HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. HCLSoftware is ranked #19 in RADS , with an average rating of 7.4, and holds a 0.6% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #2 in EA , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 13.8% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Domino

Read 21 HCL Domino reviews

830 Views
215 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange Online

Read 90 Microsoft Exchange Online reviews

4,403 Views
2,984 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HCL Domino

Microsoft Exchange Online

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HCL Domino and Microsoft Exchange Online based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, ServiceNow, Oracle and others in Rapid Application Development Software.

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June 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

HCL Domino

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Rapid Application Development Software (19th)

Microsoft Exchange Online

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Applications (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Microsoft Exchange Online aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. HCL Domino is designed for Rapid Application Development Software and holds a mindshare of 0.6%, up 0.5% compared to last year.
Microsoft Exchange Online, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 13.8% mindshare, down 15.7% since last year.

Rapid Application Development Software

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

FrederickLim

Technical Service Manager at Top Level Corporation Limited

Provides mobile email systems with solid stability and easy deployment

The initial setup is easy. You need to sign up. It depends on the scope. It will take longer if there are more than one or more applications. The project usually includes infrastructure and deployment may take anywhere from one month to six months. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Read full review

NancyHartman

Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"HCL Domino is an application development and collaboration platform with strong stability and security. Deployment of this platform is easy and takes only 10 minutes."

"For workflow applications or general applications, the rapid development capability is what we value most."

"One valuable feature of HCL Domino is its integration with other directories."

"The most important benefit is security. The security architecture is very good. It's the best part of the solution."

"The email system is the most valuable feature."

"I find the HCL Domino server scalable."

"The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration."

"We can scale it if we want to."

More HCL Domino pros

"All of the Microsoft Exchange Online is very useful, such as the sections, the information protection, and the mail flows."

"The features of Microsoft Exchange Online are very intuitive and well-built, keeping the user experience in mind. The usability and the accessibility are the best aspects of this solution."

"The most valuable feature is being able to assign an individual a task."

"It's easy to use and there is more integration."

"The solution offers complete scalability and flexibility."

"Microsoft Exchange Online is easy to use. You have a common storage where people can store documents. It also helps with version control."

"Its most valuable feature is the unlimited storage. It also has very little downtime."

"We have found the solution to be stable."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pros

Cons

"The solution is expensive."

"For me, the one thing missing is a really good reporting engine."

"The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."

"Its performance and integration could be better. It has capabilities for large deployment with several servers, but in the latest interface, running with different servers isn't supported."

"Recently, IBM sold the product to HCL. Since Pakistan and India have some problems on a domestic level, we were actually considering replacing it with Indian products from the organization. We're just facing some regulatory issues."

"HCL Domino could have a better interface."

"Many people are not very happy with its speed."

"They should provide its integration with other AI applications."

More HCL Domino cons

"In terms of machine controls, it was very confusing, and some of the administrative parts will be done from the control, but in online writing mostly we can handle everything."

"I would rate Exchange Online's stability eight out of ten - it has room for improvement."

"The price could be cheaper."

"The solution is expensive."

"We use different software for email spoofing filters and similar functions because Exchange is quite limited in this area."

"Microsoft Exchange Online could improve the overall protection of the solution."

"The problem with Exchange is that the attributes aren't flexible enough. I'd like to see more interaction with Office 365 and tighter integration between on-prem Exchange and Exchange Online. There's still a disconnect between mailboxes and the cloud."

"When initially setting up, it took a bit of time because we had a lot of PST files with the users, and we had to migrate them batch by batch."

More Microsoft Exchange Online cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is subjective and contingent on the intended usage."

"Customers have to pay for a license for the Notes Client, not for the Domino database. There is a quarter license that we use."

"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."

"For 30 licenses, we pay $1,500 every year. It is not an expensive product."

"My company's customers need to make monthly or yearly payments towards the license charges of the product."

"We pay annually for the use of this solution and it is only a standard fee."

"We're happy with the price of our license — it's pretty standard."

"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."

More HCL Domino pricing and cost advice

"The product is expensive and has an annual subscription."

"Microsoft Exchange Online is too expensive."

"We bought some licenses, and some are within our package or partnership with Microsoft."

"The price of the solution could be less expensive."

"The price of the license depends on a lot of factors, such as the number of licenses and company specifics."

"Our organization pays for a corporate license to use the 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."

"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."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL Domino?

The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL Domino?

The Notes client is very expensive, costing around $105 per client. Overall, HCL Domino is a costly product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HCL Domino?

The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved. Many people are not very happy with its speed. Additionally, in-line editing of documents and a document viewer are functionalities ...

See all answers

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 organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track comm...

See all answers

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 we use for different users.

See all answers

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 in the mobile version of Microsoft Exchange Online, so that could be improved if...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Exchange vs HCL Domino

Compared 36% of the time

HCL Notes vs HCL Domino

Compared 12% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs HCL Domino

Compared 9% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs HCL Domino

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs HCL Domino

Compared 8% of the time

More HCL Domino Competitors

Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 51% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 10% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 9% of the time

Zoho Mail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 6% of the time

IceWarp vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Online Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL Domino

June 2025

Download HCL Domino product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange Online

May 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange Online product report

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino

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

Overview

HCL Domino (formerly IBM Domino) is a secure, enterprise-grade, application development platform. From IT to business, HCL Domino is the only low to pro-code application development platform that allows your business to build robust applications to solve workflow and process challenges fast. HCL Domino powers businesses around the world with 15,000 customers and 10 million apps built on our platform. HCL Domino has always been a secure, rock-solid, and proven solution.

Low cost of ownership - minimizing administration needs through automated installations, policies and monitoring helps staff focus on higher value tasks.
Minimized infrastructure - reducing costs by using less power, memory, data storage, network bandwidth and servers.
Rich application environment - supporting workflow-driven and people-oriented applications that help a wide variety of business operations deliver enhanced results.
Security-rich - helping protect your critical business assets. You can control information access, protect information and guarantee document authenticity.
High availability - featuring advanced clustering, replication, server fault recovery and automated diagnostic tools.

HCLSoftware

Exchange Online helps protect your information with advanced capabilities. Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering protect mailboxes. Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people. Globally redundant servers, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock safeguard your data.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames

Buyer's Guide

Rapid Application Development Software

June 2025

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