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HCL Domino vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

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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 (10th)
 

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 0.9%, up 0.7% compared to last year.
Zimbra Collaboration, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 5.9% mindshare, down 8.2% since last year.
Rapid Application Development Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL Domino0.9%
Microsoft Power Apps7.6%
Oracle Application Express (APEX)5.0%
Other86.5%
Rapid Application Development Software
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration5.9%
Google Workspace16.6%
Amazon WorkMail10.4%
Other67.1%
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.
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 best feature of HCL Domino is that you can use Notes for messaging plus application, not just for messaging."
"HCL Domino is the best product from a security point of view."
"The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration."
"The most important benefit is security. The security architecture is very good. It's the best part of the solution."
"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."
"The fact is that it simply works."
"For workflow applications or general applications, the rapid development capability is what we value most."
"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"The product is very stable."
"Premium features, such as auto discovery and archiving, mobile management and HSM, make life much easier."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication."
"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 email functionality."
"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."
 

Cons

"It would be advantageous if the web server could seamlessly pick up configuration changes without the need for a complete restart."
"HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly."
"HCL Domino could improve by having integration with other solutions, such as Microsoft 365."
"Recently, IBM sold the product to HCL. Since Pakistan and India have some problems on a domestic level, we were actually considering replacing it with Indian products from the organization. We're just facing some regulatory issues."
"The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."
"They should provide its integration with other AI applications."
"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."
"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."
"It does have a few bugs."
"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."
"Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange."
"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
"The support was lacking in my experience."
"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."
"The solution’s forums don't have much information or documentation on administration tasks."
"The log files need to be improved; they need to show us more information because a lot of detail is lacking and that's not very helpful or insightful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company's customers need to make monthly or yearly payments towards the license charges of the product."
"It is less expensive compared to other vendors."
"The license for Domino is yearly. The price is high."
"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."
"Customers have to pay for a license for the Notes Client, not for the Domino database. There is a quarter license that we use."
"I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of price."
"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."
"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."
"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."
"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"The solution is not expensive compared to other products."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Government
8%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
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...
 

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: September 2026.
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