HCL Domino vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Zimbra 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. Zimbra is ranked #5 in EA , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 8.6% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Zimbra users who would recommend it.

HCL Domino

Read 21 HCL Domino reviews

830 Views
215 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Zimbra Collaboration

Read 29 Zimbra Collaboration reviews

2,646 Views
1,809 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HCL Domino

Zimbra Collaboration

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HCL Domino and Zimbra Collaboration based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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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)

Zimbra Collaboration

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Applications (5th)

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Zimbra Collaboration 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.
Zimbra Collaboration, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 8.6% mindshare, down 9.8% 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

Vidya Shree

CTO at Molecular Connections Private Limited

Deploys quickly and has a good web interface

Zimbra Collaboration has a good web interface When it comes to administration tasks like configuring specific filters or group signatures, I have to dig into the configuration since there's nothing in the graphical or web interface. The solution’s forums don't have much information or…

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

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

"This solution can be used for workflow application so that applications can be easily developed."

"It serves as a centralized solution that fulfills all my requirements from operating my email server to managing various aspects of my operations."

"I like that HCL Domino is stable. It's a great product. I also like that HCL Domino is a mature product under IBM, which is why many companies use it."

"The pricing is excellent."

"Overall, I would rate HCL Domino as eight out of ten. I would recommend HCL Domino and Notes applications for small and medium-sized companies since it offers a good return on investment."

"They offer good support and provide a roadmap."

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

More HCL Domino pros

"Network NG Modules are valuable to us."

"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."

"Good email solution and it's open-source."

"The configuration is simple."

"One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs. Many of the clients customize features such as organization logos and scanners."

"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."

"The product is easy to set up."

More Zimbra Collaboration pros

Cons

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

"An area for improvement in HCL Domino is security. New enhancements in the IT industry mean that security should be improved. The HCL Domino GUI also needs improvement."

"The solution could improve Kubernetes or Dockers migration to new environments in the cloud."

"Scalability is also an issue. We have problems with large databases."

"The client version of this solution could be faster and be made simpler for non-IT users. You will need to have some knowledge of Notes to correctly install this solution."

"Designing a new template could provide a refreshed visual experience for users without significant changes to the underlying functionality."

"It would be advantageous if the web server could seamlessly pick up configuration changes without the need for a complete restart."

"Scalability needs to be improved to be on the level that's required. Support could also be enhanced."

More HCL Domino cons

"The solution’s forums don't have much information or documentation on administration tasks."

"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."

"It is good and competent, but you have to pay for video and group chat features."

"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."

"We have had an issue with security."

"The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature."

"The product must be more customizable."

"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."

More Zimbra Collaboration cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of price."

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

"The pricing is individually determined. For us, in our current deployment, we pay $12.50 Canadian per month per user."

"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."

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

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

"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."

More HCL Domino pricing and cost advice

"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."

"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."

"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."

"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"

"It's very expensive. When we compare the cost with Google Workspace, it's so expensive."

"Zimbra Collaboration is less expensive than Microsoft Exchange. Zimbra works for small companies because it is not expensive. Zimbra Collaboration has more security tools than Microsoft Exchange. If you are choosing between Zimbra Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange, you have to take into account the cost of security tools with Microsoft Exchange. When you purchase Microsoft Exchange, you will also have to purchase tools for security, which adds to the cost. The migration from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution is very simple and easy. Migration from Microsoft Exchange to another email solution is very difficult. Microsoft doesn't allow migration that easily. In fact, you have to pay for tools to do that. You have to buy some expensive tools to migrate."

"The solution is competitively priced."

More Zimbra Collaboration 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

19%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

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

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 the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zimbra Collaboration?

The solution is competitively priced.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Exchange vs HCL Domino

Compared 36% of the time

HCL Notes vs HCL Domino

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs HCL Domino

Compared 11% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs HCL Domino

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs HCL Domino

Compared 8% of the time

More HCL Domino Competitors

Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 28% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 21% of the time

KerioConnect vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 16% of the time

IceWarp vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 10% of the time

Zarafa vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 3% of the time

More Zimbra Collaboration Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL Domino

June 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Zimbra Collaboration

May 2025

Download Zimbra Collaboration product report

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino

No data available

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

Zimbra Collaboration provides administrators and their end users innovative features that solve the challenges faced by organizations using today's legacy communications infrastructure.

Zimbra

Sample Customers

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

NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC

Buyer's Guide

Rapid Application Development Software

June 2025

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