overlap period: paying for both platforms

Almost every migration runs Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 in parallel for a short window — typically one to a few billing cycles — rather than cancelling the source platform the moment migration starts. This is a deliberate safety margin: it gives you a rollback path if something needs correcting after cutover, before the source data is gone for good. Budget for this overlap; treating it as an avoidable cost is how rollback options quietly disappear.

Hidden costs people forget to budget for

• Reconfiguring integrations — as above, this is the single most common oversight.
• User training — even a well-executed technical migration creates a learning curve if your team has never used Outlook, Teams, or SharePoint before.
• Temporary productivity dip — not a line-item cost, but a real one; teams take time to find their footing on a new platform.
• Post-migration support — the first few weeks after cutover typically generate more support questions than steady-state usage; factor in availability for this.

How to keep migration cost down without cutting corners

1. Clean up before you migrate — archiving or deleting stale accounts and old data before migration reduces the volume (and cost) of what actually needs to move.
2. Batch strategically — migrating in planned groups rather than one at a time reduces per-mailbox overhead.
3. Get a scoped quote, not a guess — cost estimates without a discovery phase are usually wrong in one direction or the other; a short discovery call gets you an accurate number instead of a rough one.

For a cost estimate specific to your environment, our Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration service starts with a free discovery consultation rather than a blind quote.