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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
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
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
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
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

"The setup was straightforward."
"Support is very good."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange are its ease of use, and simplicity of communication, and we can track communications between teams."
"The interface is user-friendly."
"The deployment is a plug-and-play process."
"Technical support is good."
"It gives me benefit in terms of integration with other services such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive. It makes my work much easier."
"It is user friendly."
"Zimbra Collaboration's best feature is its compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which allows users to use Outlook on Windows or MacOS."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is the cost."
"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."
"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."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
 

Cons

"One thing for improvement would be to have an offline version of Exchange available for use if our connection goes down."
"The default storage capacity is too small."
"One major area for improvement is the need for repeated authentication when running a meeting."
"Microsoft Exchange could improve by being more secure. We are always looking to have more security."
"Microsoft Exchange is highly stable. However, after receiving some updates it can be unstable."
"I would like to see Microsoft Exchange improve their documentation."
"From a security perspective, Microsft Exchange can be improved. All that needs to be added is security, but that's an internal hierarchical problem from the product itself and not the end-users."
"The licensing model could be improved."
"The new patches are, at times, not so good, so we don't install them, causing the tool to be not so stable overall."
"There are some security issues."
"The solution could improve by making it easier to use."
"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."
"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
"It is good and competent, but you have to pay for video and group chat features."
"The solution’s forums don't have much information or documentation on administration tasks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is expensive."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"The solution's pricing is fine...I do think the tool offers value for money."
"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."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"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."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange a four out of ten for pricing because it is quite cheap, and many companies use the solution."
"It would be nice if it used less resources to run on-premise."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"It's very expensive. When we compare the cost with Google Workspace, it's so expensive."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"The price of the solution is low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
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.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.