Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email &amp; Collaboration) vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense comparison

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

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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

Cloudflare One

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cloudflare One is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is 4.2%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration)	4.2%
Cloudflare One	1.7%
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense	1.1%
Other	93.0%

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Cobe Van Coller

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.

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Harish (Kumar)

Cybersecurity And Information Governance Head at Aeren

Email security has blocked sophisticated phishing and now protects inboxes with AI detection

The only challenge with Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is that it is an API-based solution. In an API-based solution, the major challenge is that it can read email content and Google Drive content. This presents a data privacy challenge, and we had to mitigate it by signing a Data Processing Agreement and other agreements. Because it is not a traditional in-line solution, Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) connects with Google Workspace using API permission and can access email, attachments, sender, recipient information, links, and all metadata is with Check Point. Data storage and everything else is with Check Point, which is the challenge. This solution has a drawback because of API deployment, while other solutions are traditional secure email gateways that are in-line solutions. In those solutions, we need to change the MX record, but with this solution we do not need to change the MX record, which is a pro of API-based deployment. However, there is also a con in that with API solutions, the email is scanned but after delivery in the mailbox.

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Nipuna Madhubhashana

Enginner at Millennium Information Technologies

Has faced challenges with configuration, taking actions, and learning curve but benefits from centralized management and good technical support

We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new product. Some customer requirements, such as sending logs to a Syslog server, are limited as ETD only supports sending audit logs. Customers have requirements for other system logs as well, which should be developed from their side. Another customer request is to restrict the IPs that can log in, which cannot be done from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense yet. Any user with login details can log in. We can restrict the IPs in Cloud Mail Gateways, but not from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. It would be beneficial to improve this feature. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense can take actions, such as requesting O365 to quarantine mail. In that case, the customer requires notification to the recipient from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. This option would be valuable if available. The real-time threat intelligence of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is an AI-based classification. It took one to two months to optimize the classification, but we still experience some false positives. Reducing the learning period would be beneficial. The learning curve shows that in the beginning, there are numerous false positives. For one month, we had to reclassify the false positives manually until the system learned. Reducing the learning time would be much better. Additional features desired in the next release include IP restrictions and user logging IP restrictions, ensuring only the customer environment can log in to Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. Logs forwarding needs improvement as currently it only has audit logs. In Cloud Mail Gateway, we can create an IPsec tunnel to forward logs. However, in Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, there is no option, and we must do API integration to send logs. Only SIM can get logs; Syslog cannot retrieve them.

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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

"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."

"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."

"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."

"Cloudflare is simple to use."

"The simplicity of the solution is its valuable features as almost no effort was needed to learn the configurations. It is also one of the cheapest firewalls available in this category."

"Clover is the best product globally."

"Cloudflare is by far the most effective solution that I have come across."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform removes the risk of exposing the applications to the public."

More Cloudflare One pros

"Checkpoint Harmony Email and Collaboration is one of the cloud solutions for email that has given us the most added value."

"The solution has a very effective anti-phishing algorithm that detects a significantly higher number of phishing emails compared to the default Microsoft solution."

"Now, we're happy with this solution, as it's doing well."

"The email security solution boasts an exceptional success rate in filtering out junk, spam, and phishing emails while ensuring that legitimate emails reach their intended recipients. The setup process is straightforward and user-friendly"

"The product offers good and easy integration capabilities with other products."

"Over these eighteen months I have been working with the product, it has been very stable, and I would recommend it to most of my peers who have issues related to the email security piece."

"Check Point Harmony gives us great visibility of the threats we are being exposed to, where they are coming from and what were they targeting, giving visibility of the weak gateways that could lead to an infection or a leakage."

"As a comprehensive solution, Check Point offers a very granular and best-in-class experience."

More Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) pros

"I would say it's very comprehensive, with multiple antivirus OEMs, virus encrypt features, encryption, and more."

"Cisco's technical support is very good."

"This solution is easy to use."

"The features and functionalities are much better than Microsoft's in-built Defender plan, and this product has helped us to protect our organization from any malware attack in the past."

"Overall, it's certainly a very good idea to integrate another layer on top of Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection."

"The ability to see east-west traffic is its most valuable feature. Traditionally, email defense focuses on north-south, inbound-outbound, egress-ingress traffic. With Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, it's able to quickly identify, track, tag, and categorize emails that are internal. That can typically give us visibility into if there's an internal compromised account (for example). Someone can then use that internal compromised account to email additional accounts with either malicious software or links, but internal within that Office tenant. Effectively, that email message never leaves the tenant. Any of the mail gateways really do not have any method or way of seeing this traffic since it's not leaving the environment."

"Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense's best features include user management of graymail, enhancing security awareness by allowing users to manage cold calls, sales-based items, and ensuring email compliance."

"The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense pros

Cons

"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."

"Cloudflare One is not very powerful, but for what we require, it is basic and sufficient."

"The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems."

"The tool should provide on-premise versions. Currently, all versions are cloud-based."

"The response time for support must be reduced."

"Feedback could be enhanced."

"From a logging perspective, it is still a bit difficult to see exactly what users are being blocked with the current views."

"I would like them to include a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."

More Cloudflare One cons

"Since the portal to the management and administration entry sometimes has performance problems and takes a long time to respond to what has arrived, the handling of the tool is difficult."

"The worst thing that I have faced with Check Point has been their support."

"The NAVEX metrics that I have been using on the CloudGuard dashboard cannot be exported. If they were to add report exporting capabilities on each of metric objects on the dashboard, that would be awesome."

"The dashboard is the major area for improvement, but apart from that, all the rest is acceptable."

"There are a few areas for improvement. One is the occasional sluggishness or latency, which is likely due to the cloud-based nature of the solution. So, the performance can be better."

"I notice that there are areas for improvement in email security, particularly regarding Data Loss Prevention (DLP). It has limited functionality on outgoing DLP, meaning if someone is sending a sensitive file, I cannot rely solely on this solution for protection."

"After updates, the internet connection fails, and I have to restart my desktop to resume initial functionalities."

"Expanding third-party integration would be beneficial. When I integrate with Microsoft 365, support for other platforms like Slack or Dropbox is limited."

More Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) cons

"The behavioral analysis capability of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is not particularly helpful for identifying new, evolving threats within my company, as it keeps flagging legitimate emails as malicious."

"The product's complexity at times results in redundant rule sets that are difficult to untangle, highlighting the need for streamlined management systems and a more user-centric approach to system configuration."

"This solution could be improved by integration with Sandbox."

"We encounter issues while searching for missing emails."

"From a technical point of view, Cisco is far behind in terms of cybersecurity, and it has to improve very much."

"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox can improve by adding advanced phishing, then the solution would become the best in the market. However, this could increase the price even more. Additionally, if CES with domain protection could be added it would be an even better solution."

"The search area has room for improvement. When you go to the next page, it remains at the bottom of the current page that you're on. Also, under the reports section, it allows you to see any "convictions," but if you want to search for those convictions you have to remember when they all came in and go back and edit the search accordingly. You cannot click on the list of convictions to actually see if you had a spike at a certain time."

"The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The prices are slightly expensive."

"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."

"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."

"The solution is not that expensive."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."

"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 is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"The price is very good, based on what they deliver."

"The product is expensive."

"The pricing is competitive."

"Being able to keep the phishing campaigns out of my company has been ROI for me."

"Having information stolen by a hacker would be more expensive than purchasing a license."

"Due to its pricing, I would say that Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is more suitable for medium to enterprise organizations."

"This is a very good product if you are on the cloud, but the price is a little more expensive."

"Cost is the main concern that every customer takes into consideration, and Check Point always negotiates a price that is affordable."

More Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) pricing and cost advice

"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox does not have any competition with Sophos, Trend Micro, or other vendors of the world. However, there is a pricing premium for the solution. One has to look at it from that angle that while they are buying Cisco, there will be a premium, and Cisco justifies that premium value. That's why they're charging a high price."

"The solution’s pricing is manageable."

"The feedback from vendors and customer is that it is expensive."

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."

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907,816 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

18%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	72
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	37

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?

Pricing is competitive. Akamai is more expensive, in my view.

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?

In my opinion, Cloudflare One can be improved mainly through compatibility, as the integration should be much simpler...

What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?

Cloudflare One's primary use case for my organization is to protect servers and to provide remote access with the VPN...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?

We are not currently using this product. Six months back, we removed that product due to a few issues. The major issu...

What is your primary use case for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?

The major use case for Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) was Business Email Com...

What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Email & Office?

The only challenge with Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is that it is an API-...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Secure Email Threat Defense?

Comparatively with other products, the pricing of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is normal. As a technical guide, ...

What needs improvement with Secure Email Threat Defense?

We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new ...

What is your primary use case for Secure Email Threat Defense?

We are working with Cloud Mail Gateway and on-premise mail gateways. We have worked with Cisco Secure Email Threat De...

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Product Reports

Cloudflare One

Download Cloudflare One product report

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration)

Download Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) product report

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) report

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Download Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense product report

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense report

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform

Check Point CloudGuard, Check Point CloudGuard SaaS , Check Point Harmony Email & Office

Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense

Overview

Cloudflare One is a comprehensive platform for security, performance, and connectivity. It provides features like rate limiting, DDoS protection, and application access, tailored to enhance user experience while securing internet access and accelerating communications.

