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Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zimbra Collaboration 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 May 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Google Workspace is 22.2%, down from 24.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 14.1%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 8.8%, down from 10.1% 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.
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.
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

"What I like most about Google Workspace is the Google Drive app because you can easily access it from anywhere and from any device. I also find the solution easy to use. It's user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of Google Workspace is the sheets and documents."
"It's easy to control the admin settings, like updating the SDS, NIK, etc. I"
"The valuable features of this solution are ease of use, performance is great, and collaboration. It is very easy to share and joins documents."
"personally prefer to use G Suite applications, such as Gmail, Slides, and Sheets, because they give you the freedom to share the document you're editing and co-work with other colleagues simultaneously."
"The product is user-friendly and knows how to appeal to a user. Google Docs accepts some of our requirements. Its most valuable feature is performance. The product's integrations are good."
"Valuable features of the solution are that it's simple and effective."
"G Suite is a powerful suite of tools for messaging and collaboration that has met the fundamental needs of my company, both increasing productivity and reducing costs."
"One of my favourite features is the Microsoft Calendar, which we use for booking appointments, scheduling calls, and managing resource rooms and devices. The Online Mailbox feature is also crucial because it allows us to communicate effectively within and outside the organization, contributing to our business growth."
"All of the Microsoft Exchange Online is very useful, such as the sections, the information protection, and the mail flows."
"The solution generally works well. We can send and receive emails just fine."
"Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support."
"Exchange Online's best feature is its webmail platform."
"The solution is stable."
"It's easy to use and there is more integration."
"The best part of this solution is the security it offers."
"We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure."
"Good email solution and it's open-source."
"The configuration is simple."
"The most valuable feature is sending messages as well as text and documents. It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization."
"The Zimbra Collaboration's most valuable feature is web access."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"Zimbra Collaboration is light to manage. It works on the Linux operating system, which is far better to manage than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Exchange works only on the Windows server. We prefer working on the Linux server for security reasons and ease of management. Zimbra Collaboration also has some integrated tools for security. It some modules to fight malware. These modules are not very powerful but are still doing a great job. Microsoft Exchange doesn't have a basic module. You have to purchase a security solution and add it to the solution. The cost of Zimbra Collaboration is one more reason for liking it. It is also very simple to migrate from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution."
"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."
 

Cons

"The price could be reduced."
"The tool should improve its on-prem capabilities to include people who are working offline. The pricing is also a challenge for both the Indian and overseas markets. The tool has a cap of 300 licenses. The product's price has also increased by 10 percent. Businesses are struggling to justify the ROI. Users cannot block emails unless they have a strong firewall."
"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."
"It would be a lot nicer if the default Gmail came with features that we currently need add-ons for, such as tables, automatic BCC, resizing of the panel on the left-hand side, email highlighting, and configuring the display of time and date against each email."
"Our users have faced an issue with increasing their email quotas over the last three months."
"The meeting platform of Google Workspace has room for improvement."
"Expensive with a complicated licensing structure."
"The solution could improve by having more frequent updates."
"The solution could improve with the integrations with some of the known applications is still not possible, there must be more connectors."
"It will be much better if the tool is integrated with OpenAI."
"The stability of the solution on Mac products has room for improvement."
"The solution should have a stand-alone application instead of us having to go through an internet browser."
"Functionality wise, I can't really say it's improved from Exchange Online, I think it's not so much change on-premise. It's about the same. Other than that, it's the extra features that make a difference, really"
"I would rate Exchange Online's stability eight out of ten - it has room for improvement."
"This product is too complex to use."
"Microsoft Exchange Online should have a faster search feature."
"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."
"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."
"Zimbra should provide a desktop client. Right now, we are using a web browser for accessing our emails. There should also be a desktop client."
"Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved."
"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature."
"The installation is not straightforward, it can take two days for the full implementation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 offer products with similar functionality at several different price points. Zoho offer a more extensive range of products and attempts to provide all the applications required to run most small and medium-sized businesses."
"I rate Google Workspace's pricing five to six out of ten. We do not pay any extra costs."
"2,500 Rupees per month per user."
"The price of the solution can vary."
"We pay a monthly subscription for the use of this solution."
"The pricing is comparable, it's pretty decent."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"We receive value for the price that we pay."
"There is a license required for the solution and it is paid annually."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is too expensive."
"This is an expensive solution."
"The product is very cheap."
"The pricing could be improved."
"We have a license per user scenario."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an affordable solution."
"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."
"It's very expensive. When we compare the cost with Google Workspace, it's so expensive."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
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 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 pricing for Microsoft Exchange Online is quite reasonable, in my opinion. Many licensing options are available so...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one ha...
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 ...
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.
 

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
No data available
 

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
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 Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: May 2025.
851,042 professionals have used our research since 2012.