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IceWarp vs Skype for Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (8th)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. IceWarp is designed for Email Applications and holds a mindshare of 5.2%, down 5.7% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 8.8% mindshare, up 8.4% since last year.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IceWarp5.2%
Google Workspace18.9%
Microsoft Exchange Online12.1%
Other63.800000000000004%
Email Applications
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Skype for Business8.8%
Zoom Workplace Business13.0%
Webex11.3%
Other66.9%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Magdalena Teodorczuk - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers great audio and video quality for virtual meetings
I like the instant messaging feature in the product since I prefer to use the chat functionalities provided by the solution. It is easy to integrate the product with some of the other solutions in the market. I rate the integration capabilities of the product a ten out of ten. The product's user interface is user-friendly. I use the product at a personal level, so I can't speak about the support it provides for the maintenance part. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its price is the most valuable. It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"It's scalable and stable."
"The solution is easy to manage and includes features such as smart documents and the archiving of user data."
"The TeamChat feature has been really good for our email management. It lets us collaborate, share files, and invite guests like Google Spaces or Microsoft Teams. I like the two-factor authentication for security. However, they need to improve their document collaboration tools, as their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint features are basic compared to Microsoft and Google."
"The solution has a very good log-in to the UI when compared to other solutions."
"It has great communication capabilities for team chatting and web conferences."
"The product is used very extensively in my company since we have around 1,500 users using it. Also, there is no requirement for any administrators to manage the product by the people who own the solution."
"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of Skype for Business is that it has many other tools that you can be integrated with it. It makes the meetings more interactive."
"The Microsoft tech support are very good. They get back to you. I log a support call, and I usually have someone on the phone within a half an hour, so it is pretty good."
"The most valuable features are the history tracking which allows us to see who participated and who didn't in the meetings as well as the integration with Outlook."
"We like the easy provisioning of Skype for Business Conferencing."
"The quality of the meetings is very good."
"The deployment is very fast."
"People are now able to virtually collaborate with their staff and have a conference call. We don't need a phone line to make that conference call and we are saving on that. People are able to share their presentations. Also, they can chat using the Skype"
"The solution’s video quality is fine."
 

Cons

"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."
"Although it is not a tool, video conferencing should be scalable and operate in a professional and efficient way."
"With multiple databases for VOIP, chat and web IMAP, maintenance is cumbersome."
"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."
"It is difficult to disable user rights on the console so some users accidentally delete their documents or user details."
"Our customers sometimes have problems receiving mail."
"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."
"This service could be improved by adding some missing features. It lacks integration with Teams, which is a feature I would like to see in the next release."
"I venture to say that 30% of the people using this solution at our company have had issues with stability, due to the volatility and crashes."
"Lacks a zoom-in feature for whoever is presenting."
"The solution's functionality needs to be moved to Microsoft Teams. Its technology is outdated."
"There are not many options, in terms of some other third-party integration."
"The video conferencing quality can be improved."
"The user experience during long sessions could be improved to avoid issues like intermittent disconnections or login failures."
"Going forward, I would like to see better call quality and reliability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't see any challenges for the Indian market. For example, 1 GB is available for around 399 INR, and 2 GB for 499 INR. They offer a range of plans, from basic to professional and enterprise, with multiple features. IceWarp's aggressive pricing is competitive compared to other market solutions like Zoho and Microsoft. One significant advantage is that IceWarp does not impose user capping like Google and Microsoft, which allows for substantial cost savings and flexibility in user conversion."
"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"Pricing and licensing is very competitive and in some cases, cheap."
"Our licensing is on a yearly basis. There were no additional costs."
"Costs far less than other solutions."
"The solution is inexpensive which is its main benefit."
"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"The cost of Skype for Business is incorporated into our Office 365 licenses."
"Previously, I did not use another solution."
"A license is required to use the solution."
"To realize value from the purchase of Skype Business, you need to take advantage of all the important functions of the program."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
"We had a license for every one of our users to use Skype for Business. The license we used was part of an overall Microsoft license package."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Retailer
6%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Performing Arts
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
11%
 

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 Business18
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise27
 

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 experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?
Skype for Business is affordable and has decent pricing. The video quality is a bit lower than Teams or Zoom, but it remains a good solution overall.
What needs improvement with Skype for Business?
I cannot think of many ways in which Skype for Business could improve in general. It works fairly efficiently for our purposes with Skype for Business. There is one issue regarding the audio settin...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: October 2025.
873,085 professionals have used our research since 2012.