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Arkose vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Arkose
Ranking in Email Security
28th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Bot Management (10th), Anomaly Detection Tools (3rd)
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (9th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Arkose is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 5.1%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3655.1%
Arkose0.4%
Other94.5%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Rajesh Podishetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Fraud controls have protected patient portals and now support trusted digital healthcare access
Arkose can be improved in several ways. Integration complexity requires alignment with healthcare IT systems, which is an area where Arkose is currently lagging. There is a need to balance security versus patient experience, as overly strict controls frustrate legitimate users who want to access the patient portal without excessive restrictions. Evolving threats present another challenge. Every day, fraudsters use generative AI to mimic human behavior, which requires Arkose to continually improve its threat detection. Since Arkose handles different systems that need to be controlled over time, there should be regular audits to determine which features need adjustment. Cost-wise, the platform requires improvement, as there is significant cost involved and considerable manual intervention needed, which should be brought into the AI automation. On an everyday basis, patient login verification sometimes experiences delays when internet issues occur, causing patients to wait long in queue. Insurance claims validation does not always happen easily due to application environment downtime. These operational improvements need to be addressed in Arkose Labs systems.
Emeka Ndulu - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Improves threat visibility and response while reducing manual tasks and training users against phishing
I appreciate the attack simulation feature whereby I get to train users and educate them on how to identify phishing emails and spam emails, as well as the anti-spam protection. It gives me visibility into my threat environment and threat landscape to ensure that I am one step ahead of any likelihood of threats within my environment. I get to detect it and respond, so the threat intelligence is very effective. Microsoft security solutions save my time. It saves money because once I protect my environment, I don't lose money. It has decreased my detection time and my time to respond.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I also like that they challenge crawling in CAPTCHA for mobile. This is good compared to the traditional way."
"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
"The feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 that I like the most is probably the email features specifically, because those are the ones that a typical end user will accidentally click on a link not knowing what it is, and it'll catch it, and then it'll feed it over to Defender and stop the attack from happening before it actually can."
"I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."
"The insights provided with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are helpful because it comes with the E5 license, and by default, we can use a lot of capabilities."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a cloud-based email filtering service that helps protect our organization against unknown malware and viruses by providing robust zero-day protection and includes features to safeguard our organization from harmful links in real-time."
"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"It definitely is a must for email protection and O365 app DLP, and combined with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender for Identity, and MCAS, it provides a holistic solution for threat protection, email protection, O365 apps protection, and DLP for both internal and external risks."
 

Cons

"Arkose need to provide something for testing."
"Integration complexity requires alignment with healthcare IT systems, which is an area where Arkose is currently lagging."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should be more proactive."
"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"I think Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can be improved by creating more educational pieces about not just looking for malware."
"There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console."
"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."
"Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives."
"About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"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."
"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."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arkose?
Earlier, fraud management used to cost us around 15 million dollars per annum. After using Arkose Labs for fraud control, it helped us save around 9 million dollars. The cost is now 6 million dolla...
What needs improvement with Arkose?
Arkose can be improved in several ways. Integration complexity requires alignment with healthcare IT systems, which is an area where Arkose is currently lagging. There is a need to balance security...
What is your primary use case for Arkose?
I have been using Arkose for the last four years. Arkose is a fraud prevention and trust management platform that helps different sectors in the healthcare industry, including healthcare providers,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My experience with pricing, setup, and licensing is that it's actually quite reasonable even on the licensing side as a standalone product. It's very competitive compared to what competitors are ch...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I think Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can be improved by creating more educational pieces about not just looking for malware. We are seeing a lot more malware-less emails that Defender for Offi...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 include email hygiene.
 

Also Known As

Arkose Email Intelligence, Arkose Bot Manager
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Arkose vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.