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HCL Domino vs Zimbra Collaboration 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
6.6
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (19th)
Zimbra Collaboration
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Zimbra Collaboration aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. HCL Domino is designed for Rapid Application Development Software and holds a mindshare of 1.0%, up 0.6% compared to last year.
Zimbra Collaboration, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 6.7% mindshare, down 8.6% since last year.
Rapid Application Development Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL Domino1.0%
Microsoft Power Apps7.8%
Oracle Application Express (APEX)4.9%
Other86.3%
Rapid Application Development Software
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration6.7%
Google Workspace14.3%
Microsoft Exchange Online9.0%
Other70.0%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

FN
Owner at Prodej a Správa Nemovitostí s.r.o.
Long-term platform has supported secure mail, custom workflows, and reliable on-premise apps
I have noticed some weak points and downsides. HCL Domino is a Swiss army knife, which is the downside as well. It does many things, which is an advantage. The biggest downside is that it is a good product, but there are not that many applications for it. There are not that many ready-made applications. When they do exist, they tend to be somewhat pricey. I have not actually used HCL Domino's low-code tools. There are no low-code tools. HCL says there are, but frankly speaking, I have tried it and I always come back to the classic, the original HCL Domino. I do not see it as truly low-code. They call it Leap. Even when you want to do something more specific or more complex, you do need programming logic and then it stops being low-code. I would say that there are much better low-code platforms. N8N, for instance, looks nice with nice diagrams, especially for workflow and automation, which is where HCL Domino is lacking. The evaluation of the security features of HCL Domino in handling sensitive business information is that it has a peculiar security model, which I view as acceptable. Sometimes it may get in your way, but sometimes it simplifies things. It depends.
Vidya Shree - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Molecular Connections Private Limited
Deploys quickly and has a good web interface
Zimbra Collaboration has a good web interface 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 solution’s forums don't have much information or…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The DAOS feature is the most valuable. It helps to save some of my storage."
"The best feature of HCL Domino is that you can use Notes for messaging plus application, not just for messaging."
"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"This solution can be used for workflow application so that applications can be easily developed."
"The initial setup of HCL Domino is straightforward."
"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."
"I like that HCL Domino is stable. It's a great product. I also like that HCL Domino is a mature product under IBM, which is why many companies use it."
"We can scale it if we want to."
"One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
"For a small company, Zimbra Collaboration is good because it is simple, inexpensive, and not very difficult to deploy."
"VMware Zimbra is an enterprise-class E-mail, calendar, and collaboration solution, built for both public and private clouds."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
"The pricing of the solution is excellent; it's a newer solution with a modern interface and dashboard, the interface itself is very responsive and easy to navigate, the initial setup is very simple and straightforward, the stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update, and the solution really does scale very easily."
"Despite sticking with Gmail for over a decade in terms of business, Zimbra have impressed me with some other aspects as well; if the time comes, I would prefer Zimbra to my current solution."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is the cost."
 

Cons

"The biggest problem for us is the performance. We have been working with this product for a long time and our database now contains approximately two million documents."
"The solution could improve Kubernetes or Dockers migration to new environments in the cloud."
"They should provide its integration with other AI applications."
"Scalability needs to be improved to be on the level that's required. Support could also be enhanced."
"For me, the one thing missing is a really good reporting engine."
"The solution is expensive."
"HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly, as end users prefer Outlook over it, because they find Outlook easier to use."
"The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure."
"The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature."
"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
"It does have a few bugs."
"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."
"The solution could improve by making it easier to use."
"Server deployment and the GUI for emails should be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is individually determined. For us, in our current deployment, we pay $12.50 Canadian per month per user."
"Customers have to pay for a license for the Notes Client, not for the Domino database. There is a quarter license that we use."
"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."
"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."
"The pricing is subjective and contingent on the intended usage."
"The license for Domino is yearly. The price is high."
"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"The price of the solution is low."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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?
I am not missing anything significant from HCL Domino at the moment. There are some smaller things that can be improved, but these have already been posted on the HCL website where we can submit ou...
What is your primary use case for HCL Domino?
I have been using HCL Domino products since 1992, when it was known as Lotus Notes. I use it myself and also work as a consultant. We are an IBM Business Partner and HCL Business Partner. We are no...
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 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...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil
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 Microsoft, ServiceNow, Oracle and others in Rapid Application Development Software. Updated: May 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.