Zimbra
Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform (owned by Synacor) serving 6,000+ organizations across 127 countries, including government, financial, and education customers needing data sovereignty and on-premises deployment as an alternative to Microsoft and Google.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersPalo Alto, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Zimbra does
Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform owned and operated by Synacor, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) and headquartered in the United States. Founded in 2003 (operating since 2005), the company provides email, calendar, contacts, tasks, file-sharing (Briefcase), chat, and in-browser document collaboration through a single suite. The platform is built on open standards (SMTP, IMAP, CalDAV, CardDAV, ActiveSync, EWS) with an extensibility layer called Zimlets, and supports deployment from 10 users to 10 million on-premises, in private cloud, or in regional data centers — a positioning the company uses to address data sovereignty, GDPR, and HIPAA requirements for highly regulated buyers. Two commercial editions (Standard and Professional) are sold on annual subscriptions, augmented by tiered support (Standard, Premier, Elite) and professional services such as training, upgrades, and implementation. The company historically acquired Mezeo Software (2014) and was itself acquired by Synacor in 2017 after a prior acquisition by Yahoo in 2007.
Zimbra distributes almost entirely through a channel model of more than 3,000 VARs and Business Service Providers (BSPs) across 127 countries, supplemented by direct website engagement (60-day free trial, quote requests, web client). The customer base spans over 6,000 organizations including highly regulated institutions in finance, government, and education — with reference deployments such as Université de Lorraine (110,000 mailboxes), PT Kereta Api Indonesia (28,000+ employees), and Bank CCB Indonesia. Recent strategic emphasis is on sovereign cloud expansion in EMEA and APAC, where the company is targeting the $80 billion Gartner-forecast opportunity through new executive leadership (Anthony Chadd as CRO, March 2026), regional partner buildout, and partnership wins with state-owned enterprises. The platform serves approximately 101-250 employees globally, with engineering operations in Pune and Bangalore, India, and is supported by active open-source community forums and a wiki-based documentation ecosystem.
Zimbra firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zimbra
- Legal name
- Synacor, Inc.
- Website
- https://zimbra.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform (owned by Synacor) serving 6,000+ organizations across 127 countries, including government, financial, and education customers needing data sovereignty and on-premises deployment as an alternative to Microsoft and Google.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zimbra industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Email and Collaboration Software
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Custom Application Development (Web/Mobile/Desktop) (BPAEAFAA)
Keywords
Where Zimbra is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Palo Alto
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Zimbra business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Commercial Software Licenses: Zimbra's core server is open-source, with advanced features such as high-availability clustering, encryption, large-scale sync, and enterprise functionality available through commercial licensing. Two main editions: Standard and Professional, with the Professional tier offering expanded features including Outlook integration, mobile push, and archiving.
- Support and Maintenance: Annual support contracts with different tiers: Standard (business-hours support) and Premier (24x7 for Severity-1 issues plus business-hours support). Elite tier offers prioritized organizational relationship with additional packaged support services.
- Professional Services: Training services (public courses, certified training partners), upgrade and tuning services, and implementation assistance. Available through Synacor professional services team and certified partners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Standard Plan - Core email, contacts, calendar, sharing, delegation, basic chat, and security features |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Plan - Extended features including Outlook integration, mobile push, and advanced archiving |
| Subscription | Annual | Support Tiers - Standard (business hours), Premier (24x7 critical support), Elite (prioritized relationship) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Zimbra product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform that provides email, calendar, contacts, tasks, file-sharing (Briefcase), chat, and in-browser office document collaboration for organizations of all sizes. The platform is available in a free Open Source Edition and a commercial Network Edition (Standard and Professional tiers) with deployment flexibility across on-premises, private cloud, or regional data centers. It is sold primarily through a global channel partner network of 3,000+ Value Added Resellers and Business Service Providers serving highly regulated enterprises, governments, and educational institutions.
Product overview
Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform available as both a free Open Source Edition and a commercial Network Edition. The core Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) provides email, calendar, contacts, tasks, file management (Briefcase), document creation (Zimbra Office), and messaging (Zimbra Chat). The platform differentiates through data sovereignty, offering on-premises, private cloud, or regional data center deployment options. Key add-ons include Zimbra Connector for Outlook (ZCO) for Microsoft Outlook integration, Zimbra Desktop for offline access, and Zimlets for extensible third-party integrations including Salesforce, Zoom, Slack, and Dropbox. Access is available via web client, mobile ActiveSync, and desktop clients, with deployment scale from 10 users to 10 million across 6,000+ organizations in 127 countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) Open-source email and collaboration platform providing email, calendar, contacts, tasks, chat, and file management with data sovereignty and deployment flexibility. Available in Open Source Edition and commercial Network Edition tiers for organizations from 10 to 10 million users.
- Zimbra Open Source Edition Free open-source edition of Zimbra offering core email, calendar, contacts, and collaboration features for self-hosted deployments; advanced enterprise features require a commercial license.
- Zimbra Network Edition (Standard and Professional commercial licenses) Commercial edition of Zimbra providing full access to all enterprise features including high-availability clustering, advanced encryption, large-scale sync, Outlook integration, mobile push, and commercial support. Available in Standard and Professional tiers on annual subscription.
- Zimbra Connector for Outlook (ZCO) Microsoft Outlook integration plug-in for Windows providing synchronized email, calendar, global address lists, and OAuth2 authentication for Outlook users connecting to Zimbra.
- Zimbra Desktop Offline desktop email client for Windows and Mac providing full access to Zimbra email, calendar, and contacts when connectivity is limited, with PST import and auto-archive capabilities.
