Microsoft Exchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

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5,216 views|4,515 comparisons
93% willing to recommend
Microsoft Logo
5,528 views|4,050 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Online based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Email Applications solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Report (Updated: May 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The deployment is a plug-and-play process.""Customers can benefit from this new pricing model because it's expensive and now with the subscription they can budget for this.""The product can scale.""One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange is its security.""The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is its ease of use.""Now, we manage to serve almost 99% of the information.""The email management system is very easy to set up, configure, and use.""I find the Outlook client very valuable. It allows me to connect to the Exchange Server and send and receive emails easily. The graphical interface is user-friendly and has a good look and feel."

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"The solution is scalable.""The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is its performance.""It allows us to work from home, at any time or anywhere.""It is for emails, and it seems to work okay.""The reliability factor is high.""The product was simple to use.""Exchange Online's performance and stability are very good.""The initial setup was straightforward."

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Cons
"From a security point of view, Microsoft should enhance the new features. Technical support could also be better.""An improvement would be to combine Exchange and Teams so that emails, calls, and chats can be integrated into one window.""Microsoft Exchange could improve the archiving of emails and the performance.""It's not always the finest solution in terms of integration with products that are not from Microsoft. It integrates very well with Microsoft products but not with third-party products.""In terms of what should be improved, they should probably move to a cloud option like Office 365. We would like to get this functionality without the need to deploy complex hardware and software solutions. This should be the next thing, making Exchange more related to Office products, which are more cloud-oriented, less on-premise or desktop-oriented solutions, like the direction Google is strongly moving towards.""The pricing could be better, and it could have an easier implementation.""In terms of probability, every now and then there are changes coming and going. The changes are not that frequent because every month they got updates back, so that is an issue.""They keep making all these changes, and our system was down for four or five days. They finally got it up, but there are still lots of quirks."

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"The UI could be improved to look more like the desktop version for ease of use.""I don't like it in general. It sort of has that Microsoft flavor to it, which is just the style they use and the way they color things and lay them out.""I would like to let new users know that there are challenges regarding user provisioning, HRMS and the AD. Also, the data migration integrity needs to be checked in terms of the old data.""What I don't like about Microsoft Exchange Online is too much integration because now it has many services connected to it. In the beginning, it was just email, and now it's also Teams and Visio, and many other services which I don't like. Microsoft Exchange Online should focus on one service. The product now lost focus, and this is its area for improvement. I would also like more freedom in choosing to use just one service, for example, just Microsoft Exchange Online, which means I don't need Teams or any other Microsoft product or service there. Right now, all services are either in the Microsoft Office suite, or there are more products or services integrated with Microsoft Exchange Online, and I'd like to just focus on one.""The solution is expensive.""Documentation is lacking.""We'd like to have the ability to recall emails on the web. I'm not sure if that is available yet.""The demo version we were provided had issues with emails bouncing or being delayed."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "They are flexible when it comes to pricing, unlike most of the other vendors I have dealt with."
  • "It's working very well. There is no problem, but the price is not the best."
  • "Its price is okay."
  • "It's a little bit expensive."
  • "Its price is very affordable, and basically, it is the standard of the industry. We have the Exchange 365 subscription, which includes the usage of Exchange Online. I don't know the specific cost, but it is the retail price of Microsoft 365 E3 licenses. Microsoft's licensing is not very easy to understand. Microsoft changes rules every other day, which makes it difficult for us to understand the licensing not only for Exchange but also for other products. It can sometimes be really complex to understand what you need to have in order to comply with Microsoft licensing."
  • "Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."
  • "We are currently using enterprise licenses for the solution. They are different pricing models available. There are individual, cloud-based, and enterprise licenses all with different pricing models. The larger the number of users, the lesser the price. For small to medium companies like us, we feel it is expensive."
  • "Its price is fair."
  • More Microsoft Exchange Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I have no opinion."
  • "Initially, we had issues with the licensing agreement, but we worked it out with Microsoft."
  • "It is a reasonable solution."
  • "In my opinion, the online license is the best one we have. It is a bundle that we have from Microsoft. It is a bit high in price."
  • "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 is a bit high. It is especially expensive in the Indian market."
  • "We have a license per user scenario."
  • "The pricing is a bit more expensive than other solutions."
  • More Microsoft Exchange Online Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I… more »
    Top Answer:The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
    Top Answer:Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable.
    Top Answer:The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Exchange Online is very expensive. While it might seem a bit expensive, the benefits outweigh the cost for us. We wouldn't consider changing unless absolutely necessary. We pay yearly. It's… more »
    Top Answer:The price could be an area of concern for many, but I do feel I'm getting value for what I'm paying for.
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 24 in Email Applications
    Views
    5,216
    Comparisons
    4,515
    Reviews
    32
    Average Words per Review
    395
    Rating
    8.6
    2nd
    out of 24 in Email Applications
    Views
    5,528
    Comparisons
    4,050
    Reviews
    46
    Average Words per Review
    392
    Rating
    8.7
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Exchange, MS Exchange
    Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
    Learn More
    Overview
    Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.
    Exchange Online helps protect your information with advanced capabilities. Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering protect mailboxes. Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people. Globally redundant servers, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock safeguard your data.
    Sample Customers
    Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
    Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Government10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company14%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government10%
    Healthcare Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise49%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business32%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise48%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Exchange is ranked 3rd in Email Applications with 78 reviews while Microsoft Exchange Online is ranked 2nd in Email Applications with 85 reviews. Microsoft Exchange is rated 8.4, while Microsoft Exchange Online is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Microsoft Exchange writes "Very stable with an easy-to-use email management system". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Exchange Online writes "Helps reduced IT operations, scalable, and simple setup". Microsoft Exchange is most compared with Zimbra Collaboration, KerioConnect, HCL Domino and Open-Xchange, whereas Microsoft Exchange Online is most compared with Google Workspace, Amazon WorkMail, ProtonMail and Zoho Mail. See our Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online report.

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    We monitor all Email Applications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.