No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

HCL Notes vs IceWarp comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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 Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IceWarp
Ranking in Email Applications
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.2%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IceWarp is 4.8%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL Notes3.2%
IceWarp4.8%
Other92.0%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AT
IT Director at ATOS
Has improved email security through built-in encryption and supported offline work effectively
We don't use team workspace with HCL Notes; we use only Microsoft because it's incorporated with the Microsoft license. Based on my extensive experience with HCL Notes, I think HCL can make its product better by being more visible on the market because most companies don't support or use HCL anymore, and most integrators work with Exchange or Outlook rather than HCL Notes. Inside HCL Notes functionality, they have to be more visible in the market, which is very important.
AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head at Team Computers
Useful for collaboration and storage but improvement is needed in API integration
The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory. I think IceWarp needs to improve in a few areas. They have two types of admin consoles - a web-based one and a remote one. I'd like to see these combined into a single web-based admin console. The log reading and information system also needs improvement. The current way of showing incoming and outgoing logs isn't very clear. For new users, it's hard to understand these logs, especially compared to Office 365 and other systems with easier-to-read logs. They should also add an export option to get all logs with a single click whenever we need them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was easy for me."
"I prefer to work with HCL and not with Exchange because it's easy to manage, easy to set up, and easy to migrate."
"There are two real headliners: The first one is that ongoing license cost is a fraction of its competition, and secondly: security, security, security; it is the most secure platform you will ever have."
"HCL Notes has a non-structured database and fantastic native security, which is extremely strong, providing built-in security without needing external products."
"The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents, which offers us an easy way to make changes."
"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."
"The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services."
"HCL Notes is stable most of the time."
"The solution is easy to manage and includes features such as smart documents and the archiving of user data."
"The solution has a very good log-in to the UI when compared to other solutions."
"The TeamChat feature has been really good for our email management. It lets us collaborate, share files, and invite guests like Google Spaces or Microsoft Teams. I like the two-factor authentication for security. However, they need to improve their document collaboration tools, as their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint features are basic compared to Microsoft and Google."
"It's scalable and stable."
"If you have a small to medium business and you require a professional collaboration server that focuses on the main services of emails and calendar scheduling, I recommend IceWarp."
"IceWarp offers very extended cross-platform communication solutions."
"IceWarp has multiple applications that are easy to use for many people."
"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"We are actually in process of shifting away from this software; I can not really think of any pros to talk about when it comes to this solution that make it better than something else."
"Based on my extensive experience with HCL Notes, I think HCL can make its product better by being more visible on the market because most companies don't support or use HCL anymore, and most integrators work with Exchange or Outlook rather than HCL Notes."
"The user interface is very old, and there are a lot of small things that make me angry when using this solution."
"The interface could be more user-friendly. Some additional trainings could be added as well."
"The only improvement that we're planning to do is that all our applications are still designed in the layout and format of Notes version 4, and our plan over the coming years is to modernize their look. One of the things they're developing or considering deploying is a program to automatically upgrade the look and feel of databases. If they deploy that, that will be revolutionary. In other words, we decide on a corporate look and feel for our database and press a button. We've probably got 50 different applications in Notes, and it would just go through the whole lot and upgrade all of them to look the same."
"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"I love this product. I have used it for many years, and I have been a developer for it. If anything, it can be faster in the client version. The client version is a little bit hard. It is not fast. This is the only problem I see. Otherwise, it is a very good product."
"The performance was terrible because we have a very large database with around three million records, including attachments and scanned comments. It was slow, and integrating new technologies or designs was also slow."
"Customer service is not always helpful."
"We attempted to obtain support for deleted documents through the representatives in Mumbai, but they did not have an answer for us."
"Although the documentation is extensive and in depth, you must familiarize yourself with it before taking full advantage of the product."
"There are some feature improvements possible the way we use it as a hosting provider, but for most we currently have workarounds."
"The database query for creating new database and querying about activities are too simplistic."
"I would like to have a trial for mobile applications and more documentation similar to Google Drive with mobile applications."
"With multiple databases for VOIP, chat and web IMAP, maintenance is cumbersome."
"The Exchange compatibility mode is rather limited."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"It is far cheaper to license. It is a third of the cost of our Microsoft license for 10 times the amount of usage. Developing applications cost a fraction of anything else. There are two reasons for that. First of all, applications are very fast to build. All the security is already built into the platform, so you don't have to worry about security at all. The other thing is that because fewer people use it than, for example, Microsoft SharePoint, the salary commanded by programmers is slightly lower. So, it is not only faster; you also get cheaper programmers. So, you really win-win-win on it."
"I don't remember how much we paid when we first bought the Domino license, but now, we pay only for the passport. For 30 client licenses, we pay about $1,500 per year, and we don't consider it very expensive for the quality of the product. In our case, we need 30 client licenses. So, we buy 30 client licenses independently of the server. It is very easy for us to choose and maintain this kind of license and get the passport advantage."
"The price is reasonable."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"I don't see any challenges for the Indian market. For example, 1 GB is available for around 399 INR, and 2 GB for 499 INR. They offer a range of plans, from basic to professional and enterprise, with multiple features. IceWarp's aggressive pricing is competitive compared to other market solutions like Zoho and Microsoft. One significant advantage is that IceWarp does not impose user capping like Google and Microsoft, which allows for substantial cost savings and flexibility in user conversion."
"Costs far less than other solutions."
"Our licensing is on a yearly basis. There were no additional costs."
"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."
"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"The solution is priced well."
"There are various licensing plans available based on geographic zone."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Applications solutions are best for your needs.
903,118 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
We don't use team workspace with HCL Notes; we use only Microsoft because it's incorporated with the Microsoft license. Based on my extensive experience with HCL Notes, I think HCL can make its pro...
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
We use HCL Notes as an email system. We currently only use it as an email application, though in the past we used it for additional applications.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Notes?
Regarding HCL Notes supporting various business processes such as CRM, I don't use it, but if I have an issue, I contact the support and we are satisfied with that. I would rate HCL Notes 10 out of...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IceWarp?
IceWarp was very cost-effective, offering services at a significantly lower cost than Google, which was appealing for our organization.
What needs improvement with IceWarp?
The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management. Users currently have the rights to delete smart documents, which poses a challenge for administrators. A mor...
What is your primary use case for IceWarp?
We managed approximately one thousand user accounts with IceWarp for company communications. We utilized features such as smart attachments and document solutions. Our setup was primarily on-premis...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Hansgrohe, Sauk County, Blue Water Shipping, FDBR, ibml, Multivac, Aarhus University Hospital, Hendricks Regional Health, Asian Paints, Integra Legal, Sunplus Technology, S¾SS, The Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports, Nicrometal, Doncasters Group, Practice Plan, Barr, RACV, Neotechnik, Deutsche Notes User Group
Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. IceWarp and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
903,118 professionals have used our research since 2012.