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HCL Notes vs KerioConnect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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 Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
KerioConnect
Ranking in Email Applications
9th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.4%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KerioConnect is 4.4%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HCL Notes3.4%
KerioConnect4.4%
Other92.2%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

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.
David Bloomer - PeerSpot reviewer
Lightweight, simple, and robust; easy to maintain and doesn't require a lot of system resources to run
Kerio Connect does as advertised, so there are no real issues with the product itself. It's developed regularly, so there are constant updates. Possibly, the support and development have lessened since they've sold the company, but as far as the product itself is concerned, there isn't anything that I would suggest needs improvement. If I'm being picky, Kerio Connect uses a proprietary, mappy atom for Outlook, and it would be nice if they used a native mappy connection instead, but that's the only additional feature that I would like to see in its next release. If they have native Outlook map integration, that would be great, but other than that, it's got all the functions that I think a mail server should have.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"HCL Notes is stable most of the time."
"The initial setup was easy for me."
"The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents. This offers us an easy way to make changes."
"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."
"The most valuable feature is the UI."
"The product is very stable and scalable."
"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."
"The solution provides great security."
"We use the solution as a mail server. It connects with Outlook and is used for calendaring and similar tasks."
"KerioConnect has integration with 365. We can use Outlook, which has its client and can be used with Apple devices. It integrates with the App Store and Microsoft Office. It has a smart router. The spam filtering and antivirus are good."
"The most valuable features are its ease of use, excellent pricing, and it is platform agnostic."
"Backing up and maintaining it is straightforward compared to Microsoft Exchange, making it administrator-friendly."
"Kerio Connect is secure, flexible, and easy to control from the user interface. It has many security features able to be controlled from one place, such as anti-spam. I have found it very convenient. Additionally, you can analyze log files and share folders which is helpful."
"It's relatively simple to use."
"The solution is easy to maintain, unlike Exchange. It's easy to create multiple domains and back up and restore if needed. It also has good security features like anti-spam and antivirus."
"We have contacted technical support a handful of times and received some assistance."
 

Cons

"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."
"We had trouble connecting this solution to the database from Microsoft. We have done it, although it can be easier."
"One minor issue was that using Notes to connect to clients not running on Domino, such as Gmail or Outlook, is not particularly great."
"The loading time can be excessive."
"The only improvement that we're planning to do is that all our applications are still designed in the layout and format of Notes version 4, and our plan over the coming years is to modernize their look. One of the things they're developing or considering deploying is a program to automatically upgrade the look and feel of databases. If they deploy that, that will be revolutionary. In other words, we decide on a corporate look and feel for our database and press a button. We've probably got 50 different applications in Notes, and it would just go through the whole lot and upgrade all of them to look the same."
"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."
"It could be simpler to use and install, but I still wouldn't use it because there isn't a compelling use case."
"We cannot compete with them because they're fully integrated with their applications."
"I would like to see better support from their support team."
"Having a native Outlook map integration would make Kerio Connect better."
"You cannot integrate with other services like Google Docs, Google Assistant, Google Calendar, etc."
"KerioConnect is stable as long as you use a strong password."
"The search and archiving documentation capabilities need to be stronger."
"Most of our clients use Outlook and Kerio Connect. Occasionally, Kerio can be a bit slow. They could make it faster to get onto the web interface without so much load time. It's just slow with Outlook, however, for some reason."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is reasonable."
"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."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"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."
"The price of Kerio Connect is better when comparing it to others solutions."
"The solution's pricing depends on how long you plan to keep it because you pay on a per-year basis. You might have a one-time setup cost for something like Microsoft Exchange or a Linux mail server. I'd say this solution is expensive on a per-year basis, almost 2000-3000 dollars annually. It doesn't seem to pay off yet, so we're considering switching to another product."
"The pricing is about $3 per mailbox per month."
"KerioConnect has a first-time cost and yearly subscription. It is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
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.
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. We use it for email and calendars extensively.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Notes?
We actively work with HCL Notes and have integrated it with other applications as it is installed on Windows. We use HCL Notes and Domino, along with HCL Connections and HCL BigFix. Regarding custo...
What do you like most about KerioConnect?
The most valuable features are security and privacy because you installed it on your server, within your company premises, not in the cloud.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for KerioConnect?
KerioConnect has a first-time cost and yearly subscription. It is not expensive.
What needs improvement with KerioConnect?
KerioConnect continues to improve with regular updates throughout the year. They must be added to the roadmap, which requires approval. In larger organizations, the server's capabilities and the da...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Southern Tier Brewing Company, Innotta, Baustoff + Metall, Hamifleurs, Chanson TV, Ryman Stationery
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. KerioConnect and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.