Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Secure Email vs Trend Micro ScanMail comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cisco Secure Email
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Trend Micro ScanMail
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (19th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Secure Email and Trend Micro ScanMail aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Email is designed for Email Security and holds a mindshare of 5.6%, down 7.8% compared to last year.
Trend Micro ScanMail, on the other hand, focuses on Anti-Malware Tools, holds 0.6% mindshare, down 0.8% since last year.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Email5.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36511.4%
Proofpoint Email Protection8.2%
Other74.8%
Email Security
Anti-Malware Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Trend Micro ScanMail0.6%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint13.7%
F-Secure Total5.9%
Other79.8%
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Kostas Karidas - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps prevent security breaches but fails to improve in the area of AI
I have not noticed any impressive advanced threat protection mechanisms in the tool. I don't know if there are any AI features in the product. I don't know if there is any other technology embedded in the solution. Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats. My company has seen plenty of scenarios where Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats, spam emails, and fraudulent domains. The product is good for dealing with spam emails, and it can take care of more than 100 spam emails per day. A huge number of spam emails are monitored with the help of Cisco Secure Email. I would not recommend the product to other businesses because you need to have some kind of expertise in configuring and knowing a bit about the tool's GUI. The tool also lacks in the area of AI mechanics. If I would like to have an overview and review another solution, I would go for another product other than Cisco Secure Email. I can definitely suggest others to look at the product and review it, but I would also recommend that they compare it with the other solutions in the market. I wouldn't prioritize Cisco Secure Email over other tools. Either the support partner of the product or I take care of the tool's maintenance phase by looking into the configurations and doing some fine-tuning. I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
Jaffar Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures continuous protection with real-time scanning of emails and mailboxes
ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas. Additionally, the response time of their technical support is slow and needs enhancement. Overall, Trend Micro's technical support has deteriorated, and pricing is another area that requires attention. The list pricing is high, and we lose deals against competitors because of this. Trend Micro should consider reducing their prices, especially for large customers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool has a DLP solution which we can implement. Its database is updated regularly."
"Spam controls are excellent because they are a powerful feature that operates almost effortlessly."
"At one point, there was a zero-day attack. The Cisco appliance detected it and stopped it, helping us out. We avoided the attack and potential damage."
"It's flexible. There are a lot of rules and policies that can be easily applied for certain employees or certain mailboxes."
"It sends us reports, where we can see if there have been attacks, e.g. DDoS. If so, we can switch to a clean IP."
"The most valuable features are Advanced Malware Protection, URL filtering, and of course Reputation Filtering."
"Cisco Secure Email's most valuable is email certification."
"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..."
"The analysis part is good."
"I find Trend Micro ScanMail to be a stable solution, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten."
"The pricing of Trend Micro ScanMail is average, which is fine."
"Its integration with mail platforms is valuable."
"The most effective feature of ScanMail is its real-time antivirus behaviors, particularly when it scans URLs."
"What I like the most about Trend Micro ScanMail is its easiness."
"It does the job. Even when our clients have a very high rate of emails per second, there has been no problem."
"The most effective feature of ScanMail is its real-time antivirus behaviors, particularly when it scans URLs."
 

Cons

"The solution does not have a strong outbound service. It should also integrate DLP."
"The interface is dated. It has looked pretty much the same for 15 years or so. It would be helpful to be able to do everything from one spot. The centralized quarantine and reporting are completely separate from policy administration."
"Scalability has certain shortcomings and needs to be improved because there are service providers who provide better scalability.v"
"We have been struggling in the last month with Cisco encryption and with the S/MIME encryption. I don't know if it is an issue on our side or if these features of the solution are not working very well."
"The discontinuation of physical hardware solutions is a significant area for improvement in Cisco Email Security Appliance. This decision has posed challenges as virtual appliances are now the only option, which may not be suitable for all industries. The uncertainty regarding the future of the hardware aspect of the solution is a notable concern."
"The Forged Email Detection feature needs improvement, particularly with domain. The sensors are not that good and the rules sets are unclear."
"We didn't get any malware, but a few phishing emails, maybe one or two, slipped in."
"Typically, in a phishing email, they try to use a name everybody's going to recognize, like the CEO's name or the CFO's name... With this appliance, the way it's designed at the moment, for us to really stop that with any level of confidence, we have to build a dictionary of all the names of the people we want it to check, and all the ways they could be spelled. My name would be in there as Phillip Collins, Phillip D. Collins, Phillip Dean Collins, Phil Collins, Phil D. Collins. There could be eight or 10 variations of my name that we'd have to put in the dictionary. There's no artificial intelligence to say "Phil Collins" could be all these other things, and to stop phishing from coming through in that way."
"The weaknesses of Trend Micro ScanMail are that it doesn't fully protect ad-based web access and lacks proper security for Outlook, iOS, and web browser access."
"ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas."
"I believe there is room for improvement in better signatures, better reporting features, and more insight into the spam emails database."
"The price could be better. I think it's pretty good compared to other solutions as far as the features are concerned. It basically covers most of the stuff which we require for email security. But it would be better if they made it a little cheaper and more cost-effective. That would make it easier for us to sell it."
"Its user interface is pretty old-fashioned, and sometimes, it's hard to find the features that you are looking for. The user interface definitely needs some improvement."
"The sandboxing part can be improved."
"ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas."
"ScanMail was one of the best solutions a few years ago, but it is no longer the best solution because of its old-fashioned management console. Customers associate it with something that is old because there is no change in the management console. It has old icons, and it is not fresh enough. It is also not easy to use or play with. The report engine is also old-fashioned. Customers want something easier, quicker, and cleaner."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing was all transferred."
"I don't have the insights into it, but compared to different products, it seems to have a medium level of pricing."
"Cisco Secure Email and the support are priced well. It's not cheap, but there are other solutions that offer less and cost so much. For example, Microsoft is more expensive than Cisco."
"It is a relatively expensive option compared to other alternatives."
"In my previous organization, avoiding four instances of CryptoLocker within an estimated six month period is approximately $600,000 in lost time and effort. Our five year cost was about a million dollars, and the four outages that we had equated to 65 percent of that five year cost."
"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."
"The license was not per user, the license model was per feature. You could choose anti-virus, anti-spam, etc. It was feature-based and charged yearly."
"Cisco Secure Email is not expensive, and licensing costs are yearly."
"It is an expensive solution. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"It's a yearly subscription, but the price could be better."
"Its price is okay. It is not too high."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
870,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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 user interface of the Email Security Gateway ( /products/security-gateway-reviews ) should be improved. It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Trend Micro ScanMail?
Trend Micro ScanMail is priced in the middle range—not too expensive and not too cheap. In my experience, there are more costly solutions available, but this one provides a balanced cost.
What needs improvement with Trend Micro ScanMail?
I believe there is room for improvement in better signatures, better reporting features, and more insight into the spam emails database.
What advice do you have for others considering Trend Micro ScanMail?
Based on my experience, I would recommend Trend Micro ScanMail to others. I would rate it a nine out of ten overall, and I prefer working with enterprise-sized clients.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
ScanMail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
L&T Chiyoda, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Bishop Luffa School, Brooks Rehabilitation, CHR de la Citadelle, CHRU de Nancy
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Abnormal AI, Proofpoint and others in Email Security. Updated: September 2025.
870,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.