Cisco Secure Email vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security comparison

The compared Cisco and Mimecast solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #4 in Email Security , with an average rating of 8.2, and holds a 4.5% mindshare in the category. Mimecast is ranked #3 in SEG , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 15.1% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Mimecast users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Cisco Secure Email and Mimecast Email and Collaboration Threat Protection compete in the email security category. Cisco seems to have the upper hand with its strong integration capabilities and comprehensive security features that outweigh Mimecast's streamlined approach.

Features: Cisco Secure Email offers anti-spam and anti-malware capabilities backed by AMP and threat intelligence. It integrates seamlessly with solutions like IBM QRadar and Active Directory. Mimecast provides URL protection, sandboxing, and robust identity protection, with seamless integration into Microsoft 365.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Email needs a better console performance, a more intuitive user interface, and improved scalability. Mimecast requires a reduction in false positives, a more streamlined administration panel, better API integrations, enhanced identity protection, and improvements in support responsiveness.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Secure Email supports versatile deployment options, making it complex for small businesses but comes with highly rated technical support. Mimecast, operating mainly on public cloud infrastructure, ensures easier deployment. However, it may lack deployment flexibility, and customer service improvements are noted.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Email is considered expensive but offers a solid ROI through robust security features and flexible licensing. Mimecast, similarly priced, may not offer as compelling an ROI for organizations already using enhanced security suites like Microsoft's. Both solutions are premium-priced, with protection and reduced downtime justifying the cost.

To learn more, read our detailed Email Security Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Email Security

June 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

Email Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Email	4.5%
Proofpoint Email Protection	6.8%
Microsoft Defender for Office 365	6.3%
Other	82.4%

Email Security

Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Mimecast Email and Collaboration Threat Protection	15.1%
Proofpoint Email Protection	19.0%
Microsoft Defender for Office 365	16.1%
Other	49.8%

Secure Email Gateway (SEG)

Featured Reviews

Cobe Van Coller

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.

Read full review

Karthik Sathivel

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.

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Ravishankar KumarPatel

Solution Architect Cybersecurity at Microland Limited

Email defenses have reduced phishing risk and support strong compliance and user awareness

The improvement needed is not necessarily in the product itself, but rather around how other organizations have evolved. The DLP discussion is no longer limited to email; it has gone to border level with companies like Zscaler, Netskope, and Palo Alto giving the complete full-stack SASE setup. When somebody has a SASE setup, then Mimecast Advanced Email Security DLP might not even be needed at a point in time. Mimecast Advanced Email Security needs to improve in this area because they are only focusing on a particular set of problems which is on email and human risk, whereas companies that need a slightly bigger picture will look elsewhere. The second thing is when you buy an XDR provider, they give you a complete holistic story around it, showing what has happened, which email somebody has clicked on, whether there have been any changes, and whether there is any network activity. You get a holistic picture. When pushing Mimecast Advanced Email Security to end customers, people are more often saying that they would rather buy XDR from another provider because the story when an analyst sees is complete in terms of what they see, whereas they only get an email story from Mimecast Advanced Email Security. Mimecast Advanced Email Security has to improve there. Companies like Abnormal AI cover more on UEBA and user behavior, and there are many things for Mimecast Advanced Email Security to improve in this area as well. It is less of a technology issue; they are doing very well on email. The conversation for them to have is on how to get into a broader level or how to get a tie-up to become a broader supplier. At least from a service provider landscape, I can say that.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Clover is the best product globally."

"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."

"I'm very satisfied with the environment and the dashboard."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform removes the risk of exposing the applications to the public."

"Cloudflare is by far the most effective solution that I have come across."

"Cloudflare DDoS is better than its competitors for its security, deployment, and scalability."

"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."

"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."

More Cloudflare One pros

"IronPort allows visibility into the problem and an easy way to pinpoint policy offenders."

"Cisco's Secure Email integrates with Cisco Firewalls, utilizing the AMP as their anti-malware engine, which allows for information sharing between devices."

"The strong point of the solution is that we hardly get any spam emails because of Cisco Secure Email."

"Even though it's not perfect, it has the IMS engine, Intelligent Multi-Scan engine, and it does a good job, right out-of-the-box, of blocking the vast majority of things that should be blocked."

"Apart from the improvement needed to the filters, it was all good."

"There are a lot of filters for scam emails and things like that work out of the box. You can also use the antivirus features. I like its features."

"It is a user-friendly product."

"Email service is one of the services that we offer at Galaxy, and Cisco ESA has improved our business so much that our customers want to maintain their business with us for email security, with over 500 domains on our email platform and improved profitability in everything."

More Cisco Secure Email pros

"Mimecast certainly helped my customers reduce phishing emails."

"The solution is pretty straightforward to use and easy to set up."

"The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze."

"What I like about the integration is that it is directly into Microsoft 365, users can use their Microsoft 365 credentials to log into the portal and access their mail."

"It is our spam filter, phishing filter, and executive impersonation filter."

"The product is good. To date, we have not faced any challenges."

