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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 (18th)
Zimbra Collaboration
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (7th)
 

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 Workspace15.0%
Microsoft Exchange Online9.3%
Other69.0%
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.
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

"This solution works very well straight out of the box; we have no plans to customize it."
"The pricing is excellent."
"The most important benefit is security. The security architecture is very good. It's the best part of the solution."
"I find the HCL Domino server scalable."
"The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration."
"HCL Domino is cost-effective because it serves as a complete platform with a web server, app server, and IT management system, eliminating the need for multiple platforms and complex integrations."
"For workflow applications or general applications, the rapid development capability is what we value most."
"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"For an SMB, it is a recommendable email solution."
"For a small company, Zimbra Collaboration is good because it is simple, inexpensive, and not very difficult to deploy."
"The product is easy to set up."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"It is the best open source collaboration suite that I know, because it provides high availability and more performance than the other solutions."
"Premium features, such as auto discovery and archiving, mobile management and HSM, make life much easier."
"We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure."
 

Cons

"Designing a new template could provide a refreshed visual experience for users without significant changes to the underlying functionality."
"Many people are not very happy with its speed."
"HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly, as end users prefer Outlook over it, because they find Outlook easier to use."
"The solution could improve Kubernetes or Dockers migration to new environments in the cloud."
"One challenge I faced with HCL Domino was fully understanding its capabilities because initial use may lead to misconceptions based on simpler platforms."
"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 speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."
"For me, the one thing missing is a really good reporting engine."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"The solution’s forums don't have much information or documentation on administration tasks."
"There are security and performance issues which is one of the concerns of using an open-source product."
"We had a couple of issues with stability, but nothing that I couldn't work around or fix myself. Zimbra is a powerful product, but since VMware bought it, changes and bug fixes have been very slow in coming."
"It does have a few bugs. However, they are small and can be worked around."
"The support was lacking in my experience."
"There can be difficulties resolving problems on the server side when problems arise."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company's customers need to make monthly or yearly payments towards the license charges of the product."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution and it is only a standard fee."
"Price is reasonable compared to the other solutions."
"Customers have to pay for a license for the Notes Client, not for the Domino database. There is a quarter license that we use."
"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."
"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."
"For 30 licenses, we pay $1,500 every year. It is not an expensive product."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."
"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."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"The price of the solution is low."
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"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 offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
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Top Industries

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

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, Mendix and others in Rapid Application Development Software. Updated: June 2026.
906,960 professionals have used our research since 2012.