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Google Workspace vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 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

Google Workspace
Ranking in Email Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (1st), Cloud Storage (8th), Content Collaboration Platforms (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 January 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 16.0%, down from 23.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 7.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Google Workspace16.0%
Zimbra Collaboration7.1%
Other76.9%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Assosiate Professor at Palazzo del Mediterraneo
Collaborative work with students has improved but storage limitations and support issues remain
We have Google Workspace, and we use it primarily for Drive to collect items. We categorize folders with topics and material either for students or for research. We use Google Doc to share documents, especially when we assign homework to be corrected for peer correction or classroom correction. With Teams and Microsoft, we use it for collective calls and exam supervision because we use video surveillance through camera with Teams. We use Teams for meetings and to share material with students. The ability to share documents with students and assign them things and correct them in real time has been beneficial. You can verify what they write, and they can contribute and cooperate to create a collective document, which is something that our society nowadays requires. The ability to cooperate, especially those who work with languages and those who work with writing, need to learn how to cooperate. There is co-editing and co-writing, all these sorts of things. I love the fact that I can easily have access to folders that I can categorize and where I can upload research material and teaching material.
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

"The document sharing in which multiple people can work on the same document. To go along with that is the archiving of documents. If you mess up a document, it's easy to go get a previous version."
"Ability to co-edit and collaborate on content."
"Good performance, even on relatively slow connections; no local apps required."
"The initial setup of Google Workspace is straightforward."
"The user interface is fantastic. It's also available for the individual person, so that's also a great thing about it."
"The solution is stable."
"The email is excellent."
"The security and privacy policies of G Suite make it efficient, and the organizational data is secure."
"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."
"The logs, troubleshooting, and tracking we have found to be the most valuable features. We have any issues with lost messages the features are useful. It is very easy to track and log."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."
"Good email solution and it's open-source."
 

Cons

"I don't recommend Google Workspace to others. It's expensive. Also, Google doesn't have enough oversight on their partners, so you will face some difficulties dealing with them instead of directly with Google."
"Integration with Microsoft Outlook could be improved. The new integration was implemented last September, and we are facing some issues with OAuth 2.0 authentication."
"There could be more options in Google G Suite. They can include HD calling for Google Meet. The layout portion in the calendar for Google G Suite can be better designed. When we get into the calendar and start scheduling meetings, we do have few hiccups here and there. The layout can be a little easier. People from different backgrounds are finding it a little bit tough to understand. It should be more intuitive. At the moment, it has a completely white background. To do power saving, it would be good if they can release a darker background. There are a few issues with the formatting of Google Docs when they get converted to Microsoft docs. It would be amazing if they can resolve it in the next release."
"Expensive with a complicated licensing structure."
"The tool should improve its on-prem capabilities to include people who are working offline. The pricing is also a challenge for both the Indian and overseas markets. The tool has a cap of 300 licenses. The product's price has also increased by 10 percent. Businesses are struggling to justify the ROI. Users cannot block emails unless they have a strong firewall."
"We've had difficulty using PowerPoint files in G Suite. PowerPoint has some functions that are not available in G Suite, so when you convert from PPTX to the Slides format, they don't work."
"I am not a big fan of how Gmail organizes the mail. I find it complicated to see which mail from which users send at which date. Especially if there is a lot."
"The solution could improve by having more frequent updates."
"There are some security issues."
"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"We have had an issue with security."
"The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature."
"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."
"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay on yearly basis."
"The main challenge regarding startups with identity services is you could be on a platform that works well but the services are expensive. For example, Microsoft Azure costs approximately $30 per user which is expensive. You end up choosing a different platform, such as G Suite Enterprise because it is priced reasonably and is less expensive than other solutions."
"The price of the solution can vary."
"We receive value for the price that we pay."
"Pricing is something concerning. We find the solution very expensive."
"G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 offer products with similar functionality at several different price points. Zoho offer a more extensive range of products and attempts to provide all the applications required to run most small and medium-sized businesses."
"The price of Google Workspace is reasonable. I pay less than 100 a month."
"I rate Google Workspace's pricing five to six out of ten. We do not pay any extra costs."
"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 price of the solution is low."
"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
"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."
"The solution is competitively priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Workspace?
Easy-to-build forms are allowing me to get feedback and information from my internal teams as well as from the customers very efficiently with the result data in structured manner.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Workspace?
The pricing for Google Workspace is moderate. I would rate it a five out of ten, indicating it is neither cheap nor expensive. The current cost is approximately seven to ten euros per user per mont...
What needs improvement with Google Workspace?
The only inconvenience is the fact that you have limited storage. After a while, you have to buy a surplus. It is not intuitive with Teams. It is hard to find categories and folders in Teams. I do ...
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 Zimbra Collaboration?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication.
 

Also Known As

G-Suite Enterprise, G-Suite, Google Apps for Business, G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G-Suite Basic, G-Suite Business, Google Vault
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

There are over five million businesses that use Google Apps for Business worldwide. Some key customers include The Roche Group, National Geographic, American Red Cross, City of Los Angeles, Flight Centre, and Konica Minolta.
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 Google Workspace vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,282 professionals have used our research since 2012.