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Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online vs OpenText GroupWise 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 April 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 14.7%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 10.6%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText GroupWise is 2.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Workspace14.7%
Microsoft Exchange Online10.6%
OpenText GroupWise2.2%
Other72.5%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Assosiate Professor at Palazzo del Mediterraneo
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
Assistant General Manager, IT Infrastructure at SAMI Pharmaceuticals (Pvt.) Limited.
Offers flexibility and cost-effectiveness with multiple service options but could improve support and mobile features
There are many things to consider about email management in Microsoft Exchange Online. The online management is good, the storage is sufficient, and we use most of the features such as the custom rules in Microsoft Exchange Online, which we cannot find in any other email solution. That is a very good option, as we have many options to create custom rules in Microsoft Exchange Online. Regarding security features in Microsoft Exchange Online, we also use Defender for Exchange which includes the basic Exchange Online protection that has spam and threat controls. The use of Defender is beneficial for our security. The flexibility of choosing plans in Microsoft Exchange Online is good. We have chosen the best plan for our use, including multiple licenses such as plan one and business basics, which leads us towards cost-effectiveness, and the pay-as-you-go option is more flexible. Microsoft Exchange Online is very scalable.
JN
Consulting Manager at Technical Consulting Resources
Great security, stability, versatility, expandability and low cost of ownership.
I like the ease of login best in GroupWise. With the desktop client you can login to GroupWise independently of the PC login and it has Web Client that can be used if your prefer not to install the client or are using a PC that does not have the GroupWise Client installed. I also like its user proxy capabilities. I also like the level of security that it provides. Additionally, it comes with GroupWise Messenger for secure instant messaging to desktop or mobile devices. It integrates well with the email on your mobile devices and smart phones via GroupWise Mobile Services.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find smart sheets in Google Sheets to be useful."
"The collaboration features are valuable."
"There are several areas where a G Suite implementation can reduce costs: lower license fees than some competing products, reduced hardware and IT support costs, and other benefits that can provide a competitive advantage such as improved productivity, increased collaboration, flexible working, easy scaling for new employees, and the ability to add and remove licenses as required."
"In terms of collaboration and simple ease of use, I think Google is good."
"It is quite a useful tool, allowing many people to work on a document where you can provide review comments, tag anybody to make the comment changes, and even attach a document in Google Chat."
"It's easy to use."
"We value the collaboration levels that are offered. Having everything integrated in a single platform is a dream come true for us."
"The solution helps us to collaborate."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is it helps the IT department with problems."
"Exchange Online's most valuable features are two-step verification and security."
"Having the solution on the cloud has alleviated the need to have hardware on-premises, so I no longer have to deal with the expense of power usage and the hardware taking up space, and we can now focus more on the business instead of our assets."
"All of the Microsoft Exchange Online is very useful, such as the sections, the information protection, and the mail flows."
"The best part of this solution is the security it offers, where we are able to determine which mailboxes have been blocked or which mailboxes cannot be allowed to send traffic because of a violation."
"Exchange Online's best feature is its webmail platform."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is its performance."
"We have found the solution to be stable."
"The solution is very flexible and has great storage capacity."
"I would advise others who are looking into implementing this product to go for it."
"I like the ease of logging best in Micro Focus GroupWise. I also like its proxy capabilities from a user level. I also like how secure Micro Focus GroupWise is."
"The cost-effectiveness of the solution is most valuable."
"Very secure with great storage capacity."
 

Cons

"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."
"We noticed that sometimes when we forward emails to somebody, it is being relocated as part of the communication somewhere else. The traceability and other features should be improved."
"The UI could be more graphic and sassy, but otherwise, it is quite functional."
"I talked with G Suite recently because my G Suite has a temporary block. I communicated with the G Suite representative or Google representative, and he told me that I sent a lot of emails, so my email was temporarily blocked."
"Not all tools are available in the one facility."
"We noticed that sometimes when we forward emails to somebody, it is being relocated as part of the communication somewhere else. The traceability and other features should be improved."
"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."
"Improvements to G Suite would be the ability to collaborate more easily and better quality video compression in Google Meet."
"I don't like it in general. It sort of has that Microsoft flavor to it, which is just the style they use and the way they color things and lay them out."
"I don't really like the response time of the web GUI for administration. All this seems a bit slow and not responsive enough."
"Technical support can be improved by shortening the response time and increasing their knowledge."
"The solution should have more integration with other platforms."
"The SaaS platform performance could be improved. At a previous company, we used this same solution on-premises, the data exchange was much faster compared to the SaaS platform and we sometimes experience lags."
"The solution's performance can be improved when you are trying to access it remotely."
"The solution must provide better security features."
"I have found that Microsoft has vulnerabilities when it comes to Exchange Online. It has become the port of a lot of hacker attacks."
"The WebAccess feature is somewhat lacking and could be improved."
"Their support can be improved. It is not as good as it used to be."
"Customer support did what they could but we had some issues because it required coordination between GroupWise and SUSE Linux or the Micro Focus storage support. It became a ping pong between these two parts of the same company and was unpleasant."
"What I don't like about Micro Focus GroupWise is the removal of the Unix client. Micro Focus took that function away about ten years ago because there wasn't enough demand for it."
"Their support can be improved. It is not as good as it used to be."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of Google Workspace, so far, has been reasonable."
"Pricing is something concerning. We find the solution very expensive."
"We have purchased an annual subscription."
"The price per client within the business is too high."
"We receive value for the price that we pay."
"I can't recall the exact pricing per user for Google Workspace, but I know it's not that expensive. I'm in a mid-sized company that's able to maintain and afford Google Workspace, so it has competitive pricing, and I would rate its price as four out of five."
"Approximately $6 per user, per month."
"The solution is expensive."
"I think that the price is a little high, especially considering that Google have a similar, free email solution."
"We have a three-year license for $25,000."
"We have yearly licensing costs."
"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."
"The licensing price is ok, I'd rate it as four out of five."
"There is an annual enterprise subscription to use Microsoft Exchange Online. The price is reasonable."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online security could improve. The overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."
"It was a part of the suite, so it was very cost-effective. There were no costs beyond the licensing fee."
"Micro Focus GroupWise is the most affordable solution on-premises. Versus Microsoft Exchange on-premises, pricing is 20:1, so there's no comparison. Micro Focus GroupWise is cheaper, though, for my clients, it's not about the cost but the stability and security of the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise40
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Workspace?
The company made the decision to migrate, so I'm not sure why specifically. The company is moving the data and the Mi...
What needs improvement with Google Workspace?
Before I was in a Microsoft environment, which had its own software that was not website-based. When I moved to Googl...
What is your primary use case for Google Workspace?
I have been using Google Workspace for file organizing, including Google Drive, Spreadsheet, Gmail, and Google Form, ...
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?
If I segment it into three points: low price, average, and high price, I would place Microsoft Exchange Online betwee...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
There is room for improvement in Microsoft Exchange Online. Technical support for Microsoft is good, but in all fairn...
Ask a question
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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
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
Micro Focus GroupWise, GroupWise
 

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.
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Heritage Oaks Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: March 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.