Microsoft Exchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online comparison

Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Online are both solutions in the Email Applications category. Microsoft Exchange is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft Exchange Online is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Microsoft Exchange holds a 11.3% mindshare in EA, compared to Microsoft Exchange Online’s 13.8% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft Exchange users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft Exchange Online users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Exchange

Read 92 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,048 Views
2,143 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange Online

Read 90 Microsoft Exchange Online reviews

4,403 Views
2,984 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Exchange Online

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Online compete in the email and collaboration software category. Microsoft Exchange Online holds the upper hand due to its continuous development, providing enhanced synchronization with modern mobile hardware and superior security features.

Features: Microsoft Exchange supports EWS integration, offering essential meeting information across devices. Its Exchange Toolbox provides robust tools like Message Tracking and Tracking Log Explorer. It integrates well with third-party apps geared towards the Outlook environment. Microsoft Exchange Online allows seamless access from anywhere, enhancing mobility and collaboration. It ensures strong calendar scheduling integration and provides continuous updates for improved features.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange requires significant maintenance, complex deployment, and faces integration challenges with non-Microsoft products. Its search functionality and licensing clarity need improvement. Microsoft Exchange Online has issues with its pricing model and occasional technical support delays. Enhancing integration with other services and platforms could improve user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deploying Microsoft Exchange is complex and requires technical expertise, with internal support often necessary and external support being average. Microsoft Exchange Online benefits from the simplicity of cloud-based deployments, reducing the need for internal infrastructure, though technical support responsiveness can be an issue.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Exchange involves upfront costs and licensing complexity, offering potential long-term savings for large organizations with on-premises infrastructure. Microsoft Exchange Online uses a subscription-based model that facilitates predictable budgeting. Small to medium enterprises find the cost reasonable, especially with bundled services like Microsoft 365.

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

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 856,856 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

Microsoft Exchange

Ranking in Email Applications

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)

Microsoft Exchange Online

Ranking in Email Applications

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.3%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online is 13.8%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Harry Murdani

Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd

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.

Read full review

NancyHartman

Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

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

"For me, the solution is very user-friendly. I've used it a long time and I know where everything is."

"The product works very well."

"What I love about Microsoft Exchange is the good integration since 2013, particularly its integration with the calendar and other software such as Zoom, TeamViewer, AnyDesk, etc."

"All features are useful; they meet the purpose of an email server."

"It is a very scalable solution."

"I like the logistics and the Microsoft protocol of reaching Outlook anywhere."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange are its ease of use, and simplicity of communication, and we can track communications between teams."

"The email management system is very easy to set up, configure, and use."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

"Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use."

"It is a reasonable solution."

"The solution is very easy to set up and quite quick to deploy."

"Microsoft Exchange Online is a very stable solution."

"Microsoft Exchange Online's resiliency is its most valuable feature."

"The product enables us to have remote meetings."

"Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support."

"The solution is stable."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pros

Cons

"The solution could be more secure."

"They could improve on the search function, it takes too much time."

"I would like to see the search capability of the Outlook client improved"

"When an update wants to come, it should just come maybe once or twice rather than having us deal with constant updating."

"I would like to see Microsoft Exchange improve their documentation."

"The desktop version of Microsoft Exchange receives emails a little slower than the online version."

"After 2022, users of Microsoft Exchange have to migrate mailboxes to Microsoft Exchange Online, and what I'd like to improve is for Microsoft to publish more on-premise versions for customers using Microsoft Exchange. Having more security is another room for improvement in the solution, particularly for mailboxes that develop the Exchange Edge rule to protect internal mailboxes. What I'd like to see from Microsoft Exchange in the future is for Microsoft to still update the latest, existing version which is 2022. I'd like Microsoft to still push more cumulative updates for Microsoft Exchange 2022."

"The product or service could be improved in terms of Microsoft Outlook client compatibility."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

"I feel that there is a need for improvement in the product, considering that there are some concerns with the tool's integration capabilities."

"The stability of the solution has room for improvement."

"In terms of machine controls, it was very confusing, and some of the administrative parts will be done from the control, but in online writing mostly we can handle everything."

"The solution should have more integration with other platforms."

"In terms of areas for improvement, I think Microsoft could enhance security. Right now, there are limited options for security within Exchange Online, and much of it relies on third-party security and compliance tools. I'd like to see more security features directly integrated. One specific area that needs improvement is the configuration of SMTP for third-party applications. It's challenging to manage without an on-premise SMTP server, and this is an issue many organizations face, including ours. If Microsoft could offer better SMTP configuration for third-party applications within Exchange Online, it would greatly benefit us."

"The UI could be improved to look more like the desktop version for ease of use."

"The support could improve their response time and sometimes the phone lines are not clear because of static or noise. However, the agents are knowledgeable and very helpful."

"From an IT perspective, we need clearer documentation to understand the product’s configuration process."

More Microsoft Exchange Online cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Exchange is an inexpensive application."

"We renew the product license with Microsoft every three years. The cost is included within a bundle of services. It's an enterprise agreement with Microsoft."

"Since my company is on Microsoft Cloud, we pay for the licenses per user. Compared to volume licensing, I would say the present licensing cost is not expensive."

"Microsoft Exchange itself does not require a license, but users who will have mailboxes will require a license. It depends on the number of users to choose which license. If you exceed 2,000 mailboxes, it's preferable to get the enterprise license."

"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."

"I have Outlook 365 Professional, and Exchange comes in the bundle with other solutions, such as Word and OneDrive. I pay for the use of the bundle monthly and I can imagine if you are a company with many licenses the pricing model would be a lot different."

"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."

"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."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."

"The cost is around $12 to $16 per user."

"There is a license for Microsoft Exchange Online and I have information on that, but there have been so many changes to the licensing and it's a completely different story nowadays. Microsoft has been pushing users to buy a package of products under one license. Users are becoming more dependent on Microsoft rather than independent, that you can't decide anymore, and from my point of view, that is bad."

"I would say the solution is reasonable and affordable."

"Initially, we had issues with the licensing agreement, but we worked it out with Microsoft."

"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."

"There is an annual license required to use this Microsoft Exchange Online."

"I would give the cost a five out of ten."

More Microsoft Exchange Online pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Applications solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

856,856 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

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...

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

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 18% of the time

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 17% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 14% of the time

HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 12% of the time

Superhuman vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 1% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Competitors

Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 51% of the time

Amazon WorkMail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 10% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 8% of the time

Zoho Mail vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 6% of the time

HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange Online

Compared 1% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Online Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

May 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange Online

May 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange Online product report

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange

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

Overview

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

Exchange Online helps protect your information with advanced capabilities. Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering protect mailboxes. Data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people. Globally redundant servers, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock safeguard your data.

Microsoft

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

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

June 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online

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

DOWNLOAD NOW

856,856 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Exchange vs. Microsoft Exchange Online report.

See our list of best Email Applications vendors.

We monitor all Email Applications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.