Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs SonicWall Email Security comparison

Cisco and SonicWall are both solutions in the Email Security category. Cisco is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.3, while SonicWall is ranked #30 with an average rating of 7.7. Cisco holds a 1.1% mindshare in Email Security, compared to SonicWall’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Cisco Secure Email Threat D...

Read 16 Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense reviews

1,197 Views
1,161 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

SonicWall Email Security

Read 15 SonicWall Email Security reviews

725 Views
631 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Cisco Secure Email Threat D...

SonicWall Email Security

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

SonicWall Email Security and Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense are direct competitors in the email security solutions category. While SonicWall is favored for its cost-effectiveness and support, Cisco stands out with superior features, making it worth the investment for many.

Features: SonicWall Email Security offers effective spam filtering, malware protection, and a simplified user interface, ideal for small to medium businesses. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense provides advanced threat intelligence, extensive integration capabilities, and a comprehensive protection framework suitable for enterprises. Cisco's advanced features offer greater depth compared to SonicWall's essential protective measures.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall could enhance its product by improving attachment blocking by extension type and enhancing macro blocking in its firewall device. Users anticipate updates that might resolve these limitations. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense can improve by addressing its advanced phishing detection capabilities and optimizing integration features across its suite of tools. Enhancing user-friendly interfaces further would also benefit users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall Email Security excels with a straightforward deployment and readily accessible customer support, aiding organizations with limited IT resources. Cisco offers a more complex, technically demanding deployment process, but it supports this with thorough documentation and responsive technical assistance. SonicWall provides easy startup while Cisco ensures more in-depth customization and support.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall Email Security is recognized for its affordability, offering high ROI for basic security needs. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense involves a higher initial cost, justified by a wider range of security features and integrations, providing significant ROI for enterprises needing robust security measures. SonicWall is budget-friendly, whereas Cisco's extensive capabilities justify its premium price.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. SonicWall Email Security Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. SonicWall Email Security

February 2026

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Helped 881,565 peers since 2012

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

Cisco Secure Email Threat D...

Ranking in Email Security

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall Email Security

Ranking in Email Security

30th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Email Security is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense	1.1%
SonicWall Email Security	0.6%
Other	98.3%

Email Security

Featured Reviews

reviewer2541525

Principal Cyber Prevent and Defense Engineer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Clawback feature performs well but analytics and integration capabilities need improvement

The integration capability with other threat intelligence platforms is not optimal, as I have experienced difficulty in sending logs to our SIEM. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense's flexibility could be enhanced while it mostly integrates with cloud solutions, but not on-premise. 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. Regarding room for improvement, the significant number of false positives should be addressed. The solution does not adapt to behavioral analytics and does not make changes when it sees a pattern.

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Swapnil Kulkarni

System Administrator at Ador Powertron Ltd.

Has consistently supported security needs for mid-sized teams with affordable deployment

I do not work with Cloud Secure Edge, CSE, or SMA apart from SonicWall NSA. I am not satisfied with phishing protection, as it falls completely under the email domain security. The customizable policy configuration does not help to tailor email security overall because our systems are not integrated with SonicWall Email Security. We are not using reporting and analytics because it requires completely different software. While all required features are available in SonicWall Email Security for SMBs and startups, we lack analytics features. They provide an option to purchase a complete separate product for analytics, but despite initially having purchased the paper license, due to technical limitations or changes, we cannot use that product. Now they require additional fees to access the analytics feature.

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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

"This solution is easy to use."

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

"The advanced threat analytics and URL filtering in threat detection are good features that are working well."

"On ease of use, it rates very high. It's something that I was able to get into without really looking at any documentation. I wanted to see what it felt like before I started looking at any documentation on how to use it, and it was very easy to use. It works very smoothly. The user experience is very intuitive. They did an amazing job on that."

"The features and functionalities are much better than Microsoft's in-built Defender plan."

"Secure Email Threat Defense's scalability is good."

"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."

"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense pros

"This solution provides very good email security that protects us against spamming and malware."

"It is a very scalable solution."

"There are no wasted extras and the interface is really simple."

