Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Mimecast Email Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 2, 2022
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (9th)
Mimecast Email Security
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (5th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.8%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Mimecast Email Security is 6.0%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
Unique Categories:
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
13.5%
Microsoft Security Suite
1.9%
Office 365 Protection
16.7%
 

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
Allows for easy reporting of problems, valuable anti-phishing, and anti-malware support
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 lacks proactivity in assisting us with preparing for potential threats before they occur. While they employ a substantial amount of threat intelligence to preemptively prevent incidents, their effectiveness diminishes when it comes to delivering proactive threat intelligence alerts from Microsoft. Their focus primarily revolves around managing the internal environment. On the other hand, my other vendor, Check Point, along with my membership in MS-ISAC, supplements me with this type of information. The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement. It is adequate, but it doesn't match the quality of Proofpoint or Mimecast. However, it comes close in effectiveness. Plus, if we're obtaining it for free, investing in the other products seems impractical.
DE
Apr 29, 2021
Easy-to-use admin console, stable and scalable, and does a good job
I would advise others to take a good look at it. There are a lot of layers to it, and there are parts of Mimecast that we don't even use yet. It is pretty much a beast when it comes to email security, but just make sure you take your time and have somebody who knows how to set it up. Give enough training to your admin. I manage several different pieces, and Mimecast is one of them. It is just an ongoing thing that requires monitoring all day and looking for phishing, impersonations, and things like that. You also have to set up different policies as they come about for block centers and permitted centers. It is almost a full-time job. I would rate Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection an eight out of ten. I don't really have any complaints, and it does its job.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is not resource-intensive."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests."
"Threat Explorer is one of the features that I very much like because it is a real-time report that allows you to identify, analyze, and trace security attacks."
"I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface."
"It also gives the vulnerability status according to the versions you have selected. Let's say you have Google Chrome. It mentions the versions it has, and it updates. Within two hours of an update, it is reflected in the dashboard. That's really nice to have."
"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
"The biggest advantage of Mimecast Email Security is its spam filtering. Its filtering feature is interesting."
"The most valuable feature is the DMARC Analyzer."
"The product's most valuable features are impersonation protection and phishing countermeasures."
"Due to our specialized use case, that HIPAA dictionary really comes in handy."
"We like the content filtering and secure messaging features."
"The integration is straightforward."
"It offers an easy initial setup."
"The solution is pretty straightforward to use and easy to set up."
 

Cons

"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"We noticed that from time to time, Microsoft's stability does have problems. Sometimes the service goes up and down. Sometimes they change without prior notice."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"The pre-sales cost calculations could be more transparent."
"We are always looking for others tools to increase automation on tasks. There can be better integration with other solutions, such as PowerPoint and email."
"Lately, Mimecast's outbound mail servers have been regularly blocklisted by spam filters. That didn't happen a few years back, but it seems to be a more frequent problem these days. When a server is blocklisted, it means all of my outgoing mail ends up in the recipient's junk mail. That affects my reputation and business confidence."
"External security features need improvement."
"The platform's cost-effectiveness could be improved."
"Their support should be improved. They are notorious for sending you to knowledge-based articles rather than actually talking to you, but that is, unfortunately, kind of becoming a trend with everything. In terms of features, I haven't had any complaints. However, I don't like the fact they moved to a paid training subscription model. They used to have a lot of free webinars for training, but they have started to charge for them in the past year."
"The tool can be challenging because it relies on rule-based configurations, especially for addressing impersonation threats. This approach requires setting up numerous rules to ensure filtering. It should work based on behavior-based analytics."
"The feature that should be included is to remove the block on the encrypted files."
"They should improve the cookies management feature."
"The price could be better, it should be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"The product is very expensive."
"The licensing costs are per-user for the product that you get with them."
"The solution is expensive."
"Compared to the other products in the market, it is neither cheap but nor very expensive. I would rate it somewhere in the middle, 5 out of 10."
"The product has good pricing in terms of return on investment."
"For what it is, the product is overpriced."
"Compared to the other solutions in the market, Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection's pricing is fine."
"It is a bit expensive."
"There are additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."
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Answers from the Community

HM
May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
In my opinion, all gateways including Mimecast or Defender for O365 or ProofPoint work hand-in-hand in their respective mechanics and algorithms built. And definitely has its own advantages. However, I have been using it for my customers' MDO which is far better. I would say relying on gateways is important but at the same time USER education and reporting back to the IT administrator far impor...
See 2 answers
TL
Apr 25, 2023
Greetings Matingou, Defender for O365 I would say would suffice as it has all the tools included in Mimecast in just one single tool, may take some time to navigate at first as it gives a lot of information in just one tool but once you know your way around, you will be able to have good visibility on your email threats landscape by provides a range of protections against email-based threats such as spam, phishing, malware, and etc. It also includes features such as URL protection and attachment scanning to prevent users from clicking on malicious links or downloading harmful files. but on the other hand, Mimecast might be needed, if you require compliance measures, including data loss prevention, archiving, and encryption. It also provides greater visibility and control over email security, allowing you to monitor and manage threats in real-time. Hope this helps.
BK
May 4, 2023
In my opinion, all gateways including Mimecast or Defender for O365 or ProofPoint work hand-in-hand in their respective mechanics and algorithms built. And definitely has its own advantages. However, I have been using it for my customers' MDO which is far better. I would say relying on gateways is important but at the same time USER education and reporting back to the IT administrator far important as well. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a very good solution that allows you to use a single port or tool to control everything happening with your organization's different cloud applications. Configu...
What do you like most about Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The interface of this solution is very easy to navigate and user-friendly. There is no delivery in email and other communications, making it reliable. The configuration is relatively easy.
What needs improvement with Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The tool can be challenging because it relies on rule-based configurations, especially for addressing impersonation threats. This approach requires setting up numerous rules to ensure filtering. It...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Azizi Developments, Affinity Credit Union, Aftercare, Al Abbar Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Mimecast Email Security and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.