"It has all the features required for distribution, such as the ability to mail."

"I have always found Mimecast to be very responsive; for example, if we see something come through, they address it and it helps to sort out the issues."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security pros

Cons

"Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions."

"The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems."

"They don't have a person to provide support for customers using the solution under their free plan."

"Operating and tuning the product is difficult."

"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."

"Cloudflare DDoS has poor technical support."

"The onboarding process can be improved a little bit."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."

More Cloudflare One cons

"One of the things that Cisco could improve on with IronPort is the support. Cisco doesn't really have enough engineers who have full, hands-on knowledge of IronPort. Knowledge of it is not something you can find easily compared to other security appliances."

"Cisco is already providing a very good environment with the IronPort solution, but there could be some more integration with other products. For instance, an integration with the EDR solution could be there to raise an alert."

"I would like to see features like AI since it is currently an area that the product lacks."

"While Cisco offers excellent solutions and innovations, the pricing may not be suitable for everyone. The cost of the software is relatively high. In the current market, there are numerous competitive alternatives that focus on security, enterprise networks, and various other aspects. Cisco, being a comprehensive provider, extends its expertise across data, servers, storage, and security, making them a preferred choice for many enterprises. However, when it comes specifically to security solutions, there are other vendors that specialize solely in this domain, offering competitive options."

"The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console."

"The management features of the product are not up to date."

"If you are not a technical guy, it is hard to maneuver, but as soon as you work on it, it gets better and better. If there was a better way to know how to do things or how to find things, it would be good."

"There are some concerns in the way the architecture is set up, making it an area where improvements are required."

More Cisco Secure Email cons

"The product's interface could be improved to be more user-friendly."

"Mimecast needs to reduce the number of false positive emails; a big pain point for us."

"We discussed the phishing aspect, the DNS system, and the key rotation."

"External security features need improvement."

"While it's quick and easy, the initial setup could be more user-friendly."

"The solution should include more AI features instead of Mimecast's more general static configuration tooling."

"Lately, Mimecast's outbound mail servers have been regularly blocklisted by spam filters. That didn't happen a few years back, but it seems to be a more frequent problem these days. When a server is blocklisted, it means all of my outgoing mail ends up in the recipient's junk mail. That affects my reputation and business confidence."

"Many of our users complain that the system is blocking too many attachments. It's a good practice from a security perspective, but our users think Mimecast is doing too much. It might be something we'll have to adjust."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not that expensive."

"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."

"The prices are slightly expensive."

"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."

"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."

"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 solution is expensive."

"In addition to the standard licensing, there is a cost for SMARTnet as well."

"Licensing costs depend on how many users there are. It could range between $5 and $7 per month, per user."

"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"I rate the product price as six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a very expensive tool."

"At times, we feel the pricing is a bit too high, but then, there is also room for discounts. We enjoy a lot of discounts, and that is why we are still with them. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"There are additional fees for adding features."

"It is a relatively expensive option compared to other alternatives."

More Cisco Secure Email pricing and cost advice

"It's an expensive solution."

"Two subscription options are currently offered: monthly and yearly. My suggestion is to opt for the yearly subscription as it can give some discount. The pricing isn't high as other cloud solutions are pricier than Microsoft's offerings."

"Compared to the other products in the market, it is neither cheap but nor very expensive. I would rate it somewhere in the middle, 5 out of 10."

"It is a bit expensive."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."

"The product price is moderate. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"The solution is expensive."

"The product has good pricing in terms of return on investment."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

20%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	26

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

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Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...

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What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Access?

Cloudflare Access provides secure access to internal applications for employees, external members of the organization...

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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, ...

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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.

See all answers

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 ...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Email?

We are using Cisco Secure Email to monitor the outgoing and incoming mail traffic in our financial institute. We have...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

Do you know anything about the pricing and cost of the Mimecast Email Security?

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What needs improvement with Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

There is room for improvement since new threats are emerging. Considering the availability of new features would be w...

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What is your primary use case for Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

I have been working with Mimecast Email Security.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

Twingate vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

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Trellix Collaboration Security vs Cisco Secure Email

Compared 29% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Cisco Secure Email

Compared 6% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Cisco Secure Email

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Cisco Secure Email

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall Email Security vs Cisco Secure Email

Compared 2% of the time

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Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 16% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 8% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 6% of the time

Perception Point Advanced Email Security vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 2% of the time

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare One

June 2026

Download Cloudflare One product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Email

June 2026

Download Cisco Secure Email product report

Buyer's Guide

Mimecast Advanced Email Security

May 2026

Download Mimecast Advanced Email Security product report

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

Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection, Mimecast Web Security, Mimecast Mailbox Continuity, Email and Collaboration Threat Protection

Overview

Cloudflare One is a comprehensive platform for security, performance, and connectivity. It provides features like rate limiting, DDoS protection, and application access, tailored to enhance user experience while securing internet access and accelerating communications.

