No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM X-Force Exchange vs MetaDefender 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

IBM X-Force Exchange
Ranking in Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MetaDefender
Ranking in Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (12th), Anti-Malware Tools (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) category, the mindshare of IBM X-Force Exchange is 1.4%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MetaDefender is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MetaDefender2.0%
IBM X-Force Exchange1.4%
Other96.6%
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
 

Featured Reviews

JohnTamakloe - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at ostec
A threat intelligence platform aiming to enhance its intelligence
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threat intelligence alone doesn’t provide enough information, we use other methods to verify the threat. For example, IBM has its threat intelligence team and tools. If the threat intelligence doesn’t yield much information, the tool has a framework that can identify suspicious activity. We then use our judgment and experience to implement compensating controls, whether for a potentially malicious patch, IP address, or any other threat. Customers benefit from it, even if they’re not directly integrating it. Through our service, they receive the benefits of the integration. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
RS
Senior Associate at a educational organization with 11-50 employees
File protection has improved and now keeps millions of daily transfers secure and compliant
In my organization, while using this tool, we found that there were a few files flagged as suspicious; however, those were not suspicious and it was a false positive, so that can be improved. False positive results were an issue, and it took time to scan files if the file size was greater than 1 GB. For larger files greater than 1 GB, it needs to be improved. In some cases, the reconstruction of the file led to a failure of code deployment and it flagged a valid file as malicious, which was not effective; however, in other types of files, it was very effective and could scan files properly. We have already covered all the main suggestions; however, it can be improved to reduce false positive results, and scanning could be faster to process more files in a day.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is you have the expertise of human experience directly involved. There is a team of experts."
"This product has helped to increase staff productivity."
"One of the fastest ways to cut costs is reducing staff, and this product can reduce staff by 70 percent."
"It's quite integratable so you can actually integrate and get IP malware and URL information. It also gives you some form of intelligence into what you're trying to investigate or what you're trying to understand."
"IBM X-Force has shortened our lifecycle for cyber security investigations, allowing me to quickly leverage a tool that gives quick visibility, quick understanding, quick investigation, quick drill down, and the ability to close offenses and issues as fast as I can."
"I like the simplicity, the way it works out of the box. It's pretty easy to run and configure. The integration of the network devices with the ICAP server was easily done."
"The effectiveness of the solution in blocking or sanitizing any content based on our policies is excellent."
"MetaDefender has positively impacted my organization by reducing the risk of file-based attacks, which has significantly improved our overall defense against phishing and malware delivery techniques."
"The best features of MetaDefender include its ability to detect malware and vulnerabilities, which I also use at server levels, including production and testing servers, helping me identify and address vulnerabilities by applying patch updates."
"MetaDefender has positively impacted my organization by greatly improving our security posture and how we handle files."
"MetaDefender is a useful tool for scanning all incoming and outgoing files and keeping our applications and servers in compliance, and I found it useful because we can integrate it with multiple file transfer tools such as Globalscape EFT, GoAnywhere, or Sterling, which is the best feature as it integrates with multiple tools."
"The percentage of accuracy is great and the integration of multi-scanning and Content Disarm and Reconstruction affects my data security operations effectively because OPSWAT blocks the file types that we are not willing to have inside the company or are not approved."
"The best feature of MetaDefender is that it can isolate USB devices from the connected network, blocks malware and unsafe files, and ensures all endpoints follow security policy, so that my organization remains safe and reduces the risk of these threats."
 

Cons

"You have to look for the new information from X-Force. X-Force will provide it but you have to look for it. We need clearer visibility."
"We would like to have more AI capabilities to detect threats and improve its productivity from a cybersecurity standpoint."
"It is very expensive."
"I would like to see better integration with other systems, solutions, and vendors."
"Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand."
"In some cases, the reconstruction of the file led to a failure of code deployment and it flagged a valid file as malicious, which was not effective."
"The user interface is complex initially, scanning large or complex files can take longer than expected, false positives occasionally require manual review, and the pricing is somewhat high."
"My experience with pricing for MetaDefender is that it is a little bit expensive compared to platforms like Splunk."
"The documentation is not well written, and I often need to talk with support."
"I would rate it an eight because its interface can be improved and it can improve their integrations as well, so there is room for improvement."
"While MetaDefender's mail gateway already gives fewer false positives, there is still room for improvement in reducing those even further."
"From the last year that we integrated OPSWAT in our company, I have not seen any improvements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"One of the fastest ways to cut costs is reducing staff, and this product can reduce staff by 70 percent."
"Cost is clearly a consideration, but the important thing is what we do with the data and how we protect it."
"We bought a three-year license, and that was pretty expensive. We agreed that it was really worth buying. It could be cheaper, but we understand that quality comes at a price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Construction Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for IBM X-Force?
It's a threat intelligence platform, and we aim to enhance its intelligence by integrating additional security solutions.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM X-Force?
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MetaDefender?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is good and at par with other competitors.
What needs improvement with MetaDefender?
I would like to see improvements in the tool's automation capabilities. It would be beneficial if it could automatically create tickets and notify responsible teams about any identified vulnerabili...
What is your primary use case for MetaDefender?
The major use cases of MetaDefender in my work environment involve preventing malware updates, data breaches, and compliance violations through scanning files for malware, vulnerabilities, and sens...
 

Also Known As

X-Force Exchange, X-Force
OPSWAT MetaDefender, MetaDefender Core
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM X-Force Exchange vs. MetaDefender and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.