| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Email Applications | Jun 14, 2025 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Jun 14, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | Zimbra Collaboration vs Google Workspace | Jun 14, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange Online | Jun 14, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange | Jun 14, 2025 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace | 4.1 | 22.1% | 95% | 102 interviewsAdd to research |
| Microsoft Exchange Online | 4.3 | 13.8% | 96% | 90 interviewsAdd to research |
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.
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.
We've been using Zimbra for about four or five years.
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.
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.
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.