Designed to integrate security measures with ease of use and scalability, Cloudflare One offers a secure web gateway and zero trust network access. These features ensure seamless setup and operation, making connectivity reliable and protected. Users appreciate its integrated console, intuitive interface, and the ability to manage risk effectively. It offers straightforward deployment, improves latency, and boasts cost-effectiveness. While its onboarding process and documentation need enhancement, its value in content delivery and application shielding is notable. Despite challenges in integrating Cloudflare Access with existing VPNs and the need for better automation and support, it remains vital for DNS and infrastructure protection.

What features make Cloudflare One stand out?

Rate Limiting: Controls the traffic rate to prevent abuse.
DDoS Protection: Shields applications from distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Secure Web Gateway: Provides secure internet access with seamless operation.
Zero Trust Network Access: Ensures secure, application-based connectivity without relying on traditional VPNs.
Access for Connectivity: Facilitates access to internal applications securely.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Security: Robust measures for DNS and browsing protection.
Performance: Enhanced site accessibility and communication speed.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing for its features.
Ease of Deployment: Straightforward and efficient setup process.

In industries like finance, retail, and technology, Cloudflare One is crucial for enabling secure remote access and protecting web applications against dynamic threats. It supports compliance access policies and enhances content delivery, playing a key role in safeguarding digital infrastructure.

Cloudflare

Cisco Secure Email provides email security with advanced threat protection, spam filtering, and easy integration with Cisco Talos, ensuring comprehensive protection against cyber threats like phishing and malware.

Cisco Secure Email offers a comprehensive platform for organizations seeking robust email security. With advanced threat protection and seamless integration with Cisco Talos, it enhances threat intelligence. The tool provides easy-to-use spam blocking and granular policy customization. Effective ransomware, phishing, and malware protection ensures stable network performance. It includes logging and reporting features, along with Active Directory integration, delivering enhanced security without extra hardware. Although it addresses threats efficiently, improvements in synchronization with reporting tools and phishing detection are needed. Organizations find cost and licensing complexities challenging for smaller networks and seek more intuitive configuration, advanced AI threat detection, and comprehensive reporting. Enhanced support, documentation, and cross-platform compatibility are desirable for better management and scalability.

What are the most important features?

Advanced Threat Protection: Guards against cyber threats like malware and phishing
Spam Blocking: Efficiently filters unwanted emails to maintain inbox integrity
Policy Customization: Allows granular control over email security policies
Integration with Cisco Talos: Enhances threat intelligence with global insights
Active Directory Integration: Simplifies user management and enhances security

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Ease of Use: Intuitive interface provides a straightforward user experience
Network Performance: Maintains speed and reliability while securing emails
Comprehensive Reporting: Offers detailed insights into email threats and responses
No Additional Hardware: Provides complete email security without hardware costs
Enhanced Email Security: Protects against a wide range of email-based threats

In industries like finance, healthcare, and IT, Cisco Secure Email is key to securing email communications. It serves as the primary email gateway in datacenters, scanning and filtering emails to defend against phishing, malware, and spam. Many organizations integrate it with Sophos Antivirus and Talos Threat Intelligence for heightened protection. It plays a crucial role in outbound message control and data loss prevention, ensuring compliance with security policies.

Cisco

Mimecast Advanced Email Security offers advanced features like sandboxing, email archiving, and phishing protection. It's known for integration with Microsoft 365 and user-friendly admin management, making it a robust choice for secure communications.

Focused on safeguarding emails, Mimecast Advanced Email Security integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, providing features such as sandboxing, spam filtering, and email archiving. It delivers comprehensive protection against phishing, identity threats, and impersonation attempts. Administrators benefit from the ability to monitor external communications and customize configurations, enhancing email security. Users appreciate the intuitive admin console and responsive support team. Although it faces challenges in threat detection rates and administration complexity, its capabilities in email monitoring, spam filtering, and URL inspection remain valued by enterprises seeking reliable email security that supports compliance needs.

What key features should users explore?

Sandboxing: Analyzes attachments in a secure environment to detect threats.
Email Archiving: Provides secure long-term storage of emails for compliance.
Spam Filtering: Prevents unsolicited emails from clogging the inbox.
URL Inspection: Checks links in emails for malicious content.
Phishing Protection: Guards against deceptive tactics to protect sensitive data.

What benefits can impact ROI?

Regulatory Compliance: Facilitates adherence to standards such as HIPAA.
Integration: Enhances existing systems with seamless Microsoft 365 integration.
Support: Offers a responsive support team to resolve issues promptly.
Email Security: Improves threat prevention with effective spam and phishing protections.

Mimecast Advanced Email Security is implemented across industries to protect against email threats like phishing, spam, and malicious attachments. It serves as both a gateway and an archiving tool, supporting compliance in healthcare and finance by offering features like URL protection and data loss prevention. Enterprises leverage its capabilities to secure inbound and outbound communications effectively.

Mimecast

Sample Customers

23andMe

SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra

Azizi Developments, Affinity Credit Union, Aftercare, Al Abbar Group

Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: June 2026.

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We monitor all Email Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.