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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zimbra Cloud 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

Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zimbra Cloud
Ranking in Email Applications
18th
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 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 12.5%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Cloud is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online12.5%
Zimbra Cloud0.4%
Other87.1%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

NancyHartman - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective collaboration achieved with versatile features and good customer service
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot of scripting and programming knowledge is necessary. I am not an IT person; I am an educator, a trainer, a user. I want to get the work done. However, I find that the Exchange Server and possibly the way our company has set up access permissions require extensive programming knowledge. It might take six to eight weeks to get a programmer's time to build something, whereas I can use something like Smartsheet that will do everything I want without needing a programmer. Smartsheet is more end-user friendly compared to a Microsoft product. Microsoft believes an expert IT person should manage everything, however, I want to manage things on my own in a simplified way. That is not easy using the Exchange Server or Microsoft Office. It is not end-user friendly for development, and a programmer is needed. Once set up, using them as an end-user is fine. I find that the automations are not robust, and the FedRAMP systems are not robust. I have a few issues with Exchange and Office, but there's nothing I can do about it.
OmarOrta - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The solution is quite convenient because you can access the web version anywhere."
"The solution generally works well. We can send and receive emails just fine."
"All of the features are beneficial, but the scheduling feature is particularly useful."
"The user experience is very fantastic for Microsoft Exchange Online currently; I am satisfied with the integrations available with other Microsoft products, and Microsoft Exchange Online has great security features and the spam filters work super fine."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is its performance."
"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."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to configure."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"It's a fast solution."
 

Cons

"My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot of scripting and programming knowledge is necessary."
"Technical support can be improved by shortening the response time and increasing their knowledge."
"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."
"The solution’s API integrations could be improved."
"I would like to make the solution more user-friendly."
"The support from the vendor is fine. However, it could be faster, and some of the agents could be more knowledgeable, but it is a large solution, there's a lot of information that the agents have to work with. I can't always expect when I get connected to the first-level agent that they will know absolutely everything. Sometimes there's no replacement for pure experience."
"In the past, we had issues with DB in mailboxes."
"The problem with Exchange is that the attributes aren't flexible enough. I'd like to see more interaction with Office 365 and tighter integration between on-prem Exchange and Exchange Online. There's still a disconnect between mailboxes and the cloud."
"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

"The license for the solution is cheap, but it could be more affordable in the long term."
"This is an expensive solution."
"The pricing could be improved."
"The price is not competitive."
"I think it's just awesome. There's no argument about how much value you get on the per user, for user expenditure. It's really great, I don't have any issues with it. I think it's excellent."
"I think that the price is a little high, especially considering that Google have a similar, free email solution."
"It is a cluster solution."
"The pricing for this solution is good. We renew our contract every three years. I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five."
"It's an open-source solution so it's free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise40
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online?
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 comm...
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?
I see no disadvantages currently. From the admin perspective, whenever an admin wants to get the email backup for a particular employee, there are a few challenges in terms of the role assignment o...
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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
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