IceWarp vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

IceWarp and Microsoft are both solutions in the Email Applications category. IceWarp is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.8. IceWarp holds a 5.3% mindshare in EA, compared to Microsoft’s 11.3% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IceWarp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IceWarp

Read 17 IceWarp reviews

2,282 Views
1,848 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Read 94 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,399 Views
2,821 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

IceWarp

Microsoft Exchange

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Microsoft Exchange and IceWarp compete in the enterprise communication solutions category. Microsoft Exchange maintains an edge with its comprehensive enterprise-level integrations and features, demonstrating strong capabilities in providing robust solutions for large businesses.

Features: Microsoft Exchange offers extensive integration capabilities, calendar synchronization, and email retention management. Its robust toolbox for third-party integration and seamless collaboration tools stand out. IceWarp is known for its cross-platform compatibility, cost-effective communication solutions, and features such as team chat, file sharing, and conferencing collaboration.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange needs to improve storage management, integration with non-Microsoft products, and simplify its complex licensing. Enhancing its security features would also be beneficial. IceWarp could improve its mobile integration, mailing list function, and enhance security features while simplifying its administrative processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Exchange offers a variety of deployment options including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid models, though it requires comprehensive technical support. IceWarp provides similar deployment flexibility and is noted for its ease of use but faces challenges with customer service consistency and documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange's pricing is higher, reflecting its enterprise capabilities and comprehensive feature set. This pricing structure is generally suited for larger organizations. IceWarp provides aggressive and flexible pricing appealing to smaller enterprises, offering essential features within a budget-friendly framework. This makes IceWarp an attractive option for smaller companies concerned with costs.

To learn more, read our detailed IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange

September 2025

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Helped 868,787 peers since 2012

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

IceWarp

Ranking in Email Applications

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Exchange

Ranking in Email Applications

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of IceWarp is 5.3%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.3%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange	11.3%
IceWarp	5.3%
Other	83.4%

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

AvinashLotke

Delivery Head at Team Computers

Useful for collaboration and storage but improvement is needed in API integration

The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory. I think IceWarp needs to improve in a few areas. They have two types of admin consoles - a web-based one and a remote one. I'd like to see these combined into a single web-based admin console. The log reading and information system also needs improvement. The current way of showing incoming and outgoing logs isn't very clear. For new users, it's hard to understand these logs, especially compared to Office 365 and other systems with easier-to-read logs. They should also add an export option to get all logs with a single click whenever we need them.

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Mohamed Najeem

System Administrator at HRA

Provides a valuable mailbox roles feature and has a straightforward setup process

I recommend Microsoft Exchange to others due to its robust features and reasonable pricing. Setting up Microsoft Exchange has become much more straightforward compared to previous versions. The overall setup experience has significantly improved over the past six to seven years, making it easier for administrators. I rate it a nine out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to manage and includes features such as smart documents and the archiving of user data."

"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."

"It's scalable and stable."

"An effective, functional, very good tool for controlling resources."

"It has great communication capabilities for team chatting and web conferences."

"The most valuable feature of IceWarp is the chat rooms and file-sharing, they are useful. It is convenient that everything is in one place. You can easily share and collaborate documents, making the program's unity a significant advantage."

"IceWarp has multiple applications that are easy to use for many people."

"The solution has a very good log-in to the UI when compared to other solutions."

More IceWarp pros

"The best features are that Exchange is very customer-friendly, its interface is self-explanatory, it doesn't hang, and it keeps evolving."

"It integrates well with other tools."

"Microsoft Exchange is stable."

"I find Exchange's basic mail features to be highly valuable."

"It is a very stable tool...It is a very scalable tool."

"The latest versions have gotten much better about balancing the load on the backend."

