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OpenText GroupWise vs Zimbra Collaboration 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

OpenText GroupWise
Ranking in Email Applications
12th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (3rd)
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of OpenText GroupWise is 2.6%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 5.9%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration5.9%
OpenText GroupWise2.6%
Other91.5%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

JN
Consulting Manager at Technical Consulting Resources
Great security, stability, versatility, expandability and low cost of ownership.
I like the ease of login best in GroupWise. With the desktop client you can login to GroupWise independently of the PC login and it has Web Client that can be used if your prefer not to install the client or are using a PC that does not have the GroupWise Client installed. I also like its user proxy capabilities. I also like the level of security that it provides. Additionally, it comes with GroupWise Messenger for secure instant messaging to desktop or mobile devices. It integrates well with the email on your mobile devices and smart phones via GroupWise Mobile Services.
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The cost-effectiveness of the solution is most valuable."
"Very secure with great storage capacity."
"I would advise others who are looking into implementing this product to go for it."
"I like the ease of logging best in Micro Focus GroupWise. I also like its proxy capabilities from a user level. I also like how secure Micro Focus GroupWise is."
"The solution is very flexible and has great storage capacity."
"The product is easy to set up."
"The pricing of the solution is excellent; it's a newer solution with a modern interface and dashboard, the interface itself is very responsive and easy to navigate, the initial setup is very simple and straightforward, the stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update, and the solution really does scale very easily."
"It has all collaboration features, such as document sharing, video conferencing, chatting, task sharing, and calendar sharing."
"The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication."
"The product is very stable."
"It is the best open source collaboration suite that I know, because it provides high availability and more performance than the other solutions."
"Zimbra Collaboration is mainly used for messaging, emails, calendars, video conferencing, and document sharing."
"Good email solution and it's open-source."
 

Cons

"Their support can be improved. It is not as good as it used to be."
"What I don't like about Micro Focus GroupWise is the removal of the Unix client. Micro Focus took that function away about ten years ago because there wasn't enough demand for it."
"Customer support did what they could but we had some issues because it required coordination between GroupWise and SUSE Linux or the Micro Focus storage support. It became a ping pong between these two parts of the same company and was unpleasant."
"The WebAccess feature is somewhat lacking and could be improved."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
"The log files need to be improved; they need to show us more information because a lot of detail is lacking and that's not very helpful or insightful."
"Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure."
"Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on."
"Zimbra should provide a desktop client. Right now, we are using a web browser for accessing our emails. There should also be a desktop client."
"The support was lacking in my experience."
"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Micro Focus GroupWise is the most affordable solution on-premises. Versus Microsoft Exchange on-premises, pricing is 20:1, so there's no comparison. Micro Focus GroupWise is cheaper, though, for my clients, it's not about the cost but the stability and security of the solution."
"It was a part of the suite, so it was very cost-effective. There were no costs beyond the licensing fee."
"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."
"The solution is not expensive compared to other products."
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"The price of the solution is low."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
 

Also Known As

Micro Focus GroupWise, GroupWise
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Heritage Oaks Bank
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText GroupWise vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.