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IceWarp vs Microsoft Exchange Online 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

IceWarp
Ranking in Email Applications
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of IceWarp is 4.6%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 9.6%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online9.6%
IceWarp4.6%
Other85.8%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head at Team Computers
Useful for collaboration and storage but improvement is needed in API integration
The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory. I think IceWarp needs to improve in a few areas. They have two types of admin consoles - a web-based one and a remote one. I'd like to see these combined into a single web-based admin console. The log reading and information system also needs improvement. The current way of showing incoming and outgoing logs isn't very clear. For new users, it's hard to understand these logs, especially compared to Office 365 and other systems with easier-to-read logs. They should also add an export option to get all logs with a single click whenever we need them.
Yogesh Autade - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Engineer at Softcell Technologies Limited
Integrated email security has improved phishing response and provides better threat visibility
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also appreciate more granular reporting, faster access to detailed message tracking data, and improved alerting around suspicious mailbox activity to help security and messaging teams investigate issues more efficiently. One area where Microsoft Exchange Online could improve is the administrative user experience. Some advanced mail flow, compliance, and troubleshooting tasks still require navigating multiple Microsoft portals. A more unified management interface and deeper integration visibility across Exchange, Defender, and Microsoft 365 security tools would make day-to-day operations more efficient for administrators and SOC teams.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."
"The solution has a very good log-in to the UI when compared to other solutions."
"With all of the features that are available for the users included with the license, it is reasonably priced."
"If you have a small to medium business and you require a professional collaboration server that focuses on the main services of emails and calendar scheduling, I recommend IceWarp."
"It's scalable and stable."
"The solution's voice services work well for our company."
"IceWarp has multiple applications that are easy to use for many people."
"The most valuable feature of IceWarp is the chat rooms and file-sharing, they are useful. It is convenient that everything is in one place. You can easily share and collaborate documents, making the program's unity a significant advantage."
"Tech support has been great, when necessary."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is secure and stable."
"It allows us to work from home, at any time or anywhere."
"The product was simple to use."
"The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track communication and see user activity"
"The platform's security and compliance features are good."
"One of the important features is the collaboration tool used in Office 365. The security and DLP mechanisms are also quite good."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is one of the best email solutions in the world."
 

Cons

"I would like to have a trial for mobile applications and more documentation similar to Google Drive with mobile applications."
"The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory."
"The solution should improve the mailing list feature. Google has a similar feature where you can automate sending files to different people in a sequence, but that feature is no longer available in the current version of IceWarp. Other features may also have been removed in the current version."
"Support is not good and it is challenging to receive a timely response."
"We attempted to obtain support for deleted documents through the representatives in Mumbai, but they did not have an answer for us."
"There are some feature improvements possible the way we use it as a hosting provider, but for most we currently have workarounds."
"The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management."
"The tool's configuration capabilities are not straightforward. Apart from that, if I want to archive emails into a vault so that they can be retrieved again later, the integration doesn't work, and IceWarp crashes."
"The SaaS platform performance could be improved. At a previous company, we used this same solution on-premises. The data exchange was much faster compared to the SaaS platform and we sometimes experience lags."
"The efficiency could be improved."
"I think that the price is a little high, especially considering that Google have a similar, free email solution."
"What I don't like about Microsoft Exchange Online is too much integration because now it has many services connected to it. In the beginning, it was just email, and now it's also Teams and Visio, and many other services which I don't like. Microsoft Exchange Online should focus on one service. The product now lost focus, and this is its area for improvement. I would also like more freedom in choosing to use just one service, for example, just Microsoft Exchange Online, which means I don't need Teams or any other Microsoft product or service there. Right now, all services are either in the Microsoft Office suite, or there are more products or services integrated with Microsoft Exchange Online, and I'd like to just focus on one."
"I would like to make the solution more user-friendly."
"The support could improve their response time and sometimes the phone lines are not clear because of static or noise. However, the agents are knowledgeable and very helpful."
"There are a lot of issues with security."
"When you migrate from on-prem to cloud, if you choose to or are forced to do the hybrid, they need to devise a way to undo the hybrid."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our licensing is on a yearly basis. There were no additional costs."
"Pricing and licensing is very competitive and in some cases, cheap."
"Costs far less than other solutions."
"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"There are various licensing plans available based on geographic zone."
"The solution is priced well."
"The product is very cheap."
"They have raised their prices, and obviously, it hits our customers. Some of them are deciding to step back from Office 365. For customers who have bought the annual subscription, they are moving to the monthly subscription."
"The subscription fee is monthly."
"The price of the license depends on a lot of factors, such as the number of licenses and company specifics."
"This solution requires a license."
"Our organization pays for a corporate license to use the solution."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online security could improve. The overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"There is an annual license required to use this Microsoft Exchange Online."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IceWarp?
IceWarp was very cost-effective, offering services at a significantly lower cost than Google, which was appealing for our organization.
What needs improvement with IceWarp?
The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management. Users currently have the rights to delete smart documents, which poses a challenge for administrators. A mor...
What is your primary use case for IceWarp?
We managed approximately one thousand user accounts with IceWarp for company communications. We utilized features such as smart attachments and document solutions. Our setup was primarily on-premis...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
If I segment it into three points: low price, average, and high price, I would place Microsoft Exchange Online between average and high price.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also a...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online serves as our enterprise email hosting platform, providing secure mail flow management and centralized messaging services for users across multiple locations. From a secur...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.