No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Secure Email vs Fortinet FortiMail comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cloudflare One
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
21st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (15th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (20th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (11th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (7th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (13th), Access Management (13th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (9th), ZTNA (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (10th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
Cisco Secure Email
Ranking in Email Security
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cloudflare One is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Email is 4.6%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 3.1%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiMail3.1%
Cisco Secure Email4.6%
Cloudflare One1.5%
Other90.8%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

CV
Network Architect at IP Dimension
Cloud security has improved remote access and has reduced costs for smaller client sites
I have used Cloudflare One's Identity-Aware Proxy, and it is quite straightforward from what I have seen so far. The app registration on the Azure side integrates fully into Cloudflare, and I am very satisfied with that part because it is easy to set up. The integration of Cloudflare One's Secure Web Gateway and Zero Trust Network Access works without any issues. That part is pretty automatic, and if you complete the rest of the setup, it comes together by itself with no issues from my side. What makes it nice is that we can actually start replacing on-site firewalls at this stage for the smaller clients because it does not matter if they go to a coffee shop or work from home; they are still secured by the same connection. The hops get shorter and you get better latency. We have done testing to see if it is better. One thing that we did notice with our proof of concept with our current client is that they have people connecting from the UK. When they used their previous VPN solution, uploading CAD drawings and other files to the server took a long time. They mentioned that it is much quicker on Cloudflare One's solution. I definitely believe that is part of the improved performance, and I am satisfied with that as well. What is nice about Cloudflare One is that it makes the setup easier and also easier to train technicians to maintain it. Compared to legacy systems, we do not need to get fancy firewalls in place that are costly. That is definitely also a cost-saver with Cloudflare One.
KS
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Email security has protected financial data and provides clear tracking for every branch message
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP and other content filters compared to other consoles. It may have been due to on-premises, but it was much noisy at some times while configuring DLP. When we tried to configure a DLP policy, the console became much slower. In that case, we cannot see what had happened in the mail which was blocked at that time. It may take nearly an hour to get back to normal while configuring policies. That is the major issue in the product.
Abhimanyu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Targeted email filtering has reduced spam and phishing and now saves significant investigation time
The best features of Fortinet FortiMail include its techniques and tactics, which are highly effective compared to other solutions such as Microsoft 365. Although Fortinet FortiMail may not be as advanced in some aspects, it is well recognized for its strong performance in handling spam and phishing. It performs thorough mail scanning and also offers a sandboxing feature that enhances protection. Fortinet FortiMail has had a positive impact on my organization by significantly reducing unwanted email activities such as spam and phishing. It provides accurate detection and generates results that often exceed what can be achieved through manual analysis. Since deploying Fortinet FortiMail, I have observed a reduction in investigation time by at least 20 to 30 percent.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection."
"Cloudflare, in my opinion, was easy to implement."
"Cloudflare is simple to use."
"Enables me to work from two locations."
"The best feature is rate limiting. If I'm expecting 500 visits per hour, Cloudflare will limit the requests if I suddenly get 50,000."
"Cloudflare is simple to use."
"It is a stable solution."
"We mostly use Cloudflare WAF, and gets basic Cloudflaire DDoS, caching as extra bonus . We like the factor these features are all integrated into 1 console, simple to manage."
"The security features are valuable."
"The tool has a DLP solution which we can implement. Its database is updated regularly."
"It provided a platform to sell a service to customers."
"IronPort allows visibility into the problem and an easy way to pinpoint policy offenders."
"Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution."
"This product is the complete solution and the real deal."
"The logs are easily readable and help diagnose problems, although they can be difficult to find initially. The solution addresses our email security, but for the rest of our security, we would use multiple vendors. It covers everything through email, like antivirus, IDS, and IPS."
"Initially, the most valuable feature for us was the SenderBase Reputation, because that reduced the number of emails that were even considered by the system by a huge number..."
"Technical support is great. They're available 24/7 and their response time is typically within the hour."
"The anti-spam feature is very valuable."
"Its performance is very good and it is stable."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiMail are its virus outbreak prevention and FortiSandbox integration."
"When combining this solution with other Fortinet products, such as FortiGate, it integrates well and provides a comprehensive protection package."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiMail is its fully detailed dashboard."
"The product is easy to use, its performance is very good and it is stable, and the security is quite good overall."
"After three months of evaluating FortiMail, it has exceeded our expectations and we will definitely continue using it."
 

Cons

"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."
"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."
"Feedback could be enhanced."
"The response time for support must be reduced."
"The software has automated alerts, but the automated alerts are not available in the mobile app."
"I would like them to include a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."
"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."
"Lacks a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."
"They can do it better with web links, with the URLs. They have a technology called Outbreak but it doesn't work as well as we would like."
"The hardware is not up to the mark. Two to three times a year we have complete downtime."
"Cisco is not good in dealing proactively or even reactively, so we end up relying on partners."
"They could improve the filters. In my time at the company, there were several times we had to contact support to update the filters."
"I am not satisfied with the solution's reporting and logging."
"The hardware is not up to the mark. Two to three times a year we have complete downtime."
"In some cases, detection is missed, leading to false positives where genuine emails are flagged as spam."
"The configuration UI should be made more intuitive. Currently, it takes a while to understand how to do the basic configurations."
"The only drawback to this solution is that the firmware is frequently updated, and each update results in downtime."
"High Availability needs improvement."
"I think they need to look into it and improve their signatures. This will help with blocking incoming spam emails."
"The product could incorporate even more artificial intelligence to enhance the functionality, but it is a competetive and intelligent product as it."
"The solution doesn't scale easily."
"I believe there is room for enhancement in content and web security features."
"I don't know if it is possible, but I would like to see Artificial Intelligence and machine learning introduced."
"Maybe FortiMail's integration could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"It is a super big router that costs a few hundred thousand dollars."
"We were using Proofpoint and then we switched to Cisco... reportability was one of the main reasons we switched, but the biggest one was cost. If you can get an equivalent functionality for a better price it's wise to do so. That's what our primary decision came down to: We could get equivalent functionality at a lower price point."
"I rate the pricing a ten out of ten on a scale where one means it is less cost-effective, and ten means it is the most cost-effective solution."
"Pricing depends on your environment and which model you want to buy."
"The price is significantly high."
"There are additional fees for adding features."
"You're going to get what you pay for. If you're not willing to pay the price of Cisco, you're not going to get a product that's as good as Cisco. I don't think Cisco is overpriced, because for the last two years I've been comparing it to Microsoft and Cisco has been cheaper and given us more features."
"The pricing is good."
"FortiMail is not cheap."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
"Fortinet FortiMail has an annual license agreement."
"Price-wise, the solution is not far from Microsoft ATP. So, it is affordable."
"The product's licensing part depends on the number of mailboxes and the hard disk needed by customers. The cost of the license depends on the number of mailboxes and the number of emails."
"Price-wise, you get what you pay for in Fortinet FortiMail. Apart from the licensing costs, no additional expenses are attached to the solution's pricing."
"It's not as that expensive with the competitive different brands. The products sell a lot."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access provides secure access to internal applications for employees, external members of the organization...
What advice do you have for others considering Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access is one of the best integrations available. While about two hundred vendors offer similar services, ...
What do you like most about Cisco Secure Email?
Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it ...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
I think they should improve Fortinet FortiMail on-premises by enhancing its user interface. Additional features they ...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
FortiMail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

23andMe
SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Fortinet FortiMail and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.