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Google Workspace vs HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 21.0%, down from 24.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.1%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Sunil-Nair - PeerSpot reviewer
Email collaboration and accessibility have improved team productivity
The valuable features include the email service, email updates, and Google Drive. People are given email access to Google Drive. The team can share manual files and work accordingly. They can access different teams from anywhere, collectively putting files, sharing them, and managing them. Additionally, the manufacturing product does not require any downgrades. It works fine and continuously for the last three or four years. Users can access their emails from anywhere in their browser without a laptop or can directly access from Gmail. This is helpful for salespeople.
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.
NancyHartman - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective collaboration achieved with versatile features and good customer service
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot of scripting and programming knowledge is necessary. I am not an IT person; I am an educator, a trainer, a user. I want to get the work done. However, I find that the Exchange Server and possibly the way our company has set up access permissions require extensive programming knowledge. It might take six to eight weeks to get a programmer's time to build something, whereas I can use something like Smartsheet that will do everything I want without needing a programmer. Smartsheet is more end-user friendly compared to a Microsoft product. Microsoft believes an expert IT person should manage everything, however, I want to manage things on my own in a simplified way. That is not easy using the Exchange Server or Microsoft Office. It is not end-user friendly for development, and a programmer is needed. Once set up, using them as an end-user is fine. I find that the automations are not robust, and the FedRAMP systems are not robust. I have a few issues with Exchange and Office, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Google integrates well with our system. G Suite has an open API, so you can connect any open system with Google capable of working with API. This is the main reason we use it."
"All the Microsoft Office features are available in Google Workspace."
"I like everything that Google does. They have good products."
"Overall, I rate Google Workspace a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is email."
"The corporate email feature on Google's Gmail is fantastic."
"Google Mail lets you link a task to a specific email and add a reminder. That's helpful for reviewing your schedule. It's based on Slack, so you don't have these folders like in Microsoft mail. Using Slack instead of folders is a bit more intuitive. It's easier to find again a specific email than using Microsoft Suite. If you misplace things, it's much easier to find them because of Google's search capability."
"The solution helps us to collaborate."
"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."
"Its security is absolutely stratospheric. In an application, you can lock down to field-level security. For example, I could log in and see a field in an HR database with salaries. When you log in, you see exactly the same database, but the field with the salary just isn't there. So, you can literally have field-level security on it, and you can also have secure encryption. For example, I could give you that database allowing you to see the salary, but a calculation that shows how much they get per month in another field is encrypted. So, you won't be able to see that because you don't have the encryption key. You can implement high-level security very simply."
"The product is very stable and scalable."
"The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services."
"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."
"It is one of the best products in the world for workflow applications. It works very well for workflows or decisional processes where a task needs to be first approved by someone. After that, the task moves to the next or final stage where another person approves it with some notes or attached documents."
"It offers unique capabilities, excellent security, and replication features."
"HCL Notes is stable most of the time."
"The best thing about Microsoft Exchange Online is that it's integrated with the Outlook application."
"The solution is quite convenient because you can access the web version anywhere."
"When you used to write to someone, you would often begin typing their name and their email address would appear; you would simply click and you would have the correct email address. That has been working for a while, but having the location address appear was a pleasant surprise. It was amazing."
"I like that Exchange Online is easy to use and that I do not need to maintain the previous Exchange Server. I also do not need to worry about the security of the Exchange Server. If there are any issues, then it will be the service provider's problem and not mine."
"The overall usage was all good."
"It is a stable, and highly scalable product."
"The solution is easy to use and the cloud version has taken a lot of challenges away from the user."
"It's easy to use and there is more integration."
 

