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Microsoft Exchange Online vs Zoho Mail 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
7.3
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zoho Mail
Ranking in Email Applications
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.1%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Mail is 5.3%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

NancyHartman - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective collaboration achieved with versatile features and good customer service
There are always improvements needed. My personal issue with using OfficeSuite and the Exchange Server is that one has to cobble together a whole bunch of different applications. Therefore, a lot of scripting and programming knowledge is necessary. I am not an IT person; I am an educator, a trainer, a user. I want to get the work done. However, I find that the Exchange Server and possibly the way our company has set up access permissions require extensive programming knowledge. It might take six to eight weeks to get a programmer's time to build something, whereas I can use something like Smartsheet that will do everything I want without needing a programmer. Smartsheet is more end-user friendly compared to a Microsoft product. Microsoft believes an expert IT person should manage everything, however, I want to manage things on my own in a simplified way. That is not easy using the Exchange Server or Microsoft Office. It is not end-user friendly for development, and a programmer is needed. Once set up, using them as an end-user is fine. I find that the automations are not robust, and the FedRAMP systems are not robust. I have a few issues with Exchange and Office, but there's nothing I can do about it.
Salem Shafik - PeerSpot reviewer
Zoho Mail suits small businesses well but can improve user organization features
For the admin side of Zoho Mail, they need to add features for organizing users in organizational units. We currently only have the ability to add users to groups, but some admins need to organize users in organizational units and apply security policies or other configurations based on these units.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A valuable feature of the solution is its global usability."
"The overall usage was all good."
"Stability has increased exponentially since 2010."
"All of the Microsoft Exchange Online is very useful, such as the sections, the information protection, and the mail flows."
"The solution is scalable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to-use solution."
"It's pretty reliable. We haven't had any issues with it."
"The best thing about Microsoft Exchange Online is that it's integrated with the Outlook application."
"Zoho Mail is a cost-effective solution."
"It also offers the search functionalities. For end users, the search is quite easy to use. There are a few tabs to select to find exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty simple. As long as the data is available, you can use filters like from whom, to whom, subject, attachment, and even use advanced settings. It's pretty nice."
"The solution has more security compared to other products. Zoho Mail comes with TLS and SSL. It has email-sharing features. It is an advanced product."
"Zoho Mail is a stable product."
"Zoho Mail organizes your email well, and you can do a lot of things if you use other Zoho applications along with it."
"I like Zoho Mail's user interface."
"Their experience with Zoho Mail has been positive, as customers haven't complained about anything."
"The interconnectivity between these applications makes it particularly useful."
 

Cons

"This product is too complex to use."
"I don't really like the response time of the web GUI for administration."
"Technical support can be improved by shortening the response time and increasing their knowledge."
"Microsoft Exchange Online can improve message delivery. There are times we receive a message that the email failed to be delivered, and there is no reason given. We sometimes have emails that are flagged as spam that are not. We cannot do anything about it because it's not managed by us, it's managed by Microsoft."
"I would like to let new users know that there are challenges regarding user provisioning, HRMS and the AD. Also, the data migration integrity needs to be checked in terms of the old data."
"Functionality wise, I can't really say it's improved from Exchange Online, I think it's not so much change on-premise. It's about the same. Other than that, it's the extra features that make a difference, really"
"Documentation is lacking."
"I couldn't delete an email account because it was identified as my primary account by the application."
"For the admin side of Zoho Mail, they need to add features for organizing users in organizational units."
"We face some challenges in our current architecture with the introduction of data privacy regulations. When you are sending a calendar invite to a group of people for a meeting or an event, there is no structure for privacy. You can't hide all the contacts. Maybe that feature exists, but I don't know where it is."
"The interface isn't quite good. Everything looks a little low-quality."
"I once tried doing bulk email sending with Zoho Mail, but it was declined. I didn't realize it was declined until several hours later when I checked for responses."
"Zoho Mail needs to improve its integration because direct integration is not possible with many applications."
"Zoho Mail needs to add an IT system management feature."
"The solution doesn't need to be improved."
"They have issues when they are rolling out updates"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual license required to use this Microsoft Exchange Online."
"Microsoft solutions are expensive."
"The subscription fee is monthly."
"The pricing for Microsoft Exchange Online is quite reasonable, in my opinion. Many licensing options are available so that we can choose based on the customer's needs. For example, if a customer only requires mailbox features, we can recommend Plan One or Plan 2. We can suggest an E3 or E5 license if they need the entire Office suite. There are also premium subscriptions for enterprise customers, offering additional security features. Overall, I don't find the pricing costly because Microsoft provides many features and security capabilities, making it reliable for all customers, depending on their requirements."
"This solution requires a license."
"We have yearly licensing costs."
"I would say the solution is reasonable and affordable."
"The model is one which is pay-per-use go. There is no license. We are talking about per-user subscription-based use."
"Zoho Mail is more cost-efficient than its competitors."
"Zoho One has all 50 applications in it, and Zoho Mail is part of it. Zoho One is about 35 GBP per person per month. It includes Zoho Projects, Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, and everything else."
"The solution’s pricing is very reasonable."
"If you have ten users, for Google, you'll pay $100. With Zoho Mail, you'll only pay $30 to $40."
"There is no license required to use Zoho Mail."
"The solution is more affordable compared to other products. It is cheap."
"One of the reasons people use Zoho in Nigeria is because we can pay for it in Naira. It's very affordable already. For example, we can get Zoho Mail for somewhere between 1000 naira per user, which is less than one dollar. In my opinion, it's very affordable."
"The solution is not costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Retailer
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online?
The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track comm...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
The cost of Microsoft Exchange Online varies between $4 and $25 per user per month, depending on the different plans we use for different users.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
The mobile version of Microsoft Outlook has limited features compared to the desktop version. We find fewer features in the mobile version of Microsoft Exchange Online, so that could be improved if...
What do you like most about Zoho Mail?
It also offers the search functionalities. For end users, the search is quite easy to use. There are a few tabs to select to find exactly what you're looking for. It's pretty simple. As long as the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Mail?
Zoho Mail is economical compared to Microsoft and Google Workspace. Speaking specifically about Egypt and the region, they have competitive pricing compared to others.
What needs improvement with Zoho Mail?
They could increase the available space which is currently 5 GB. Gmail provides 15 GB of storage space, which would be more useful. Additionally, considering how WhatsApp backup automatically goes ...
 

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
BBDO, HuffPost
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online vs. Zoho Mail and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.