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HCL Notes vs OpenText GroupWise 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
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText GroupWise
Ranking in Email Applications
12th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText GroupWise is 2.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL Notes3.3%
OpenText GroupWise2.6%
Other94.1%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AT
IT Director at ATOS
Has improved email security through built-in encryption and supported offline work effectively
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 product better by being more visible on the market because most companies don't support or use HCL anymore, and most integrators work with Exchange or Outlook rather than HCL Notes. Inside HCL Notes functionality, they have to be more visible in the market, which is very important.
JN
Consulting Manager at Technical Consulting Resources
Great security, stability, versatility, expandability and low cost of ownership.
I like the ease of login best in GroupWise. With the desktop client you can login to GroupWise independently of the PC login and it has Web Client that can be used if your prefer not to install the client or are using a PC that does not have the GroupWise Client installed. I also like its user proxy capabilities. I also like the level of security that it provides. Additionally, it comes with GroupWise Messenger for secure instant messaging to desktop or mobile devices. It integrates well with the email on your mobile devices and smart phones via GroupWise Mobile Services.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is one of the best products in the world for workflow applications. It works very well for workflows or decisional processes where a task needs to be first approved by someone. After that, the task moves to the next or final stage where another person approves it with some notes or attached documents."
"It is easy to integrate the product with other services."
"The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents, which offers us an easy way to make changes."
"The most valuable feature is the UI."
"There are two real headliners: The first one is that ongoing license cost is a fraction of its competition, and secondly: security, security, security; it is the most secure platform you will ever have."
"I prefer to work with HCL and not with Exchange because it's easy to manage, easy to set up, and easy to migrate."
"Its security is absolutely stratospheric. In an application, you can lock down to field-level security. For example, I could log in and see a field in an HR database with salaries. When you log in, you see exactly the same database, but the field with the salary just isn't there. So, you can literally have field-level security on it, and you can also have secure encryption. For example, I could give you that database allowing you to see the salary, but a calculation that shows how much they get per month in another field is encrypted. So, you won't be able to see that because you don't have the encryption key. You can implement high-level security very simply."
"HCL Notes has a non-structured database and fantastic native security, which is extremely strong, providing built-in security without needing external products."
"The solution is very flexible and has great storage capacity."
"I like the ease of logging best in Micro Focus GroupWise. I also like its proxy capabilities from a user level. I also like how secure Micro Focus GroupWise is."
"I would advise others who are looking into implementing this product to go for it."
"Very secure with great storage capacity."
"The cost-effectiveness of the solution is most valuable."
 

Cons

"I would like to HCL update Notes' development tool and make it more attractive like Microsoft Visual Studio and similar products. For example, there's a programming language that I used for my product Woodpecker called LotusScript. LotusScript has been available since around 1995. When LotusScript was released, it was like the original Visual Basic, but it has improved since then."
"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"While HCL has made significant advances in the user interface and diverse platform compatibility, some improvements could be made in user-friendliness and graphical interface enhancements."
"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."
"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."
"We are actually in process of shifting away from this software; I can not really think of any pros to talk about when it comes to this solution that make it better than something else."
"We had trouble connecting this solution to the database from Microsoft. We have done it, although it can be easier."
"Customer support did what they could but we had some issues because it required coordination between GroupWise and SUSE Linux or the Micro Focus storage support. It became a ping pong between these two parts of the same company and was unpleasant."
"What I don't like about Micro Focus GroupWise is the removal of the Unix client. Micro Focus took that function away about ten years ago because there wasn't enough demand for it."
"Their support can be improved. It is not as good as it used to be."
"The WebAccess feature is somewhat lacking and could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"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."
"The price is reasonable."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"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."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"It was a part of the suite, so it was very cost-effective. There were no costs beyond the licensing fee."
"Micro Focus GroupWise is the most affordable solution on-premises. Versus Microsoft Exchange on-premises, pricing is 20:1, so there's no comparison. Micro Focus GroupWise is cheaper, though, for my clients, it's not about the cost but the stability and security of the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
No data available
 

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...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
Micro Focus GroupWise, GroupWise
 

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
Heritage Oaks Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. OpenText GroupWise and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.