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Amazon WorkMail vs HCL Notes comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
Replacing WhatsApp with Amazon WorkMail halved costs, improved communication, and provided scalable, stable services reducing downtime concerns.
Sentiment score
6.5
HCL Notes delivers long-term ROI through secure communications, user satisfaction, efficiency, and cost-effective annual fees per user.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.5
Customer feedback on Amazon WorkMail support is mixed, with experiences ranging from responsive assistance to dissatisfaction over communication issues.
Sentiment score
6.8
HCL Notes support is highly praised for knowledgeable, responsive service, with improved satisfaction since transitioning from IBM.
We have sent some emails and they have responded promptly, so we are satisfied.
Once Notes is running, it performs reliably without issues.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Amazon WorkMail is praised for scalability, accommodating large user bases and email traffic efficiently despite some cost concerns.
Sentiment score
7.0
HCL Notes efficiently scales for small to large user groups, integrates well with mobile platforms, but demands adequate computing power.
I do not have any concerns regarding the scalability of Amazon WorkMail, as we are sending about 40,000 to 50,000 emails per day, doing both transactional and batch with a queuing mechanism internally.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Amazon WorkMail is highly rated for stability, handling large volumes reliably with no reported issues or downtime.
Sentiment score
6.9
HCL Notes is stable and reliable, with issues usually due to external factors or outdated systems, not the software itself.
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek an intuitive interface, improved pricing, advanced features, better spam filtering, scalability, and enhanced support for Amazon WorkMail.
HCL Notes needs a modernized interface, better usability, and improved integration to remain competitive with current email services.
The front end of the databases on the home screen looks somewhat old-fashioned.
 

Setup Cost

Amazon WorkMail receives mixed reviews on pricing, appreciated for its free tier but considered costly beyond its allocation.
HCL Notes offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing and affordability, compared to competitors like Microsoft and Google.
I have heard that compared to other providers, it is considerably cheaper.
 

Valuable Features

Amazon WorkMail provides scalable, secure email management with AWS integration, enhancing efficiency, user experience, and workflow expansion.
HCL Notes provides secure, flexible groupware solutions with application development, migration, and seamless document integration at an affordable cost.
I find the feature that checks how many emails have been successfully sent and how many of them have been opened very useful, because in our application, we know the usage of the emails.
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon WorkMail
Ranking in Email Applications
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (3rd)
HCL Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Amazon WorkMail is 9.3%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Ramkumar  Kolpurath - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless email communication improves cost-effectiveness and security with valuable tracking features
The features of Amazon WorkMail that I have found the most valuable so far include sending emails and tracking whether the email is read or not. I find the feature that checks how many emails have been successfully sent and how many of them have been opened very useful, because in our application, we know the usage of the emails. The encryption of emails, both in transit and at rest, has benefited our security strategy as it is a layer of security that provides us better confidence for customers and also internally tracks the security aspects. The encryption meets my expectations.
Herad Howell - PeerSpot reviewer
Secure communications that prompts responses with room for improved user interface
I primarily value HCL Notes for its security features. The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities. It ensures that business is conducted smoothly, allowing me to use my organization's email confidently, as opposed to my personal Gmail, which might not prompt responses from some entities.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon WorkMail?
We use the tool for transactional emails and marketing.
What needs improvement with Amazon WorkMail?
We are satisfied with Amazon WorkMail, as it is able to send emails and provide receipts, including the read and other statuses. Since we are doing more API side integrations, there does not seem t...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon WorkMail?
From the communication aspects, working with Amazon WorkMail has been seamless and cost-effective. My customers do not make any use of Amazon WorkMail's compatibility with Microsoft Active Director...
What do you like most about HCL Notes?
The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services.
What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
Regarding additional functions, the front end of the databases on the home screen looks somewhat old-fashioned. It could be modernized by the development team.
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
Our use case for HCL Notes is that we use it for critical production databases and a lot of administration databases. We use it for email and calendars extensively.
 

Also Known As

Amazon SES
IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Connect2Cloud, Hansgrohe, Sauk County, Blue Water Shipping, FDBR, ibml, Multivac, Aarhus University Hospital, Hendricks Regional Health, Asian Paints, Integra Legal, Sunplus Technology, S¾SS, The Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports, Nicrometal, Doncasters Group, Practice Plan, Barr, RACV, Neotechnik, Deutsche Notes User Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon WorkMail vs. HCL Notes and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.