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Microsoft Exchange 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
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 August 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 7.6%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zarafa is 1.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange7.6%
Zarafa1.7%
Other90.7%
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

"The most beneficial aspects of Microsoft Exchange are that it is solid, dependable, and reliable."
"Using EWS support, we have created a custom UI to display meeting info on our local portal to utilize and manage meeting and conference rooms effectively."
"Microsoft Exchange is the leader in corporate communication."
"The interface is user-friendly."
"We've been using Exchange as an email platform; our clients require multi-country, multi-regional email collaboration with controlled mail flow, and the most valuable feature is the capability of message tracking and the protection of user data."
"Microsoft Exchange is stable."
"The availability group settings are better, so it has inherent scalability. In 2010, they added several sensible rules."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is its ease of use."
"This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange."
 

Cons

"When an update wants to come, it should just come maybe once or twice rather than having us deal with constant updating."
"From a security perspective, Microsoft Exchange can be improved."
"Microsoft could improve on Exchange's hybrid deployment or HCW. They need to improve on that because I was having many issues with HCW in our environment at times."
"At the end of the day, the biggest area for improvement is having better and more knowledgeable support technicians."
"In terms of configuring the product, that's definitely an area in which they can make some improvements on."
"If it was the same product, and slightly cheaper, that would be amazing."
"For the next release, there are some features on the cloud-based Exchange that aren't included on-prem. It would be great if these features were made available in the next release. For instance, integration between Exchange and its on-prem calendar is not available for the on-prem solution."
"The setup is difficult so could be easier."
"Not really, although the Zarafa-index component was using a lot of memory and disk I/O bandwith."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"The solution is expensive to maintain because it requires frequent updates and ongoing server maintenance."
"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."
"Licensing costs for Microsoft Exchange have increased, but are still fair. For some users, the cost is high considering the number of functions and features they will use."
"Its price is fair."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"The product is quite cheap."
"I don't have enough information about the licensing costs of Microsoft Exchange, but I do know that you need two types of licenses to run it. You need the product key and the client access key to activate Microsoft Exchange. This means that apart from the standard Microsoft Exchange licensing fees, you have to pay additional costs."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
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
Earn 20 points
 

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: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.