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AppRiver Email Security vs Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration 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
7.0
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (10th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
AppRiver Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
23rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Check Point Harmony Email &...
Ranking in Email Security
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (5th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 12.3%, down from 16.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AppRiver Email Security is 1.0%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is 4.9%, up from 3.7% 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.
John Zupancic - PeerSpot reviewer
Pricing that is competitive, excellent technical support, and email security
They do a better job of distinguishing between what's real and what's not than most of the other solutions we've tried. They are very easy to use. We don't have as many problems with email security. They have some areas that could be improved. For example, we also use Zix email Encryption for email encryption, which was clunky and could be improved, but the email security itself has been excellent.
Nasseer Qureshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Email security effectively detects a wide range of threats and improves productivity
Since we have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration for a year, we haven't encountered significant challenges. However, it would be beneficial if it could support other email security services beyond Microsoft and Google. Integration with other platforms would enhance its appeal since the features are commendable. While the analytics are commendable, they don't provide deep dive insights. They show the overall counts of malware, phishing, and business compromise emails, but there isn't a robust ability to dive deeper into those categories to see specifics. Analytics should allow us to explore which users received malware emails the most or trends among departments. Currently, we have to sift through manually, which is not ideal. A more profound analytical capability would elevate the tool to become the complete email security solution for any user.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues."
"The solution is very easy to use. All you have to do is to assign the license to the end-user and it's done. The customer will only have the feature activated, and the solution will monitor the emails to determine if they are a threat or not."
"The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its ability to protect us from malware."
"The deployment capability is a great feature."
"The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."
"We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
"The product's scalability is good."
"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."
"They are very easy to use."
"It's easy to use and user-friendly. Users can also easily release spam emails."
"We have managed to have an impressive reduction in phishing that used to enter our system before applying Check Point."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the phishing protection it offers."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It's very easy to use, and the onboarding process is straightforward."
"We need the phishing detection and email quarantine. Once an email is considered malicious, it stays in the quarantine where we can interrogate it. We can check out why it was quarantined and see if it should be delivered to the individual."
"The fact that we can share documents without emailing them and still be confident they will go through the corresponding scrutiny is great."
"The product's environment is easy to work and comprehensive."
"The solution is easy to customize and the options available on the portal are easily accessible to all technicians."
 

Cons

"The custom alerts have to improve a lot."
"I'd like some additional features any product can give me to protect our environment in a better way."
"The pre-sales cost calculations could be more transparent."
"Too many false positives and lacks an accurate capability to detect malicious SharePoint sites."
"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."
"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 visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."
"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."
"Email security checks contain a small number of false positives."
"It needs to make sure that the application is up to date with new attacks. They should also send us the demo or introductions for their new incoming features."
"I have learned enough to make the product stable. However, the stability has some challenges."
"The solution fails to support hybrid deployments."
"Check Point could improve its marketing strategy."
"Harmony Email & Collaboration could be improved by making the whitelist available on the website and application level."
"There is a need for improvement in handling business email compromise."
"Check Point needs to address the pricing segment for SMEs."
"We still get some false positives. There are times when legitimate stuff gets flagged and it could be that somebody is expecting a very important email but they don't end up getting it. On the flip side, when we alert Check Point about stuff like this, it is corrected, so they are improving. That's a plus."
"It would be good to have the option to export the respective record data from dashboards or logs to .csv or other files."
 

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."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"The product is very expensive."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"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."
"They're fairly inexpensive, but they're right in the ballpark of most of the other online products like that."
"I can rate it five out of ten because there are different platforms that also offer the same services for lower prices. But AppRiver is more flexible."
"One of the nice features is that the licensing model is elastic, so if you go over your license count, you can add users during your billing cycle and true-up later."
"The pricing and licensing are always negotiable."
"I'm in this business as a system integrator, so I need to suggest Check Point to some customers who are comparing products. I sell Check Point, Fortinet, and Palo Alto solutions. In terms of licensing, this solution is quite competitive but very costly. For someone looking at security as a primary concern, they should only invest in Check Point. For a customer who is looking at security combined with pricing, Check Point might not be the core solution for them. In today's market, customers are looking for effective security with efficient pricing, and Check Point is not suitable for these types of customers."
"I rate the platform’s pricing a seven and a half."
"Being able to keep the phishing campaigns out of my company has been ROI for me."
"The pricing is in the middle. Check Point's pricing is not the highest in the competitive market."
"The pricing is expensive."
"Cost is the main concern that every customer takes into consideration, and Check Point always negotiates a price that is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
8%
Non Profit
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
 

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?
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS recor...
What do you like most about AppRiver Email Security?
It's easy to use and user-friendly. Users can also easily release spam emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AppRiver Email Security?
I can rate it five out of ten because there are different platforms that also offer the same services for lower price...
What needs improvement with AppRiver Email Security?
It needs to make sure that the application is up to date with new attacks. They should also send us the demo or intro...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration has been all ...
What is your primary use case for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
My main use case for Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is to protect email against all zero-day threats, ...
What do you like most about Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
The product offers good and easy integration capabilities with other products.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
AppRiver Advanced Email Security
Check Point CloudGuard, Check Point CloudGuard SaaS , Check Point Harmony Email & Office
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
IHMC
Helvetia, Denham Capital, Daymark Solutions, Neopharm Group
Find out what your peers are saying about AppRiver Email Security vs. Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.