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Microsoft Exchange vs OpenText GroupWise 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
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Ranking in Wireless Email
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText GroupWise
Ranking in Email Applications
12th
Ranking in Wireless Email
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.3%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText GroupWise is 1.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange11.3%
OpenText GroupWise1.6%
Other87.1%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

ImranShaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers several valuable features including conditional access, identity and access management, and scalability of mailboxes
We use Microsoft Exchange primarily for mailing purposes, both internal and external. We integrate it with other Microsoft tools like Outlook, Word document collaboration, Teams, SharePoint, and more The integration of Microsoft Exchange with other tools allows for seamless collaboration and…
JN
Great security, stability, versatility expandability and low cost of ownership
About the only thing I don't like about GroupWise is the lack of a modern Linux client. Micro Focus stop their development of the Linux Client a long time because there wasn't enough demand for it. Most other solutions do not have the Linux client. I would really like to see OpenText add a modern GroupWise Linux Client back. But until they do there is the Web Client to be used in a browser.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are that you can exchange information, tasks, attachments, and enhance the process in a short amount of time."
"It has a feature that allows you to retain an email and recover it as an administrator. When you activate this feature, even if a user deletes an email, the email is still in the system, and we can retrieve it as an administrator. It is a very useful function. We turn this feature on for some of the mailboxes because we need to keep all the records. I like the way emails are classified in this solution. It makes it really easy to take a look at the most important messages. This is a really good functionality. Some of the emails directly exchanged with you are marked as important and shown in one tab, and everything else is in another tab. We usually don't have any issue with Exchange. It can be integrated with different solutions."
"Provides unlimited storage for our mailbox."
"It integrates well with calendar, scheduling, etc. It's easy for employees to make meetings and plan their agendas."
"What I love about Microsoft Exchange is the good integration since 2013, particularly its integration with the calendar and other software such as Zoom, TeamViewer, AnyDesk, etc."
"Exchange is a robust system that is well suited for an enterprise environment. It's always up, and we hardly face any technical issues. Exchange has a web interface and integrates perfectly with Microsoft Outlook. This web interface can be easily used to change the passwords from the domain controllers."
"Microsoft has a very good support team."
"Communication is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"I like the ease of logging best in Micro Focus GroupWise. I also like its proxy capabilities from a user level. I also like how secure Micro Focus GroupWise is."
"The cost-effectiveness of the solution is most valuable."
"Very secure with great storage capacity."
 

Cons

"It is important to have the updated version for scalability."
"The solution is stable, but it could improve. It's crashing if there is a big mail database. The Zimbra solution is better in this area."
"In terms of configuring the product, that's definitely an area in which they can make some improvements on."
"The solution could be more secure."
"Load balancing is lacking."
"An area for improvement would be the convenience of working with Azure services from Exchange on-premise installations."
"The filtering of spam needs significant improvement, as many spam emails are not getting detected."
"Microsoft Exchange could improve by being more secure. We are always looking to have more security."
"Their support can be improved. It is not as good as it used to be."
"The WebAccess feature is somewhat lacking and could be improved."
"What I don't like about Micro Focus GroupWise is the removal of the Unix client. Micro Focus took that function away about ten years ago because there wasn't enough demand for it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform has a reasonable price."
"They are flexible when it comes to pricing, unlike most of the other vendors I have dealt with."
"It would be nice if it used less resources to run on-premise."
"Exchange is better for medium to large businesses because it can be quite costly for SMB, which may not need all the options the product provides."
"We pay for the license annually."
"Microsoft Exchange is an inexpensive application."
"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."
"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."
"It was a part of the suite, so it was very cost-effective. There were no costs beyond the licensing fee."
"Micro Focus GroupWise is the most affordable solution on-premises. Versus Microsoft Exchange on-premises, pricing is 20:1, so there's no comparison. Micro Focus GroupWise is cheaper, though, for my clients, it's not about the cost but the stability and security of the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
University
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise35
No data available
 

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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
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.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
Micro Focus GroupWise, GroupWise
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
Heritage Oaks Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. OpenText GroupWise and other solutions. Updated: November 2025.
873,003 professionals have used our research since 2012.