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Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) 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

Fortra's Clearswift Secure ...
Ranking in Email Security
39th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
0
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 4.4%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)4.4%
Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway1.0%
Other94.6%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

PC
Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stable, but malware needs improvement and customer support is poor
They need to improve the malware in the product. I am not satisfied with Clearswift because of the lack of customer support. The support is poor, the supplier takes a lot of time and it's expensive. We have some issues here when I contact the supplier, it takes a lot of time for them to get back to us but there's no solution. I am now looking at Symantec as a possible alternative.
HP
Cloud Consultant at Ensono
Service provider benefits from effective email security management and seeks enhanced customer support
Reporting could be one of the areas for improvement, as they could put more reporting into Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) natively rather than requiring additional licensing or connecting to other parts of the Microsoft suite, but it depends on the license you have. There aren't significant concerns with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), as it depends on what customers expect; if they expect more features, then it depends on what Microsoft 365 license they have. The important thing is to ensure they are using all the security features they get with their licensing. The basic one is Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP). While it's nice to have more functionality, that's available through other licensing programs with Microsoft. While we'd prefer more features, as a basic tool, it's fine, but more advanced features come with the add-ons from other parts of the Microsoft 365 licensing. One feature that could improve Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is automated malware detection, where it actually analyzes the file offline in a sandbox to determine if it's safe, potentially reducing false positives.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"A stable solution."
"The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do."
"We like the holding facility that is available for potentially suspicious URL's. This allows a real-time review to be performed before the email reaches a users inbox."
"What I like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is its integration with Windows, so we have one central view for all alerts and incidents."
"The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward."
"It's all running in the backend, so it doesn't affect the app functionality."
"With Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, if malware is attached to a mailer, it's very easy to go into the incident alert and find out what's happening with that identity and the mail."
"It provides security to both on-premises and Azure infrastructures."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is the best email solution with more features and robust security, making it ideal for corporate use."
 

Cons

"Malware needs improvement."
"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
"The tool is not 100% stable."
"The licensing can be on the expensive side, especially in the cloud space."
"Our company faces difficulty with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) because it's too big, clunky, and difficult for a small client to implement quickly and easily."
"Microsoft 365 Defender and EOP policies are stable with the proper license. However, with the basic policy, it's hard to say it's stable due to configuration limitations."
"The management interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) could be intuitive."
"The security compliance features need to be improved. Sometimes, a client's mailbox becomes full because of retained information and not because of mail. I would like to see improvement in block rules as well."
"Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"The product is bundled with Microsoft 365."
"The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
"It's a high price."
"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"It is a low-price solution."
"The product's pricing is competitive for the US market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement, as at times it doesn't make sense where to go to access certain features.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
My use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is basically to protect ourselves from phishing emails and to improve our email security.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,511 professionals have used our research since 2012.