Ideagen Huddle vs Google Workspace: Which is best for remote and hybrid collaboration?

Back before the Internet (if you were around to remember those days) when we all worked in pre-cloud physical offices, paper documents were our bread and butter. But with time, filing cabinets turned into cloud storage, faxes became emails, and conference rooms transformed into virtual meeting rooms. 

Now things are faster, more efficient, and more secure: You can search thousands of files in seconds to find what you’re looking for. You can also meet with coworkers six time zones apart from you, and store enough documents online to fill an entire office. 

To do all this, you need the right tool. Both Google Workspace and Ideagen Huddle safely store your files, help you work together with team members, and serve as your digital office. However, they fall short when it comes to enabling true collaboration. 

This article breaks down the differences between Google Workspace and Huddle so you can make an educated decision on which is right for your organization. It also shows you how Switchboard serves as an interactive hub that lets you and your team get more done together in real time or async. 

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Switchboard’s collaborative digital workspace lets you and your teams work side by side like you’re in the same room.  
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Google Workspace vs. Ideagen Huddle: overview

Get a quick look at how Google Workspace and Huddle stack up against each other.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) is a well-known name in the world of online collaboration software. It includes all Google’s remote collaboration features, including Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, and Drive. Google Workspace lets you schedule and run virtual meetings, collaborate in documents and spreadsheets, and store files.

Key features

What sets Google Workspace apart is its wide variety of features, from email to spreadsheets: 

• Gmail for email
• Google Meet for video conferencing
• Google Calendar that syncs with virtual meeting tool
• Google Drive for document storage
• Jamboard, Google’s visual collaboration tool for whiteboard-style collaboration
• Docs, Sheets, and Slides that can be easily shared across your organization
• Additional features like Keep (for note taking), Sites (for website building), and Forms (for surveys)

Pricing

Google Workspace offers four pricing options, all of which require a one-year commitment: 

• Business Starter: $6/month per user. Includes meeting capacity of 100 participants and 30 GB of storage per user. 
• Business Standard:$12/month per user. Includes meeting capacity of 150 participants, meeting recordings, and 2 TB of storage per user. 
• Business Plus:$18/month per user. Meeting capacity of 500 participants, meeting recordings and attendance tracking, enhanced security and management controls, and 5 TB of storage per user. 
• Enterprise: Custom priced. All the features and capacity of Business Plus, as well as noise cancellation, in-domain live streaming for meetings, as much storage as you need, advanced security capabilities, and enhanced support. 

Why it stands out 

What makes Google Workspace unique is its complete ecosystem that gives you numerous tools in a single platform. Think of it as your filing cabinet, fax machine, and boardroom all under one roof. 

Additionally, its features integrate seamlessly: For example, you can schedule a Google Meet call on your calendar and automatically send out a meeting invite via email, or run a meeting directly in a Google Doc by launching Meet from inside the document. 

Everyone on your team can collaborate on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Drive provides robust storage for all your documents and files. Google Workspace’s tools also work well with many other apps and systems, both on your desktop and your mobile device. 

That means you can set up automations using Zapier and your Google apps, such as connecting Google Sheets to Mailchimp to transfer new newsletter subscribers to a spreadsheet. Or you can use a collaboration platform like Switchboard to work directly in Slides and Docs, allowing your team to brainstorm together while preparing a client presentation.  

Best for: teams that need a lot of features

If you need a solution that includes email, calendar, video conferencing, document storage, and asynchronous collaboration, Google Workspace is a good choice. It brings your team’s essential tools together in one user-friendly platform. 

Just note that if you’re looking for a truly collaborative environment where team members can jump into spontaneous brainstorming sessions and work side by side, you may need to pair Google Workspace with another solution. Google Meet's only collaborative function is screen sharing, so you're limited to watching someone present rather than being able to actively participate during calls. 

By contrast, a multiplayer collaboration platform like Switchboard lets all attendees open and interact with multiple browser-based documents, apps, and files. This means you can use all your favorite Google tools but enjoy much more collaborative working by opening them in Switchboard so people can get things done as if they were sitting next to each other.  

