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KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

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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

KerioConnect
Ranking in Email Applications
9th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (7th)
Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of KerioConnect is 3.3%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 9.7%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online9.7%
KerioConnect3.3%
Other87.0%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

MM
Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.
A seamless setup ensures smooth communication with comprehensive support
We remain a partner with Sophos and use XG S Firewalls without AWS implementation. We only use Sophos endpoint and Sophos Central. We host some clients on-premise while others we host remotely. The VPN connection is easy and proprietary, so it's not open to any other VPN clients. Communication with other mail servers is seamless. It can communicate with Gmail and Outlook without issues, provided the DNS settings are correct. We monitor our servers and security logs, implementing GeoIP blocking. We frequently block China and India IPs due to brute force attacks on our servers. We have extensive experience with KerioConnect. Backing up and maintaining it is straightforward compared to Microsoft Exchange, making it administrator-friendly. On a scale of 1-10, this solution rates an 8.
Yogesh Autade - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Engineer at Softcell Technologies Limited
Integrated email security has improved phishing response and provides better threat visibility
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also appreciate more granular reporting, faster access to detailed message tracking data, and improved alerting around suspicious mailbox activity to help security and messaging teams investigate issues more efficiently. One area where Microsoft Exchange Online could improve is the administrative user experience. Some advanced mail flow, compliance, and troubleshooting tasks still require navigating multiple Microsoft portals. A more unified management interface and deeper integration visibility across Exchange, Defender, and Microsoft 365 security tools would make day-to-day operations more efficient for administrators and SOC teams.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Kerio Connect is secure, flexible, and easy to control from the user interface."
"Kerio Connect is secure, flexible, and easy to control from the user interface. It has many security features able to be controlled from one place, such as anti-spam. I have found it very convenient. Additionally, you can analyze log files and share folders which is helpful."
"The user interface is good."
"This solution is our SMB alternative to Exchange, installed for more than forty SMB customers in a Linux environment with all of the collaboration features."
"The most valuable features are its ease of use, excellent pricing, and it is platform agnostic."
"The most valuable features are security and privacy because you installed it on your server, within your company premises, not in the cloud."
"What I like most about Kerio Connect is that it supports ActiveSync, and that is its most critical feature. The solution is also a nice, simple, robust, and stable mail server."
"Backing up and maintaining it is straightforward compared to Microsoft Exchange, making it administrator-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is its performance."
"We have found the solution to be stable."
"The product was simple to use."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is secure and stable."
"The solution has been stable with good performance on offer."
"Office 365 is one of the strongest solutions that I've seen."
"Having the solution on the cloud has alleviated the need to have hardware on-premises, so I no longer have to deal with the expense of power usage and the hardware taking up space, and we can now focus more on the business instead of our assets."
"The data prevention and protection feature is good."
 

Cons

"KerioConnect is stable as long as you use a strong password."
"We cannot compete with them because they're fully integrated with their applications."
"You cannot integrate with other services like Google Docs, Google Assistant, Google Calendar, etc."
"I would like to see better support from their support team."
"The search and archiving documentation capabilities need to be stronger."
"This is just a cost, it's not something that's driving our business forward; it's just foundational."
"I don't particularly like this solution. I would not recommend this solution to others."
"Having a native Outlook map integration would make Kerio Connect better."
"The licensing price of the solution could be lower."
"The efficiency could be improved."
"The stability of the solution has room for improvement."
"Microsoft Exchange Online could improve the overall protection of the solution."
"The SaaS platform performance could be improved. At a previous company, we used this same solution on-premises. The data exchange was much faster compared to the SaaS platform and we sometimes experience lags."
"I would rate Exchange Online's stability eight out of ten - it has room for improvement."
"Microsoft Exchange Online could improve the management usage, it should be more user-friendly."
"Encourages endless inefficient communications. Do not recommend it for companies that are trying to create efficient decision making processes and agile movement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing depends on how long you plan to keep it because you pay on a per-year basis. You might have a one-time setup cost for something like Microsoft Exchange or a Linux mail server. I'd say this solution is expensive on a per-year basis, almost 2000-3000 dollars annually. It doesn't seem to pay off yet, so we're considering switching to another product."
"The pricing is about $3 per mailbox per month."
"The price of Kerio Connect is better when comparing it to others solutions."
"KerioConnect has a first-time cost and yearly subscription. It is not expensive."
"I pay approximately $120 or $150 per year, and as long as I pay that amount, they will do regular updates so that I always have the most recent and greatest version of the application."
"It is a reasonable solution."
"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable."
"There is an annual enterprise subscription to use Microsoft Exchange Online. The price is reasonable."
"I think it's just awesome. There's no argument about how much value you get on the per user, for user expenditure. It's really great, I don't have any issues with it. I think it's excellent."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online security could improve. The overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price is a bit high. It is especially expensive in the Indian market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for KerioConnect?
The pricing is very easy to understand. As a partner, we have a monitoring system that informs us when subscriptions expire, allowing us to handle renewals. The pricing is very competitive.
What needs improvement with KerioConnect?
Since KerioConnect is a setup and go solution, everything works on its own. The only administrative tasks required are keeping it up to date, monitoring security logs, and ensuring protection from ...
What is your primary use case for KerioConnect?
Small medium-sized businesses are our primary focus, particularly in warehouse distribution and retail sectors. We are a reseller and purchase directly from Sophos.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
If I segment it into three points: low price, average, and high price, I would place Microsoft Exchange Online between average and high price.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also a...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online serves as our enterprise email hosting platform, providing secure mail flow management and centralized messaging services for users across multiple locations. From a secur...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Southern Tier Brewing Company, Innotta, Baustoff + Metall, Hamifleurs, Chanson TV, Ryman Stationery
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about KerioConnect vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
912,022 professionals have used our research since 2012.