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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zimbra Collaboration 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

Microsoft Exchange Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.4%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 8.6%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Vidya Shree - PeerSpot reviewer
Deploys quickly and has a good web interface
Zimbra Collaboration has a good web interface When it comes to administration tasks like configuring specific filters or group signatures, I have to dig into the configuration since there's nothing in the graphical or web interface. The solution’s forums don't have much information or…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The online version is faster, as it is a cloud instance. We can have massive mailbox capacity: 100 GB per user, which is huge. We can't provision such capacity internally, as the company would get burnt out paying for mailbox storage."
"Exchange Online is a straightforward cloud-based application. It's easy to connect and the interface is user friendly."
"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"
"Exchange Online is consistent. It's easy to deploy and scale out to all of our organizations."
"The solution is stable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is a stable product."
"It allows us to work from home, at any time or anywhere."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to-use solution."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
"The web interface is powerful and easy to use."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"The stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update."
"The most valuable feature is sending messages as well as text and documents. It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization."
"Zimbra Collaboration has a good web interface."
"Network NG Modules are valuable to us."
 

Cons

"I have found that Microsoft has vulnerabilities when it comes to Exchange Online. It has become the port of a lot of hacker attacks."
"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."
"The price could be cheaper."
"The solution’s technical support could be improved."
"The solution could be a bit cheaper."
"The UI could be improved to look more like the desktop version for ease of use."
"Microsoft Exchange Online should have a faster search feature."
"The stability of the solution on Mac products has room for improvement."
"They should enhance its online meeting features."
"The new patches are, at times, not so good, so we don't install them, causing the tool to be not so stable overall."
"Zimbra Collaboration could improve the migration from a basic solution to a more containerized solution. For example, the installation should be able to extend to the containers and manage them with some solution, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes."
"The solution could use more integration with third-party tools."
"The solution could improve by making it easier to use."
"The installation is not straightforward, it can take two days for the full implementation."
"It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would give the cost a five out of ten."
"The licensing price is ok, I'd rate it as four out of five."
"The pricing is a bit more expensive than other solutions."
"Microsoft solutions are expensive."
"The pricing is really high. It's higher compared to other services."
"We have a three-year license for $25,000."
"The model is one which is pay-per-use go. There is no license. We are talking about per-user subscription-based use."
"The product is expensive and has an annual subscription."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"The price of the solution is low."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
The cost of Microsoft Exchange Online varies between $4 and $25 per user per month, depending on the different plans we use for different users.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
The mobile version of Microsoft Outlook has limited features compared to the desktop version. We find fewer features in the mobile version of Microsoft Exchange Online, so that could be improved if...
How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...
What do you like most about Zimbra Collaboration?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication.
 

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
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.