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Fortinet FortiMail vs SonicWall Email Security comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
34th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.7%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 5.4%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Email Security is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.
Andras Solt - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonable pricing and good spam filtering but does not offer robust gatekeeping
It's mainly suited for mid-size companies, not for bigger companies like us. We are more than 1,000 people. In fact, we're over 2000 users, so that's why we investigated some other products, and Clearswift, for example. We likely won't increase usage. We're looking at GFI in a year or so.
ArunKumar1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention, reliable, and beneficial keyword blocking
The most valuable feature of SonicWall Email Security is the blocking of emails using keywords. If there are any particular keywords in the subject, that we want to block from receiving from a particular person we can do it. Additionally, the blocking of emails is easy. we can release that one and we can block some of the keywords also like that.

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 is a stable solution."
"Defender for Office 365 has helped eliminate having to look at multiple dashboards and that is the aspect I like most about it. It is simpler, effective, and convenient. The users like the process efficiency."
"Our customers are satisfied with Defender for 365 because Microsoft products are easy to use and customize to meet the client's needs. Everything is in one place, so we can adjust policies as needed for phishing, DLP, ATP, or any other security features that our clients want to apply."
"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."
"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the tool's ability to prevent phishing attacks."
"The biggest implementation my team has done for Fortinet FortiMail was for more than five thousand people, and the most valuable feature was its anti-spam feature."
"I like the anti-spam and security features of Fortinet FortiMail, and that its features complement each other."
"FortiMail effectively filters all emails coming to our mail server, blocking malicious ones automatically."
"FortiMail possesses notable strengths, and one key feature is its store-and-forward concept."
"Troubleshooting is very simple because you can see where the email was not delivered and why it would be considered as spam."
"The most valuable features are the endpoint defense features, it is very secure."
"SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security."
"The anti-spam aspect of the solution is its most valuable feature."
"SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security."
"The most valuable feature of SonicWall Email Security is the blocking of emails using keywords. If there are any particular keywords in the subject, that we want to block from receiving from a particular person we can do it. Additionally, the blocking of emails is easy. we can release that one and we can block some of the keywords also like that."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"The product is easy to manage in terms of configurations."
"Beside a few issues with specificity in the email protection controls, this product is very good at handling email security."
"There are no wasted extras and the interface is really simple."
 

Cons

"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."
"Configuration at the mid-level could be improved for the support team."
"We are always looking for others tools to increase automation on tasks. There can be better integration with other solutions, such as PowerPoint and email."
"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication."
"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."
"The only thing they should improve is the licensing model. They should stop changing it. A year ago, the five features I mentioned were included in one product. Now, three of them are bundled into one product, and you have to pay extra for the other two. I don't mind paying extra, but I don't want them to change it every year or every six months. I need to know what I'm looking at and not worry about it next year."
"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 must improve the overall management style, including the GUI. It also needs to change the filters so that it is easy to whitelist and blacklist data."
"I need a stable update in the product that stays for a long time instead of having to deal with frequent updates."
"The logging information is sometimes not clear or easy to understand."
"What's missing in Fortinet FortiMail is some sandbox information for some of the emails. It's probably configuration-based, where it could be configured on some emails. For example, there was malware in some emails that weren't detected in some of the Fortinet FortiMail sessions, but it should have been configured from my company's end to better catch scam emails, but overall, the solution is okay. At the moment, my company is okay with the current Fortinet FortiMail offerings, but in the past, because of a lack of understanding, my team wasn't able to quickly implement the geographical IP blocking feature. It was time-consuming to implement that feature, but that wasn't a fault of Fortinet FortiMail. The issue was from my team's end, but just by emailing the support team, that issue was resolved, so right now, there isn't any additional feature I'd like added to Fortinet FortiMail."
"Limited ability to upgrade hardware may lead to some performance issues that might otherwise be improved."
"A room for improvement in Fortinet FortiMail is that it only has a hardware version. I also didn't find the solution scalable, so that's another area for improvement."
"The solution could improve by making the UI more user-friendly and increasing spam and threat detection capabilities."
"The solution could be improved by providing a virtual machine facility with a complete set of options in the VM setup."
"It would be nice if we could manage the solution from the cloud so I could handle things off-site if necessary."
"SonicWall Email Security could improve by making the file blocking and the release feature easier to use"
"Updates could be released more frequently."
"The platform's control panel needs enhancement."
"There could be definition updates included in the subscription."
"A lot of spoofed emails are still coming to the end-user, so the configuration for this option needs to be improved."
"They need well-trained partners in Nigeria."
"The pricing could be improved."
"We would like to see more information on a dashboard about what is happening when it comes to spamming and malware."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"The product is expensive."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"The solution is reasonably priced compared to one of its competitors."
"The pricing is good."
"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."
"Fortinet FortiMail has an annual license agreement."
"I have no information on pricing for the competition because right now, my company is working only with Fortinet, but I can say that in general, the price for Fortinet FortiMail was accepted by the customers easily. The POC is also important when a customer is buying a solution. The customer wants to see how the product runs, and as Fortinet FortiMail is a stable product that runs without big issues, it has a bigger chance of getting chosen by customers over its competitors, even if its price may be a little higher. Pricing for the solution is competitive. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's a little bit higher, but it isn't far from what other solutions charge."
"You need to pay additional fees for premium support."
"This is a good solution and value for the money."
"My company has a three-year license for Fortinet FortiMail, including the support, but I'm not so sure of how much the solution costs because I'm not part of the procurement team. What's more important to me is the functionality and stability of Fortinet FortiMail. In terms of Fortinet FortiMail licensing, the cost is calculated based on company requirements. For example, it's based on the features you need for your environment, on capacity, how many CPUs you have, etc."
"When compared with Cisco, it is very well priced. Cisco is very expensive."
"We have a two-year license subscription and the price is very high."
"The overall price of SonicWall Email Security should be reduced and there should be an option to purchase one or two licenses more instead of their current policy of bulk increases only. There should be more flexibility in the licensing model. Each license cost approximately $33 annually."
"I rate the application’s pricing a five out of ten."
"Our customers purchase the solution's yearly license."
"The cost is cheaper than Sophos. I would rate it as five out of ten."
"The platform offers a yearly license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Government
4%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Wholesaler/Distributor
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
I don't have detailed specifics on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail?
The pricing of Fortinet FortiMail is cheaper compared to Cisco, which was quite expensive.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
The area that could use some improvement in Fortinet FortiMail is the integration process. I would like the integrati...
What do you like most about SonicWall Email Security?
According to our customers, the product's most valuable feature is the ability to detect spam and reduce phishing ema...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Email Security?
The platform offers a yearly license. I charge additionally for deployment services. I rate the pricing a six out of ...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Email Security?
The platform's control panel needs enhancement. At present, many control options are allotted to individual users. It...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
FortiMail
Dell SonicWALL Email Security Platform, SonicWall Hosted Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
Star Kay White, Locala Community Partnerships
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail vs. SonicWall Email Security and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.