Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

Microsoft and Zimbra are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Zimbra is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 11.4% mindshare in EA, compared to Zimbra’s 9.1% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Zimbra users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Exchange

Read 91 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,559 Views
3,065 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Zimbra Collaboration

Read 29 Zimbra Collaboration reviews

3,307 Views
2,535 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Zimbra Collaboration

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Zimbra Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange are competing products in the enterprise email and collaboration market. Microsoft Exchange appears to have an edge due to its robust features, while Zimbra Collaboration offers competitive pricing and advantages in support.

Features: Zimbra Collaboration is recognized for its open-source flexibility, which allows extensive customization. It integrates communication tools like email, chat, video, and voice calls, enhancing team collaboration. Additionally, Zimbra is highly compatible with third-party applications, making it versatile for diverse environments. Microsoft Exchange offers a comprehensive suite of productivity features, ensuring excellent email management and scheduling. Advanced security protocols protect user data, and its seamless integration with other Microsoft services enhances productivity with tools like SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.

Room for Improvement: Zimbra Collaboration could improve its built-in security modules, which are less powerful compared to dedicated solutions. Its two-factor authentication features could be refined for enhanced security. Additionally, Zimbra can work on increasing awareness among potential enterprise customers. Microsoft Exchange has a complex licensing model that might be streamlined. It also has a steeper learning curve for new users. Enhanced customization options for unique business processes could further improve Exchange.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zimbra Collaboration provides a straightforward deployment process with support options emphasizing quick response times, beneficial for small to mid-sized businesses. Microsoft Exchange offers a more complex deployment process but provides extensive documentation and premium support services, which can be particularly advantageous for large enterprises needing robust support systems.

Pricing and ROI: Zimbra Collaboration offers a lower setup cost, making it attractive to organizations with limited budgets while providing reliable email and collaboration tools. Its cost-effectiveness suits small to medium businesses seeking essential functionalities. Microsoft Exchange, with its higher initial costs, justifies its pricing with a strong ROI from advanced functionalities and a comprehensive feature set that appeals to businesses focusing on long-term value and extensive integrations.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration

January 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 838,713 peers since 2012

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

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)

Zimbra Collaboration

Ranking in Email Applications

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.4%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 9.1%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Hesham Hussain

Head Of Infrastructure at ValU

A good solution for large enterprises, but is expensive when compared to other solutions

Regarding the decision of increasing the number of users, it depends on the organization's choice, whether to opt for CapEx or OpEx. Both options involve expenses over the years. Building an in-house Exchange solution requires investing in hardware, storage, connectivity, and administrative resources. Office 365 shifts the budget solely to OpEx as a subscription service. Scalability is another factor. Starting a new company favors Office 365 due to cost efficiency. As the organization grows, the choice depends on available resources and technical expertise. An internal Exchange setup is feasible with skilled engineers, while Office 365 suits those lacking in-house resources.

Read full review

Muhammad Talha Baig

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Microsoft Exchange is comparable to the Outlook client. Both are Microsoft products, and most people are familiar with Outlook. This is why the best feature of Microsoft Exchange is the ease of use. It is more compatible with the client software, especially for Microsoft Outlook. There are a lot of features available that are required for businesses users."

"Exchange's best feature is single sign-on access using the Microsoft Identity framework."

"Exchange is easy to use. It also has a built-in calendar for all the stuff I'm supposed to be looking at and doing. Exchange tells you if you have a doctor's appointment or a scheduled call. It also has a place to store and manage your contacts. If I want to add a new contact, it will put in information about that contact stored anywhere within the Microsoft Suite."

"It's a very user-friendly application. The mail server is also valuable when compared to other services like SquirrelMail."

"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange is its security."

"It is stable."

"The initial setup is easy."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."

"The stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update."

"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."

"Good email solution and it's open-source."

"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."

"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is the cost."

"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."

"The product is easy to set up."

More Zimbra Collaboration pros

Cons

"If it was the same product, and slightly cheaper, that would be amazing."

"Microsoft needs to make some modifications to meet the current needs of the environment. For example, they need to add more cell service features because people work from home during the pandemic, and certain elements should be available as a mobile service."

"We would prefer to be able to manage the solution on the cloud."

"The solution is stable, but it could improve. It's crashing if there is a big mail database. The Zimbra solution is better in this area."

"It is important to have the updated version for scalability."

"In our current situation, the disappearance of sanctions would be a tangible improvement. We are basically cut off from technical support and it's very difficult to obtain any updates."

"The cost could be cheaper."

"Some users encounter stability issues. I connect with the support team through my local partner, which takes time."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

"The solution could use more integration with third-party tools."

"The product must be more customizable."

"Zimbra should provide a desktop client. Right now, we are using a web browser for accessing our emails. There should also be a desktop client."

"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."

"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."

"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."

"The solution could improve by making it easier to use."

"The solution’s forums don't have much information or documentation on administration tasks."

More Zimbra Collaboration cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft's licensing structure is too complex, but its prices are affordable, though not cheap."

"It would be nice if it used less resources to run on-premise."

"I rate Microsoft Exchange a four out of ten for pricing because it is quite cheap, and many companies use the solution."

"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."

"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."

"Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable."

"The price of Microsoft Exchange could improve. In Egypt, the price keeps increasing."

"It is not expensive."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."

"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."

"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."

"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."

"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."

"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."

"The solution is competitively priced."

"The price of the solution is low."

More Zimbra Collaboration pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Applications solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?

The initial setup was straightforward and fast.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?

The licensing and pricing are quite costly, which can demotivate customers from opting for features and upgrades. However, the solution provides value for money if one is well-acquainted with Excha...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zimbra Collaboration?

The solution is competitively priced.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 18% of the time

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 8% of the time

IceWarp vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 7% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Competitors

Open-Xchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 21% of the time

KerioConnect vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 15% of the time

IceWarp vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 9% of the time

Google Workspace vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 6% of the time

More Zimbra Collaboration Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

February 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Buyer's Guide

Zimbra Collaboration

February 2025

Download Zimbra Collaboration product report

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange

No data available

Overview

Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.

Microsoft

Zimbra Collaboration provides administrators and their end users innovative features that solve the challenges faced by organizations using today's legacy communications infrastructure.

Zimbra

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

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration

January 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration report.

See our list of best Email Applications vendors.

We monitor all Email Applications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.