Google Workspace vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

Google and Zimbra are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Google is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while Zimbra is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Google holds a 20.6% mindshare in EA, compared to Zimbra’s 8.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Zimbra users who would recommend it.

Google Workspace

Read 104 Google Workspace reviews

6,937 Views
5,341 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Zimbra Collaboration

Read 29 Zimbra Collaboration reviews

2,419 Views
2,298 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Google Workspace

Zimbra Collaboration

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Zimbra Collaboration and Google Workspace are competing in the organizational communication and collaboration sector. Google Workspace has an edge due to its extensive feature set and seamless integration.

Features: Zimbra Collaboration offers integrated email, chat, and calendar with a focus on customization and open-source flexibility. Google Workspace includes Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Meet, delivering real-time collaboration and seamless cloud integration.

Room for Improvement: Zimbra Collaboration could enhance integration capabilities and user interface design. It may also need a more robust mobile app and improved integration with third-party services. Google Workspace could improve offline capabilities, the meeting scheduling interface, and customization options for larger enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zimbra Collaboration allows for customizable deployments with strong support for on-premises setups, appealing to organizations wanting infrastructure control. Google Workspace offers a streamlined cloud-based deployment with minimal setup time and 24/7 support, ideal for organizations focusing on remote work and scalability.

Pricing and ROI: Zimbra Collaboration is more cost-effective with lower setup costs, appealing to budget-conscious businesses. Google Workspace, though pricier, provides a comprehensive suite that justifies its cost for companies needing extensive digital tools.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Workspace vs. Zimbra Collaboration Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Zimbra Collaboration

September 2025

Download the complete report

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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

6.9

Number of Reviews

104

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (1st), Cloud Storage (8th), Content Collaboration Platforms (5th)

Zimbra Collaboration

Ranking in Email Applications

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 20.6%, down from 24.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 8.2%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Google Workspace	20.6%
Zimbra Collaboration	8.2%
Other	71.2%

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Sunil-Nair

IT Manager at Universal Carpets & Rugs

Email collaboration and accessibility have improved team productivity

The valuable features include the email service, email updates, and Google Drive. People are given email access to Google Drive. The team can share manual files and work accordingly. They can access different teams from anywhere, collectively putting files, sharing them, and managing them. Additionally, the manufacturing product does not require any downgrades. It works fine and continuously for the last three or four years. Users can access their emails from anywhere in their browser without a laptop or can directly access from Gmail. This is helpful for salespeople.

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

"I like the capabilities for collaboration on any platform. For example, I might be on an iPad whereas the person next to me is on a laptop and the person next to them is on their phone. We can all collaborate together and update documentation in real-time."

"The solution is easy to use, and you don't need a lot of knowledge for it."

"The most valuable features are the speed at which G Suite Enterprise works."

"Google Workspace enhances my productivity within my organization."

"Users can work anywhere with an internet connection."

"The stability of Google Workspace is excellent and very solid."

"A complete integrated environment for our business. I get Google docs, Gmail, online space, and calendar where I can easily perform all documentation, storage, and communications online."

"They are launching more and more features for mobile, which I understand our customers appreciate."

More Google Workspace pros

"Network NG Modules are valuable to us."

"Zimbra Collaboration's best feature is its compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which allows users to use Outlook on Windows or MacOS."

"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."

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

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

"One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs. Many of the clients customize features such as organization logos and scanners."

"The most valuable feature is sending messages as well as text and documents. It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization."

"Zimbra Collaboration has a good web interface."

More Zimbra Collaboration pros

Cons

"What needs improvement in Google Workspace is the Google Drive app, in particular, making the process of finding the shared and most used files and folders easier. The first time you get an invite to view a file or folder in Google Drive and you view that folder or file, it's pretty easy, but the next time you try to access it again, sometimes, it's a bit difficult to find what was shared with you. An additional feature I'd like to see in Google Workspace is the option to un-send messages in Gmail. Microsoft has a message recall feature, and this isn't available in Gmail, so it's the feature I'd like to be added to Gmail."

"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."

"The feature set of Google Sheets is limited."

"Some people complain that Google Mail is inflexible. It was advanced 10 years ago, but other solutions are cleaner and clearer."

"The stability should be addressed."

"The cost could be improved. It can sometimes be a bit confusing figuring out how we are actually being charged."

"I believe Google Drive has potential for improvement. Enhancements could be made in terms of synchronization and the functionality of the Google Sheets app, particularly in areas like formulas and pivot tables, to make it more comparable to Microsoft Excel. Google Chat needs to make improvements so that we can send Excel and PDFs from the mobile app itself. I would like to see Google Bard integrated with the product."

"Not all tools are available in the one facility."

More Google Workspace cons

"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."

"The new patches are, at times, not so good, so we don't install them, causing the tool to be not so stable overall."

"Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on."

"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."

"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."

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

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

"In the next release, Zimbra Collaboration should include a security feature to allow access for mobile device administrators."

More Zimbra Collaboration cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We normally purchase the license on a yearly basis."

"The pricing of Google Workspace, so far, has been reasonable."

"We receive value for the price that we pay."

"Licensing costs are on a yearly basis."

"The overall cost is very reasonable when considering all of the security features that you are receiving. It is a bit more expensive than our local host and/or other hosting companies that are available on the market, but it is worth it."

"It's low in cost as compared to Office 365. There is an annual licensing cost."

"2,500 Rupees per month per user."

"Traffic management tools may be required for larger setups and should be included in any pricing calculations."

More Google Workspace pricing and cost advice

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"

"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 less expensive than Microsoft Exchange. Zimbra works for small companies because it is not expensive. Zimbra Collaboration has more security tools than Microsoft Exchange. If you are choosing between Zimbra Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange, you have to take into account the cost of security tools with Microsoft Exchange. When you purchase Microsoft Exchange, you will also have to purchase tools for security, which adds to the cost. The migration from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution is very simple and easy. Migration from Microsoft Exchange to another email solution is very difficult. Microsoft doesn't allow migration that easily. In fact, you have to pay for tools to do that. You have to buy some expensive tools to migrate."

"The solution is competitively priced."

"The solution is not expensive compared to other products."

"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."

"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."

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

More Zimbra Collaboration pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

10%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	63
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	27

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

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.

See all answers

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...

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What needs improvement with Google Workspace?

I don't see many areas of Google Workspace that could be improved or enhanced because everything I have been using has been effective. Regarding the user interface, when calling a member in the org...

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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...

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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

Comparisons

Amazon WorkMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 24% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Google Workspace

Compared 20% of the time

Office 365 vs Google Workspace

Compared 13% of the time

ProtonMail vs Google Workspace

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft OneDrive for Business vs Google Workspace

Compared 2% of the time

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Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 24% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 21% of the time

KerioConnect vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 14% of the time

IceWarp vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 9% of the time

HCL Domino vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace

September 2025

Download Google Workspace product report

Buyer's Guide

Zimbra Collaboration

August 2025

Download Zimbra Collaboration product report

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

Similar to G Suite, all Google Workspace plans provide a custom email for your business and include collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.

As we’ve evolved G Suite into a more integrated experience across our communication and collaboration tools, we’ve rebranded to Google Workspace to more accurately represent the product vision.

Google

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

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

Buyer's Guide

Google Workspace vs. Zimbra Collaboration

September 2025

Free Report: Google Workspace vs. Zimbra Collaboration

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