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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zoho Mail 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
7.3
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoho Mail
Ranking in Email Applications
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 12.8%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Mail is 5.4%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online12.8%
Zoho Mail5.4%
Other81.8%
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.
Salem Shafik - PeerSpot reviewer
Zoho Mail suits small businesses well but can improve user organization features
For the admin side of Zoho Mail, they need to add features for organizing users in organizational units. We currently only have the ability to add users to groups, but some admins need to organize users in organizational units and apply security policies or other configurations based on these units.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found the interface to be user-friendly and the overall simplicity valuable features."
"The solution is scalable."
"The solution is easy to use and the cloud version has taken a lot of challenges away from the user."
"It's easy to use and there is more integration."
"I have not had issues with stability of the product."
"A good investment."
"The overall usage was all good."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is easy to use. You have a common storage where people can store documents. It also helps with version control."
"The interconnectivity between these applications makes it particularly useful."
"The notifications, scheduling, and meetings are all integrated."
"We can create email accounts for our customers."
"Zoho Mail organizes your email well, and you can do a lot of things if you use other Zoho applications along with it."
"Zoho Mail is a stable product."
"Their experience with Zoho Mail has been positive, as customers haven't complained about anything."
"The most valuable features of Zoho Mail are its security, integration with cloud storage, and wide range of features available. It integrates well with Outlook and mobile devices."
"It uses an alert system and other monitoring tools."
 

Cons

"We use different software for email spoofing filters and similar functions because Exchange is quite limited in this area."
"For example, recently there were some spam incidents that Microsoft does not currently mitigate because they have another paid solution to do so. It would be nice to integrate the security and the anti-spam (i.e. the fake links, etc.) along with the Exchange Online default."
"There is an annual enterprise subscription could improve by having more features."
"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 interface is a bit confusing."
"The demo version we were provided had issues with emails bouncing or being delayed."
"I have found that Microsoft has vulnerabilities when it comes to Exchange Online. It has become the port of a lot of hacker attacks."
"In the past, we had issues with DB in mailboxes."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"I once tried doing bulk email sending with Zoho Mail, but it was declined. I didn't realize it was declined until several hours later when I checked for responses."
"The initial setup of Zoho Mail can take some time because we have 30 to 35 users and we need to register each one. This can take one or two days to complete. The process could be better for administrators to register their users. If the setup interface was better in explaining the process it would be helpful to become more user-friendly."
"We face some challenges in our current architecture with the introduction of data privacy regulations. When you are sending a calendar invite to a group of people for a meeting or an event, there is no structure for privacy. You can't hide all the contacts. Maybe that feature exists, but I don't know where it is."
"The interface isn't quite good. Everything looks a little low-quality."
"The solution doesn't need to be improved."
"For the admin side of Zoho Mail, they need to add features for organizing users in organizational units."
"They could increase the available space which is currently 5 GB. Gmail provides 15 GB of storage space, which would be more useful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an expensive solution."
"The cost of Microsoft Exchange Online is approximately $4 to $36 per user. They do not give a discount which is not good. The solution is expensive if you have 800 to 1,000 users. They should give discounts when you have a lot of users."
"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."
"There is a license required for the solution and it is paid annually."
"It is a reasonable solution."
"The licensing price is ok, I'd rate it as four out of five."
"The cost is around $12 to $16 per user."
"There is an annual license required to use this Microsoft Exchange Online."
"One of the reasons people use Zoho in Nigeria is because we can pay for it in Naira. It's very affordable already. For example, we can get Zoho Mail for somewhere between 1000 naira per user, which is less than one dollar. In my opinion, it's very affordable."
"Zoho Mail is more cost-efficient than its competitors."
"The solution’s pricing is very reasonable."
"Zoho One has all 50 applications in it, and Zoho Mail is part of it. Zoho One is about 35 GBP per person per month. It includes Zoho Projects, Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, and everything else."
"The solution is more affordable compared to other products. It is cheap."
"The solution is not costly."
"If you have ten users, for Google, you'll pay $100. With Zoho Mail, you'll only pay $30 to $40."
"There is no license required to use Zoho Mail."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Retailer
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise40
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

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...
What do you like most about Zoho Mail?
It also offers the search functionalities. For end users, the search is quite easy to use. There are a few tabs to select to find exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty simple. As long as the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Mail?
Zoho Mail is economical compared to Microsoft and Google Workspace. Speaking specifically about Egypt and the region, they have competitive pricing compared to others.
What needs improvement with Zoho Mail?
They could increase the available space which is currently 5 GB. Gmail provides 15 GB of storage space, which would be more useful. Additionally, considering how WhatsApp backup automatically goes ...
 

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
BBDO, HuffPost
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online vs. Zoho Mail and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
866,956 professionals have used our research since 2012.