Cons

"The meeting platform of Google Workspace has room for improvement."
"Everything is online, so you don't have a client on your desk. Working on email is online work, so can't do work offline and go back online. Sometimes it's not so intuitive. If you answer an email, it puts your answer at the bottom of the existing email."
"We need more functionality with Google Sheets"
"I have had issues with my Google Address Book. I have an address book and it is available to everyone, but I cannot add additional users. In Microsoft Outlook, I could easily share certain contacts with other members of my team, but I cannot do so on G Suite."
"We've had difficulty using PowerPoint files in G Suite. PowerPoint has some functions that are not available in G Suite, so when you convert from PPTX to the Slides format, they don't work."
"I'm not sure if Google Drive has a customizing feature, however, if it did, then it would be better."
"Integration with Microsoft Outlook could be improved. The new integration was implemented last September, and we are facing some issues with OAuth 2.0 authentication."
"There could be more options in Google G Suite. They can include HD calling for Google Meet. The layout portion in the calendar for Google G Suite can be better designed. When we get into the calendar and start scheduling meetings, we do have few hiccups here and there. The layout can be a little easier. People from different backgrounds are finding it a little bit tough to understand. It should be more intuitive. At the moment, it has a completely white background. To do power saving, it would be good if they can release a darker background. There are a few issues with the formatting of Google Docs when they get converted to Microsoft docs. It would be amazing if they can resolve it in the next release."
"I would like to HCL update Notes' development tool and make it more attractive like Microsoft Visual Studio and similar products. For example, there's a programming language that I used for my product Woodpecker called LotusScript. LotusScript has been available since around 1995. When LotusScript was released, it was like the original Visual Basic, but it has improved since then."
"It is a heavy program and uses more resources than an email client should."
"I love this product. I have used it for many years, and I have been a developer for it. If anything, it can be faster in the client version. The client version is a little bit hard. It is not fast. This is the only problem I see. Otherwise, it is a very good product."
"The performance was terrible because we have a very large database with around three million records, including attachments and scanned comments. It was slow, and integrating new technologies or designs was also slow."
"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."
"Web support is very old and needs an upgrade. We can handle a different password for the client to access the mail services, compared to the web services. We need to implement many other components to get access to the web access. There could be a feature to interpret if the web access is available from any end-user equipment."
"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"Technical support can be improved by shortening the response time and increasing their knowledge."
"In terms of areas for improvement, I think Microsoft could enhance security. Right now, there are limited options for security within Exchange Online, and much of it relies on third-party security and compliance tools. I'd like to see more security features directly integrated. One specific area that needs improvement is the configuration of SMTP for third-party applications. It's challenging to manage without an on-premise SMTP server, and this is an issue many organizations face, including ours. If Microsoft could offer better SMTP configuration for third-party applications within Exchange Online, it would greatly benefit us."
"When we need to purchase additional licenses for additional users, the process is slow."
"For non-technical people, some configurations might be a little bit difficult. We can use it on our laptops or our portable devices like mobiles and others gadgets, but we have had repeated problems with syncing. That is, when using different gadgets and devices, there are issues with syncing. The configuration could definitely be improved."
"Improving the methods for inputting email signatures could be beneficial for the product."
"Using this solution is initially quite complicated."
"Cloud security is always a concern and the solution can always increase their security."
"The solution could be a bit cheaper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is very high, although I cannot tell if this is the result of the Indian vendors artificially inflating it."
"We normally purchase the license on a yearly basis."
"The price of Google Workspace is reasonable. I pay less than 100 a month."
"We receive value for the price that we pay."
"The pricing is a bit on the higher side than normal. For a basic Google account it costs $100, but Enterprise is %150."
"The overall cost is very reasonable when considering all of the security features that you are receiving. It is a bit more expensive than our local host and/or other hosting companies that are available on the market, but it is worth it."
"There are benefits that can provide a competitive advantage, e.g., improved productivity (with appropriate training), increased collaboration (with correct use of tools), flexible working - work from home or remote locations, easy to scale - fast onboarding of new employees, and ability to add and remove licenses, as required."
"The price of G Suite Enterprise is reasonable compared to HotSpot. I'm not going to say G Suite Enterprise is affordable. It's valuable, you find value in paying your gas bill or your electricity bill, because of what it allows you to do."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"The price is reasonable."
"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"I don't remember how much we paid when we first bought the Domino license, but now, we pay only for the passport. For 30 client licenses, we pay about $1,500 per year, and we don't consider it very expensive for the quality of the product. In our case, we need 30 client licenses. So, we buy 30 client licenses independently of the server. It is very easy for us to choose and maintain this kind of license and get the passport advantage."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"It is far cheaper to license. It is a third of the cost of our Microsoft license for 10 times the amount of usage. Developing applications cost a fraction of anything else. There are two reasons for that. First of all, applications are very fast to build. All the security is already built into the platform, so you don't have to worry about security at all. The other thing is that because fewer people use it than, for example, Microsoft SharePoint, the salary commanded by programmers is slightly lower. So, it is not only faster; you also get cheaper programmers. So, you really win-win-win on it."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"We have an enterprise agreement for licensing."
"They have raised their prices, and obviously, it hits our customers. Some of them are deciding to step back from Office 365. For customers who have bought the annual subscription, they are moving to the monthly subscription."
"The model is one which is pay-per-use go. There is no license. We are talking about per-user subscription-based use."
"The product is expensive and has an annual subscription."
"We have a three-year license for $25,000."
"My company needs to make monthly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. I feel that the price of the product is affordable."
"We have a license per user scenario."
"The pricing for this solution is good. We renew our contract every three years. I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 custom...
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 e...
What needs improvement with Google Workspace?
I do not have any major suggestions for improvement. However, while the security functionalities are similar to those...
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 servi...
What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
Regarding additional functions, the front end of the databases on the home screen looks somewhat old-fashioned. It co...
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....
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online?
The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our o...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
The cost of Microsoft Exchange Online varies between $4 and $25 per user per month, depending on the different plans ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
The mobile version of Microsoft Outlook has limited features compared to the desktop version. We find fewer features ...
 

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
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

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
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: July 2025.
864,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.