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Fortinet FortiMail vs Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
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Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortra's Clearswift Secure ...
Ranking in Email Security
39th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
0
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 15.9%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 7.2%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
Allows for easy reporting of problems, valuable anti-phishing, and anti-malware support
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 lacks proactivity in assisting us with preparing for potential threats before they occur. While they employ a substantial amount of threat intelligence to preemptively prevent incidents, their effectiveness diminishes when it comes to delivering proactive threat intelligence alerts from Microsoft. Their focus primarily revolves around managing the internal environment. On the other hand, my other vendor, Check Point, along with my membership in MS-ISAC, supplements me with this type of information. The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement. It is adequate, but it doesn't match the quality of Proofpoint or Mimecast. However, it comes close in effectiveness. Plus, if we're obtaining it for free, investing in the other products seems impractical.
Andras Solt - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 12, 2022
Reasonable pricing and good spam filtering but does not offer robust gatekeeping
The solution is primarily for mail security. We use it primarily for incoming and outgoing emails. We also use other products which are quite new for us. We just invested in GFI, and we use it also for the incoming email traffic to check with more antivirus monitoring The spam filtering is great.…
it_user746937 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 2, 2017
Facilitates creation of your own content-filtering policies with relative ease
Ability to create message bypasses for groups and/or individuals. Meaning, you do not have to "whitelist" email domains or addresses when a specific bypass will do. Personal Message Manager (PMM): It allows users to release or delete quarantined messages. Also, allows users to add people to a…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved my organization's security. It makes it easier to manage the infrastructure without the help of third-party applications."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface."
"It also gives the vulnerability status according to the versions you have selected. Let's say you have Google Chrome. It mentions the versions it has, and it updates. Within two hours of an update, it is reflected in the dashboard. That's really nice to have."
"The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint."
"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."
"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its interface, allowing users to get around the solution easily. The integration capabilities in the solution are also very easy."
"The solution is very reliable and very stable."
"When combining this solution with other Fortinet products, such as FortiGate, it integrates well and provides a comprehensive protection package."
"I love the integration between Fortinet products."
"The user quarantine feature in the solution is good...It is a stable solution."
"Fortinet FortiMail is easy to use and the detection rate is very good. You can customize content filters and profiles are done easily. Additionally, there is a sandbox integration feature that is good."
"It is one of the most efficient solutions in our environment. We have more than nine hundred users. All of these users are protected by Fortinet FortiMail."
"The number of false positives is minimal."
"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"A stable solution."
 

Cons

"Microsoft security solutions work as expected. They are constantly updating the solutions to make them better. At the same time, the changes can impact a customer's environment, and we need to adjust settings. Sometimes we aren't aware of the changes, and nothing is pushed from the backend automatically."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could improve by giving customers information on techniques to prevent threats. For example, information about best practices on how to protect their own devices against hackers and scammers, such as educational information or training. This would help others have a better understanding of cyber security. Additionally, there can be more security features added."
"Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better."
"There is room for improvement with the UI."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"The custom alerts have to improve a lot."
"It would be better if it were more scalable. It depends on the architecture, but we would like to make it more scalable for both data centers."
"The solution could improve by making the UI more user-friendly and increasing spam and threat detection capabilities."
"It is not easy to install."
"My customers frequently ask to have detailed documentation for FortiMail and FortiWeb as they have in FortiGate. What they currently have is not enough."
"The solution lacks to provide more visibility when there is a problem, and it needs to be tracked."
"Fortinet FortiMail's pricing could be improved."
"The only drawback to this solution is that the firmware is frequently updated, and each update results in downtime."
"Fortinet FortiMail should allow more flexibility with the content rules."
"There are features that other solutions have that this one is lacking, such as reporting options. I hope in future releases they advance their features list."
"Malware needs improvement."
"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a user-base subscription."
"For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
"The product is very expensive."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
"Fortinet FortiMail has an annual license agreement."
"If you don't need the full bundle that includes everything, you have options for the small or medium enterprise environments."
"The solution is reasonably priced compared to one of its competitors."
"You need to pay additional fees for premium support."
"9,000 Euro per annum for Fortinet Mail and sandbox."
"We paid approximately $30,000 for the solution. It is less expensive than some other solutions. We have one license that carries all the features that we wanted."
"The solution is quite pricey compared to other competitors in the market."
"The licensing model for this solution is better because it is based on the box and not the number of users."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
49%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
12%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The pricing is reasonable since it comes integrated with our Office 365 license.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detec...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail?
Compared to its competitors, Fortinet's products are available at a higher price range. The free or open source in th...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
The tool does what it is supposed to do, so there is nothing I want in the tool. The product's price is an area with ...
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Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
FortiMail
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
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Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail vs. Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.