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Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Exchange
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (2nd)
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 10.2%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 6.9%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange10.2%
Zimbra Collaboration6.9%
Other82.9%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

SJ
Manager IT Support at Naubahar Bottling Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Gujranwala Pakistan
Efficient email management with seamless integration
We previously used Microsoft Exchange but have moved to an MDN email solution due to cost and user growth Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy solution, which is beneficial for handling emails even without professional support. It is effective in managing email integration…
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Exchange is very scalable, it's one of the most important things about this software."
"Microsoft Exchange has good performance and is user-friendly."
"Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy solution, which is beneficial for handling emails even without professional support."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"It integrates well with calendar, scheduling, etc. It's easy for employees to make meetings and plan their agendas."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the mailbox roles."
"Microsoft has a very good support team."
"I like the logistics and the Microsoft protocol of reaching Outlook anywhere."
"Good email solution and it's open-source."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."
 

Cons

"The default storage capacity is too small."
"If it was the same product, and slightly cheaper, that would be amazing."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
"There is a lot of spam email that comes in, so they should add functionality to help fix this problem."
"It is important to have the updated version for scalability."
"Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft solutions like Office 365 need to provide more detailed information for customers regarding the features and functionalities included in their plans, as some features are only available at an additional cost."
"In terms of configuring the product, that's definitely an area in which they can make some improvements on."
"There can be occasional challenges during the product's implementation phase, making it an area where improvements are needed."
"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
"Zimbra Collaboration could improve the migration from a basic solution to a more containerized solution. For example, the installation should be able to extend to the containers and manage them with some solution, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes."
"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."
"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
"Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"We have had an issue with security."
"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are currently using enterprise licenses for the solution. They are different pricing models available. There are individual, cloud-based, and enterprise licenses all with different pricing models. The larger the number of users, the lesser the price. For small to medium companies like us, we feel it is expensive."
"Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."
"Microsoft's licensing structure is too complex, but its prices are affordable, though not cheap."
"Microsoft Exchange itself does not require a license, but users who will have mailboxes will require a license. It depends on the number of users to choose which license. If you exceed 2,000 mailboxes, it's preferable to get the enterprise license."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange could improve. In Egypt, the price keeps increasing."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange's pricing a six out of ten."
"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."
"Since my company is on Microsoft Cloud, we pay for the licenses per user. Compared to volume licensing, I would say the present licensing cost is not expensive."
"The price of the solution is low."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?
I am aware of pricing aspects, and I would say it is affordable for what it is.
What do you like most about Zimbra Collaboration?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication.
What needs improvement with Zimbra Collaboration?
When it comes to administration tasks like configuring specific filters or group signatures, I have to dig into the configuration since there's nothing in the graphical or web interface. The soluti...
 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.