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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
15th
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 April 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webex is 6.4%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Webex6.4%
HCL Sametime1.4%
Other92.2%
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…
DO
Web Designer / Developer & Creative Professional at Federal University of Technology Akure
Virtual training has supported collaborative learning and now needs a simpler and clearer interface
Webex can be simplified in terms of user interface, where many features should be displayed in a compact view, with similar features grouped together and a minimalistic design helping users understand what each button does. If specific features are not needed, they should not distract you, and some features should appear as sliding elements for ease of access. Additionally, connecting to Webex can be technical, and it would be beneficial to have a way to connect anonymously using a simple code instead of going through microphone issues.

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."
"Audio and video calls provide faster communication than chat."
"A very good communication and real-time collaboration software, it is simple, fast, reliable, keeps history and the best feature of all is its intelligence."
"This solution saves time and cost in communicating with team members, streamlines tasks in my organization by encouraging us to chat directly with the relevant person, and strengthens professional relationships through increased communication among peers."
"It is useful for me for having meetings with others and working well remotely."
"Great quality of sound, quality of pics and video."
"It's easy to dial the numbers and the process of connecting a call is very intuitive."
"They have a feature called Call Me in which I need to type in my phone number and I can get a conference room to call my number rather than needing to dial in every time. I think that's a quite good feature."
"Simple, yet powerful! Excellent mobile interface (Android user here). Everything from registration to team creation and collaboration feels smooth and seamless!"
"The important feature is breakout sessions. We can create a breakout session if you want to hold a conference and make a room only for some people at the meeting."
"The transcripts from Webex calls get delivered to the inbox five minutes after the call. However, out of 20 people on a call, maybe only one person bothers to read through the entire transcript, which can be lengthy for an hour-long call."
"I feel the solution to be stable and they are constantly improving on it."
 

Cons

"It seems that the software might in the future, support the software telephony exchange but at the current time, it is not doing that and because of that one key feature of real-time communication is missing from it."
"The interface is too colorful and looks like Windows XP."
"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."
"Sametime hangs sometimes and therefore needs to get restarted."
"This solution would be much better if we could install an endpoint and have centralized management."
"Webex support is not good. When we try to open a ticket, it takes approximately 24 hours. With Microsoft, we get support within two or three hours."
"To make Webex more competitive, I would suggest lowering the price and providing some of the same features that are in Teams or Zoom."
"The modification of the email template is not very intuitive."
"The scalability is not that good. If we small group meeting the solution is good, but if there is a large group of people to join the meeting then the network seems unstable."
"I have had issues with the frequent updates from Webex."
"CWMS on-premises solution does not integrate either with CMR nor with Jabber as of yet."
"I would like it if Webex's mobile interface had all the same application integration as the desktop. Maybe the applications work on mobile as well, but we have not tried it yet."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We purchase the product's yearly license. It is expensive."
"The price of Webex is in the middle range compared to the market."
"Webex is expensive, especially compared to Zoom or Google."
"Webex is a cheaply priced tool."
"The cost is pretty high compared to the competitors."
"I believe the license to be monthly."
"I am using the free version of Webex."
"I have recently switched to a different solution. WebEx is more costly. There are equivalent solutions at a lower cost."
report
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885,880 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
18%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Religious Institution
8%
 

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 simplified in terms of user interface, where many features should be displayed in a compact view, with similar features grouped together and a minimalistic design helping users underst...
 

Comparisons

 

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: April 2026.
885,880 professionals have used our research since 2012.