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HCL Domino vs Oracle Application Express (APEX) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd), Low-Code Development Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of HCL Domino is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 8.2%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software
 

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.
Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"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."
"HCL Domino is an application development and collaboration platform with strong stability and security. Deployment of this platform is easy and takes only 10 minutes."
"HCL Domino is the best product from a security point of view."
"The email system is the most valuable feature."
"It serves as a centralized solution that fulfills all my requirements from operating my email server to managing various aspects of my operations."
"We have been able to set up a portal using a special XPage application that gives our customers access to this system."
"The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration."
"The product is easy to use."
"I like the fact that it is natively integrated into the Oracle database."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward."
"The valuable features are charts, reports, and search engines."
"You can customize the solution to create a console where only business users can access and download files if they want to extract the data."
"The most valuable features of Oracle Application Express (APEX) are the ease and speed of development. Instead of engaging a large team of middleware, front-end, and database engineers, we can have professional look at the front end and have the user interface up and running in a matter of days. However, if you want to go far and implement very custom features, it doesn't require a lot of knowledge of front-end development, such as HTML, JavaScript, or other aspects."
"Oracle APEX is very easy to use and comes with a lot of ready-made components that speed up the process of creating reports and dashboards."
"It has many ready modules that can be used and developed."
 

Cons

"Designing a new template could provide a refreshed visual experience for users without significant changes to the underlying functionality."
"An area for improvement in HCL Domino is security. New enhancements in the IT industry mean that security should be improved. The HCL Domino GUI also needs improvement."
"The client version of this solution could be faster and be made simpler for non-IT users. You will need to have some knowledge of Notes to correctly install this solution."
"The product's user interface is one of its shortcomings since it is outdated, making it an area for improvement."
"Its performance and integration could be better. It has capabilities for large deployment with several servers, but in the latest interface, running with different servers isn't supported."
"They should provide its integration with other AI applications."
"HCL Domino could have a better interface."
"From the Domino side, it should support DKIM and DMARC."
"Reporting needs to be accessed via third party tools."
"Maybe there are other technologies that offer what APEX cannot."
"Oracle should implement vertical and horizontal data segmentation in APEX's security framework, so Dev teams don't need to do any heavy lifting in the APEX screens. This is a common issue in enterprise apps. It would be nice to seamlessly integrate Git repositories into the development process since the current solution can result in overlapping work or an eventual overwrite. The provided example apps are great, but they could benefit from some added documentation in the "explanation screens"."
"The solution does not support the Linux platform."
"It would be beneficial to include WebSockets so that you can see real-time updates."
"I've experienced some difficulties when using Oracle Application Express (APEX), particularly when I'm designing forms. For example, when I design a form, I add buttons and controls, but I'm unable to visualize how it'll look unless I run it. You want to design and do things your way, but if you don't have much experience, then you'll find that designing in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a little complicated. This won't be a problem with anyone more experienced, though. If I wanted to create my design, for example, a different table format or some background images, it becomes a problem, and this is an area for improvement in Oracle Application Express (APEX). Designing should be easier, even for less experienced users. An additional feature I'd like to see in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is more plugins, particularly a repository that contains a lot of plugins, so you can go to that repository and download whichever you like and use it or add it to your project. Right now, I create my plugins, so it would be helpful if Oracle Application Express (APEX) has a repository of plugins people can use, download from anywhere in the world, and integrate into projects."
"The solution could provide more AI functionalities or AI assistance."
"Occasionally when trying to un a page, I would be faced with an error number; however, not much information would be provided on the error itself outside of the programming language. It would be nice if more information could be provided."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."
"The pricing is subjective and contingent on the intended usage."
"My company's customers need to make monthly or yearly payments towards the license charges of the product."
"I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of price."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution and it is only a standard fee."
"We're happy with the price of our license — it's pretty standard."
"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."
"HCL Domino has reasonable pricing. It's not expensive."
"It's a free solution with no additional costs."
"Pricing is expensive, overall on an enterprise system but we consider that it gives corresponding value in the product."
"I do not think this would be an ideal option for a small sized company or a startup when considering the salary requirements for Oracle DBA'a and developers."
"The product is completely free of cost."
"We have a full Oracle E-Business Suite license, and we use that license to develop applications. There's no license required for developing Oracle applications."
"The solution is free."
"Apex is not priced separately; instead, it is associated with the Oracle database. A free option for Oracle database and Apex can be downloaded and installed on this complimentary database version. This aligns with our current approach."
"The tool is free with the Oracle Database license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Educational Organization
30%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Oracle APEX is part of our on-premises solution included in our agreement with Oracle E Business Suite, though I don't know the cost specifics. Power BI is licensed by the user.
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Using AI to analyze data without needing much code would be better. Also, although the interface is easy to change, it could have more features.
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino
Oracle APEX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil
Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Domino vs. Oracle Application Express (APEX) and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.