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HCL Notes vs Zimbra Collaboration 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
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.2%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 6.9%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration6.9%
HCL Notes3.2%
Other89.9%
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.
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is practical, good interface, and performs well."
"It offers unique capabilities, excellent security, and replication features."
"The solution provides great security."
"Notes is a perfectly adequate front end. It's clear and straightforward."
"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."
"It is easy to integrate the product with other services."
"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."
"The product is very stable and scalable."
"Network NG Modules are valuable to us."
"Zimbra Collaboration is a good tool for video calls...Zimbra Collaboration's initial setup phase was easy."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
"We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure."
"Zimbra Collaboration's best feature is its compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which allows users to use Outlook on Windows or MacOS."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"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."
"The solution could improve by adding some more features."
"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"GUI and replication can be improved."
"There is a chat component but it does not work properly."
"I would like to see a Microsoft schedule function added."
"The installation is not straightforward, it can take two days for the full implementation."
"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
"We have had an issue with security."
"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."
"Zimbra should provide a desktop client. Right now, we are using a web browser for accessing our emails. There should also be a desktop client."
"Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on."
"There are some security issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is reasonable."
"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 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."
"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."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"The price of the solution is low."
"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."
"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."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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 Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

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...
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...
What needs improvement with Zimbra Collaboration?
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 soluti...
 

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
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,108 professionals have used our research since 2012.