--- title: HCL Notes Reviews meta\_title: 'HCL Notes Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 188 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how HCL Notes works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 3.2 review\_count: 188 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-07' parent\_category: name: Collaboration & Productivity url: https://www.g2.com/categories/collaboration-productivity --- # HCL Notes Reviews & Product Details Claimed ###### Profile Status This profile is currently managed by HCL Notes but has limited features. Are you part of the HCL Notes team? [Upgrade your plan](https://sell.g2.com) to enhance your branding and engage with visitors to your profile! HCL Notes is an enterprise email client that integrates social collaboration, messaging and business applications into a single workspace * * * Seller [HCL Technologies](https://www.g2.com/sellers/hcl-technologies) Discussions [HCL Notes Community](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/discuss) Solution Type All-in-One Overview by Rebecca Bauer (Content Director) Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 3 months ### Return on Investment 16 months [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Microsoft Outlook](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Microsoft Outlook") Microsoft Outlook 4.5/5(3,521) ](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-outlook/reviews) [ ![Thunderbird](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Thunderbird") Thunderbird 4.3/5(340) ](https://www.g2.com/products/thunderbird/reviews) [ ![Front](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Front") Front 4.7/5(2,507) ](https://www.g2.com/products/front/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 188 real user reviews. Implementation Time 3 months Perceived Cost $$$$$ [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Verified User in Chemicals](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Chemicals") UC Verified User in Chemicals Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 1/24/2019 "IBM Lotus Notes" 2/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? Workspaces allow for organization of business-wide documentation. Categorization capabilities make separating databases easy and allow restricted accessibility, which can be defined by administrators. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? Software is very slow and restrictive. Lotus notes is not often updated, and seems very unfriendly toward users and is relatively antiquated. User functionality is strictly limited by how often the software is used - such that frequent users are much more fluid but for someone who uses it on a weekly or even monthly basis, the learning/re-learning curve is quite steep. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: There are other softwares that will provide much more user-friendly interfaces, and with Microsoft's recent upgrades to the Office software package, you can accomplish most of the same things with that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? Currently our company utilizes Lotus Notes as a training hub and training database/tracking system. It allows us to define shortcomings in our training programs and organize all of our standard operating procedures into on easily accessible database which can be pushed to all active users via a simple email. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Industrial Automation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Industrial Automation") UI Verified User in Industrial Automation Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 1/29/2019 "MS Office/ Outlook is a better choice" 1.5/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? Quite frankly there is really nothing that comes to mind that I like about this software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? Cumbersome interface, less intuitive than MS Office. Doesn't integrate well with mobile phones. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: From a user standpoint this product has not aged well since it's early days as Lotus Notes. Since most companies use MS Office already, I don't see any good reason to use IBM notes along side it. My company is transfering us to MS Office 365 in the coming months and I couldn't be happier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? From a user standpoint, I really haven't seen any benefits over over using Outlook Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Industrial Automation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Industrial Automation") UI Verified User in Industrial Automation Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 3/4/2019 "IBM notes is difficult to setup, not user-friendly, and has a dated interface. " 1.5/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? There are many settings to tweak and the software is highly customizable based on your preferences. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? The search function is very hard to use. Search results almost never yield what I want them to. In addition, scheduling meetings and finding available times should be much more accessible; you have to click through multiple different tabs just to see all invitees availability. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? Flow of communication such as meetings and email. Sharing of files, sharing of calendars. The other functions within IBM notes are not worth figuring out how to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management") UN Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/20/2019 "Solid but probably not worth Cost" 2/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? It’s secure and you can share. It’s also Convenient to schedule through Calendar or other applications. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? Cost is expensive. There’s some bugs, which is always going to be a people’s eith technonlogy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? Can provide secure access and storage to data. It’s nice to be able to work together throughout company. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Drew A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Drew A.") DA Drew A. Margin Manager Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 10/17/2017 "A Program That Has Outlived Its Time" 2/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? The Sametime IM feature is pretty good, if a little bare-boned. I like that it automatically saves chats so that I can go back to them like I can with email. Filing emails with folders is easy enough, and the "Send and File" option makes it easy to keep everything together. It's easy to have multiple inboxes open at once. The ability to share calendars with other employees so that I can find them when they're not in their office is really useful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? The search function doesn't always find email or chat history that I know is there. The UI is pretty awful. It looks like something straight out of the late 90s. And this is recently upgraded version. Archiving is...uneven at best. Bunch of extra tools I have never used. It's unnecessarily complicated to set up an out-of-office reply. It's a resource hog. Having it running all day eats up a decent amount of my CPU's memory. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: No need to go with Notes unless you have a need to build custom databases that tie in intimately with your email system. Even then, there's probably another system that ties in better to Outlook or another email system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? I understand why my organization originally went with IBM Notes. The database abilities allowed for an all-in-one solution. But now, Notes is so bloated and a resource hog compared to Outlook, and so many databases have been transitioned to other areas that it is really irrelevant. We are moving to Outlook later this year. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Emily P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Emily P.") EP Emily P. Digital Marketing Specialist Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 4/12/2017 "If you like email clients that act like they're from 1995, this one's for you." 2/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? It gets the job done, and the web interface as opposed to the native client is better. I do like that I can look at the calendars of other employees to see when they are available for meetings. