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HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange Online 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.5
HCL Notes enhances efficiency and secure communication, offering ROI that outweighs its $100 annual cost per user.
Sentiment score
7.4
Companies achieved significant ROI with Microsoft Exchange Online, realizing savings and operational efficiency without hardware investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
HCL Notes support is praised for knowledgeable staff and quick response, with high user satisfaction but room for growth.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Exchange Online support is often praised for responsiveness, but user experiences vary with occasional delays and expertise issues.
Once Notes is running, it performs reliably without issues.
Architect at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
I would rate HCL technical support as eight out of ten.
IT Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
HCL Notes is scalable, integrates well with major platforms, but may face performance issues with large databases.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Exchange Online offers impressive scalability for large organizations, efficiently managing growth despite potential cost increases.
The scalability of the product is really good.
IT Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
HCL Notes is considered stable, with high ratings despite occasional server issues, enhanced post-IBM with improved features.
Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Exchange Online is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and improved stability since 2010, despite occasional external glitches.
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Notes needs modernization with improved interface, reliability, integration, and user-friendliness to compete with alternatives like Microsoft.
Microsoft Exchange Online struggles with integration, security, and usability, with users seeking better performance, pricing, and support.
I think HCL can make its product better by being more visible on the market because most companies don't support or use HCL anymore.
IT Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The front end of the databases on the home screen looks somewhat old-fashioned.
Administration & Technical Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

HCL Notes is praised for cost-effectiveness and adaptability, despite varied perceptions on pricing due to multiple components.
Enterprise users have mixed experiences with Microsoft Exchange Online's pricing, citing affordability for some, but high costs and complex licensing for others.
 

Valuable Features

HCL Notes excels in security, integration, ease of development, backward compatibility, and offers cost-effective groupware applications with email integration.
Microsoft Exchange Online provides unlimited storage, strong integration, enhanced security, spam filtering, and efficient remote access for diverse organizations.
We use HCL Notes for its offline capabilities, including the ability to work offline.
IT Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.6%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 11.5%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online11.5%
HCL Notes3.6%
Other84.9%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AM
RPA Developer at Hexaware Technologies Limited
Challenges with efficiency and interface lead to transition while offering some useful organization features
Office 365 has advantages over HCL Notes, offering a better interface and better categorization of emails. We get different kinds of options, including mail suggestions and AI options that can help users. Meetings, calendars, everything is in one place, making it more efficient. Office 365 offers a better interface and categorization of emails, along with options such as mail suggestions and AI features. Meetings and calendars are all integrated in one place.
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.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Applications solutions are best for your needs.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise40
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
We don't use team workspace with HCL Notes; we use only Microsoft because it's incorporated with the Microsoft license. Based on my extensive experience with HCL Notes, I think HCL can make its pro...
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
We use HCL Notes as an email system. We currently only use it as an email application, though in the past we used it for additional applications.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Notes?
Regarding HCL Notes supporting various business processes such as CRM, I don't use it, but if I have an issue, I contact the support and we are satisfied with that. I would rate HCL Notes 10 out of...
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...
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 between average and high price.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
I see no disadvantages currently. From the admin perspective, whenever an admin wants to get the email backup for a particular employee, there are a few challenges in terms of the role assignment o...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

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
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.