Best Alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server Catalog

If you are looking for a ready-made list of best alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server, to get cheaper options, or to move away from Microsoft. Then you have reached the correct article page. Users mostly search for Exchange Server alternatives when they have to renew a license, to evaluate email server options, or are planning to change their current email environment.

Whether you are an IT or system admin, manager, IT service provider, or small-business owner. You will get all Exchange server alternative options in this article. Will help you to reduce search time.

Let’s begin with first section, which shares all alternatives to Microsoft Exchange Server.

5 Best Alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server

After this section, you will find list of best Microsoft Exchange Server alternatives, along with descriptions of popular email servers you already know.

First Alternative: iRedMail

iRedMail gives users lot of control over their mail server. Admins can use simple shell scripts to install server components like Dovecot & Postfix directly on their Linux system. Since server is self-managed, you decide what to keep, change, or remove.

Second Alternative: Zimbra Collaboration

Zimbra has been a long-time competitor & this is also Microsoft Exchange Server alternatives open-source. It offers user-friendly webmail interface to manage email, calendars & contacts. Its website is similar to Outlook Web App (OWA), which makes Zimbra a strong & flexible alternative for businesses.

Third Alternative: Kopano

Kopano is another open-source groupware platform that offers email, contacts, calendars, tasks, & notes in one place. Secondly, users can do real-time communication & video meetings via its Kopano Meet option. Kopano supports almost all operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, & iOS. Apart from this, it will also work with clients like Outlook, IMAP, CalDAV, & CardDAV.

Fourth Alternative: Carbonio CE

For companies that are more concerned about privacy & security, Carbonio is the right choice for them because it comes with a fancy design. Carbonio is developed by Zextras and made to focus on user data & privacy regulations, like GDPR. It also provides email, collaboration, & communication tools of businesses.

Fifth Alternative: Grommunio

Grommunio is right choice for companies that have already replaced Exchange but are still use Outlook client compatibility. It supports Outlook through MAPI, so users can continue use Outlook without any changes. Secondly, its “drop-in” setup makes switching easier because Outlook can connect to Grommunio server almost like it connects to Exchange.

Sixth Alternative: Mailcow

It is designed for admins who like to choose simple, container-based setup instead of traditional mailbox system. It combines Dovecot, SOGo & Postfix in single setup, which makes it easy to manage email services.

So, these are best alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server, now you can pick suitable alternative as per your needs.

Every alternative has some pros & cons that can be beneficial & not useful sometimes to users.

Let’s move to next section.

Exchange Server Alternative	Pros	Cons
iRedMail	Lightweight, runs on virtually any Linux server.	Lack of web admin UI in the “Free” version.
Zimbra Collaboration	Stable, huge extension library (“Zimlets”)	Paid for mobile sync.
Kopano	Has rich features, open-source like Carbonio, supports Outlook & other platforms.	Setup might be complex & requires technical expertise.
Carbonio CE	Has best UI among all other open-source with state-of-the-art data sovereignty.	Lacking in real world feed back & online troubleshooting resources.
Grommunio	Active Directory & Outlook support.	Debugging requires deep expertise.
Mailcow	Updates easily, spam handles with its integrated security.	Uses High RAM

So, these are pros & cons of all listed alternatives to Microsoft Exchange Server.

Next section shares more managed solutions of Exchange Server alternatives. Check out to know more.

Cloud-based Exchange Server Alternative

As we all know, Office 365 is globally used platform, it provides hardware cost reduction option by offering benefits of cloud & on-premises. Servers & hardware maintenance costs & headaches are no longer like on-premises Exchange.

Users will get multiple business apps on single platform, such as Outlook, Teams, OneDrive & SharePoint, which helps to improve ROI. Hybrid setup is possible, which helps to preserve some data on-premises & in cloud. This also provides flexibility in privacy in cloud.

Both Exchange & Office 365 are part of Microsoft ecosystem, integration becomes easy.

Microsoft Exchange Server Alternatives On-Premises

Another alternative to Exchange Server is HCL Domino. It focuses on security & custom applications for both Windows & Linux. Its built-in Domino Attachment and Object Service (DAOS) technology removes duplicate email attachments & can save up to 90% disk space.

Recommendation: If you are currently use Exchange Server & looking to migrate to another alternative option without loss of data. Then, use secure email backup software to directly, & hassle-free migration. Whether you want to migrate Exchange Server to Office 365 or Exchange Server to IBM Lotus Notes.

Final Thoughts

Wrap-up of this article, on topic “Best alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server.” We have shared six Exchange Server alternative options. Secondly, we found that every alternative to Exchange Server provides multiple features that are totally different from each other. Moreover, table that displays pros & cons of all listed alternatives. We also covered two managed solutions for Exchange Server alternatives & understood how they are better than six alternatives mentioned. Now it’s your choice to pick smart alternative to Exchange Server that suits the best.