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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
19th
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
7.2
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 0.3%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webex is 18.4%, up from 15.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
AlexandruCioruta - PeerSpot reviewer
Used to conduct online third-party client meetings or third-party vendor meetings
The solution's video conferencing quality is good, and I rate it a nine out of ten. The solution's security features are end-to-end encrypted, and I rate them ten out of ten. The version we're using requires no technical team for deployment and maintenance. The solution has an enterprise version, but we're not currently using it. I would recommend the solution to other users because it has good video conference quality. I mostly leverage the solution for third-party client meetings or third-party vendor meetings. 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

"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."
"Its features are easy to navigate and easy to share, and easy to conduct a meeting."
"The tool simplifies our work by allowing us to have hybrid meetings instead of always meeting in person, which saves time in organizing these meetings. It also offers good video quality."
"We use Webex for virtual meetings."
"Webex has one-click calling, which makes things easier. You click, and it automatically dials in to the meetings without pressing additional buttons. It's easy for people who aren't on WebEx. That was helpful."
"I have found the most valuable features to be the high quality of the video and the audio. Additionally, the graphical user interface is good and it is easy to use."
"The video conferencing quality is better than that of other solutions."
"The tool alerts us when there are issues with our Kubernetes environment, such as excessive container usage. This allows our operations team to quickly identify and address these issues, reducing the time it takes to resolve them."
"We can easily connect the device and create a room and then we can call many devices."
 

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."
"I do not like the solutions functions."
"Webex's stability could be improved. It crashes very often. The user interface could also be improved to be more modern because it looks outdated."
"The high price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"I would like to see more integration, with respect to some more unified communication activities."
"Sometimes, the solution lags because of performance issues."
"Everything just needs to be shrunk down without sacrificing quality so that not so much bandwidth is needed in order to hold meetings effectively."
"No private chat option."
"Usability needs improvement. Webex is more complex compared to Zoom."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"Licensing is subscription-based and the cost varies depending on how many minutes are included in the plan."
"There is a subscription needed to use this solution and we pay approximately $5,000 per year."
"For me, there is no licensing fee."
"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."
"The charges attached to the subscriptions of the product are okay. There are no extra charges to be paid in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"You can opt for yearly licensing with Webex."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
78%
Computer Software Company
5%
Government
3%
Financial Services Firm
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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?
Webex is expensive. If it weren't that expensive, we would probably use it for all our telecommunication needs, not just for telemedicine.
What needs improvement with Webex?
Usability needs improvement. Webex is more complex compared to Zoom ( /products/zoom-reviews ). Zoom ( /products/zoom-reviews ) has a big advantage in simplicity, especially for the other side to c...
 

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: April 2025.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.