Comparison

Google Docs vs Mail

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Google Docs

Create, edit, and collaborate on documents online in real time. Work together seamlessly with your team, even offline, and access a variety of file types. AI-powered features can help draft and refine content.

Highlights
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Offline editing
  • Template library
  • Multiple file type support
  • AI-powered drafting
  • Commenting and action items
Read full description

Create, edit, and collaborate on online documents with the Google Docs app. Work together in real time • Share documents with your team • Edit, comment, and add action items in real time Create anywhere, anytime—even offline • Capture spontaneous ideas on the fly • Get things done, even on the go, with offline mode • Save time and add polish with easy-to-use templates Edit and share multiple file types • Open a variety of files, including Microsoft Word files, right in Google Docs • Frictionless collaboration, no matter which application your teammates use • Convert and export files seamlessly Google Docs is part of Google Workspace: where teams of any size can chat, create, and collaborate. Google Workspace paid subscribers have access to additional Google Docs features, including: Use Gemini in Docs to quickly draft and edit content • Draft outlines, blog posts, briefs, and more on the go • Improve your writing with AI-powered suggestions Learn more about Google Docs: https://workspace.google.com/products/docs/ Follow us for more: • X: https://x.com/googleworkspace • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/googleworkspace • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/googleworkspace

About

Mail

Consolidate all your email accounts into a single, organized inbox. Prioritize important messages, quickly respond with smart replies, and manage your inbox efficiently with features like scheduling and snoozing. Enjoy enhanced privacy with IP address hiding and read receipt prevention.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for multiple accounts
  • Automatic message categorization
  • Priority Messages and summarization
  • Schedule send, snooze, and unsend emails
  • Smart Reply for quick responses
  • Mail Privacy Protection
Features
Read full description

Access, view and manage messages from all your email accounts in one place. Categorize your messages into easy to browse categories. Catch up on email easily with Apple Intelligence powered Priority Messages and summarizations. Manage your inbox by scheduling emails to send later, snoozing emails you want to get back to later and unsend an email in one tap. Features • Access email from iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, and Outlook as well as many other email providers - all in one place. • View all of your accounts in a single inbox, choose a specific mailbox or filter to see just Unread or Flagged messages. • Automatically organize your messages in to Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions categories and focus on the messages that matter most. • Stay on top of emails with Priority Messages, a new section at the top of your inbox that shows urgent emails. • Use Smart Reply to quickly respond to messages with a few taps. • Catch up on email quickly with summarization of messages and threads. • Find messages by sender, recipient or subject. Top hits make it easy to find what you’re looking for. • Manage your inbox by blocking a sender or muting notifications from an overly active thread. • Flag important contacts as VIPs to receive notifications when their emails arrive. • Triage email messages using swipe gestures that help you quickly archive, delete, flag, or mark messages as read or unread. • Use Mail Drop to send large attachments from any account through iCloud. • Hide your IP address with Mail Privacy Protection so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your locations, and prevent senders from seeing if you’ve opened their email. • App Keywords (do not to exceed 70 characters): Mail, email, email app, productivity email, intelligent email

Screenshots

Google Docs4 screens
Mail3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Google Docs at 70% against Mail's 34%. Google Docs also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 11 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Mail's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (5 vs 2). On price, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Google Docs sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $199.99 per year. Mail asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Google Docs holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.3M and 4.4M respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Google Docs's written reviews are positive against 34% of Mail's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Google Docs ships an update weekly, Mail every 11 months. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Google Docs versus Mail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle DocsMail
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.3M ratings) — better4.6 (4.4M ratings)
Positive reviews69.9% of reviews — better33.9% of reviews
Number of ratings3.3M4.4M — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size361 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoogleApple Inc.

Customer experience

Google Docs

All ratings3,271,482 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews3,622 reviews
Positive69.9%
Neutral5.9%
Negative24.2%

Mail

All ratings4,444,576 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews8,550 reviews
Positive33.9%
Neutral8.0%
Negative58.1%

User reviews

Google Docs

From 3.3M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient and accessible
  • 👍 Seamless collaboration
  • 🔒 Automatic saving
  • 💡 Offline functionality
  • 👍 Versatile for various uses

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Laggy performance and input delays
  • 👎 Limited formatting and customization options
  • 🔍 Difficult to organize and navigate documents
  • 👎 Compatibility issues with other platforms

Mail

From 4.4M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient email management
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Useful categorization of emails

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent swipe gestures
  • 🐛 Unreliable search function
  • 🐛 Emails disappearing or not syncing properly
  • 🐛 Slow email download and loading times
  • 🐛 Buggy performance after updates

Bugs and requests

Google Docs

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unexpected crashes and document loss
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps
  • Issues with image insertion and manipulation

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved document organization with folders
  • Expanded font and formatting options
  • Better integration with Microsoft Office
  • Smoother scrolling and navigation

Mail

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Emails not downloading from server
  • Inconsistent behavior when deleting emails
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Drafts and sent emails disappearing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add snooze functionality
  • Improve email organization and filtering options
  • Provide more customization options
  • Integrate better with other Apple apps and services

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Google Docs

Subscriptions1
  • Google AI Pro (5 TB)$199.991 Year
None

Mail

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Google Docs free?
Google Docs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mail free?
Mail is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Google Docs or Mail?
Google Docs is rated higher. Google Docs averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.3M ratings, while Mail averages 4.6 from 4.4M ratings.
Do Google Docs or Mail have ads?
Neither Google Docs nor Mail shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Google Docs or Mail?
Google Docs ships an update weekly, and Mail every 11 months. Most recently, Google Docs was updated on October 14, 2026 and Mail on October 14, 2026.

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