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HCL Notes vs Zoho Mail 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 Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoho Mail
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Mail is 4.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Chiheb Charmiti - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessible from any device, good support, and works very well for emails, document sharing, and workflows
What I like about this solution is that you can use it for mailing, as a client for email, and you can also use it for workflows. So, you can easily develop applications. Even people who haven't got great IT skills can develop some basic applications to use in the company, especially a workflow application. So, it is for mailing and for applications, which is a great thing about HCL Notes. It is very good for managing and sharing documents on the network or inside the company. It works very well for sharing documents. It is one of the best products in the world for workflow applications. It works very well for workflows or decisional processes where a task needs to be first approved by someone. After that, the task moves to the next or final stage where another person approves it with some notes or attached documents. People who are on the move outside the company but need to interact with the database of the company can do some tasks in the HCL Notes application offline. When they have connectivity, the information is updated or replicated in real-time. They can install the application on different devices. They can use it on mobile phones or iPad.
AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good security with effective spam filtering but has update issues
Zoho is not just a traditional software-based company. It offers a wide range of APIs and other integration tools, including a CRM tool and various other products, so integration is not limited. Zoho has operations management and developers, making integration feasible with any system. Zoho is a cloud-based solution, meaning maintenance is managed by their system. They don't provide access to unauthorized persons. Zoho handles maintenance. Traditionally, we haven't recommended Zoho as extensively because we prefer systems we have thoroughly tested and can confidently endorse. We've deployed Zoho a few times with mixed success. In comparison, we've had more success with Google deployments, with higher implementation rates and ease, offering better revenue opportunities. Based on requirements, I might recommend Zoho, but for higher needs or better collaboration, I'd suggest Google, possibly combined with iSoft. If there is no other support, Google remains a strong recommendation. Overall, considering support, I rate the solution a six 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

"HCL Notes has fantastic built-in security. The email and personal communication components are excellent, but they are some applications provided by HCL that Notes previously provided when it was under IBM and Lotus. Everyone wants email, so that's just part of the product. However, more savvy users can build their own solutions for managing information, and that's the great thing about it."
"The initial setup was easy for me."
"Notes is a perfectly adequate front end. It's clear and straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."
"The most valuable feature is the UI."
"The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents. This offers us an easy way to make changes."
"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."
"HCL Notes is stable most of the time."
"Zoho gives you a set amount of free users, so you can use it until you reach the limit and see if it's something you want to adopt. I tried it and stuck with it. Since then, I've seen a lot of improvement. I already think it's top-notch, but I believe it will become one of the best in the world."
"The notifications, scheduling, and meetings are all integrated."
"Zoho Mail is a cost-effective solution."
"Zoho Mail is a stable product."
"It also offers the search functionalities. For end users, the search is quite easy to use. There are a few tabs to select to find exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty simple. As long as the data is available, you can use filters like from whom, to whom, subject, attachment, and even use advanced settings. It's pretty nice."
"Zoho Mail organizes your email well, and you can do a lot of things if you use other Zoho applications along with it."
"We can create email accounts for our customers."
"The most valuable features of Zoho Mail are its security, integration with cloud storage, and wide range of features available. It integrates well with Outlook and mobile devices."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve by adding some more features."
"The loading time can be excessive."
"I would like to see integration with other solutions."
"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"There is a chat component but it does not work properly."
"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"GUI and replication can be improved."
"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."
"Zoho Mail needs to improve its integration because direct integration is not possible with many applications."
"The interface isn't quite good. Everything looks a little low-quality."
"We face some challenges in our current architecture with the introduction of data privacy regulations. When you are sending a calendar invite to a group of people for a meeting or an event, there is no structure for privacy. You can't hide all the contacts. Maybe that feature exists, but I don't know where it is."
"The solution's meeting plans and online virtual activity task list could be improved and made more seamless."
"Zoho Mail needs to add an IT system management feature."
"The initial setup of Zoho Mail can take some time because we have 30 to 35 users and we need to register each one. This can take one or two days to complete. The process could be better for administrators to register their users. If the setup interface was better in explaining the process it would be helpful to become more user-friendly."
"Zoho Mail is not as good as G Suite, which has integrated calendars."
"The solution doesn't need to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"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."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"The price is reasonable."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"Zoho Mail is more cost-efficient than its competitors."
"Zoho One has all 50 applications in it, and Zoho Mail is part of it. Zoho One is about 35 GBP per person per month. It includes Zoho Projects, Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, and everything else."
"The solution’s pricing is very reasonable."
"If you have ten users, for Google, you'll pay $100. With Zoho Mail, you'll only pay $30 to $40."
"One of the reasons people use Zoho in Nigeria is because we can pay for it in Naira. It's very affordable already. For example, we can get Zoho Mail for somewhere between 1000 naira per user, which is less than one dollar. In my opinion, it's very affordable."
"There is no license required to use Zoho Mail."
"The solution is not costly."
"The solution is more affordable compared to other products. It is cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
17%
Retailer
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL Notes?
The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services.
What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
While HCL has made significant advances in the user interface and diverse platform compatibility, some improvements could be made in user-friendliness and graphical interface enhancements.
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
I am a technician and software developer with a unique product called NotesTracker, a software product for users of HCL Notes and Domino. I started my company, Asia Pacific Computer Services, to do...
What do you like most about Zoho Mail?
It also offers the search functionalities. For end users, the search is quite easy to use. There are a few tabs to select to find exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty simple. As long as the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Mail?
Zoho Mail is more cost-efficient than its competitors.
What needs improvement with Zoho Mail?
The solution's meeting plans and online virtual activity task list could be improved and made more seamless.
 

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
BBDO, HuffPost
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Zoho Mail and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.