Ideagen Huddle 

Ideagen Huddle (not to be confused with Slack huddles) is an integrated workspace that lets internal team members, external collaborators, and clients work together on documents and share information. The tool emphasizes its government-grade security and file storage, making it a safe hub for public sector organizations and businesses in high-security industries to archive and work on documents—and provide a real upgrade from locks on physical filing cabinets.

Key features

Huddle’s features center on secure document creation, collaboration, and storage: 

• File sharing (for sizes of up to 20GB per file)
• Secure workspaces for teams, clients, and external contributors
• Real-time document collaboration with comment streams
• Task management with progress tracking and updates
• Custom branding options like a personalized client portal
• Integration with Microsoft Office, plus custom integrations 
• Highly secure platform that meets certifications like ISO27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, FedRAMP, and HIPAA

Pricing

Huddle only offers custom plans to fit the needs of each user, so you have to reach out to an advisor for a price quote. You can also try Huddle for free for 30 days. 

Why it stands out 

While Google Workspace does have some built-in security features, Huddle is built to keep your files and information incredibly safe. Huddle highlights its government-grade security and bank-level encryption, so you can be certain that your documents are secure. 

Additionally, the tool integrates with Microsoft Office, making it an easy transition if your organization already uses Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

Huddle also lets you create a branded client portal, so you can collaborate with your customers while maintaining control over document versions. The tool gives you a central point to manage your projects and engage with your clients and keep them in the know.  

Best for: teams that need enhanced security

If you’re in the medical, defense, or financial services industries, or any sector that requires high document security, Huddle is a good solution. The solution is FedRAMP and ISO compliant, so you can be assured it will keep your client data safe, whether you’re concerned about US federal data protection regulations, GDPR, or just general data sharing safety concerns. 

But, like Google Workspace, Huddle falls short in helping team members and clients feel engaged and connected to one another. While you can track changes in documents, you can’t work together on them side by side. For example, Huddle doesn’t allow users to edit a document on a live call together, which is why you need another platform to help your team truly collaborate. 

Why Switchboard should be your collaboration home base

Whether you choose Google Workspace or Huddle as your document storage and virtual hub, neither will allow your team to work in a truly collaborative way as if they were in the same room. That’s where Switchboard can help—by allowing you to use either of these great tools inside a single collaborative digital workspace.

Switchboard lets you and your team work together inside a permanent virtual room—without having to share your screen. You can communicate in real time with video, audio, and chat but, unlike with Google Meet, you can also work side-by-side allowing everyone to scroll, type, and navigate within multiple browsers simultaneously. 

It’s designed to provide a multiplayer experience by enabling all meeting participants to share, access, and edit browser-based apps, files, and documents—with no need for any integrations. 

You can also move around the room and work in any file without getting in the way of others, so you can work together on a presentation or edit lines of code right within the room. This fosters team connection, collaboration, and productivity. 

You can also create persistent cloud-based virtual rooms for brainstorming, host spontaneous meetings with your team, and connect with clients in an interactive space. Pull up a Google Sheet or Huddle file right within a Switchboard meeting room–making it easy to find information fast, get team members’ input on your work, or even host interactive sales calls and client presentations. 

Best of all, Switchboard saves all your files after every meeting, so you never need to download anything or repopulate the room again.  Plus, it’s SOC 2 compliant, so it keeps your data safe. 

Ideagen Huddle vs Google Workspace: Have it all with Switchboard 

Gone are the days of sifting through filing cabinets for hours to discover an important document has disappeared. With Google Workspace and Ideagen Huddle, you can centralize your work and keep team members in the loop no matter where in the world they are. 

These tools give you an online hub for document creation and storage. But if you want to empower your team to get more done together–and alone– you need to take things a step further. 

Complement and maximize the benefit of these tools by using them inside a digital workspace like Switchboard. It lets you open and work on files inside both platforms, enabling full team collaboration, both async and in real time. That means everyone gets to participate, helping your team be more productive and feel more connected. 

Upgrade your online workspace with a multiplayer experience. 
Switchboard’s collaborative digital workspace lets you and your teams work side by side like you’re in the same room.
‍Sign up for free.