Microsoft Exchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Online are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Microsoft Exchange is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft Exchange Online is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Microsoft Exchange holds a 11.4% mindshare in EA, compared to Microsoft Exchange Online’s 13.4% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft Exchange users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft Exchange Online users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Exchange

Read 92 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,617 Views
2,966 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange Online

Read 90 Microsoft Exchange Online reviews

4,431 Views
4,254 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Exchange Online

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Online compete in the email and collaboration software category. Microsoft Exchange Online holds the upper hand due to its continuous development, providing enhanced synchronization with modern mobile hardware and superior security features.

Features: Microsoft Exchange supports EWS integration, offering essential meeting information across devices. Its Exchange Toolbox provides robust tools like Message Tracking and Tracking Log Explorer. It integrates well with third-party apps geared towards the Outlook environment. Microsoft Exchange Online allows seamless access from anywhere, enhancing mobility and collaboration. It ensures strong calendar scheduling integration and provides continuous updates for improved features.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange requires significant maintenance, complex deployment, and faces integration challenges with non-Microsoft products. Its search functionality and licensing clarity need improvement. Microsoft Exchange Online has issues with its pricing model and occasional technical support delays. Enhancing integration with other services and platforms could improve user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deploying Microsoft Exchange is complex and requires technical expertise, with internal support often necessary and external support being average. Microsoft Exchange Online benefits from the simplicity of cloud-based deployments, reducing the need for internal infrastructure, though technical support responsiveness can be an issue.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange involves upfront costs and licensing complexity, offering potential long-term savings for large organizations with on-premises infrastructure. Microsoft Exchange Online uses a subscription-based model that facilitates predictable budgeting. Small to medium enterprises find the cost reasonable, especially with bundled services like Microsoft 365.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

July 2025

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Helped 861,803 peers since 2012

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

Ranking in Email Applications

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)

Microsoft Exchange Online

Ranking in Email Applications

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

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 is 11.4%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.4%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Harry Murdani

Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd

Helps with email services and communication with internal and external contacts

Everything is useful. The only useful thing Microsoft Exchange could do is give us more of a discount on pricing because it's so expensive. Regarding the calendaring functions of Exchange, there is a problem when scheduling an event for the whole day. When you click the whole day event, the scheduling doesn't really work. For example, if I schedule a meeting with you and block your whole day, instead of just putting a time from morning to afternoon, other people can still block your time, which results in double booking. It's kind of a bug that allows people to double-book. So, the scheduling isn't working properly yet. We also faced challenges with backup services. You need to use a third-party backup solution to back up the whole Exchange server properly. You can't use the native Windows backup services. It's like they're forcing me to buy another product, which means additional costs. The backup solution and the double booking issues. If Microsoft Exchange can fix these two things, then it will be very good.

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NancyHartman

Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Exchange is highly stable for the end-user systems. When we move to Office 365, it will be even more stable even. There's less administration required and it's very robust. We are really quite happy in using that."

"Microsoft Exchange is stable."

"I like the logistics and the Microsoft protocol of reaching Outlook anywhere."

"The product can scale."

"It's very well integrated with OneDrive and Teams Calendar."

"It gives me benefit in terms of integration with other services such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive. It makes my work much easier."

"The email management system is very easy to set up, configure, and use."

"The functionality on the user side is quite good. Exchange provides an excellent platform for collaboration between users."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

"It is very manageable."

"Exchange Online's most valuable features are two-step verification and security."

"Its most valuable feature is the unlimited storage. It also has very little downtime."

"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."

"Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use."

"The product enables us to have remote meetings."

"It has helped us because we don't have to worry about servers crashing."

"Exchange Online is consistent. It's easy to deploy and scale out to all of our organizations."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pros

Cons

"Microsoft Exchange could improve the archiving of emails and the performance."

"Some users encounter stability issues. I connect with the support team through my local partner, which takes time."

"Sometimes we don't get support quickly enough - for example, if there's some global hacker attack, we don't get served as quickly. The skills of the technical staff can also vary, and Microsoft could perhaps improve their training."

"There is a problem when scheduling an event for the whole day."

"Microsoft Exchange could improve by being more secure. We are always looking to have more security."

"There are limitations in terms of the number of emails that can be sent in a minute, which makes it a little difficult for the marketing folks."

"There are issues when you add your domain to Microsoft Tenant, and you try to create that. Which is a problem for me."

"Microsoft needs to make some modifications to meet the current needs of the environment. For example, they need to add more cell service features because people work from home during the pandemic, and certain elements should be available as a mobile service."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

"The licensing price of the solution could be lower."

"The pricing could be cheaper."

"When initially setting up, it took a bit of time because we had a lot of PST files with the users, and we had to migrate them batch by batch."

"From an IT perspective, we need clearer documentation to understand the product’s configuration process."

"We use different software for email spoofing filters and similar functions because Exchange is quite limited in this area."

"The solution is expensive."

"We'd like to have the ability to recall emails on the web. I'm not sure if that is available yet."

"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."

More Microsoft Exchange Online cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable."

"Microsoft Exchange itself does not require a license, but users who will have mailboxes will require a license. It depends on the number of users to choose which license. If you exceed 2,000 mailboxes, it's preferable to get the enterprise license."

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."

"I don't have enough information about the licensing costs of Microsoft Exchange, but I do know that you need two types of licenses to run it. You need the product key and the client access key to activate Microsoft Exchange. This means that apart from the standard Microsoft Exchange licensing fees, you have to pay additional costs."

"The platform has a reasonable price."

"Since my company is on Microsoft Cloud, we pay for the licenses per user. Compared to volume licensing, I would say the present licensing cost is not expensive."

"I have Outlook 365 Professional, and Exchange comes in the bundle with other solutions, such as Word and OneDrive. I pay for the use of the bundle monthly and I can imagine if you are a company with many licenses the pricing model would be a lot different."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

"The pricing could be improved."

"I would say the solution is reasonable and affordable."

"We bought some licenses, and some are within our package or partnership with Microsoft."

"This solution requires a license."

"Initially, we had issues with the licensing agreement, but we worked it out with Microsoft."

"The cost is around $12 to $16 per user."

"The pricing is a bit more expensive than other solutions."

"The model is one which is pay-per-use go. There is no license. We are talking about per-user subscription-based use."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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...

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What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?

The initial setup was straightforward and fast.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is costly, and its licensing model can be expensive over time as more users require licenses.

See all answers

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...

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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.

See all answers

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...

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

June 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange Online

June 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange Online product report

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange

Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online

Overview

Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.

Microsoft

Exchange Online helps protect your information with advanced capabilities. Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering protect mailboxes. Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people. Globally redundant servers, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock safeguard your data.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

July 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

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