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Microsoft Exchange vs Zarafa comparison

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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
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (2nd)
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 September 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 7.2%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zarafa is 1.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange7.2%
Zarafa1.8%
Other91.0%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Bookkeeper at FCA - Victoria Point
Reliable email service has supported consistent communication and improved user training
I do use Cisco Secure Email, Grafis, and Proofpoint Email Protection when needed, but we were using Proofpoint before, and we are no longer using it. I am currently using Microsoft Exchange as our email solution. We are a client of Microsoft; there is no partnership between my company and Microsoft. My experience with Microsoft Exchange is as good as the generic email. I do not use Microsoft Exchange to synchronize emails across devices, and it is not part of my workflow. The protocols I mostly use with Microsoft Exchange for integration are SMTP. I do not use the shared calendars feature in Microsoft Exchange. Data loss prevention is something we are not really using or utilizing at the moment. My overall review rating for Microsoft Exchange is 8.
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

"It's an excellent product from Microsoft, providing more flexibility to the end-users, and as it's connected with Teams, it also enables collaboration and document sharing through emails with many user-friendly features."
"It is a very stable tool...It is a very scalable tool."
"The initial setup was straightforward and fast."
"Microsoft Exchange is highly stable for the end-user systems. When we move to Office 365, it will be even more stable even. There's less administration required and it's very robust. We are really quite happy in using that."
"Microsoft has a very good support team."
"The latest versions have gotten much better about balancing the load on the backend."
"Exchange's interface is good. All of our engineers like it and are accustomed to using it."
"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange is its security."
"This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange."
 

Cons

"The setup is difficult so could be easier."
"Microsoft Exchange's customer support could be faster and more knowledgeable."
"Microsoft Exchange could improve security. They can elevate a lot of security features."
"Deployment should become a bit easier, the process is a bit complicated. You have to have done it one or two times before you get it right. The first time you do it, it won't be perfect. There are a lot of complications compared to Gmail For Business, which is a bit easier when it comes to configuration."
"We are not able to use Microsoft Teams due to connection issues. Thus, the product integration with Teams could be improved."
"In the version we have, I would like to see better communication between the end device and the Exchange server."
"I see some drawbacks and areas for improvement; the quarantining is not fantastic because it lets a lot of spam through, and when it is notified of spam, it does not particularly alter its behavior quickly."
"In terms of configuring the product, that's definitely an area in which they can make some improvements on."
"Not really, although the Zarafa-index component was using a lot of memory and disk I/O bandwith."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Compared to the other options in the market, the licensing costs attached to Microsoft Exchange seem reasonable."
"It's working very well. There is no problem, but the price is not the best."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"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."
"Its price is very affordable, and basically, it is the standard of the industry. We have the Exchange 365 subscription, which includes the usage of Exchange Online. I don't know the specific cost, but it is the retail price of Microsoft 365 E3 licenses. Microsoft's licensing is not very easy to understand. Microsoft changes rules every other day, which makes it difficult for us to understand the licensing not only for Exchange but also for other products. It can sometimes be really complex to understand what you need to have in order to comply with Microsoft licensing."
"It is not expensive."
"Its price is fair."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise35
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?
I am aware of pricing aspects, and I would say it is affordable for what it is.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange?
I see some drawbacks and areas for improvement; the quarantining is not fantastic. I think the quarantining is not fantastic because it lets a lot of spam through, and when it is notified of spam, ...
Ask a question
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
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: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.