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Darktrace vs Fortinet FortiMail comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
Darktrace enhances security with threat detection and vulnerability exposure, providing financial benefits despite deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
6.7
Fortinet FortiMail boosts email security, reduces costs, and saves time, enhancing operational efficiency through seamless integration and advanced features.
Other NDR solutions provide virtual appliances that can be deployed on virtualization servers to get up and running quickly.
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Using this solution provides financial benefits by securing from server attacks, which offers indirect savings.
Systems Specialist/ Administrator at ALFA International Company Limited.
It offers cost savings compared to Cisco, which was very expensive.
System admin at Environment Fund
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace customer service is responsive and helpful, praised for efficient issue resolutions and proactive engagement with users.
Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiMail's customer service is generally praised for efficiency, especially elite support, despite occasional standard support delays.
The technical support from Darktrace is of high quality.
Network & Security Section Head/Digital Transformation at City Edge
Darktrace provides excellent technical support with a monthly meeting to review platform incidents, ensuring the system functions as expected.
Head of Technology Operations at Pobl Group
The challenge lies in waiting for a response after logging a ticket.
Group Cybersecurity Administrator at Tharisa
I have direct communication with Kenyan system engineers and local support in Ethiopia, enabling good support.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
Mainly, they are focusing on Fortinet FortiMail and FortiAnalyzer, where the support engineers are very good.
Head of the IT Security Division at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Fortinet's technical support offers high-quality support.
System admin at Environment Fund
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace is praised for its scalability, seamless expansion, robust architecture, and capacity to manage increasing demands effectively.
Sentiment score
7.2
Fortinet FortiMail is scalable and flexible, efficiently adapting to varying organizational sizes, though some hardware limitations exist.
Darktrace has high scalability, and I would rate it a nine out of ten.
Network & Security Section Head/Digital Transformation at City Edge
Since it's cloud-based, it expands easily.
Head of Technology Operations at Pobl Group
There is still a gap in terms of storage, and we are trying to figure out how to increase that capacity for regulated environments, which require data retention for 5 to 6 years.
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
The scalability of Fortinet FortiMail depends on whether you are buying a virtualized license, which allows for a scalable pay-as-you-go model, or if you are buying a box.
Head of the IT Security Division at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Fortinet FortiMail is scalable and can be expanded in large environments.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Darktrace is praised for its reliability and stability, offering seamless performance and quick resolutions to occasional issues.
Sentiment score
8.3
Fortinet FortiMail is highly stable and reliable, with rare issues quickly resolved and seamless integration with other Fortinet tools.
The stability of Darktrace is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
Head of Technology Operations at Pobl Group
The appliance itself has never let me down.
Group Cybersecurity Administrator at Tharisa
For stability, I would rate Darktrace an eight out of ten.
Security Analyst at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
This stability is consistent across Fortinet products, including FortiGate firewall.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek better SIEM integration, improved automation, user-friendly interfaces, and enhanced protection with more intuitive reports and dashboards.
Fortinet FortiMail needs a more intuitive interface, better integration, enhanced security, simpler encryption, and improved spam filtering.
There is no dedicated salesperson in Egypt, and having one would help to improve focus on this market.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
They say they can integrate with most firewalls, but when we did an integration with Meraki MX firewalls, that integration didn't work and still doesn't work to this day.
Security Analyst at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Providing comprehensive documentation on how to deploy and configure would improve the solution.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
The transition from on-premises devices to virtual appliances may be necessary as more organizations migrate email services to the cloud.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
There are also false positives issues, especially with signed PDF attachments.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Darktrace offers flexible payment options but is costly, especially for small businesses, justified by its advanced features.
Fortinet FortiMail offers competitive, scalable pricing with flexible licensing, valued for performance and security despite some expense concerns.
The product is considered expensive compared to others.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The pricing is costly in USD, and they charge based on device counts.
Group Cybersecurity Administrator at Tharisa
The licensing cost is approximately eight dollars a year.
Security Information & Incident Analyst at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Fortinet FortiMail is considered overpriced by Indian rupee standards.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
The setup cost is a little bit costly.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Darktrace provides AI-driven security with fast responses, real-time monitoring, and autonomous threat management, minimizing false positives efficiently.
Fortinet FortiMail excels in email security with user-friendly features, advanced threat protection, and seamless integration with Fortinet products.
It is capable of responding to lateral movement and ransomware deployment within environments where there is data exfiltration.
Group Cybersecurity Administrator at Tharisa
I do not need to manually process incidents as Darktrace provides an incident summary, potential detection paths, and other details, all exportable with just a click.
Security Information & Incident Analyst at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
If I am in a data center where I don't have layer two, it becomes an issue because the autonomous response is reliant on sending spoofed TCP resets to my core switch to block traffic, which is a major issue.
Security Analyst at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Its threat detection capabilities have been beneficial.
System admin at Environment Fund
The most valuable features are Fortinet FortiMail's ability to protect from advanced features of email-based attacks, including protection against ransomware and malware attacks.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
Fortinet FortiMail offers capabilities like settings for mail delivery, mail filtering, spam controls, and email bursting prevention.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
 

Categories and Ranking

Darktrace
Ranking in Email Security
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (13th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (11th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (4th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th), AI Observability (7th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Darktrace is 2.2%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 3.5%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiMail3.5%
Darktrace2.2%
Other94.3%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Consistent threat hunting and anomaly detection deliver valuable insights for network security management
In terms of improvement for Darktrace, pricing is the main concern. Pricing bothers me and this is one of the major factors when choosing a solution. When we get feedback from customers, that's the only felt need. When we factor in Darktrace, we do it only limited. We put it on where the perimeters and connections are, but still, some gray areas are left out, especially if we have multiple branches. We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.
Abhimanyu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Targeted email filtering has reduced spam and phishing and now saves significant investigation time
The best features of Fortinet FortiMail include its techniques and tactics, which are highly effective compared to other solutions such as Microsoft 365. Although Fortinet FortiMail may not be as advanced in some aspects, it is well recognized for its strong performance in handling spam and phishing. It performs thorough mail scanning and also offers a sandboxing feature that enhances protection. Fortinet FortiMail has had a positive impact on my organization by significantly reducing unwanted email activities such as spam and phishing. It provides accurate detection and generates results that often exceed what can be achieved through manual analysis. Since deploying Fortinet FortiMail, I have observed a reduction in investigation time by at least 20 to 30 percent.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
Which is better - SentinelOne or Darktrace?
Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses. It is also a good option for organ...
What do you like most about Darktrace?
A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet traffic in real time.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
In my opinion, points for improvement for Fortinet FortiMail include sometimes the speed and fine-tuning the false positive problems, especially with the signed PDF attachments and the whitelist an...
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiMail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace vs. Fortinet FortiMail and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.