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HCL Sametime vs Zoom Workplace Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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

HCL Sametime
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoom Workplace Business
Ranking in Virtual Meetings
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
232
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Virtual Meetings category, the mindshare of HCL Sametime is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoom Workplace Business is 8.6%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zoom Workplace Business8.6%
HCL Sametime1.5%
Other89.9%
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
Kierownik Biura Informatyki at EIB SA
Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature.  The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…
Arun Basnet - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Daily team collaboration has become smoother and supports reliable long client meetings
One of the best features Zoom Workplace Business offers is that we have unlimited time for our meeting schedule with no time limitation. Additionally, we can have a workspace and many other features that I haven't explored yet, including shared documents. Zoom Workplace Business has numerous features to provide a team with valuable tools. Regarding how Zoom Workplace Business has impacted my organization positively, we also had other communication channels such as Teams and Slack, but the video call experience in Zoom was really good and helpful. We also have a recording functionality which is truly helpful. While we have that on other platforms, Zoom makes it similarly easy to implement as that of other communication channels. Since Zoom has a really good streaming quality and works on low latency as well, we prefer to use Zoom over other communication channels for video calling and conferences, although we have other communication channels for text messages.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."
"The security was quite good."
"I recommend Zoom for its ability to host webinars and collaborative tools."
"This video conferencing product is easy to use."
"The solution offers a free version."
"I rate Zoom as an eight out of ten, owing to the quality of its video and audio, its accountability, ease of use and intuitiveness."
"Zoom helps you to share your screen and allows someone to take remote control during Zoom meetings. Compared with other platforms like Teams and Webex, it's on par."
"The initial setup is quick and easy."
"Zoom is easy to use."
"like Zoom because it's a very simple program. We have more success using Zoom with clients, partners, and everybody else. Everybody seems to be able to get Zoom. Some people struggle with Teams."
 

Cons

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."
"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."
"The virtual background could be more smoothly integrated with the rest of the software."
"Zoom will be cheaper if you want to have a general meeting, but if you want a real enterprise version, Cisco will be cheaper."
"They should improve the sharing file features from accessing the internal network. If we cannnot share our documents through this meeting, our meeting productivity will decrease dramatically. We need these features."
"The cost should be cheaper."
"Setting up and understanding the tool takes time."
"I would say that Zoom should support more platforms. I think it has some limitations. It should be supported on all platforms."
"I can't speak to any aspect that needs improvement."
"There is insufficient customization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The cost of Zoom is approximately $150 USD annually."
"I am using the free version of Zoom."
"The personal version that I was using is available free of charge."
"Zoom is free."
"We purchased a license for Zoom."
"We do not incur a licensing fee."
"The cost of Zoom has led me to use WeChat, instead."
"We use the free version of the product. We utilize it only three to four times a month."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Meetings solutions are best for your needs.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Performing Arts
14%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business99
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise104
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?
I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...
What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?
It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.
What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?
Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.
LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom
Hi @Krista Thompson ​ - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoom?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing were not negotiated, so those details are uncertain.
 

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG
Fortinet, Veeva, Proofpoint, Box, Ticketmaster, Trend Micro, Caesars Entertainment, Santa Clara University, Pandora, Stanford Continuing Studies
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Sametime vs. Zoom Workplace Business and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.