Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

HCL Domino
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (18th)
Microsoft Exchange
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (3rd), Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Microsoft Exchange aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. HCL Domino is designed for Rapid Application Development Software and holds a mindshare of 0.5%, down 0.5% compared to last year.
Microsoft Exchange, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 11.4% mindshare, down 12.9% since last year.
Rapid Application Development Software
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

FrederickLim - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides mobile email systems with solid stability and easy deployment
The initial setup is easy. You need to sign up. It depends on the scope. It will take longer if there are more than one or more applications. The project usually includes infrastructure and deployment may take anywhere from one month to six months. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.
Hesham Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"HCL Domino is the best product from a security point of view."
"Domino's dual functionality as both a messaging and application solution is a standout feature compared to Exchange, which solely focuses on messaging."
"The most valuable feature of HCL Domino is how robust it is."
"Overall, I would rate HCL Domino as eight out of ten. I would recommend HCL Domino and Notes applications for small and medium-sized companies since it offers a good return on investment."
"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"We have been able to set up a portal using a special XPage application that gives our customers access to this system."
"It serves as a centralized solution that fulfills all my requirements from operating my email server to managing various aspects of my operations."
"The DAOS feature is the most valuable. It helps to save some of my storage."
"I find the Outlook client very valuable. It allows me to connect to the Exchange Server and send and receive emails easily. The graphical interface is user-friendly and has a good look and feel."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is the email storage is on the cloud. We don't have to delete emails often."
"I find the desktop version of Microsoft Exchange looks better than the online version. You can make it a white background. You might be able to make the online background white, but I have no idea how to do that. I know how to do it only on the desktop version"
"The most used feature of Microsoft Exchange is the email capability, especially since it integrates with the calendar."
"The setup was straightforward."
"The product can scale."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is its ease of use."
"It's very well integrated with OneDrive and Teams Calendar."
 

Cons

"HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly."
"For me, the one thing missing is a really good reporting engine."
"The solution could improve Kubernetes or Dockers migration to new environments in the cloud."
"The solution is expensive."
"HCL Domino could improve by having integration with other solutions, such as Microsoft 365."
"When you compare with Microsoft Exchange, the UI could be more user-friendly."
"They should provide its integration with other AI applications."
"HCL Domino could have a better interface."
"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."
"Microsoft Exchange needs to improve how it handles and assigns policy and security."
"The product or service could be improved in terms of Microsoft Outlook client compatibility."
"For new users, it might take them some time to get used to the product."
"It is important to have the updated version for scalability."
"In terms of what should be improved, they should probably move to a cloud option like Office 365. We would like to get this functionality without the need to deploy complex hardware and software solutions. This should be the next thing, making Exchange more related to Office products, which are more cloud-oriented, less on-premise or desktop-oriented solutions, like the direction Google is strongly moving towards."
"In terms of probability, every now and then there are changes coming and going. The changes are not that frequent because every month they got updates back, so that is an issue."
"We would prefer to be able to manage the solution on the cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."
"The pricing is individually determined. For us, in our current deployment, we pay $12.50 Canadian per month per user."
"We're happy with the price of our license — it's pretty standard."
"The license for Domino is yearly. The price is high."
"For 30 licenses, we pay $1,500 every year. It is not an expensive product."
"It is less expensive compared to other vendors."
"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."
"Price is reasonable compared to the other solutions."
"Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."
"Microsoft Exchange is an inexpensive application."
"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."
"Exchange is better for medium to large businesses because it can be quite costly for SMB, which may not need all the options the product provides."
"The solution is expensive to maintain because it requires frequent updates and ongoing server maintenance."
"Microsoft's licensing structure is too complex, but its prices are affordable, though not cheap."
"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rapid Application Development Software solutions are best for your needs.
842,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL Domino?
The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL Domino?
The Notes client is very expensive, costing around $105 per client. Overall, HCL Domino is a costly product.
What needs improvement with HCL Domino?
The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved. Many people are not very happy with its speed. Additionally, in-line editing of documents and a document viewer are functionalities ...
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?
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...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino
Exchange, MS Exchange
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil
Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, ServiceNow, OutSystems and others in Rapid Application Development Software. Updated: March 2025.
842,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.