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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    HCL Notes

    Score3.5 out of 10
    N/ANotes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A

    Zoho Cliq

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AZoho Chat is a live chat tool, from Zoho Corporation.

    $18

    per month up to 25 users

    Pricing
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Standard
    $18
    per month up to 25 users
    Professional
    $20
    per month $2 for each additional user over 10
    Enterprise
    $40
    per month $4 for each additional user over 10
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—10% discount for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Zoho
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Zoho Cliq
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Zoho Cliq
    8.4
    6 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Task Management7.09 Ratings8.55 Ratings
    Gantt Charts6.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling8.09 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Workflow Automation5.06 Ratings7.54 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.010 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Search6.09 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Visual planning tools8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of HCL Notes and Zoho Cliq
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Zoho Cliq
    8.9
    6 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Chat6.010 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Notifications9.010 Ratings8.76 Ratings
    Discussions9.57 Ratings9.06 Ratings
    Surveys9.14 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase10.06 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook10.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of HCL Notes and Zoho Cliq
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Zoho Cliq
    9.1
    6 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Versioning9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Video files6.05 Ratings9.66 Ratings
    Audio files6.05 Ratings8.36 Ratings
    Document collaboration8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access control6.08 Ratings9.06 Ratings
    Advanced security features8.08 Ratings9.36 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device sync8.05 Ratings9.36 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
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    User Ratings
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.7
    (9 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesZoho Cliq
    Likelihood to Recommend
    HCLSoftware
    I often work with teams from other country and regions, hence HCL Notes is a very useful platform for internal company management operations. It standardized organisational work standards in most of the offices worldwide. HCL Notes also enables chat with other team around the world that I find very helpful when initiating conversation or just want to have a quick update rather than sending emails and waiting for replies. However, HCL Notes is not very efficient in web browsing and user still need to use other internet service providers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    It is very well suited as a messaging tool, where one needs to communicate quickly to a colleague the status of a particular task or an update to the work. This is especially useful for field work where the field team can report the work done and any additional resources required. We have faced issues when virtual meetings are held for a team of 10+ members with a lot of drop-offs and poor quality of reception (audio & video). While some may be attributed to poor internet connection, we do not face the same issue when using Zoom meetings. This area requires strengthening.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    HCLSoftware
    • It has a really strong and robust database that's extremely scalable and holds up well to thousands of users and many different environments.
    • It has a really good enterprise-grade framework for development custom database applications
    • All of the custom database applications along with the email all have a nice uniform look and feel so their easy-to-use.
    • I really like how it's developed and supported on every client OS (Windows, OSX, Linux)! The competitors definitely do NOT offer this (M$).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • External channels allow in-office staff a private channel to directly relay messages to customers.
    • Automated notifications through Zoho CRM can be easily triggered.
    • Audio/screen share components offer zoom-quality calling without extraneous setups.
    Read full review
    Cons
    HCLSoftware
    • Notes' backwards compatibility sometimes gets in the way. Menus are cluttered with extraneous, outdated options and features that modern users will never use, and Preferences are often difficult to navigate for those coming from Gmail or Outlook. We have greatly simplified this via Policies, but users still find it daunting to go through all the options that are available.
    • The IBM Notes client for Windows & Mac is essentially the Eclipse Java development platform...so it is HUGE. Performance initially was very slow but IBM has done a good job of speeding things up. As IBM moves more toward cloud-delivered applications, this will not be as much of a problem.
    • Notes and Domino can be complex to manage for administrators who are more accustomed to ActiveDirectory, Group Policy, etc. Editing a notes.ini file to add a feature, or working with XML files by hand to create a SmartUpgrade kit can be daunting to those coming from more modern administrative roles.
    • Some users claim to "hate" Notes mail. While I have heard this less and less over the past 10 years, we have had 3rd party software offer plugins to Outlook and it's rare to see any for Notes.
    • The client update process should be automated more. I would like to see the Notes client update quietly and quickly more like an Adobe software update. If an update fails it should automatically try again without prompting the user over and over.
