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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Perception Point Advanced Email Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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
7.1
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 boosts efficiency, cuts phishing, integrates security, reduces tool costs, and mitigates risk.
Sentiment score
6.7
Perception Point Advanced Email Security enhances efficiency, accuracy, and cost savings by effectively blocking malicious emails and reducing incidents.
It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
Overall, cost of owning and operating our system goes down.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
It's hard to quantify the return on investment we've seen from Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
I estimate that my team saves approximately eight hours each week because of Perception Point Advanced Email Security.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 support is reliable but varies with subscription level and complexity of issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
Perception Point's customer service is commended for quick, professional, and effective issue resolution, with proactive 24/7 support.
Over the past two years, there have been no critical problems.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
we opened tickets, and they typically resolve them quickly.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
With a subscription for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it is an eight. Without it, it is a six.
Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
They help us a lot, and when we create a ticket, they answer us in one or two hours.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
The technical support from Perception Point has improved significantly following the Fortinet acquisition.
Senior Security Analyst at a security firm with 11-50 employees
Customer service and support are good, but there is room for improvement in response time.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 efficiently scales with cloud-native design, ensuring reliable performance and seamless integration for diverse organizations.
Sentiment score
7.6
Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers scalable, cloud-based protection, efficiently handling various email volumes for businesses of all sizes.
We have never faced scalability problems, and Microsoft manages it effectively.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales transparently for us, as we grew from 1,000 users to 3,000 users, and we didn't notice much difference.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales with the growing needs of my company well.
Senior Client Director and Advisory Service Leader at Crossfuze
Perception Point Advanced Email Security demonstrates excellent scalability, and I would rate it at ten out of ten.
Senior Security Analyst at a security firm with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers consistently reliable performance with minimal downtime, high user ratings, and manageable minor issues.
Sentiment score
8.1
Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers high stability and minimal downtime, with user-friendly maintenance requiring minimal resources.
I would rate the stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as 10 over 10 because it's highly available, it works, and it does the job it is meant to do.
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues because of Defender.
Technology Associate at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The solution is stable, as we have been using it for the past two years.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Perception Point Advanced Email Security is stable approximately ninety-nine percent of the time.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 needs improvements in usability, false positive reduction, phishing detection, scalability, and reporting capabilities.
Enhancements desired include easier policy adjustments, improved spam filtering, real-time alerts, better integrations, and advanced threat intelligence features.
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console.
Senior Director, Security Architecture & Engineering at a leisure / travel company with 10,001+ employees
Integration and end-user interaction can be improved as the current system does not allow end-users to send back information to the platform, unlike Google Workspace or competitive tools like Ironscales.
Perception Point Advanced Email Security can be improved by increasing the speed of analysis and delivery.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
If a customer is receiving cybersecurity advisory from any organization or their own company, it would be better if we could create an option to establish policies so that the AI and ML engine will work accordingly to those policies.
Senior Security Analyst at a security firm with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is cost-effective with E5, costly standalone, requiring careful planning for subscription-based licensing.
Perception Point offers moderately priced email security, aligning with ROI expectations, providing flexibility and substantial protection within diverse budgets.
We've likely saved 30% of costs.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enhances security with AI-driven phishing detection and robust protection across Microsoft 365 services.
Perception Point provides advanced threat detection, anti-phishing AI, and quick email delivery with intuitive management and real-time protection.
It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
It provides end-to-end visibility on email threats such as phishing, extending beyond Exchange Online Protection.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
The value of the DLP feature is significant to us because we have internal data, sometimes sensitive, and the users may not always be aware of security and privacy, which might lead them to send out information mistakenly to external parties.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
I get weekly reporting, and by doing that, I can go and talk to these people directly and make them aware of how many attacks they had and where the attacks are coming from and not only the source of the email, but what category of emails that they are receiving.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Perception Point Advanced Email Security has a correct price point and offers very good email filtering capabilities.
The best features Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers are its multi-layer dynamic scanning and anti-evasion technology.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (9th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
Perception Point Advanced E...
Ranking in Email Security
18th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 5.7%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perception Point Advanced Email Security is 1.4%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3655.7%
Perception Point Advanced Email Security1.4%
Other92.9%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Emeka Ndulu - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Improves threat visibility and response while reducing manual tasks and training users against phishing
I appreciate the attack simulation feature whereby I get to train users and educate them on how to identify phishing emails and spam emails, as well as the anti-spam protection. It gives me visibility into my threat environment and threat landscape to ensure that I am one step ahead of any likelihood of threats within my environment. I get to detect it and respond, so the threat intelligence is very effective. Microsoft security solutions save my time. It saves money because once I protect my environment, I don't lose money. It has decreased my detection time and my time to respond.
GK
Senior Security Analyst at a security firm with 11-50 employees
Advanced email protection has reduced fraud risks and simplifies compliance workflows
The primary area for improvement in Perception Point Advanced Email Security is the need for more integrations with XDR solutions. Currently, XDR integration exists with Symantec and CrowdStrike, but additional integrations are needed. I have found that the CrowdStrike integration, specifically the Falcon integration, has been experiencing issues recently. This represents another area requiring improvement. Integration capabilities are particularly important because companies are increasingly transitioning to their own SOC platforms or SIEM solutions to ensure complete environmental integration and security. MDR technology has emerged as a significant market offering, and Perception Point Advanced Email Security should develop integrations with additional solutions in this space. I am fully satisfied with the functionality of Perception Point Advanced Email Security because we have more than 200 customers using this product. We are retaining approximately 85 to 90 percent of our customers with this solution. All customers are satisfied, and we ourselves are satisfied with the product with no plans to change it. The only area for improvement is the integration capabilities.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My experience with pricing, setup, and licensing is that it's actually quite reasonable even on the licensing side as a standalone product. It's very competitive compared to what competitors are ch...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I think Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can be improved by creating more educational pieces about not just looking for malware. We are seeing a lot more malware-less emails that Defender for Offi...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 include email hygiene.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
In Brazil, the dollar price affects the cost. Perception Point Advanced Email Security is about 50 percent less expensive.
What needs improvement with Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
The primary area for improvement in Perception Point Advanced Email Security is the need for more integrations with XDR solutions. Currently, XDR integration exists with Symantec and CrowdStrike, b...
What is your primary use case for Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
Perception Point Advanced Email Security specializes in email security, though it includes different products like collaboration security and browser security. Customers are looking for these addit...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Perception Point Advanced Email Security and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
910,454 professionals have used our research since 2012.