Zimbra
Email, calendar and collaboration server that organisations run on their own servers or with a hosting partner.
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Zimbra
Zimbra is an email and collaboration platform aimed at companies, universities, governments and hosting providers that want to keep mail on infrastructure they control rather than move to Google or Microsoft. A Zimbra server provides mailboxes, shared calendars, contacts, tasks, file storage (Briefcase) and chat, with a browser-based web client for users. People can also connect through Outlook with Zimbra's connector, through Thunderbird or IMAP apps, and through phones using Exchange ActiveSync. Admins get multi-tenancy, delegated administration, archiving, backup and tiered storage. The core server is open source, but most deployments use the commercial Standard or Professional editions, sold by quote through Zimbra and its partner network, with a free trial licence. It is owned by Synacor. It suits IT teams with data-residency or compliance needs who are comfortable running a mail server; small teams that just want hosted email will find it heavy compared with a ready-made provider.
Best for: IT teams that must host company email and calendars on their own servers or in a chosen country.
Pros and cons
What works
- Runs on-premises, in a private cloud or via a local partner, so you pick the data location
- Works with Outlook, Thunderbird, IMAP apps and ActiveSync phones
- Mail, calendar, contacts, files and chat in one server with multi-tenant admin tools
Why people leave
- Pricing is quote-only; no public price list for the commercial editions
- Running and patching your own mail server takes real admin time and skill
- Outlook support, mobile push and archiving need the higher Professional edition
Top Zimbra alternatives
See all 6- 1
Microsoft 36569.5Hosted Exchange mail plus Office apps, for teams ready to give up running their own server.
- 2GoGoogle Workspace69.4
Fully hosted Gmail, Calendar and Drive with no servers to maintain.
- 3
Zoho Mail61.8Hosted business email with calendar and files, at lower cost than the big two suites.
- 4
Roundcube57.5Free open-source webmail you can put in front of any IMAP server you already run.
- 5
mailbox.org55.9German-hosted, privacy-focused business mail and calendar if you want EU hosting without self-hosting.
Why people left Zimbra
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Zimbra: common questions
Is Zimbra free?
No, Zimbra is a paid product.
Is Zimbra open source?
No, Zimbra is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Roundcube and Nextcloud.
What platforms does Zimbra run on?
Zimbra is available for Web, Self-hosted, Windows, iOS and Android.
What are the best alternatives to Zimbra?
The highest-ranked Zimbra alternatives right now are Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Zoho Mail. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.