    • Notes multiple language spell checking is a downloaded add-on Java-based resource that has to be deployed in a convoluted way that is difficult for users to grasp. Therefore any foreign language spell check updates must be done individually per Notes client by IT, which is unfortunate. I would prefer to see that be a "live download" update option for users to get directly from IBM (don't make me download it and put it on my network).
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • Initial set up can be a little daunting if you aren't a tech-savvy person. For large organizations, this might not matter since you would have a dedicated IT team that will handle it (as we did) but if you are a small business owner looking to set this up yourself, I imagine it would take some trial and error to get working.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    HCLSoftware
    I've been in IT business and as a Programmer/Developer for 20+ years with too many programming languages experiences/back ground (C/C++/Visual Basic/Basic Program/Unix/COBOL/Java). Also with 18+ years with Lotus Notes/IBM Domino, I am still and always think Lotus Notes is the best RAD platform available!. When the time where resource is very limited and the expectation is very high and the turn around is too short, IBM Domino/Notes is the platform to use and it's the only choice available.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Zoho Cliq has become an integral part of our daily business. Every single member of our team who has a job involving a computer has an active Zoho Cliq license and uses the tool continuously throughout the day. It cuts down on meetings and allows the team to feel very connected to one-another even though we are distributed geographically.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    HCLSoftware
    Easy to use for the user, most of the apps we developed, there is not much need for user training. Most of the times, we just do a demo to the users group and they can pick up from there.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Easy to use Larger File sharing like videos, audios, even zip files Make internal group calls Multiple channel creation sharing development scripts is also easy
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    It's available 24X7. We have never faced any serious issues with the connectivity. Whenever we faced issues, it has been traced to a browser issue or Windows app issue or a mobile issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    No issues
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    HCLSoftware
    I've been using the production for a very long time and very happy with it. Also, all the online resources and forums for notes is very friendly and easy/quick for getting help. I found out that compared to Microsoft or Oracle or any other platforms, IBM Notes online forum is the best I have seen.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Any time that I have had an issue, and there haven't been many user support jumps right on and helps me right away.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    Excellent support. Online training and supporting videos, and resources are more than sufficient to get started. Moreover, their support channel, especially the chat window, is very helpful and provides an instant solution to all our queries. For any complicated issue, they always get back by email with the solution and on occasions even call back.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    HCLSoftware
    Implementation is easy and smooth if the requirement is well gathered/documented. Notes is a RAD platform, all projects in Notes is simple in the implementation step.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Implementation is very simple and easy. Create a Zoho account (free or paid), send/ receive an invite, log in, verify your credentials and get started. Admin would have created the channels for you, and you start contributing. The entire process is smooth, and you can get started within minutes. The Admin has to work at the backend, initially, and decide on the permissions for the individual and the team and set up permissions for access to other applications too. This needs to be planned out, tested and implemented.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    HCLSoftware
    Outlook has been considered for years as a replacement platform. Pricing and support staff made it prohibitive. Our long-time use of Microsoft Office productivity suite naturally led us to consider the adoption of Office365. A recent investigation told us that Azure Cloud services propel an O365 solution to the forefront. Early adopters in international divisions have paved the way for Azure and O365.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Functionality wise Zoho Chat fairs pretty well against the other options. I still use all the other options as I need to be flexible in how I communicate with clients. It is the integration into the ZohoCRM & Cliq that puts Zoho Chat above the others and is why I try to encourage clients to move across to the app
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    Bulk discounts can be considered. Slab-wise user discounts would attract more users.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    The system works perfectly well. At times, we have faced issues with the desktop application - it doesn't start, or takes time to start, or even logs off on its own. However, the browser as well as the mobile application work perfectly well, and we have never faced issues with them
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    HCLSoftware
    • Over the years, we have lost countless hours of productivity from the thousands of crashes we have experienced.
    • One benefit of IBM Notes is that it is very simple to train a new user on. Many people prefer and are familiar with Google tools, but those that use IBM Notes have very little trouble acclimating themselves.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • our business save time and improve communication. We noticed a 20% faster response time to customer issues because team members can communicate instantly.
    • reduced our internal email clutter, saving about 10 hours a week for staff who used to spend time sorting through emails.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Zoho Cliq Screenshots

    Screenshot of Zoho Cliq UIScreenshot of Remote WorkScreenshot of Video CallsScreenshot of Integrations in Zoho CliqScreenshot of Zoho Cliq view across devices