Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HCL Sametime vs Microsoft Teams comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 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 Sametime
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Teams
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
169
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Social Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Teams is 3.6%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Teams3.6%
HCL Sametime0.6%
Other95.8%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature.  The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…
Arun Srivastav - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless presentation and collaboration enhance organizational productivity
There are three main areas for improvement: Firstly, AI capabilities should be integrated into Microsoft Teams to provide better transcript services and offer multiple language support. Secondly, it should allow participants to remain visible during presentations, enhancing interaction. Lastly, it needs broader integration capabilities with other products, like Salesforce, which is currently limited.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"The security was quite good."
"Everything is valuable, such as the chats, the calls, and the file sharing."
"The solution's stability is quite good, and it doesn't crash and freeze up when you have a large number of users."
"Its feature that allows for meetings is very good. Also, the solution's performance has been good, and there have been no issues. I rate the performance of the solution a ten out of ten."
"Microsoft Teams is a scalable tool because it integrates with many other tools and different kinds of apps."
"You can easily integrate with other applications quite easily."
"I think it is stable when I use it for meetings with my customers...The initial setup of Microsoft Teams is easy."
"It provides a collaborative space for efficient work processes."
"I like the video call and document-sharing features."
 

Cons

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."
"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."
"The whiteboarding area in the tool has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"For future releases, I would like to see Microsoft Teams to make a lighter application and drop some features."
"After six months of working with it, I still find the UI a little clunky when it comes to sharing content and moving around between features like the calendar and files."
"User interface could be improved"
"The main issue is that the link goes down when there are internet issues."
"The solution should standardize the options across platforms. What I mean by that is, sometimes, on the mobile, there are not the same options and set up features and functions as are available on the web or on the desktop app. Everything should have the exact same functionality, otherwise, it's difficult if some people are on mobile and others are on desktop."
"The solution's security feature needs enhancement for external collaborations with business partners and vendors."
"I didn't know that Teams is part of Office 365, so I think that it should be better advertised with its features and capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We are using the free version of the solutions."
"Pricing is free to a threshold and then after that you have to license per user."
"Microsoft Teams is a cheap solution because it's included in the Microsoft 365 suite."
"We are satisfied with the price of this solution."
"It is moderately expensive than other Microsoft products."
"If you have content that requires more security and you want to use it in a more secure manner, with more protection, then it will come at a higher cost."
"The solution is expensive and I would rate it a nine out of ten."
"Its pricing is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
21%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise66
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?
I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...
What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?
Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.
What do you like most about Microsoft Teams?
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Teams for us is the ability to share files from OneDrive seamlessly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Teams?
I have no information about the cost as these are subsidized when procured by companies. Getting a home version cheaper or free would be a better option so students or college-goers can utilize the...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Teams?
I am unable to determine which features of Microsoft Teams are the most valuable because we do not have full capabilities due to our Exchange server being on-premise and OneDrive not being authoriz...
 

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
MS Teams
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
Honeywll, AIRFRANCE, AccuWeather, Lilly
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.