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Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Exchange
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.7%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 9.5%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Dean Della Pella - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 27, 2024
Offers great reliability and good mobile access features
In my company, the product takes care of email communications as it handles all the emails and scheduling emails. Within the tool, the calendars are used extensively by our company and its customers. The tool has improved the areas revolving around calendars and scheduling tasks since it has helped in the unification of everyone working in the company under the same system. The most beneficial features of email management stem from the tool's ability to let its users combine the tasks and the calendar while also being able to organize emails. The security and compliance features have impacted our organization, and it has been extremely helpful since such functionalities are needed for compliance purposes. For the customers and my company, being secure and having control of the handling of emails is extremely important. The integration capabilities do not have a direct impact on the email portion of the product, but it does have the ability to set up meetings with the help of Microsoft Teams. The mobile access feature provided by the product helps our company in the area of productivity. I recommend the product to others who plan to use it. Based on the features and functionalities of the product, it would be beneficial to rule for any company where it is chosen. The product offers good functionalities and reliability. I rate the overall a nine out of ten.
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 17, 2024
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. 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

"It gives me benefit in terms of integration with other services such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive. It makes my work much easier."
"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."
"Communication is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"The solution can scale well."
"The setup was straightforward."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the mailbox roles."
"Exchange's best feature is single sign-on access using the Microsoft Identity framework."
"Microsoft Exchange's most valuable feature is that it's old-fashioned communication, meaning it's good for people who aren't able to work comfortably in a cloud environment."
"Network NG Modules are valuable to us."
"The configuration is simple."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"The stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update."
"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."
"Zimbra Collaboration's best feature is its compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which allows users to use Outlook on Windows or MacOS."
"Zimbra Collaboration is light to manage. It works on the Linux operating system, which is far better to manage than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Exchange works only on the Windows server. We prefer working on the Linux server for security reasons and ease of management. Zimbra Collaboration also has some integrated tools for security. It some modules to fight malware. These modules are not very powerful but are still doing a great job. Microsoft Exchange doesn't have a basic module. You have to purchase a security solution and add it to the solution. The cost of Zimbra Collaboration is one more reason for liking it. It is also very simple to migrate from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
 

Cons

"There is a problem when scheduling an event for the whole day."
"Deployment should become a bit easier, the process is a bit complicated. You have to have done it one or two times before you get it right. The first time you do it, it won't be perfect. There are a lot of complications compared to Gmail For Business, which is a bit easier when it comes to configuration."
"The platform could be more user-friendly."
"The default storage capacity is too small."
"Microsoft Exchange could improve by adding artificial intelligence."
"Microsoft could improve on Exchange's hybrid deployment or HCW. They need to improve on that because I was having many issues with HCW in our environment at times."
"It doesn't work very well on a virtual machine. We had to move it around. There are also issues when you try to move it between computers."
"More AI features would be good."
"In the next release, Zimbra Collaboration should include a security feature to allow access for mobile device administrators."
"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."
"We have had an issue with security."
"The solution could improve by making it easier to use."
"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
"Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved."
"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
"It is good and competent, but you have to pay for video and group chat features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Exchange is better for medium to large businesses because it can be quite costly for SMB, which may not need all the options the product provides."
"Since my company is on Microsoft Cloud, we pay for the licenses per user. Compared to volume licensing, I would say the present licensing cost is not expensive."
"Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable."
"They are flexible when it comes to pricing, unlike most of the other vendors I have dealt with."
"The platform has a reasonable price."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"Microsoft Exchange is an inexpensive application."
"It would be nice if it used less resources to run on-premise."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."
"The solution is not expensive compared to other products."
"The price of the solution is low."
"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."
"It's very expensive. When we compare the cost with Google Workspace, it's so expensive."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
13%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Media Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?
The product pricing is reasonable if you utilize its full suite of features. However, it may feel expensive for users who only require basic email services.
What do you like most about Zimbra Collaboration?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication.
What needs improvement with Zimbra Collaboration?
When it comes to administration tasks like configuring specific filters or group signatures, I have to dig into the configuration since there's nothing in the graphical or web interface. The soluti...
 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
No data available
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.