Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Secure Email vs IceWarp comparison

 

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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
IceWarp
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Email is designed for Email Security and holds a mindshare of 5.6%, down 7.8% compared to last year.
IceWarp, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 5.3% mindshare, down 5.9% since last year.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Email5.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36511.4%
Proofpoint Email Protection8.2%
Other74.8%
Email Security
Email Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IceWarp5.3%
Google Workspace20.1%
Microsoft Exchange Online12.5%
Other62.099999999999994%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Kostas Karidas - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps prevent security breaches but fails to improve in the area of AI
I have not noticed any impressive advanced threat protection mechanisms in the tool. I don't know if there are any AI features in the product. I don't know if there is any other technology embedded in the solution. Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats. My company has seen plenty of scenarios where Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats, spam emails, and fraudulent domains. The product is good for dealing with spam emails, and it can take care of more than 100 spam emails per day. A huge number of spam emails are monitored with the help of Cisco Secure Email. I would not recommend the product to other businesses because you need to have some kind of expertise in configuring and knowing a bit about the tool's GUI. The tool also lacks in the area of AI mechanics. If I would like to have an overview and review another solution, I would go for another product other than Cisco Secure Email. I can definitely suggest others to look at the product and review it, but I would also recommend that they compare it with the other solutions in the market. I wouldn't prioritize Cisco Secure Email over other tools. Either the support partner of the product or I take care of the tool's maintenance phase by looking into the configurations and doing some fine-tuning. I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for collaboration and storage but improvement is needed in API integration
The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory. I think IceWarp needs to improve in a few areas. They have two types of admin consoles - a web-based one and a remote one. I'd like to see these combined into a single web-based admin console. The log reading and information system also needs improvement. The current way of showing incoming and outgoing logs isn't very clear. For new users, it's hard to understand these logs, especially compared to Office 365 and other systems with easier-to-read logs. They should also add an export option to get all logs with a single click whenever we need them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Secure Email is part of Cisco's extensive efforts and investments in technology, especially in the realm of cyber security. The product is one among many security solutions offered by Cisco."
"The most valuable features are protection against ransomware and spam."
"Cisco's Secure Email integrates with Cisco Firewalls, utilizing the AMP as their anti-malware engine, which allows for information sharing between devices."
"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 product blocks spam emails."
"It's flexible. There are a lot of rules and policies that can be easily applied for certain employees or certain mailboxes."
"The system provides our service desk with the means to troubleshoot email delivery issues with ease."
"It has an intuitive, clear graphical interface where you can deploy your policies and understand the overall flow. There are a lot of things that you cannot handle on the graphic interface, like message filters. For this, you need to go to a lower level where you have more power, like command line interface. So, this solution has the best of both worlds. There are not a lot of bells and whistles. It is more practical with access to most features that you can configure."
"It's scalable and stable."
"The most valuable feature of IceWarp is the chat rooms and file-sharing, they are useful. It is convenient that everything is in one place. You can easily share and collaborate documents, making the program's unity a significant advantage."
"The TeamChat feature has been really good for our email management. It lets us collaborate, share files, and invite guests like Google Spaces or Microsoft Teams. I like the two-factor authentication for security. However, they need to improve their document collaboration tools, as their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint features are basic compared to Microsoft and Google."
"The solution is easy to manage and includes features such as smart documents and the archiving of user data."
"The solution's voice services work well for our company."
"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."
"An effective, functional, very good tool for controlling resources."
"The solution has a very good log-in to the UI when compared to other solutions."
 

Cons

"The area of license renewal should be improved. We normally renew our license every year. There is a feature called smart licensing, and I switched from the legacy mode to the smart licensing mode because of what I thought smart licensing does. I thought it would make licensing renewal seamless and very swift, but ever since I've switched to smart licensing, each time I want to renew my license, it is a whole lot of headache. The process is not smooth, and I had to keep calling Cisco TAC to see how the issue can be resolved. At one point, I wanted to revert back to the legacy mode, but I can't revert. Once you switch from the legacy mode to the smart licensing mode, you can't revert. They should improve on the visibility of the smart licensing mode so that it can indeed be smart and easier to use for the license renewal every year. That is one challenge."
"We cannot manage multiple devices from a single UI."
"There could be additional DLP functionality for it."
"We didn't get any malware, but a few phishing emails, maybe one or two, slipped in."
"I am not satisfied with the solution's reporting and logging."
"We have Microsoft and we have the E5 licenses, they have more EDR responses on certain emails. That's something that Cisco ESA on the cloud doesn't have. They don't do anything about MITRE attacks. They only detect if there is a malicious email or a threat and they remove it."
"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 hardware is not up to the mark. Two to three times a year we have complete downtime."
"It is difficult to disable user rights on the console so some users accidentally delete their documents or user details."
"The tool's configuration capabilities are not straightforward. Apart from that, if I want to archive emails into a vault so that they can be retrieved again later, the integration doesn't work, and IceWarp crashes."
"The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management."
"The exchange compatibility mode is rather limited. Their technical support can also be better. They only provide online support, and there should be some option for escalating."
"Although the documentation is extensive and in depth, you must familiarize yourself with it before taking full advantage of the product."
"The solution should improve the mailing list feature. Google has a similar feature where you can automate sending files to different people in a sequence, but that feature is no longer available in the current version of IceWarp. Other features may also have been removed in the current version."
"I would like to have a trial for mobile applications and more documentation similar to Google Drive with mobile applications."
"With multiple databases for VOIP, chat and web IMAP, maintenance is cumbersome."
 

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."
"There were no other costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The product's price falls on the higher side when compared to the other products on the market."
"It is a reasonably priced solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"Cisco Secure Email and the support are priced well. It's not cheap, but there are other solutions that offer less and cost so much. For example, Microsoft is more expensive than Cisco."
"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The pricing is good."
"Costs far less than other solutions."
"The solution is priced well."
"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"I don't see any challenges for the Indian market. For example, 1 GB is available for around 399 INR, and 2 GB for 499 INR. They offer a range of plans, from basic to professional and enterprise, with multiple features. IceWarp's aggressive pricing is competitive compared to other market solutions like Zoho and Microsoft. One significant advantage is that IceWarp does not impose user capping like Google and Microsoft, which allows for substantial cost savings and flexibility in user conversion."
"There are various licensing plans available based on geographic zone."
"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."
"Price-wise, it's a cheaper solution, without a doubt. Price is the reason we are still using the tool."
"The solution is inexpensive which is its main benefit."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Secure Email?
Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution.
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 user interface of the Email Security Gateway ( /products/security-gateway-reviews ) should be improved. It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IceWarp?
IceWarp was very cost-effective, offering services at a significantly lower cost than Google, which was appealing for our organization.
What needs improvement with IceWarp?
The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management. Users currently have the rights to delete smart documents, which poses a challenge for administrators. A mor...
 

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
Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Abnormal AI, Proofpoint and others in Email Security. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.