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Microsoft Exchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Exchange improves productivity and efficiency by 30%-50% with varied ROI, especially through cost-effective cloud deployment and essential functions.
Sentiment score
7.4
Companies achieved significant ROI with Microsoft Exchange Online, realizing savings and operational efficiency without hardware investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Exchange support is valued for expertise but often criticized for slow response, high costs, and mixed satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Exchange Online support is often praised for responsiveness, but user experiences vary with occasional delays and expertise issues.
The Microsoft support structure, while technically proficient, involves case transfers across different global locations.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Exchange is scalable and flexible, supporting thousands of users with options for on-premise and cloud solutions.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Exchange Online offers impressive scalability for large organizations, efficiently managing growth despite potential cost increases.
The licensing and associated costs make it challenging to scale, especially when user numbers increase.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Exchange is stable and reliable, with occasional glitches from updates, needing regular updates but rarely experiencing downtime.
Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Exchange Online is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and improved stability since 2010, despite occasional external glitches.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Exchange faces criticism for storage limits, complex licensing, security, integration issues, high pricing, and usability challenges.
Microsoft Exchange Online struggles with integration, security, and usability, with users seeking better performance, pricing, and support.
The biggest issue with Microsoft Exchange is its high cost, especially in pricing for license upgrades and expansion to more users.
 

Setup Cost

Evaluating Microsoft Exchange reveals varied pricing experiences influenced by company size, licensing complexity, and feature needs.
Enterprise users have mixed experiences with Microsoft Exchange Online's pricing, citing affordability for some, but high costs and complex licensing for others.
Microsoft Exchange is costly, and its licensing model can be expensive over time as more users require licenses.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Exchange excels in email integration, security, and compatibility, enhancing productivity and collaboration in enterprise environments.
Microsoft Exchange Online provides unlimited storage, strong integration, enhanced security, spam filtering, and efficient remote access for diverse organizations.
Microsoft Exchange is a user-friendly and easy-to-deploy solution, which is beneficial for handling emails even without professional support.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Exchange
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (2nd), File Archiving (3rd)
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
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.5%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.1%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Harry Murdani - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps with email services and communication with internal and external contacts
Everything is useful. The only useful thing Microsoft Exchange could do is give us more of a discount on pricing because it's so expensive. Regarding the calendaring functions of Exchange, there is a problem when scheduling an event for the whole day. When you click the whole day event, the scheduling doesn't really work. For example, if I schedule a meeting with you and block your whole day, instead of just putting a time from morning to afternoon, other people can still block your time, which results in double booking. It's kind of a bug that allows people to double-book. So, the scheduling isn't working properly yet. We also faced challenges with backup services. You need to use a third-party backup solution to back up the whole Exchange server properly. You can't use the native Windows backup services. It's like they're forcing me to buy another product, which means additional costs. The backup solution and the double booking issues. If Microsoft Exchange can fix these two things, then it will be very good.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
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.
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...
 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.