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HCL Sametime vs Webex comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 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 Sametime
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Webex
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
127
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webex is 7.6%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Webex7.6%
HCL Sametime1.3%
Other91.1%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
Kierownik Biura Informatyki at EIB SA
Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature.  The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…
Akhil Viswam - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Collaborating in hybrid incident calls has become faster while the meeting interface still needs fixes
The best features are the ability to schedule meetings and launch ad hoc meetings. Additionally, we can create breakout rooms within the meeting itself, which is another excellent feature. Whenever we have production issues, many teams join a single Webex call. Sometimes we need to group together as separate smaller groups and work in parallel to identify the production issues. In those cases, we create Webex breakout rooms and each member joins the corresponding breakout session to progress on their task. Webex helps significantly in the hybrid environment. When we are working from home, it is very easy for us to meet with other team members and the management to get in touch and progress. Webex improves communication because even if we are working from home, we can connect with people and talk to them on a video call. It has improved the incident resolution time by getting into a call in Webex rooms and remediating the issues together as soon as possible. Audio and video quality is excellent for Webex. It has saved considerable time in terms of incident remediation. Whenever we have issues, we jump on a call and work together in parallel. This approach saves time and improves efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"The security was quite good."
"The most valuable features of the solution are communication, screen sharing, and collaboration."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is that it is the easiest for participants to get connected to."
"The solution makes it easy for us as a team to collaborate remotely."
"Over the years, the all-in-one capability has been the most valuable feature of Webex; we have calling tools, chat tools, and meeting tools all in one tool now, making it very easy to use for all communication purposes."
"The product's initial setup phase is very straightforward."
"Webex is user-friendly."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"Doing presentations on the solution is very good. There isn't much they could do to improve this aspect. It's excellent."
 

Cons

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."
"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."
"This service could be improved by implementing integration with Microsoft platforms. If you are on a call with Webex, you can get a call from Teams or Skype for Business without receiving any indication."
"I was in a meeting on the free version where there were no controls. You couldn't mute somebody or put it in dedicated speaker mode. It was an important meeting, and because of the lack of an ability to control who the speakers were, we got a version of a heckler. Well, it wasn't really a heckler per se. It was just somebody who thinks they know everything."
"One area that could use improvement in Webex is the connection speed."
"I would like to see additional online chat capabilities"
"The performance of WebEx could be improved. If you're using it on a mobile device and on the laptop, you sometimes get glitches, where you've answered the call or joined a meeting on a laptop and your mobile device doesn't quite know what's going on. It may just be technical glitches, but it seems to be a bit shaky sometimes on mobile devices."
"Sometimes we've had issues with the connection."
"The high price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"My company does a lot of international calls. For some countries they do not have their local number to call in, all they have is a 1-800 number which is quite hard to find. If they want to improve they should set up the local number to call in. What would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"There is a need to pay the licensing charges to use Webex Enterprise Edition."
"The cost is pretty high compared to the competitors."
"My organization took care of the licensing. I'm guessing they did some subscription cycle, but I used the free version."
"The price of Webex is in the middle range compared to the market."
"Features matter more than the price for us. As long as we get all the features we want and it fits our budget, then the price doesn't matter. I can't speak for other companies. We have tried other applications, and we run into some problems that we don't see in Webex."
"For me, there is no licensing fee."
"There are licenses for business to use the solution but for end-users, there is not."
"The price should be improved significantly."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Government
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise62
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?
I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...
What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?
Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.
What do you like most about Webex?
Webex improved our overall team collaboration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Webex?
From when I last implemented it, I found the price to be expensive. The licensing model doesn't work because if I want to implement it for an organization, I need to pay a per-user license, which m...
What needs improvement with Webex?
Webex can be improved in terms of better user experience. Sometimes I experience glitches that can be fixed. One of the pain points with the interface is that sometimes it gets stuck when launching...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
Cisco Spark
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
Seagate Technology, Kohn Pedersen Fox, World Vision International, Glen Raven, University of Notre Dame, CEV Multimedia, The Food Group, LUMEDX, California Baptist University, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Webex and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.