HCL Sametime vs Microsoft Teams comparison

HCLSoftware and Microsoft are both solutions in the Virtual Meetings category. HCLSoftware is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2. HCLSoftware holds a 1.3% mindshare in VM, compared to Microsoft’s 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Sametime

Read 5 HCL Sametime reviews

336 Views
269 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Microsoft Teams

Read 173 Microsoft Teams reviews

3,011 Views
873 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

HCL Sametime

Microsoft Teams

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

HCL Sametime and Microsoft Teams are competing products in the collaboration and communication category for businesses. Microsoft Teams seems to have the upper hand due to its integration capabilities and comprehensive features.

Features: HCL Sametime has strong security and real-time communication tools suitable for in-house collaboration, and integration with IBM Notes. Microsoft Teams offers integration with other Microsoft products, video conferencing, and third-party app support, making it versatile for enterprises.

Room for Improvement: HCL Sametime could enhance its integration capabilities and expand cloud support, and improve its user interface for better user experience. Microsoft Teams might improve on resource efficiency, user interface simplicity, and offline functionalities to optimize user performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL Sametime offers straightforward deployment through on-premises solutions, providing high control and security. Microsoft Teams is cloud-based, allowing fast scalability across devices, with more extensive support and resources available.

Pricing and ROI: HCL Sametime has lower initial setup costs and offers a good ROI for cost-effective solutions with on-premises access. Microsoft Teams, with a subscription model, provides higher ROI due to its extensive features and integration capabilities, supporting long-term scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 peers since 2012

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

18th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Teams

Ranking in Virtual Meetings

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

173

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Social Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Teams is 2.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Teams	2.7%
HCL Sametime	1.3%
Other	96.0%

Virtual Meetings

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski

Kierownik Biura Informatyki at EIB SA

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…

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Anna Virtsan

IT Project Manager at UkrSibbank

Have streamlined daily workflow and task management but still face inconvenience from recent interface changes and limited integration options

There are challenges and issues in Microsoft Teams, such as after recent updates where group chats were combined with Teams, chats, and groups into one. Users have to work with settings to make it normal again so Teams are separated from chats, and that was a really inconvenient update. Many users ask me to help make it back again to separate Teams and groups from one-to-one chats. That's probably the worst update they've made recently. Additionally, there are some minor features, such as when I work with messages, I don't have an actual forward or quote option when replying to someone's message. I need to be careful not to miss the quote sign. For a lot of people, they are confused about where the quotes option is. I've received a couple of hundred support tickets just regarding this issue. The function to share email to Teams chat doesn't work sometimes due to our compliance policies, and sometimes it would be nice to be able to forward an email to the group chat and have further discussions. Microsoft Teams could improve by being less glitchy because it glitches a lot, leading to undelivered emails and undelivered messages. It would be beneficial if the MS application Shifts, which adds functionality to groups, could be integrated into the groups calendar. Currently, many teams don't use the app because it is not integrated with the general calendar or the Outlook calendar, making it basically a useless application. The platform needs less Copilot and more people. The general Copilot integration into the platform is less glitchy, but Microsoft Teams is quite heavy and glitchy sometimes. Stability depends a lot on compliance restrictions, policies, and quality of internet. Sometimes, when updates are enrolling, the platform glitches, breaks, or shuts down.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security was quite good."

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."

"We like it because it makes it easy to communicate, chat, make video calls, and schedule meetings with people."

"The product enables us to create teams for specific projects."

"The solution's most valuable features are robust security and communication within teams or channels."

"This solution is great for ad hoc video conferencing. It's so easy to start a meeting."

"Message and chat retention is a valuable feature."

"The solution is easy to use and helps me to communicate with my students."

"You can use Microsoft Teams to chat with people, share your documents, manage your calendar, manage your project, and assign tasks."

"The product has improved communication in our organization."

More Microsoft Teams pros

Cons

"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."

"Microsoft Teams should include the possibility of creating questionnaires or polls during webinars, whereby the people watching can answer the questionnaires in real time."

"One of my colleagues was trying to use Microsoft Teams on their laptop, and it was slow in terms of booting up when initially starting it. For example, it was not running in the background. In general, it takes some time to load. Zoom tends to have a faster loading time."

"There can be more customization and also the task management tools needs better tools for integration."

"We occasionally have issues with synchronization between different dates. This aspect of stability needs improvement."

"I have faced issues with connection. Maybe, it's an issue from my side. The company accounts in Teams has some issues as well. I could not establish calls with certain domains, and then the product asked me to buy a professional account. The problem with Teams is that they are split between professional or company accounts and personal accounts. It's not very clear how you can go from one to another. That's the main issue with teams."

"Microsoft Teams withdrew the Wiki function, which was quite a good and useful feature."

"The mobile application needs improvement. There are a lot of features on the web and desktop versions that aren't implemented yet on mobile."

"Sometimes, other participants cannot see the shared screen during meetings. The tool also needs to automatically switch to devices as we change them. When I try to switch audio from speaker to Bluetooth, I have to manually do that."

More Microsoft Teams cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"In our experience, pricing may differ from country to country, with some regions offering more favorable rates due to local payment arrangements."

"We need to pay for Microsoft Teams' licenses on a yearly basis."

"The solution's pricing is fair enough and not expensive. Teams' licensing costs are yearly. However, Zoom is less expensive."

"Microsoft Teams is a cheap solution because it's included in the Microsoft 365 suite."

"The solution is part of enterprise Microsoft 365 licensing."

"It is expensive."

"We are satisfied with the price of this solution."

"The product is expensive, and I rate its pricing a ten out of ten."

More Microsoft Teams pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

23%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	64
Midsize Enterprise	43
Large Enterprise	70

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...

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What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?

It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.

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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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Teams?

Regarding the license, the Microsoft 365 license I am taking is quite expensive, and every year it goes higher. The solution is expensive for Microsoft Teams as well.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Teams?

Today, we do not integrate any third-party apps into Microsoft Teams, but we may use project management tools such as Jira in the future. We used to integrate something, but now we do not need it. ...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

January 2026

Download HCL Sametime product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Teams

January 2026

Download Microsoft Teams product report

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime

MS Teams

Overview

HCL Sametime. Secure Conversations Across Any Device

Your company can’t afford to take any data risks, but your teams still need to be able to interact and react quickly, wherever they are working. Sametime offers modern instant messaging, file-sharing, and online meetings with the proven security your business can trust.

HCLSoftware

At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is grounded in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world.

We do business in 170 countries and are made up of 114,000 passionate employees dedicated to fulfilling our mission of helping you and your organization achieve more.

Microsoft

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

Buyer's Guide

HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams

December 2025

Free Report: HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams

Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Microsoft Teams and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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