Emailing is a critical communication channel for any business, whether it is a small or mid-level company or an enterprise. There are many paid and open source email solutions that help businesses improve their internal and external communication channel. Not all email solutions, are capable of working at the same efficiency and come with similar features. When looking for email solutions, businesses often find it difficult to make a choice between Zimbra and Gmail – the two most widely sought email solutions. However, it might be often a confusing matter to choose. Should you opt for Zimbra mail server or Gmail? To help, this blog talks about the finer lines of comparison between Zimbra vs Gmail.
Zimbra vs Gmail: What Is The Difference
Zimbra and Gmail are both popular email platforms, however, there are some differences between the two. Here are some of the key differences between these individual platforms:
- Platform: Zimbra is a self-hosted email platform, meaning that organizations install and manage the software on their own servers. Gmail, on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform hosted by Google.
- Customization: Zimbra offers a high degree of customization through its Zimlet API, which allows users to extend and customize the platform’s functionality. Gmail, on the other hand, offers limited customization options.
- Pricing: Zimbra’s pricing model is based on the number of users and the level of support required, while Gmail’s pricing is based on a per-user, per-month subscription fee.
- Integration: Zimbra offers extensive integration capabilities through its Zimlet API, allowing users to integrate with third-party services and applications. Gmail also offers integration with third-party services, although to a lesser extent.
- Security: Both platforms offer robust security features, but Zimbra’s self-hosted model allows organizations to have greater control over their data and security policies as compared to Gmail.
- User Interface: Zimbra offers a highly customizable UI, while Gmail’s interface is a standardized one and less customizable.
5 Features of Zimbra
To assist its users in meeting their communication and collaboration needs, Zimbra provides a number of features. The top five features of Zimbra are as follows:
- Email: Zimbra offers a powerful email platform with tools like conversation view, drag-and-drop message organization, and integrated search. Additionally, the Zimbra email server can be customized; for this, you can choose the configuration services of a top Zimbra hosting provider.
- Task Manager: The platform includes a task management feature that enables users to make and manage to-do lists, set deadlines, and monitor task progress.
- Collaboration Manager: Zimbra has some fantastic collaboration tools, including group email threads, real-time chat, and document sharing. Additionally, it supports third-party platform integration with Slack and Zoom, among others.
- Calendar: Zimbra comes with a fully functional calendar that has sophisticated scheduling features that let users schedule appointments, group events, and set reminders. Additionally, it has a shared calendar feature that enables multiple users to view and schedule events simultaneously.
- Address Book: Users can store and manage the contact details of key participants in specific projects using Zimbra’s centralized address book feature. It is simple to schedule meetings and email contacts thanks to the address book’s integration with other calendar and email features.
5 Features of Gmail
Like Zimbra, Gmail is another powerful email platform, known for providing extensive search capabilities, productivity tools, and tight integration with other Google Workspace tools, making it a popular choice for individuals and businesses alike. Here are some of the most noteworthy features of Gmail:
- Intelligent Inbox: Gmail offers an intelligent inbox feature that automatically categorizes emails into primary, social, and promotional tabs, making it easier for users to focus on important emails.
- Google Workspace Integration: Gmail integrates with other Google Workspace apps, including Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets, allowing for seamless collaboration and document sharing.
- Search Capabilities: Gmail is known for its extensive search capabilities, allowing users to search for emails based on keywords, sender, recipient, and date. Users can also use advanced search filters to further refine their search results.
- Security: Like Zimbra, Gmail also offers some robust security features, namely two-factor authentication, phishing and malware protection, and confidential mode.
Comparing Zimbra vs Gmail – Why Zimbra for email hosting services?
- Code Customization
Zimbra is an open source software, which means businesses are free to modify the code according to their needs. When it comes to Gmail, it has specific template style design, which cannot be modified. Another advantage of Zimbra is its easy-to-use interface.
- Platforms Support
Similar to Gmail, Zimbra works on Mac and Windows. If a business is looking for an email solution that is compatible with Linux and Unix, they need to choose Zimbra. It runs on all browsers and is compatible with all major mail clients.
- Mobile Options
Businesses often give their employees the flexibility to work from their smartphones, and the email solutions are compatible with mobiles. Zimbra has apps for iPhone and Android, while Gmail has apps for iPhone, Windows Phone, and Android. The synchronization of Zimbra is, however, superior to other email software.
- Data Security
Data security is one of the worries of enterprises. Both Gmail and Zimbra have SOC 2 certification, HTTPS encryption for all pages, encryption of sensitive data at rest, multi-factor authentication options, and data backup in multiple locations/GEO regions. Many businesses are not comfortable to use Google to manage their private data over Google. Zimbra provides the required level of privacy and security to small and large businesses.
Last Word
Zimbra is affordable to use as it provides space for messaging, open collaboration, community building among users, and online private social networking. If we compare the feature benefits of Zimbra, they definitely outnumber the advantages of Gmail. It is an ideal enterprise grade email solution with rich AJAX based UI, easy migration/deployment, and options to deploy hybrid solutions. If you are looking to shift to the Zimbra mail server, it is important to work with only experienced Zimbra mail server configuration service providers. When it comes to Zimbra cloud email hosting, i2k2 Networks is the leading provider of Zimbra email hosting services. Over the years, we have established ourselves as one of the top data center companies in India. Think Zimbra web email hosting services, think i2k2 Networks. When looking for Zimbra email hosting services, feel free to get in touch with the team at i2k2 Networks. We are the trusted mailing service provider of clients spread across the globe.