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HCL Sametime vs Webex 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
Webex
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webex is 6.8%, down from 17.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Webex6.8%
HCL Sametime1.5%
Other91.7%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Akhil Viswam - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Collaborating in hybrid incident calls has become faster while the meeting interface still needs fixes
The best features are the ability to schedule meetings and launch ad hoc meetings. Additionally, we can create breakout rooms within the meeting itself, which is another excellent feature. Whenever we have production issues, many teams join a single Webex call. Sometimes we need to group together as separate smaller groups and work in parallel to identify the production issues. In those cases, we create Webex breakout rooms and each member joins the corresponding breakout session to progress on their task. Webex helps significantly in the hybrid environment. When we are working from home, it is very easy for us to meet with other team members and the management to get in touch and progress. Webex improves communication because even if we are working from home, we can connect with people and talk to them on a video call. It has improved the incident resolution time by getting into a call in Webex rooms and remediating the issues together as soon as possible. Audio and video quality is excellent for Webex. It has saved considerable time in terms of incident remediation. Whenever we have issues, we jump on a call and work together in parallel. This approach saves time and improves efficiency.

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."
"I like Webex because it is easy to work with."
"As compared to Zoom, I like its user interface more. It is much easier to use, and I also find it more stable."
"Webex's main feature is you get 1,000 participants per meeting by default and can join from 75 meeting units. You don't have to buy additional licenses."
"The tool alerts us when there are issues with our Kubernetes environment, such as excessive container usage. This allows our operations team to quickly identify and address these issues, reducing the time it takes to resolve them."
"The solution is perfectly stable, it normally performs very well."
"The solution has been very stable."
"The chat and meeting scheduling features in Webex are most valuable for our team's productivity."
"Based on my experience, I would recommend Webex to others; it's a good solution."
 

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."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"In terms of features, it would be beneficial for Webex to focus on improving its chat functionality to make it more user-friendly. Additionally, enhancing communication operations to create a friendlier user experience would be advantageous. Other individuals who have tried using it faced challenges when attempting to share content with third parties during conversations or meetings."
"It would be better if it were more secure. I do expect Webex to keep up with hackers and their latest techniques."
"It would be better if I could just join meetings directly on the web without extra downloads and steps."
"Webex is a very demanding application, so it requires a very heavy bandwidth."
"There's some difficulty in Webex, particularly when a third party needs access and that third party is not part of the domain of the company, it could be difficult."
"The product's user interface is an area with shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"There is a small bug when it comes to connecting my Webex with my Outlook Calendar. Some meetings show up, and others don't. They should fix this bug."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"There is an annual license required for this solution."
"My organization took care of the licensing. I'm guessing they did some subscription cycle, but I used the free version."
"I rate the platform's pricing a six out of ten."
"I have recently switched to a different solution. WebEx is more costly. There are equivalent solutions at a lower cost."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"Webex is a cheaply priced tool."
"The pricing of this solution is fine and I am satisfied with it."
"The solution is low-cost for a hybrid model."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
882,594 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Marketing Services Firm
16%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise62
 

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 Webex?
Webex improved our overall team collaboration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Webex?
From when I last implemented it, I found the price to be expensive. The licensing model doesn't work because if I want to implement it for an organization, I need to pay a per-user license, which m...
What needs improvement with Webex?
Webex can be improved in terms of better user experience. Sometimes I experience glitches that can be fixed. One of the pain points with the interface is that sometimes it gets stuck when launching...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
Cisco Spark
 

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
Seagate Technology, Kohn Pedersen Fox, World Vision International, Glen Raven, University of Notre Dame, CEV Multimedia, The Food Group, LUMEDX, California Baptist University, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Webex and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,594 professionals have used our research since 2012.