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Cisco Secure Email vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection comparison

 

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

Cisco Secure Email
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Pr...
Ranking in Email Security
21st
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email is 4.4%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is 1.0%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Email4.4%
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection1.0%
Other94.6%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

KS
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Email security has protected financial data and provides clear tracking for every branch message
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP and other content filters compared to other consoles. It may have been due to on-premises, but it was much noisy at some times while configuring DLP. When we tried to configure a DLP policy, the console became much slower. In that case, we cannot see what had happened in the mail which was blocked at that time. It may take nearly an hour to get back to normal while configuring policies. That is the major issue in the product.
HM
CEO at Cyber Internet Services (Pvt) Ltd.
Comprehensive email protection has secured sensitive communications and simplified threat management
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is a good product right now, and the report is available in Spanish, which is beneficial for Latin Americans who speak Spanish. They can continue to improve the pricing because it is the most important aspect, as another solution is aggressive with a lower cost and includes everything. While Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is good right now, it would be better to improve the price. At the end, the client sees the price, and in Puerto Rico, the market is different than in the United States since here the client sees price independent of security. I have more effort to explain the difference between price versus technology, which is important because in Latin America, the price may not be the same as in the US due to the company's increase not being the same volume. When clients have many mailboxes, the price is more important than the technology. I do not know why, but this really happens.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very configurable. It has enabled us to configure some specific filters to stop emails that general configurations didn't stop. It's a powerful solution. It can analyze a lot of emails simultaneously, with no problems of capacity or system load."
"You are never secure without some solution from Cisco."
"For what you get for the product, the support, and the overall stability, it is definitely a good return on investment."
"It is doing its work. It is doing what it was actually designed to do. It has ensured we don't have business email compromises, and it has also ensured that our brand Galaxy is unique all year round."
"The return here is more security and fewer interruptions; it's more stability and productivity versus less productivity, and you could say that you're minimizing your costs by $65,000."
"Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution."
"The added value of it is that every migration to a new version is initiated by the Cisco version itself, so that is a bunch of work that you don't have to do on the Cisco ESA system on-premise. As it becomes a safe platform, you don't need to invest anything in your own data center or in your upgrade path."
"The reasons I chose Cisco Secure Email Gateway are the interface is - it's easy to use - and the support is great."
"My advice for people considering using Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is that the simplicity is the best option because Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection includes everything in one platform and provides a 360-degree view."
"I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails."
"Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution."
"Backup and restore are precious features."
"The best part is, I rarely have to access the portal as everything is set up and tweaked the way I wanted it. But the feature set is incredibly granular and allows for deep levels of customization."
"This service has allowed me to focus on my core environment and ensure the safety of my customer's data."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to improve its advanced phishing filters. It is very good at filtering things which have bad reputations. However, when phishing or malicious emails are new or coming from a legitimate source, we don't feel that the solution is working."
"The user interface needs some improvement to become more user-friendly. The graphics could be better. It's designed more for a technical user rather than a business user."
"The management features of the product are not up to date."
"The interface is dated. It has looked pretty much the same for 15 years or so. It would be helpful to be able to do everything from one spot. The centralized quarantine and reporting are completely separate from policy administration."
"I would rate the stability a six out of ten. We had multiple issues with the stability."
"The graphical user interface is not user-friendly like other vendors. I find it very difficult at times to find some options on the UI."
"If you are not a technical guy, it is hard to maneuver, but as soon as you work on it, it gets better and better. If there was a better way to know how to do things or how to find things, it would be good."
"The tool's pricing can be improved."
"I guess I would say maybe quick access to training material for end-users. I know partners have access to this but I as an end-user do not have immediate access to new update information."
"The pricing is a little high compared to other products."
"The solution’s pricing is not reasonable."
"They can continue to improve the pricing because it is the most important aspect, as another solution is aggressive with a lower cost and includes everything."
"A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's adapted to the market. It's similar to other vendors. We at least don't have many problems regarding that because Cisco is adaptable on that side. When we present the solutions to the customers, we tend to achieve the goals that the customer has in terms of the budget for such implementations."
"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The licensing was all transferred."
"Cisco Secure Email is more expensive than other products. I rate it a five out of ten. There are no additional costs. You only need to pay the subscription amounts."
"Cisco Secure Email is not expensive, and licensing costs are yearly."
"There are additional fees for adding features."
"There were no other costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"It is a super big router that costs a few hundred thousand dollars."
"The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise27
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Email?
We are using Cisco Secure Email to monitor the outgoing and incoming mail traffic in our financial institute. We have nearly 900 branches all over India. We have an on-premises mail server in which...
What needs improvement with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is a good product right now, and the report is available in Spanish, which is beneficial for Latin Americans who speak Spanish. They can continue to improve the ...
What is your primary use case for Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
Our use case with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is to protect the 365 email.
What advice do you have for others considering Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?
The price of Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is good right now. I would rate Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection a 10 because it is good. My advice for people considering using Hornetsecurity 3...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
concordia, fraunhofer, mazars
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.