Mailbutler vs. Zimbra by Synacor

Mailbutler is great for people who want to practice "zero inbox," because you can "snooze" emails for later response or action. The task feature is also very useful, as it allows me to make note of what action needs to be taken in regards to each email. In general, it helps me be far more efficient in my email communication.

Incentivized

I consider Zimbra Email & Collaboration a viable alternative to the major American cloud email platforms. In a scenario where data protection and privacy are critical, especially in an on-premise environment, Zimbra is a very suitable solution. It is also capable of offering a comprehensive set of tools and additional features (tasks, calendars, contacts, briefcase) in an integrated manner.

Incentivized

• Snoozing emails for later response or followup
• Reminding me to add attachments
• Allowing time for me to cancel sending an email

Incentivized

• The management of incremental mail backup. It is very simple, and the administrators of my company recover information quickly.
• The management of the distribution lists is structured. This allows easy distribution of mass information.
• The web application is very complete and intuitive.

Incentivized

• Mailbutler occasionally conflicts with other macOS Mail plug-ins. Though, in most (if not all) cases the issue tends to be with other plugins.
• The Mail app for iOS/iPadOS doesn't support plugins, making it necessary to use Mailbutler's own app to access a limited subset of the functionality on macOS/iPadOS.

• User web interface could be more friendly, but it is enough for daily use. It could be renewed and has to consider some usability concerns. Improving usability would significantly improve users' satisfaction.
• Message backup recovery is not a simple activity.
• As an administrator, some of the features work better using the command-line interface.
• The webclient uses ajax requests in almost every event. Because of that you may need a fast internet connection to have a good experience. You can switch to HTML version but it will limit what you can do.

Incentivized

The web usability of the solution is adequate, with all functions integrated into a single interface. However, it is important to note that in the desktop environment, it lacks its own application and relies on ActiveSync synchronization with reference solutions like Outlook or Thunderbird. Some features, such as the briefcase, will be excluded. The same happens on smartphones.It is also common for competing solutions to include integrated chat or video call tools, which Zimbra lacks. These shortcomings are among the most frequently requested by users.

Incentivized

Support is generally very good. Occasionally the response time is a bit slower than I'd like.

Overall, we were satisfied with the implementation. We perhaps should have spent more time consulting with Zimbra or others regarding best practices but as we got to know the system better we were able to make changes relatively easily after the fact.

Incentivized

I'm not aware of any other products that provide the same functionality within the macOS Mail client. There are some third-party email apps for macOS and iOS/iPadOS that have some of Mailbutler's features, but my preference is to stay with Apple's Mail client, partially for security reasons.

• We were originally a Groupwise shop before changing to Zimbra in 2008. Zimbra, from an end-user standpoint, pricing, system administration, and management is a far better system.
• We use Google Apps for our students. We did not find it to be suitable for faculty and staff due to its lack of shared accounts.
• We are moving from Zimbra to Office 365. Office 365 offers just about all that Zimbra had, though its web interface is inferior to that of Zimbra. It does offer us greatly reduced costs though, and high availability. If Zimbra were to have a fully HA environment, we may have stayed with them.

Incentivized

• The Delay Send feature has improved my email communications by allowing me to add details or make corrections before the email is actually sent to the recipient.
• Being able to track emails has been very helpful and, in some cases, has prompted me to contact people through an alternate communication channel (e.g. phone or text).

• Improved internal communication and dissemination and distribution of messages and corporate objectives.
• The creation of an internal network of employees is something that gives us security and confidence.
• Having a private and exclusive messaging system differentiates us from the competition and from other companies.