Designed to integrate security measures with ease of use and scalability, Cloudflare One offers a secure web gateway and zero trust network access. These features ensure seamless setup and operation, making connectivity reliable and protected. Users appreciate its integrated console, intuitive interface, and the ability to manage risk effectively. It offers straightforward deployment, improves latency, and boasts cost-effectiveness. While its onboarding process and documentation need enhancement, its value in content delivery and application shielding is notable. Despite challenges in integrating Cloudflare Access with existing VPNs and the need for better automation and support, it remains vital for DNS and infrastructure protection.

What features make Cloudflare One stand out?

Rate Limiting: Controls the traffic rate to prevent abuse.
DDoS Protection: Shields applications from distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Secure Web Gateway: Provides secure internet access with seamless operation.
Zero Trust Network Access: Ensures secure, application-based connectivity without relying on traditional VPNs.
Access for Connectivity: Facilitates access to internal applications securely.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Security: Robust measures for DNS and browsing protection.
Performance: Enhanced site accessibility and communication speed.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing for its features.
Ease of Deployment: Straightforward and efficient setup process.

In industries like finance, retail, and technology, Cloudflare One is crucial for enabling secure remote access and protecting web applications against dynamic threats. It supports compliance access policies and enhances content delivery, playing a key role in safeguarding digital infrastructure.

Cloudflare

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration provides AI-powered security features for email and collaboration platforms, integrating with Microsoft 365 for comprehensive protection against phishing and malware threats.

Designed for seamless deployment, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration offers advanced protection with minimal false positives. Users benefit from real-time alerts, granular threat analysis, and intuitive operation. It supports API-based email security, ensuring safe communication channels and data protection. While it integrates smoothly with Microsoft 365, improvements in dashboard usability, stability, false positive reduction, and expanded integrations with non-Microsoft platforms can enhance the experience.

What are the key features of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration?

AI-Powered Threat Intelligence: Utilizes machine learning to detect and prevent emerging threats.
Seamless Office 365 Integration: Offers easy deployment and integration with Microsoft's suite.
Zero-Day Attack Prevention: Protects against unknown vulnerabilities with advanced sandboxing.
Robust Phishing Protection: Employs comprehensive techniques to block phishing attempts.
Advanced Sandboxing: Analyzes potential threats in a controlled environment to prevent breaches.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Provides insights with real-time threat monitoring and analysis.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Ease of Deployment: Simple setup process with minimal disruption to operations.
Cost-Effective Security: Reduces potential breach costs with proactive threat prevention.
Reduced False Positives: Minimizes unnecessary alerts, allowing teams to focus on real threats.
Enhanced Threat Visibility: Real-time analytics offer deeper understanding of security landscape.

In finance, healthcare, and education industries, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is deployed to safeguard sensitive information and ensure unrestricted communication flow. These sectors value its ability to block suspicious emails, prevent data loss, and maintain compliance with industry regulations.

Check Point Software Technologies

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense offers robust email security with features like east-west traffic visibility and seamless SaaS deployment. It enhances cloud email protection by integrating Threat Grid sandboxing and AMP for malware defense, supported by Cisco Talos threat intelligence.

Enhancing email security for Microsoft 365 and cloud emails, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense acts as an email gateway, blocking phishing, malware, and business email compromise. Users benefit from a centralized management console, efficient graymail administration, and strong filtering capabilities. Despite its strengths, it requires improvements in integration, spam detection accuracy, and enhances phishing protection.

What are the most important features of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense?

East-West Traffic Visibility: Offers insight into email tenant interactions.
SaaS Application Deployment: Simplifies deployment processes.
Threat Grid Sandboxing: Provides advanced malware protection.
AMP Integration: Enhances malware defense capabilities.
Anti-Spam and Antivirus: Powered by Cisco Talos threat intelligence.
Cloud Mailbox Features: Includes robust email filtering and management.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated in reviews?

Enhanced Security: Provides protection against advanced threats.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces reliance on help desk services.
User-Friendly Management: Streamlines email administration tasks.
Improved Email Filtering: Ensures effective threat blocking.

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is highly applicable in industries requiring stringent data protection, such as finance and healthcare. It serves cloud-based environments by closely monitoring email activity to prevent unauthorized access and breaches. Tailored deployment options cater to both on-premise and cloud architectures, allowing flexible integration in existing workflows.

Cisco

Sample Customers

23andMe

Helvetia, Denham Capital, Daymark Solutions, Neopharm Group

Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense