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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
15th
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
5.8
Number of Reviews
130
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webex is 5.5%, down from 17.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Webex5.5%
HCL Sametime1.6%
Other92.9%
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

"A very good communication and real-time collaboration software, it is simple, fast, reliable, keeps history and the best feature of all is its intelligence."
"The security was quite good."
"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"Audio and video calls provide faster communication than chat."
"This solution saves time and cost in communicating with team members, streamlines tasks in my organization by encouraging us to chat directly with the relevant person, and strengthens professional relationships through increased communication among peers."
"The video quality is good."
"The installation was straightforward."
"As compared to Zoom, I like its user interface more. It is much easier to use, and I also find it more stable."
"Cisco has very good technical support across all of its offerings, not just WebEx."
"A valuable feature of Webex is that it's good for direct communication."
"It is easy to implement."
"The solution is useful for communication."
"A valuable feature of Webex is that it's useful for virtual meetings and similar webinars."
 

Cons

"The interface is too colorful and looks like Windows XP."
"It seems that the software might in the future, support the software telephony exchange but at the current time, it is not doing that and because of that one key feature of real-time communication is missing from it."
"Sametime hangs sometimes and therefore needs to get restarted."
"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."
"The only improvement I see is related to RAM and CPU usage, as older systems with 4GB RAM or i3 processors might slow down the application."
"Cisco could maybe make Webex more integrated and compatible with other platforms."
"The solution could improve by having cross-platform compatibility. For example, if you wanted to have a call with someone with Microsoft Teams you could do it with Webex."
"The interface could be a bit more user-friendly."
"The only thing it maybe needs is a chat. It is not very comfortable to use."
"Webex could improve the calling feature. It would be helpful to be able to call outside the IP environment."
"The solution's initial setup process is lengthy."
"Webex's Bluetooth functionality could be better. For example, I use Webex on my Android mobile phone and connect with Bluetooth, and it connects, but I cannot speak through the Bluetooth microphone and earphones with Webex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I am using the free version of Webex."
"I use the free version, not the enterprise version. The only compelling reason to go for paid WebEx pay is if you're hosting large meetings."
"This is an expensive product compared to Teams and it should be cheaper."
"There are licenses for business to use the solution but for end-users, there is not."
"Webex is expensive, especially compared to Zoom or Google."
"I believe the license to be monthly."
"There is an annual license required for this solution."
"I am not aware of the pricing details."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
18%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Religious Institution
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise68
 

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 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 simplified in terms of user interface, where many features should be displayed in a compact view, with similar features grouped together and a minimalistic design helping users underst...
What is your primary use case for Webex?
We typically use Webex for meetings to train in web development, business analytics, and cybersecurity, as the training platform was hosted on Webex and we used it for video calls as well. Our firs...
 

Comparisons

 

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: April 2026.
896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.