Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs Sophos Email comparison

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs. Sophos Email

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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...

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 12.9%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.2%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja

Head of Department of Network Communications at Eko electricity

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.

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Taha Khaleel

Chief Operations Officer at PRO-VISION

A highly reliable solution that provides monitoring capabilities and protection to multiple types of devices

The initial setup of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is very easy. The initial setup of Kaspersky Security for Mail Server takes around four minutes. The solution is deployed on the cloud and on-premises. For the deployment process, you can buy the solution in a CD form or purchase it directly from the company website and activate it. My company needs managers, engineers, and developers to deploy the solution. The number of people required for the deployment process changes from time to time, so all the staff are included not just for the deployment of the solution but also to make improvements to the solution in the future. You can contact Kaspersky to see if they can provide the solution with integration capabilities for your company by providing you with an open account, which I haven't tried yet, though I plan to try it in the future.

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NaveedAli

Senior manager IT infrastructure at Machine Learning 1 Limited ·

Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved

Sophos gives you a feature set to manage your on-premises firewall on the cloud. I just integrated my on-premises firewall into the cloud, and I can manage the tool through the cloud as well if needed. I recommend using Sophos Email as a proxy. For email gateways, I advise choosing mature products with rich feature sets, like Trend Micro or CrowdStrike. The solution's integration with other tools is very simple. I easily integrated Sophos Email with my Active Directory. My organization needs a WAF with a limited feature set, which we use through Sophos. Purchasing additional WAF will be costly, but I get sandboxing and WAF features free of cost with Sophos, which is included in the license. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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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's most valuable features are safe attachments and safe links."

"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."

"One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."

"Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links."

"Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."

"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."

"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a highly reliable and dependable solution."

"I find the product valuable because it provides easy integration with other platforms like Fortinet firewalls."

"We have achieved cost savings of up to thirty percent by using Kaspersky Security for Mail Server."

"The integration rate is very high in Kaspersky, which is why most of our customers like it."

"The most valuable feature is the straightforward setup."

"The most valuable features are the anti-phishing and anti-spam capabilities."

"You can install the plugins on the same machine hosting your exchange solution. It's a good complement for Sophos security, which scans the traffic before it reaches your mail service. Kaspersky is on the mail server itself while Sophos handles the incoming traffic. With both of them working together, we have the perfect solution for mail."

"Sophos Email is a stable solution."

"The best thing about it is the logs."

"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."

"There are many features that are important, but among those, the spam protection feature is very valuable. It help us to safeguard the email against phishing and ensures that there is maximum security enabled for our communication processes. It has a huge role in protecting our emails from potential threats."

"I found the user interface friendly."

"The platform is scalable when installed on server-based systems."

"Endpoint and server protection are very effective."

"It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface."

More Sophos Email pros

Cons

"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."

"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."

"Specifically, within Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I want it to improve the DLP capabilities."

"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."

"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."

"The visibility into threats is not up to the mark, as I do not have control. I rate my experience with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as six out of ten due to troubleshooting and pricing concerns."

"Configuration requires going to a lot of places rather than just accessing one tab."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 cons

"The solution is not 100 percent stable and that can use improvement."

"Encrypted email attachments are not being monitored by this solution, which is an area that they need to work on."

"The biggest problem in the solution is related to its license renewal since it is pretty hard in Kaspersky to find out the procedure to renew a license."

"It would be great if Kaspersky could do what Sophos does for us. However, we love having these two different technologies doing the same thing. Sometimes Sophos has the patch to block a novel threat, but Kaspersky doesn't."

"Kaspersky lacks in the area of customization, so simpler customization options need to be provided to users."

"I rated the overall solution a five out of ten. If a user is looking for a low-budget solution with mid-level security without AI features, Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is suitable."

"I have only made contact via email, and it is a little slow. I would give customer service a rating of six or seven. Improving Spanish support would greatly benefit users."

"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."

"The solution has not found a way to block certain kinds of phishing emails."

"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."

"Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings."

"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."

"Lacks visibility into spam emails."

"Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner."

More Sophos Email cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment."

"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."

"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."

"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."

"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 pricing has become expensive."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."

"Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing and cost advice

"The solution offers one of the best prices possible to its users, making it even better than Barracuda. Kaspersky Security for Mail Server is ten times cheaper than Barracuda."

"The solution is not expensive."

"My company makes annual payments towards the licensing costs solution."

"Price-wise, I would rate this product a four out of five. It could be a bit cheaper."

"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 solution is expensive."

"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."

"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."

"The pricing is fair."

"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."

"Sophos Email is neither cheap nor expensive."

"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."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

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850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

University

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Retailer

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?

Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 ( /products/office-365-reviews ) suite, making it slightly more expensive ...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process. There are many conditions to be ...

What do you like most about Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a highly reliable and dependable solution.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

The pricing is moderate. It is not expensive but not cheap either. For Mexico, a good price is about 20 dollars per a...

What needs improvement with Kaspersky Security for Mail Server?

I believe integration with other platforms like Fortinet firewalls and a feature similar to a SIEM ( /categories/secu...

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?

Sophos Email pricing is a bit high, especially since I purchase through a partner, and they sell it at a higher price...

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

Sophos Email does not work with split delivery. If I have a domain with 100 mailboxes and want to protect only 50, it...

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Comparisons

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 7% of the time

Mimecast Email Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Abnormal Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Avanan vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Competitors

Fortinet FortiMail vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 34% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 13% of the time

Security Gateway vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 8% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Kaspersky Security for Mail Server

Compared 8% of the time

More Kaspersky Security for Mail Server Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 12% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 6% of the time

IRONSCALES vs Sophos Email

Compared 4% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Download Microsoft Defender for Office 365 product report

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report

Email Security

Download Kaspersky Security for Mail Server product report

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server report

Sophos Email

Download Sophos Email product report

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365

No data available

Sophos Email Security

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

Microsoft

Email is the number one vector used by cybercriminals to penetrate and attack enterprise IT systems.

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server uses Next Generation technologies including advanced heuristics, machine learning and sandboxing to detect and protect against ransomware, spam, phishing, data loss and even unknown threats penetrating your IT systems through emails and malicious attachments.

Kaspersky

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sophos

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.

Vimpel Com, Estrella Galicia, Krombacher

Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School

Kaspersky Security for Mail Server vs. Sophos Email