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Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Sublime Security 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

Cisco Secure Email Threat D...
Ranking in Email Security
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sublime Security
Ranking in Email Security
14th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 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 Sublime Security is 1.1%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sublime Security1.1%
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense1.1%
Other97.8%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

GC
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Provides robust email security features but requires improved modernization and complexity management
Modernization is an area that could be improved for Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, as some features have lagged behind newer competitors, potentially offering more advanced analysis capabilities. The initial setup is not straightforward and requires expertise and time to master configurations such as spoofing and DLP. More control over backend functionalities and simplifying rule management could enhance user experience. 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. Furthermore, the pricing might deter new users who could opt for alternative, more cost-effective solutions.
reviewer2764257 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Improves decision-making with clear verdict explanations and works well across multiple environments
I know that a lot of time has been invested in improving the efficacy of the platform, and it shows; it performs very well. Moving forward, I think our focus should be on how to achieve better integration with other systems. While they do provide API-level access and web hooks, I believe more out-of-the-box integrations with SOAR platforms and SIEM tools would enhance Sublime's value. This would allow it to be integrated more closely with the workflows of various teams and could potentially increase its market appeal. From my perspective, the tool itself functions exceptionally well, which gives me confidence in the system. I want to see this functionality extend to other tools that I use, enabling faster automation and improved workflows for the team, particularly from a security operations standpoint. I have no critiques regarding the tool itself. They've done an outstanding job and are maintaining high quality throughout their development process. They have a great product, and it's essential that they continue to uphold that standard, even though it requires significant effort.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The advanced threat analytics and URL filtering in threat detection are good features that are working well."
"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."
"Cisco has a threat mechanism called cloud-based Talos, where all the threats are inbuilt."
"It has an efficient email filtering feature."
"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."
"I highly recommend it as one of the best choices."
"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox can handle a complete portfolio, which is required to protect any kind of attack coming from emails. However, it does not have advanced phishing, but it is available through Cisco. If you compare Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox with the competition, in the competition you have to have one or two solutions together to address the customer's requirement, whereas Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox is addressing everything, such as web domain and email protection. If there is any kind of challenge it will come across through email."
"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."
"I like its ability to detect and block."
"Since I have been using Sublime Security personally, I have noticed specific improvements like fewer spam emails and improved detection, which saves me time."
"Sublime Security has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to do much less manual phishing detection and email detection, and now we can automate a lot of that, freeing up a lot of our security team to do other work."
"This is why it provides absolute value; it adds a smarter layer that catches anything missed by Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace protection, as attackers can breach those systems easily using flexible detection logic that security teams can quickly customize."
"Sublime Security has positively impacted my organization by helping our team reduce manual email triage and respond to phishing and BEC threats faster."
"Sublime Security has improved our email threat detection and response by helping us identify phishing and Business Email Compromise campaigns faster, investigate related emails, and automate remediation, which has reduced our manual effort and improved our response time."
"Overall, the auditability and the ability to evaluate the information in Sublime through various mechanisms made me very comfortable with setting these capabilities to auto-remediation."
 

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 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."
"Cisco's multiple product lines and verticals made this just one of their many verticals, and we could see a shift in focus."
"This solution could be improved by integration with Sandbox."
"We encounter issues while searching for missing emails."
"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 tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."
"I believe the main areas for improvement for Sublime Security are ease of onboarding and learning, as the platform has many powerful capabilities, making it take some time for new analysts to become comfortable with all the features and detection logic."
"While they do provide API-level access and web hooks, I believe more out-of-the-box integrations with SOAR platforms and SIEM tools would enhance Sublime's value."
"There have been occasions where we would have liked a faster response, but the overall experience has been positive."
"To improve Sublime Security, I think the learning curve is the primary concern; it is powerful, but it is not plug and play."
"Sublime Security could be improved by enabling more integration, better customization of alerts, and more detailed reporting."
"I would say there are very minimal changes needed regarding Sublime Security; for first-time users, it can be difficult knowing how to write the tool."
"The ability for users to look at their own quarantine box needs improvement. So at the moment, it doesn't give you the ability to see every email that has been quarantined. No end-user has the ability to see what's being quarantined. It's only people who have access to the back-end platform that can actually see what has been quarantined. The end user doesn't know if they have an email that has been quarantined, only if they're expecting something that didn't come through."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing of Sublime Security as a seven out of ten. It is reasonably well-priced."
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915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

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.
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...
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sublime Security?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is limited, but I noticed that Sublime Security was slightly more expensive than Avanan or Defender, as Defender comes included with other Micr...
What needs improvement with Sublime Security?
I believe the main areas for improvement for Sublime Security are ease of onboarding and learning, as the platform has many powerful capabilities, making it take some time for new analysts to becom...
What is your primary use case for Sublime Security?
My main use case for Sublime Security is email security and phishing detection, where I use it to investigate suspicious emails, identify phishing and BEC attempts, analyze malicious links and atta...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
Snowflake, Spotify, Anduril, Elastic, Compass, Encompass Health, Zscaler, Ovo Energy, Personio, Beneteler 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Sublime Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.