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

Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs Sophos Email comparison

Sponsored
 

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

Cloudflare One
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
20th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (16th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (21st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (11th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (7th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (13th), Access Management (11th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (8th), ZTNA (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (10th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
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 Cloudflare One is 1.4%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. 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%
Cloudflare One1.4%
Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway1.0%
Other95.6%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

CV
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.
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

"I'm very satisfied with the environment and the dashboard."
"It will take the blow rather than our applications should an attack occur."
"Cloudflare is by far the most effective solution that I have come across."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform removes the risk of exposing the applications to the public."
"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."
"The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good."
"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."
"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"A stable solution."
"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."
"I cannot guarantee any email by its name. It can be spam. Sophos Email helps to double-check whether an email is spam or not. It has a dashboard which gives an overview of the alerts."
"The most significant aspect is the response filtering concerning attachments and links."
"The anti-malware, risk scanning has been pretty spot on."
"Good VIP protection, time of click protection and the Sandstorm feature."
"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."
"Endpoint and server protection are very effective."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
 

Cons

"Lacks a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."
"The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems."
"The response time for support must be reduced."
"The software has automated alerts, but the automated alerts are not available in the mobile app."
"The onboarding process can be improved a little bit."
"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."
"Feedback could be enhanced."
"The tool should provide on-premise versions. Currently, all versions are cloud-based."
"Malware needs improvement."
"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
"Sophos Email needs to increase the number of promos."
"Sophos Email can improve mail security."
"Sophos Email does not work with split delivery. If I have a domain with 100 mailboxes and want to protect only 50, it is not recommended by Sophos or not possible to configure."
"A lot of legit emails get quarantined."
"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."
"Servicing and support are areas with shortcomings where the solution needs to improve."
"The product could include all the essential features and capabilities, similar to the on-premise, server-based version."
"Lacks visibility into spam emails."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"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 pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
Information not available
"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."
"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."
"The solution is expensive."
"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."
"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 quite reasonable, with a fixed cost and no additional charges."
"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
"Licensing is paid on a yearly basis."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
882,180 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
9%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access provides secure access to internal applications for employees, external members of the organization...
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, ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
No data available
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

23andMe
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.
882,180 professionals have used our research since 2012.