"Microsoft Exchange is a powerful solution. It can easily integrate with Active Directory and other business applications. It does not require any training, it is flexible and simple to use. When comparing Microsoft Exchange to other solutions, such as Lotus Note, it is more straightforward for business."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange are it is always online and has broad email and file-sharing capabilities."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

Cons

"Although the documentation is extensive and in depth, you must familiarize yourself with it before taking full advantage of the product."

"It is difficult to disable user rights on the console so some users accidentally delete their documents or user details."

"The solution should improve the mailing list feature. Google has a similar feature where you can automate sending files to different people in a sequence, but that feature is no longer available in the current version of IceWarp. Other features may also have been removed in the current version."

"Support should be improved. Most of the time, the queries are not resolved within the SLA."

"Our customers sometimes have problems receiving mail."

"I would like to have a trial for mobile applications and more documentation similar to Google Drive with mobile applications."

"The tool's configuration capabilities are not straightforward. Apart from that, if I want to archive emails into a vault so that they can be retrieved again later, the integration doesn't work, and IceWarp crashes."

"With multiple databases for VOIP, chat and web IMAP, maintenance is cumbersome."

More IceWarp cons

"In terms of Microsoft Exchange, I think maybe what can be done is to make it more user-friendly."

"One thing for improvement would be to have an offline version of Exchange available for use if our connection goes down."

"The support needs to be more knowledgeable."

"Microsoft needs to make some modifications to meet the current needs of the environment. For example, they need to add more cell service features because people work from home during the pandemic, and certain elements should be available as a mobile service."

"They keep making all these changes, and our system was down for four or five days. They finally got it up, but there are still lots of quirks."

"Microsoft Exchange could improve the price."

"Microsoft Exchange could improve the archiving of emails and the performance."

"Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft solutions like Office 365 need to provide more detailed information for customers regarding the features and functionalities included in their plans, as some features are only available at an additional cost."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is inexpensive which is its main benefit."

"There are various licensing plans available based on geographic zone."

"The license is based on the number of users."

"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."

"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."

"Our licensing is on a yearly basis. There were no additional costs."

"The solution is priced well."

"Price-wise, it's a cheaper solution, without a doubt. Price is the reason we are still using the tool."

More IceWarp pricing and cost advice

"Licensing costs for Microsoft Exchange have increased, but are still fair. For some users, the cost is high considering the number of functions and features they will use."

"Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."

"We are currently using enterprise licenses for the solution. They are different pricing models available. There are individual, cloud-based, and enterprise licenses all with different pricing models. The larger the number of users, the lesser the price. For small to medium companies like us, we feel it is expensive."

"There is an annual cost to use Microsoft Exchange, and the price could be less expensive."

"The platform has a reasonable price."

"Its price is okay."

"The product pricing is reasonable if you utilize its full suite of features."

"This solution is expensive."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Retailer

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	41
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	35

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IceWarp?

It's scalable and stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IceWarp?

IceWarp was very cost-effective, offering services at a significantly lower cost than Google, which was appealing for our organization.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IceWarp?

The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management. Users currently have the rights to delete smart documents, which poses a challenge for administrators. A mor...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?

The initial setup was straightforward and fast.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Zoho Mail vs IceWarp

Compared 32% of the time

Google Workspace vs IceWarp

Compared 15% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs IceWarp

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs IceWarp

Compared 10% of the time

KerioConnect vs IceWarp

Compared 7% of the time

More IceWarp Competitors

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 17% of the time

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 16% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 14% of the time

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IceWarp

September 2025

Download IceWarp product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

September 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Also Known As

No data available

Exchange, MS Exchange

Overview

IceWarp helps thousands of organizations streamline all areas of business communication and become more profitable by providing Mail Server complete with GroupWare, Calendaring and Document Management, accessible through an intuitive WebClient, simple to setup in WebAdmin. Customize with add-ons: spam and virus protection, Instant Messaging with video calls, mobile sync and more.

IceWarp

Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting

Buyer's Guide

IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange

September 2025

Free Report: IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange

Find out what your peers are saying about IceWarp vs. Microsoft Exchange and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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