Quantifiable outcome
- 50% decrease in total cost of ownership and savings of more than $230,000 over five years for Indonesian conglomerate Gunung Sewu switching from competitors
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Zimbra
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Zimbra technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
Feature9 records
Zimbra partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and regional.
- PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI)majorZimbra partnered with PT KAI (Kereta Api Indonesia), Indonesia's state-owned railway operator, to upgrade PT KAI's legacy email platform with Zimbra Network Edition. This partnership provides PT KAI full control over its communications infrastructure, ensures data security and compliance, and improves system reliability across PT KAI's national network serving more than 28,000 employees. The partnership highlights growing awareness among Indonesian public institutions around digital self-reliance as regulators stress the need for in-country data storage.
- Optimiza SeguridadcoreOptimiza Seguridad became a Zimbra BSP Partner with exclusive representation of Zimbra to the Chilean Government. The company provides experience in management and development for government customers in Chile.
- AZTi (Accops and Zevoke Technology, Inc.)majorAZTi partnered with Zimbra to launch ZCC (Zimbra Collaboration Cloud), a collaboration service powered by Zimbra targeted for Japan's business customers. AZTi combines Zimbra with application security products to provide an all-in-one security solution for Japanese enterprise customers. The service targets around 10,000 mailbox prospects with a goal of 100,000+ by Q1 2021. Partners include NEC, Marubeni Information Systems, and other major Japanese companies.
- CloudiancecoreCloudiance is a business service provider partner delivering Zimbra solutions globally. They use Zimbra as the best available tool to deliver a profitable, scalable, reliable, personalized, and open-source alternative to Google and Microsoft.
- CloudmatikaregionalRegional partner in Indonesia providing Zimbra deployment and support services.
- IIJ (Internet Initiative Japan)regionalRegional partner in Japan providing Zimbra deployment and managed services.
- InnovaregionalRegional partner providing Zimbra services.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Zimbra competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- IceWarp: Email and collaboration server provider offering on-premises and cloud deployments with similar feature set (email, calendar, chat, file sharing) to Zimbra. Competes in mid-market and enterprise segments with comparable pricing model.
- Open-Xchange: Open-source email and collaboration platform (OX App Suite) serving ISPs, telcos, and hosting providers globally. Closest direct competitor to Zimbra with similar open-source heritage, channel-based distribution, and target customer segments.
- Nextcloud: Open-source collaboration platform offering email (via integration), file sharing, calendar, chat, and office productivity. Competes with Zimbra in the sovereign, on-premises, and privacy-focused enterprise and government segments.
Emerging players
- BlueMind: Open-source email and collaboration platform from France, focused on data sovereignty and European customers (government, education, healthcare). Direct overlap with Zimbra's sovereign cloud thesis and target verticals in EMEA.
- Proton Mail / Proton Workspace: End-to-end encrypted email and growing productivity suite based in Switzerland, targeting privacy-conscious businesses and consumers. Competes with Zimbra in data sovereignty and security-focused segments, though with a different deployment model.
- Kolab Now / Kolab Enterprise: Open-source groupware and email provider targeting privacy-conscious European enterprises and SMEs. Overlaps with Zimbra in open-source, sovereign cloud positioning, though smaller scale and narrower feature set.
- Axigen: Email and collaboration platform for ISPs, hosting providers, and enterprises, with both on-premises and cloud offerings. Comparable to Zimbra in target customer base (service providers, mid-market) and Linux-based architecture.
Broad incumbents
- HCL Domino (formerly IBM Notes): Legacy enterprise email and collaboration platform still deployed in many large organizations and governments. Competes with Zimbra in on-premises email modernization and migration scenarios, particularly in financial services and government.
- Google Workspace: Cloud-native productivity and email suite (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Meet) targeting the same enterprise and education segments as Zimbra. Zimbra positions itself as the sovereign and cost-effective alternative to Google Workspace.
- Microsoft Exchange Online / Microsoft 365: The dominant enterprise email and collaboration platform with Exchange Online, Outlook, Teams, and Microsoft 365. Directly competes with Zimbra for enterprise email deployments, but bundles productivity, AI, and identity services that Zimbra does not offer.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Zimbra social profiles
Digital presenceZimbra compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Zimbra financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zimbra leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Zimbra funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zimbra M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Zimbra
What does Zimbra do?
Zimbra is an open-source email and collaboration platform that provides email, calendar, contacts, tasks, file-sharing (Briefcase), chat, and in-browser office document collaboration for organizations of all sizes. The platform is available in a free Open Source Edition and a commercial Network Edition (Standard and Professional tiers) with deployment flexibility across on-premises, private cloud, or regional data centers. It is sold primarily through a global channel partner network of 3,000+ Value Added Resellers and Business Service Providers serving highly regulated enterprises, governments, and educational institutions.
Is Zimbra a public or private company?
Zimbra is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Zimbra founded?
Zimbra was founded in 2005. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Zimbra based?
Zimbra is headquartered in Palo Alto, United States, in the North America region.
How does Zimbra make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Commercial Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are support and Maintenance and professional Services.
Who are Zimbra's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are IceWarp, Open-Xchange and Nextcloud. Emerging players are BlueMind, Proton Mail / Proton Workspace, Kolab Now / Kolab Enterprise and Axigen. Broad incumbents are HCL Domino (formerly IBM Notes), Google Workspace and Microsoft Exchange Online / Microsoft 365.
Does Zimbra have an API?
No public API is recorded for Zimbra.
What industry is Zimbra in?
Zimbra's product category is Enterprise Email and Collaboration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAFAA, Custom Application Development (Web/Mobile/Desktop). Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7370.