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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zimbra Cloud comparison

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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

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
Zimbra Cloud
Ranking in Email Applications
17th
Average Rating
4.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 9.7%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Cloud is 1.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online9.7%
Zimbra Cloud1.4%
Other88.9%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

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.
OmarOrta - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Cybersecurity at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Quick solution, but not very user-friendly or suitable for collaboration
It's not a good solution for collaboration. We're using it because of the price. It's not very strong or comparable with Office 365. An additional feature I would like to see is the ability to connect from different devices. Zimbra could be more user-friendly and deploy security rules. The integration with Outlook could be better to share agendas.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Integration with the Microsoft applications is the key for us."
"Tech support has been great, when necessary."
"We also create technical presentations, so most of the time we are dealing with MS Word and Excel. Sometimes, we also use Visio for diagramming. Our overall experience is good."
"Exchange Online is consistent."
"It helps us manage the email focus from our side."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is a very stable solution."
"When you used to write to someone, you would often begin typing their name and their email address would appear; you would simply click and you would have the correct email address. That has been working for a while, but having the location address appear was a pleasant surprise. It was amazing."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is if you have people that are geographically distributed from each other is good. For example, if you have people in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, having an online solution works best because then you can reach the scale of the data centers that are available by Microsoft. Additionally, if you're only going to have two to three people using the solution the cost is a lot less than having an onsite server and licensing. It is highly beneficial in these areas."
"We implement this solution in our data centers, and we have high availability."
"It's a fast solution."
 

Cons

"Storage capacity updates."
"In the past, we had issues with DB in mailboxes."
"Despite being a Microsoft-certified trainer, I am lacking some information."
"Encourages endless inefficient communications. Do not recommend it for companies that are trying to create efficient decision making processes and agile movement."
"Microsoft Exchange Online could improve the overall protection of the solution."
"Functionality wise, I can't really say it's improved from Exchange Online, I think it's not so much change on-premise. It's about the same. Other than that, it's the extra features that make a difference, really"
"Exchange Online's scalability could be improved."
"The configuration of the solution's on-premise version is a little bit difficult, and its troubleshooting is more difficult than the installation itself."
"It's not a good solution for collaboration. We're using it because of the price. It's not very strong or comparable with Office 365."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I pay approximately $120 or $150 per year, and as long as I pay that amount, they will do regular updates so that I always have the most recent and greatest version of the application."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"We pay per user per year for the cluster with over a thousand users."
"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 pricing could be improved."
"The price is a bit high. It is especially expensive in the Indian market."
"The model is one which is pay-per-use go. There is no license. We are talking about per-user subscription-based use."
"The price of the solution could be less expensive."
"It's an open-source solution so it's free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise41
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Information Not Available
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915,287 professionals have used our research since 2012.