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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
94
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 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 ProtonMail is 7.2%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange11.3%
ProtonMail7.2%
Other81.5%
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…
AP
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

"We have found it to be a stable solution. It is scalable and easy to install."
"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."
"The solution can scale well."
"Microsoft Exchange has good performance and is user-friendly."
"With the cloud coming in, scalability is not an issue even for Microsoft."
"Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy solution, which is beneficial for handling emails even without professional support."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the mailbox roles."
"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."
"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

"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 don't have the best impression of customer service and support. It should be faster and more clear, and more human. T"
"Microsoft could improve on Exchange's hybrid deployment or HCW. They need to improve on that because I was having many issues with HCW in our environment at times."
"I'd like the archiving process to be faster."
"Microsoft could make it easier to combine comments in the GUI. It isn't easy to do certain things in Exchange, primarily if the administrator isn't used to the command line, so I think the customer interface could be improved."
"There is a lot of spam email that comes in, so they should add functionality to help fix this problem."
"More AI features would be good."
"We would prefer to be able to manage the solution on the cloud."
"I think it is good but I feel that only tech-savvy people use ProtonMail. It is not that popular among other people."
"One improvement could be the integration between ProtonMail and Proton Pass, allowing sharing of specific secrets via email."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual cost to use Microsoft Exchange, and the price could be less expensive."
"The solution is expensive to maintain because it requires frequent updates and ongoing server maintenance."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange's pricing a six out of ten."
"We can get Exchange in the cloud along with the Microsoft 365 license."
"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."
"It's working very well. There is no problem, but the price is not the best."
"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."
"The pricing is expensive."
Information not available
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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
18%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Educational Organization
10%
Construction Company
5%
 

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.
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: November 2025.
872,869 professionals have used our research since 2012.