I primarily use the solution for sending and receiving emails and meeting requests.
Head of Studies at a university with 11-50 employees
Easy to use, implement, and expand
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to implement."
- "We have had an issue with security."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to use.
The solution is easy to implement.
The solution can scale.
What needs improvement?
We have had an issue with security. We had attacks in the summer, which is why we didn't buy the latest update. The security is bad. I'm not sure if it was on Zimbra's end or the firewall's or human error.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for five years.
Buyer's Guide
Zimbra Collaboration
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 200 people on the solution right now. The scalability of the solution is fine.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It is very easy to deploy.
I'm not sure how many people were involved in the deployment process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not sure of the exact cost of the solution. However, my understanding is that it is not too expensive. I'm not sure if there are any extra fees.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have been evaluating Zimbra and MS Exchange. We wanted to know if MS Exchange was better than Zimbra.
What other advice do I have?
While I'm not sure of the exact version we're using, it is not the latest version.
We may be switching to MS Exchange. Our department head would like to switch. However, our IT team doesn't want another project at this time.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

VS at Netplay Inc
Easy to use, set up, and has a free community addition
Pros and Cons
- "The product is easy to set up."
- "It does have a few bugs."
What is our primary use case?
We typically use the solution for our email and collaboration. It’s nothing much. It’s just the basic functionality that we are leveraging.
What is most valuable?
The subscription base in terms of their support, unlike before, now has a community addition. Now, everything is free.
It's just easy to use and straightforward. For an SMB, it is a recommendable email solution.
The product is easy to set up.
It’s a stable solution.
What needs improvement?
It does have a few bugs. However, they are small and can be worked around.
The performance could be better in terms of handling multiple domains.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve used the solution for three to five years at this point. I’ve used it for a while now. It’s been a long time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability has been great. There are some bugs that can be fixed with minor workarounds. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable. I like the performance, however, of course, it could be better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 150 users on the solution currently.
We do not really plan to increase usage as we are trying to reduce it due to the pandemic. We really need to trim it down, actually.
How are customer service and support?
We haven’t needed support, although in the community version, there is a community you can reach to for help. The community has been responsive so far.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to set up. It’s not overly complicated.
The installation process only takes an hour. It’s pretty fast.
Deployment and maintenance only require two people. There’s an engineer and a systems admin.
What about the implementation team?
We have an integrator that assists us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is now a community addition that is free to use.
What other advice do I have?
We are using an older version of the solution.
I’d rate the solution eight out of ten.
I would recommend the solution to others, especially if they happen to be an SMB.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Zimbra Collaboration
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Manager at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Excellent sharing features
Pros and Cons
- "Zimbra Collaboration's sharing features are most valuable."
- "Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Zimbra Collaboration is mainly used for messaging, emails, calendars, video conferencing, and document sharing.
What is most valuable?
Zimbra Collaboration's sharing features are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved. Their documentation is also mainly in English, and it would be useful to have it available in other languages. There's also a problem with the new Admin NG module, which makes it possible for the administrator to access users' mail on their system, which is particularly problematic for organizations with confidentiality requirements. This feature cannot be removed, though you can choose whether or not to activate it. In the next release, Zimbra Collaboration should make all the features from their previous web interface available on their new one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Zimbra Collaboration since 2011.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration's stability is generally ok, but it depends on the version number, especially if you're early in that version. For example, there were some issues with high numbers of sessions and infrastructure requirements in the early days of version eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration's architecture is ok for scalability if you do the multi-node deployment. However, there's a problem with the high availability of mailbox servers, which isn't very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't very complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option. Also, their licensing model is unclear, making it difficult to evaluate the value of the solution before buying.
What other advice do I have?
Zimbra's community is very helpful when you need information. I would rate Zimbra Collaboration nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner/integrator
General Manager Sales BFSI at Kyndryl
Useful email functionality, reliable, and straightforward implementation
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality."
- "Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on."
What is our primary use case?
Zimbra Collaboration is a plain mailing solution across our organization and with our partners.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality.
What needs improvement?
Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zimbra Collaboration for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There were 5,000 users using Zimbra Collaboration.
The scalability of Zimbra Collaboration is good.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted support for some incidents.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used another similar solution to Zimbra Collaboration.
How was the initial setup?
The initial installation of Zimbra Collaboration was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of Zimbra Collaboration was done in-house. The solution does not require any maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Zimbra Collaboration an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
ICT Coordinator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's good and competent and is used for our internal communication
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is sending messages as well as text and documents. It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization."
- "It is good and competent, but you have to pay for video and group chat features."
What is our primary use case?
We use Zimbra for internal communication. We use the chart and use it to share documents. We use it organization-wide. All of the departments inside our organization are using the solution.
How has it helped my organization?
It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization. We use Zimbra for our internal communication as a whole.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra is sending messages as well as text and documents.
What needs improvement?
It is good and competent, but you have to pay for video and group chat features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has gotten better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
How was the initial setup?
The configuration is not completely straightforward, and it's not completely complex, it's just good. It's not too tricky, but not easy.
Deployment is short, and implementing plus introducing the solution takes around two months.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented with an in-house team of four guys.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's very expensive. Especially in our case, because I'm from Ethiopia, in Africa. When we compare the cost with Google Workspace, it's very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. It’s changing very quickly. It has no free version like Gmail has. I think that's the main reason why customers are not using it in our area. As long as I can remember, there was a free version, but now there is no free version, which is very important for customers to know.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Automatic backup with good web client features for an easily scalable, stable, installable and manageable solution
Pros and Cons
- "One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
- "It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
What is our primary use case?
