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Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs Sophos Email comparison

 

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

Fortra's Clearswift Secure ...
Ranking in Email Security
36th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
0
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.0%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sophos Email2.0%
Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway1.0%
Other97.0%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

PC
Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stable, but malware needs improvement and customer support is poor
They need to improve the malware in the product. I am not satisfied with Clearswift because of the lack of customer support. The support is poor, the supplier takes a lot of time and it's expensive. We have some issues here when I contact the supplier, it takes a lot of time for them to get back to us but there's no solution. I am now looking at Symantec as a possible alternative.
Kalyan  Chowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Computech infosysetm
Stronger email and mobile security has protected users from ransomware and simplified management
Price is obviously a challenging part, and I think it is the biggest problem we have suffered from over the last two or three years due to a 7 to 8% hike per year, twice a year, which is why we have some renewals on Sophos Email, Sophos XDR, EDR, and the firewall, but due to price hike, they are unable to renew it. The price is going to be very high. It would be better if Sophos can provide a more flexible pricing model for different types of businesses. Price could be lower. The main competitor for Sophos in the market is Palo Alto, which has reduced their price by more than 35 to 40%, making it a very challenging part to sell this product. Palo Alto provides the same functionality for email security, which adds to the challenge because the price is going very high.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A stable solution."
"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"The feature of Sophos Email that we find most effective for detecting suspicious emails is primarily based on their signatures."
"I have found Sophos Email to be scalable."
"The anti-spam functionality of Sophos Email is good."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the anti-spam detection filter. Its threat email intelligence features help to identify email data."
"When you say email security, it's about everything, incoming email, outgoing email, spam, phishing emails, unwanted marketing emails. You can set rules, but the main feature of Sophos Email is to make sure you don't get hacked. 95% of people who are hacked do not get hacked by typing the router password. They are hacked from the inside out, which means they send you a document that is a zero-day attack, you open it, nothing happens, but technically the attack is running in the background of your computer. This is how they gain access to your PC."
"The solution protects users from phishing links and spam."
"I rate Sophos Email nine point five."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos Email is the sandbox. We're able to scan the file, isolate it, and look at it before it is delivered. It is highly effective."
 

Cons

"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
"Malware needs improvement."
"The solution's sandboxing and spam control features could be improved."
"The product could include all the essential features and capabilities, similar to the on-premise, server-based version."
"Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings."
"The main drawback is regarding the technical support."
"Sophos Email can improve mail security."
"The security of the solution could improve."
"The tool has some performance issues and bugs, making it an area where improvements are required."
"A lot of legit emails get quarantined."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Most of our clients are on a perpetual license. If there is a budget issue, they can choose a subscription. However, most of the clients choose the perpetual license."
"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."
"The pricing is quite reasonable, with a fixed cost and no additional charges."
"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."
"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
"The tool's pricing is medium."
"I would rate the pricing of Sophos Email as a six. It is considered affordable as a standalone product, and there are no additional costs besides licensing. The pricing is fixed."
"The pricing is affordable, so I’d rate it around a four out of ten on the pricing scale. We pay about fifty pounds a month, including hardware so that costs may differ without it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Sophos Email?
The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?
Regarding Sophos Email pricing, I would rate it between six or seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
Price is obviously a challenging part, and I think it is the biggest problem we have suffered from over the last two or three years due to a 7 to 8% hike per year, twice a year, which is why we hav...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,565 professionals have used our research since 2012.