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Google Workspace vs HCL Notes comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 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
6.3
Corporations report mixed ROI from Google Workspace, citing productivity benefits, cost concerns, and varying market value perceptions.
Sentiment score
5.5
HCL Notes enhances efficiency and secure communication, offering ROI that outweighs its $100 annual cost per user.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.0
Google Workspace support has mixed reviews; effective email support contrasts with difficulties in direct contact and limited personal assistance.
Sentiment score
6.8
HCL Notes support is praised for knowledgeable staff and quick response, with high user satisfaction but room for growth.
In the past, we experienced a problem with automatic emails being blocked, and the support team resolved the issue quickly.
I sent several complaints and what they replied to me was that I should have dealt with the problem with the provider of my credit card.
With Gemini, I was charged for a year without receiving any guidance on its usage.
Once Notes is running, it performs reliably without issues.
I would rate HCL technical support as eight out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Google Workspace efficiently scales for any size organization, praised for seamless user accommodation and integration, though enhancements are suggested.
Sentiment score
7.1
HCL Notes is scalable, integrates well with major platforms, but may face performance issues with large databases.
It supports around 2,500 users in our company, and this scalability assists us in maintaining our infrastructure.
If webinars were provided and universities were promoted with webinars, people are going to attend them.
Scalability involves another configuration with a new email configuration, involving some authentication issues with Microsoft Outlook.
The scalability of the product is really good.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Google Workspace is praised for its stability and reliability, with users noting minimal disruptions and high performance ratings.
Sentiment score
7.1
HCL Notes is considered stable, with high ratings despite occasional server issues, enhanced post-IBM with improved features.
This stability is crucial to us because it ensures we do not lose communication or connection while using messaging and accessing files.
With Microsoft now that we are using, we have a security system by which every now and then you have to change your password, and whenever you try to access multiple times to the same email from different devices or many times in the same day, they will ask you for a code that you have to insert.
The stability of Google Workspace is excellent and very solid.
 

Room For Improvement

Users desire improved integration, storage, synchronization, features, and functionality in Google tools to enhance productivity and collaboration.
HCL Notes needs modernization with improved interface, reliability, integration, and user-friendliness to compete with alternatives like Microsoft.
The new integration was implemented last September, and we are facing some issues with OAuth 2.0 authentication.
It is hard to find categories and folders in Teams.
The security functionalities are similar to those in competitors like Active Directory, but they could be optimized for stronger security features.
I think HCL can make its product better by being more visible on the market because most companies don't support or use HCL anymore.
It could be modernized by the development team.
 

Setup Cost

Users have mixed opinions on Google Workspace pricing, appreciating the value but desiring clearer cost structures and flexible licensing.
HCL Notes is praised for cost-effectiveness and adaptability, despite varied perceptions on pricing due to multiple components.
The current cost is approximately seven to ten euros per user per month.
 

Valuable Features

Google Workspace excels in scalability, integration, security, and collaboration, making it ideal for businesses and educational institutions.
HCL Notes excels in security, integration, ease of development, backward compatibility, and offers cost-effective groupware applications with email integration.
The ability to share documents with students and assign them things and correct them in real time has been beneficial.
The valuable features include the email service, email updates, and Google Drive.
These tools enhance productivity by allowing us to edit the same file at the same time, making collaboration much smoother.
We use HCL Notes for its offline capabilities, including the ability to work offline.
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Workspace
Ranking in Email Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (1st), Cloud Storage (8th), Content Collaboration Platforms (4th)
HCL Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 18.9%, down from 24.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Google Workspace18.9%
HCL Notes3.5%
Other77.6%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Collaborative work with students has improved but storage limitations and support issues remain
We have Google Workspace, and we use it primarily for Drive to collect items. We categorize folders with topics and material either for students or for research. We use Google Doc to share documents, especially when we assign homework to be corrected for peer correction or classroom correction. With Teams and Microsoft, we use it for collective calls and exam supervision because we use video surveillance through camera with Teams. We use Teams for meetings and to share material with students. The ability to share documents with students and assign them things and correct them in real time has been beneficial. You can verify what they write, and they can contribute and cooperate to create a collective document, which is something that our society nowadays requires. The ability to cooperate, especially those who work with languages and those who work with writing, need to learn how to cooperate. There is co-editing and co-writing, all these sorts of things. I love the fact that I can easily have access to folders that I can categorize and where I can upload research material and teaching material.
AM
Challenges with efficiency and interface lead to transition while offering some useful organization features
Office 365 has advantages over HCL Notes, offering a better interface and better categorization of emails. We get different kinds of options, including mail suggestions and AI options that can help users. Meetings, calendars, everything is in one place, making it more efficient. Office 365 offers a better interface and categorization of emails, along with options such as mail suggestions and AI features. Meetings and calendars are all integrated in one place.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Workspace?
Easy-to-build forms are allowing me to get feedback and information from my internal teams as well as from the customers very efficiently with the result data in structured manner.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Workspace?
The pricing for Google Workspace is moderate. I would rate it a five out of ten, indicating it is neither cheap nor expensive. The current cost is approximately seven to ten euros per user per mont...
What needs improvement with Google Workspace?
The only inconvenience is the fact that you have limited storage. After a while, you have to buy a surplus. It is not intuitive with Teams. It is hard to find categories and folders in Teams. I do ...
What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
We don't use team workspace with HCL Notes; we use only Microsoft because it's incorporated with the Microsoft license. Based on my extensive experience with HCL Notes, I think HCL can make its pro...
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
We use HCL Notes as an email system. We currently only use it as an email application, though in the past we used it for additional applications.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Notes?
Regarding HCL Notes supporting various business processes such as CRM, I don't use it, but if I have an issue, I contact the support and we are satisfied with that. I would rate HCL Notes 10 out of...
 

Also Known As

G-Suite Enterprise, G-Suite, Google Apps for Business, G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G-Suite Basic, G-Suite Business, Google Vault
IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

There are over five million businesses that use Google Apps for Business worldwide. Some key customers include The Roche Group, National Geographic, American Red Cross, City of Los Angeles, Flight Centre, and Konica Minolta.
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 Google Workspace vs. HCL Notes and other solutions. Updated: November 2025.
873,808 professionals have used our research since 2012.