While I believe that Zimbra nine is the latest update, I am working with eight.
The solution employs open source software.
I implement the solution so that our end user customers may have mailing features, one-on-one chat facilities and unified communication. Within one's email are contained his calendaring facilities.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software. The web client features have good graphics and are pretty useful.
What needs improvement?
It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment. The current chatting facility only allows for one-to-one chats.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zimbra Collaboration for nearly two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very stable. One need only implement it, at which point it does not require further contemplation. Only basic maintenance is required.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale. It boasts scalability features such as those allowing an additional server to be added for horizontal scaling.We have encountered no issues in this regard.
How are customer service and support?
We have not required much technical support, as the implementation we do primarily concerns the community edition with which we started. We feel the technical support to be good. They supply good email support. We do not require this at the moment.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Nearly two years back, I was working with Microsoft Exchange.
The advantage of Microsoft Exchange over Zimbra Collaboration is that it is very heavy and has much more features, but its management requires a person to have a greater level of skill. Microsoft is also a more mature solution.
When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft has multiple requirements, such as one concerning the need for the best OS licenses. There are multiple products needed to get Microsoft Exchange to work, but there is also a standalone option available. The licensing of Zimbra Collaboration is better than that of Microsoft Exchange and it's more affordable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. As the implementation is pretty simple, a small organization can initially make use of the community edition and move on from there.
What about the implementation team?
The management of the solution is simple. Save for mailbox related issues, the maintenance of the solution is minimal. Issues are limited to comparatively minor ones and mainly would arise at the SMTP end.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft has multiple requirements, such as one concerning the need for the best OS licenses. There are multiple products needed to get Microsoft Exchange to work, but there is also a standalone option available. The licensing of Zimbra Collaboration is better than that of Microsoft Exchange and it's more affordable.
What other advice do I have?
The product is on the client side, so our company provides implementation and support services.
The solution is best suited for medium enterprises, although my organization supports mainly government organizations which range from medium to large.
I rate Zimbra Collaboration as an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Specialist at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Fast, reliable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."
- "I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
What is most valuable?
Zimbra is open source. They got absorbed by Yahoo, but they're still primarily open-source and have continued to extend their technology. A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra. And with Exchange, it's not easy to purchase the license. And Zimbra is more reliable in terms of integration.
What needs improvement?
Yahoo acquired Zimbra, and Yahoo Mail is a web-based email, not a software platform. So as part of the acquisition, they have to continue providing support to the open-source license holders. But lately, they have decreased their support for the open-source community, and they're pivoting to the enterprise market. So they're starting to transition to a proprietary cloud-based solution. And when they adopt this proprietary solution, it won't be good. So hopefully, in the future, they'll continue to offer an open-source version. That's what makes Zimbra trustworthy for users as an email host. Email is still essential for communities and businesses. Even if you are currently using instant messaging or any communications tool, you still need email.
Maybe Zimbra can improve by implementing an architecture that mimics social media, like offering short messages instead of just email. Instant messaging can mean light messaging or group messaging, like a B2B chat or something like that.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Zimbra for about four or five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zimbra is roughly as scalable as Microsoft, but I haven't deployed Zimbra for any huge clients yet. For example, all of my clients have fewer than 2,000 users. So if they had more than 2,000, I couldn't say whether Zimbra could manage that or not. But I know that Microsoft can work with clients that serve 10,000-plus users.
So in my experience, I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many.
How was the initial setup?
It's easy for me because I have worked with Zimbra concepts since Yahoo acquired it in 2007, but I can't speak for the average users.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Zimbra Collaboration eight out of 10. It stacks up well compared to OWA or Microsoft Exchange. I've developed solutions for my clients using all of these. And compared to other web applications, I prefer the web-hosted Zimbra. I think Zimbra is more reliable and competitive than Microsoft because they offer an open-source version.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Infrastructure & System Administrator at a tech company with 1-10 employees
An affordable and easy-to-deploy product that provides valuable modules
Pros and Cons
- "Network NG Modules are valuable to us."
- "The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
What is our primary use case?
I use the product for the main server.
What is most valuable?
Network NG Modules are valuable to us. They are very high modules. The solution has features that can help administrators and users to manage the server. It is the best tool.
What needs improvement?
The only problem I face with the product is spam. I do not have any other big problems. The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices. The solution should improve the features to provide more clarity to the users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I am using the solution currently.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. I rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten. It is very scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy for system administrators.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment took one hour.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is not expensive compared to other products. It is cheap.
What other advice do I have?
I know others who use the solution in their organization. I would recommend the tool to others. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zimbra Collaboration Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Product Categories
Email ApplicationsPopular Comparisons
Google Workspace
Microsoft Exchange Online
Microsoft Exchange
KerioConnect
Open-Xchange
ProtonMail
Zoho Mail
HCL Notes
OpenText GroupWise
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zimbra Collaboration Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
- When evaluating Email Applications, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- What should I look for when choosing an email solution for my company?
- What is the best choice for email?
- Which solution should we choose? - IceWarp, Zentyal, UCS, Collax, Scalix, Zimbra or Kollab?
- Why is Email Applications important for companies?