"Setup was easy. It took about 30 minutes."

"According to our customers, the product's most valuable feature is the ability to detect spam and reduce phishing emails."

"The most valuable feature is that it protects from spam."

"Beside a few issues with specificity in the email protection controls, this product is very good at handling email security."

"The product is easy to manage in terms of configurations."

More SonicWall Email Security pros

Cons

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

"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."

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

"The pricing could always be better."

"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."

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

"Customers will benefit greatly from monthly billing because the majority of customers today use the cloud, be it Office 365, or Google Cloud."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense cons

"They should integrate the solution with third-party platforms."

"There could be definition updates included in the subscription."

"I am not satisfied with phishing protection, as it falls completely under the email domain security."

"The pricing could be improved."

"The platform's control panel needs enhancement."

"The reporting needs improvement."

"A lot of spoofed emails are still coming to the end-user, so the configuration for this option needs to be improved."

"We would like to see more information on a dashboard about what is happening when it comes to spamming and malware."

More SonicWall Email Security cons

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."

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."

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

"The overall price of SonicWall Email Security should be reduced and there should be an option to purchase one or two licenses more instead of their current policy of bulk increases only. There should be more flexibility in the licensing model. Each license cost approximately $33 annually."

"The platform offers a yearly license."

"Our customers purchase the solution's yearly license."

"When compared with Cisco, it is very well priced. Cisco is very expensive."

"The cost is cheaper than Sophos. I would rate it as five out of ten."

"I rate the application’s pricing a five out of ten."

"We have a two-year license subscription and the price is very high."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Marketing Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

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, I am not very aware of the pricing details.

See all answers

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 product. Some customer requirements, such as sending logs to a Syslog server, ar...

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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 Defense.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Email Security?

The solution is affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall Email Security?

Policy deployment could be time consuming and represents an area for improvement in SonicWall Email Security.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SonicWall Email Security?

SonicWall Email Security was used for security purposes, which aligns with the product's core function.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Secure Email vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 29% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 18% of the time

Abnormal Security vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 13% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 12% of the time

Kiteworks vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 10% of the time

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense Competitors

Avanan vs SonicWall Email Security

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs SonicWall Email Security

Compared 16% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs SonicWall Email Security

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Email vs SonicWall Email Security

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs SonicWall Email Security

Compared 13% of the time

More SonicWall Email Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

January 2026

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense report

Download Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Email Security

January 2026

Download SonicWall Email Security product report

Also Known As

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

Dell SonicWALL Email Security Platform, SonicWall Hosted Email Security

Overview

Cisco's secure email threat defense is designed to provide comprehensive protection against email-based threats. With the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks, it is crucial for organizations to have a robust solution in place to safeguard their email communications.

The product offers advanced threat detection capabilities, leveraging machine learning algorithms and real-time analysis to identify and block malicious emails. It scans incoming and outgoing emails for suspicious attachments, links, and content, ensuring that only safe and legitimate emails reach the users' inbox.

To combat phishing attacks, our solution employs advanced anti-phishing techniques, including URL reputation analysis and email header analysis. It proactively detects and blocks phishing emails, preventing users from falling victim to fraudulent schemes and protecting sensitive information.

The Secure Email Threat Defense also includes robust anti-malware and anti-spam features. It scans email attachments for malware and viruses, preventing them from infiltrating the organization's network. Additionally, it filters out spam emails, reducing the clutter in users' inboxes and improving productivity.

Administrators have full visibility and control over email security. They can set up customizable policies to enforce security measures, such as blocking specific file types or restricting email access from certain domains. Detailed reports and analytics provide insights into email threats and help in fine-tuning the security settings.

Cisco

SonicWALL Email Security Platform offers powerful protection to keep email threats out. And sensitive data in. With innovative protection techniques for both inbound and outbound email plus unique management tools, the Email Security platform delivers superior email protection today while standing ready to stop the new attacks of tomorrow.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

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

Star Kay White, Locala Community Partnerships

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. SonicWall Email Security

February 2026

Free Report: Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. SonicWall Email Security

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