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Microsoft Exchange vs ProtonMail 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
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (2nd)
ProtonMail
Ranking in Email Applications
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 10.2%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ProtonMail is 7.5%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange10.2%
ProtonMail7.5%
Other82.3%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

SJ
Manager IT Support at Naubahar Bottling Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Gujranwala Pakistan
Efficient email management with seamless integration
We previously used Microsoft Exchange but have moved to an MDN email solution due to cost and user growth Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy solution, which is beneficial for handling emails even without professional support. It is effective in managing email integration…
AP
Media Content Creator Intern
Trust and anonymity play a key role in secure communications
I am uncertain about the two-factor authentication feature. I have had integrations with other Proton services and have used Proton VPN once, though it has limited features. Simple Mail, which was acquired by ProtonMail, has been very useful for me. The pricing is moderate. I have not used any paid services from ProtonMail. It is not very costly, but I have not used any premium services. I am a customer of ProtonMail. I would rate ProtonMail an eight out of ten due to their transparency and the utility of their simple login feature. My job and company name should remain hidden.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is good."
"Exchange's interface is good. All of our engineers like it and are accustomed to using it."
"The initial setup was straightforward and fast."
"The product can scale."
"For me, the solution is very user-friendly. I've used it a long time and I know where everything is."
"We have found it to be a stable solution. It is scalable and easy to install."
"It is easy to use and we can allow many users because now our users are scattered They over a wide area. We can use it from anywhere. That is the main benefit for us."
"Communication is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"The auto encryption of attachments is valuable."
"What I appreciate most about ProtonMail is that they are trusted, which is why I choose them."
 

Cons

"The setup is difficult so could be easier."
"They could continue to improve the consolidation and integration of mailbox services to make them more flexible, easier to deploy, and more manageable."
"Its search functionality can be better. It is currently not really easy. It has the capability to search your mailbox, but it has some restrictions in terms of the number of results that you can retrieve. You can only get around 250 results. If you want to do a deeper search, you need to use different functionalities of the product. The policy that we have for handling emails is that we do not delete emails at all. If I insert the text that I am searching for in the Search field, it only retrieves a limited number of emails. To search for an email from 2010, I need to use different search functions to find what I am looking for. Microsoft can also improve its licensing for its products. Microsoft's licensing is not very easy to understand. It can sometimes be really complex to understand what you need to have in order to comply with Microsoft licensing."
"I think that improvements should be made in creating greater abilities for Microsoft Exchange in terms of Reasearch and Development."
"The security features could be improved. There should be a better policy management system."
"Load balancing is lacking."
"More AI features would be good."
"The filtering of spam needs significant improvement, as many spam emails are not getting detected."
"One improvement could be the integration between ProtonMail and Proton Pass, allowing sharing of specific secrets via email."
"I think it is good but I feel that only tech-savvy people use ProtonMail. It is not that popular among other people."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft's licensing structure is too complex, but its prices are affordable, though not cheap."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"It's a little bit expensive."
"We renew the product license with Microsoft every three years. The cost is included within a bundle of services. It's an enterprise agreement with Microsoft."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"The product pricing is reasonable if you utilize its full suite of features."
"The product is quite cheap."
"The solution's pricing is fine...I do think the tool offers value for money."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Comms Service Provider
22%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise28
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?
I am aware of pricing aspects, and I would say it is affordable for what it is.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ProtonMail?
The pricing is competitive, offering good value on the average plan. It’s approximately $100 for annual billing.
What needs improvement with ProtonMail?
In terms of what can be improved in ProtonMail, I think it is good but I feel that only tech-savvy people use ProtonMail. It is not that popular among other people. Therefore, we do not use it for ...
What is your primary use case for ProtonMail?
My use cases include using ProtonMail for Drive occasionally for storing files. After some time, I stopped using that feature. Primarily, I use it for sending emails when I want to maintain anonymi...
 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
Wall street journal,The New york times, The Gurdian, Forbes, Fox News
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. ProtonMail and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,260 professionals have used our research since 2012.