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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zarafa comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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 Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zarafa
Ranking in Email Applications
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 9.0%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zarafa is 1.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online9.0%
Zarafa1.6%
Other89.4%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Yogesh Autade - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Engineer at Softcell Technologies Limited
Integrated email security has improved phishing response and provides better threat visibility
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also appreciate more granular reporting, faster access to detailed message tracking data, and improved alerting around suspicious mailbox activity to help security and messaging teams investigate issues more efficiently. One area where Microsoft Exchange Online could improve is the administrative user experience. Some advanced mail flow, compliance, and troubleshooting tasks still require navigating multiple Microsoft portals. A more unified management interface and deeper integration visibility across Exchange, Defender, and Microsoft 365 security tools would make day-to-day operations more efficient for administrators and SOC teams.
it_user302112 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant IT Infrastructure at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Our customers are able to use this groupware solution to connect to Active Directory and OpenLDAP, although Postgres support would be an improvement.
Zarafa has several very valuable features, among them a very good Outlook-like web interface. Furthermore, ZPush for talking between ActiveSync and mobile devices is a valuable asset. In addition, one is able to connect via Outlook and the exchange protocol to Zarafa. This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product enables us to have remote meetings."
"The most valuable feature is being able to assign an individual a task."
"The stability has increased exponentially since 2010 and the reliability factor is high."
"The best thing about Microsoft Exchange Online is that it's integrated with the Outlook application."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to-use solution."
"The solution is easy to use and the cloud version has taken a lot of challenges away from the user."
"Office 365 is one of the strongest solutions that I've seen."
"It is for emails, and it seems to work okay."
"This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange."
 

Cons

"Cloud security is always a concern and the solution can always increase their security."
"Exchange Online's scalability could be improved."
"The solution’s pricing could be better."
"The solution should have more integration with other platforms."
"I feel that there is a need for improvement in the product, considering that there are some concerns with the tool's integration capabilities."
"I don't like it in general. It sort of has that Microsoft flavor to it, which is just the style they use and the way they color things and lay them out."
"The price could be cheaper."
"Microsoft Exchange Online support can be optimized further. They should put some more efficient technical engineers to support end customers."
"Not really, although the Zarafa-index component was using a lot of memory and disk I/O bandwith."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution costs $12 to $16 per user per month."
"We have an enterprise agreement for licensing."
"It is a reasonable solution."
"The product is expensive and has an annual subscription."
"We pay per user per year for the cluster with over a thousand users."
"The license for the solution is cheap, but it could be more affordable in the long term."
"My company needs to make monthly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. I feel that the price of the product is affordable."
"I would say the solution is reasonable and affordable."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise41
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
If I segment it into three points: low price, average, and high price, I would place Microsoft Exchange Online between average and high price.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online could be improved with more intuitive administration workflows, better troubleshooting visibility, and simpler mail flow analysis for complex environments. We would also a...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online?
Microsoft Exchange Online serves as our enterprise email hosting platform, providing secure mail flow management and centralized messaging services for users across multiple locations. From a secur...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Tivoli, InterAkt Contour, Riagg Rijnmond, Lammerink, Revell, KMP, International School of the Hague
Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: May 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.