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? Searching within Notes is frustrating. The Citrix or native clients are clunky and not user friendly. Finding anything that doesn't pertain to email is near impossible. I've used this product for 13 years and I've still never figured out how to put vacation on my calendar without it being a meeting. The trash function could be a lot better. The spam system could be a lot better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: I would not recommend this. Go with something like Google Apps. I think you'll be happier for it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? Our company uses Notes for email, calendars, and to store some employee information such as the online library and handbooks. If it worked better, it would be great for this, but as it is, it could be better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Information Technology and Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Information Technology and Services") UI Verified User in Information Technology and Services Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 7/25/2017 "It does not compare to microsoft outlook" 1.5/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? There is nothing on here that Outlook doesn't already have Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? I for one would never go for IBM Notes. I find issues/ errors happening all the time, system crashes or things don't update as they should. It is embarrassing when you are trying to project manage and meeting invites and cancellations sometimes do not go through Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: I do not recommend Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? None to speak of. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Jerry H.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jerry H.") JH Jerry H. Manager Information Technology and Services Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 1/5/2017 "Works well only if you know how" 1.5/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? Calendar feature is well designed. Delegation works well. Even though the replication is very confusing, it does serve a good backup purpose. Good for user management, database management and server management. Compare to other platforms, it is more secure. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? Very confusing replication. Not easy to set up a database application to be used. Break easily with corrupted local files and the Email application wont work properly. Sametime connection is so bad. The build-in internet browser barely work for the more advanced web pages, and there is no way to install extensions and plugins. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? This is company-wide used platform Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Investment Banking](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Investment Banking") UI Verified User in Investment Banking Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 12/14/2016 "Good software but not the best" 1.5/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? It's a tool with enough applications and functions for a good work in the office, all in one only tool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? It's in "Stone Age" in comparation with MS Outlook for manage e-mails. Not even you can search the e-mails very well through body. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: Add it this: do it simple and do it friendly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? Using e-mail, we have communication to work, and we know the Human Resources and other departments information with the other applications. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") UC Verified User in Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 12/25/2016 "IBM notes has a nice workflow but seems a bit out dated" 2/5 What do you like best about HCL Notes? I like that seems to have good flow, after using it for awhile it made sense Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about HCL Notes? The email feature is awful, I switched from gmail and have had the hardest time making it work. It doesn't integrate well and the replication is a dumb feature. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering HCL Notes: Gmail seems so much easier Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is HCL Notes solving and how is that benefiting you? It keeps track of what I need, and once you learn it it makes sense. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about HCL Notes? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about HCL Notes ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/discussions/new) ![Muhammad Q.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Muhammad Q.") MQ Muhammad Qasim • Last activity over 6 years ago In what industries is IBM Notes mostly used? 1 Upvote 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/in-what-industries-is-ibm-notes-mostly-used) GU Guest User What is HCL Notes used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-hcl-notes-used-for) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/discuss) ## Pricing Insights Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 3 months ### Return on Investment 16 months ### Perceived Cost $$$$$ [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/pricing) HCL Notes Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_69054bc7d40597b06fc3905720ccc914/microsoft-outlook.png "Product Avatar Image") Outlook 4.5/5(3,521) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/hcl-notes-vs-microsoft-outlook) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_6ca5b57b63c45814e9ef66a64ca43c19/thunderbird.png "Product Avatar Image") Thunderbird 4.3/5(340) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/hcl-notes-vs-thunderbird) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_148d4e88c759e4a7a984a0f3f056fd39/zimbra-collaboration-enterprise-collaboration.png "Product Avatar Image") Zimbra Collaboration... 3.6/5(140) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/hcl-notes-vs-zimbra-collaboration-enterprise-collaboration) ##### ##### HCL Notes Features Inbox Tools Unified Inbox Filters Reminders Coordination Tools Calendar Contacts Task Management Software Options Desktop Application Mobile Application [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/hcl-notes/features) ##### Categories on G2 [Email Client](https://www.g2.com/categories/email-client) ##### Explore More [Where can I find the best influencer marketing platform](https://www.g2.com/discussions/where-can-i-find-the-best-influencer-marketing-platform)[What cloud security monitoring platforms actually cut down the manual checks security teams have to do across multiple cloud services every week?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-cloud-security-monitoring-platforms-actually-cut-down-the-manual-checks-security-teams-have-to-do-across-multiple-cloud-services-every-week)[Top AP and spend analysis tools for finance teams](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-top-ap-and-spend-analysis-tools-for-finance-teams) [Which antivirus gives the strongest ransomware protection for a small home office setup where losing files would be genuinely catastrophic?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-antivirus-gives-the-strongest-ransomware-protection-for-a-small-home-office-setup-where-losing-files-would-be-genuinely-catastrophic)[Which app monetization platforms are most trusted by ad operations managers at online media companies?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-app-monetization-platforms-are-most-trusted-by-ad-operations-managers-at-online-media-companies)[Which AR content management systems let designers filter and search for specific model types quickly?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-ar-content-management-systems-let-designers-filter-and-search-for-specific-model-types-quickly) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)