Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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

Sponsored
 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cloudflare One
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
20th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (15th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (21st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (11th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (7th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (13th), Access Management (12th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (8th), ZTNA (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (10th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
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) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (9th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Perception Point Advanced E...
Ranking in Email Security
16th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cloudflare One is 1.5%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 8.8%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perception Point Advanced Email Security is 2.0%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3658.8%
Perception Point Advanced Email Security2.0%
Cloudflare One1.5%
Other87.7%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

CV
Network Architect at IP Dimension
Cloud security has improved remote access and has reduced costs for smaller client sites
I have used Cloudflare One's Identity-Aware Proxy, and it is quite straightforward from what I have seen so far. The app registration on the Azure side integrates fully into Cloudflare, and I am very satisfied with that part because it is easy to set up. The integration of Cloudflare One's Secure Web Gateway and Zero Trust Network Access works without any issues. That part is pretty automatic, and if you complete the rest of the setup, it comes together by itself with no issues from my side. What makes it nice is that we can actually start replacing on-site firewalls at this stage for the smaller clients because it does not matter if they go to a coffee shop or work from home; they are still secured by the same connection. The hops get shorter and you get better latency. We have done testing to see if it is better. One thing that we did notice with our proof of concept with our current client is that they have people connecting from the UK. When they used their previous VPN solution, uploading CAD drawings and other files to the server took a long time. They mentioned that it is much quicker on Cloudflare One's solution. I definitely believe that is part of the improved performance, and I am satisfied with that as well. What is nice about Cloudflare One is that it makes the setup easier and also easier to train technicians to maintain it. Compared to legacy systems, we do not need to get fancy firewalls in place that are costly. That is definitely also a cost-saver with Cloudflare One.
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 Information Security Analyst at Lumora Security
Advanced email security has reduced phishing risk and has improved multi-layered threat detection
I would like to improve reporting in Perception Point Advanced Email Security, along with adding options in the console where customers or users can create policies. That is what we are currently lacking; we need customized policies that we can create according to proofs of concept. 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. Currently, they have the feature, but we need to request them in the backend, and they will be doing it for us from the backend. This process is difficult for us, as every time we want to make policy adjustments, we have to send them an email or get support. It is challenging sometimes for some customers when this type of advisory or policy change request occurs. I would like to see custom reports as an additional feature in the future to make it better. Some customers might require customized reporting based on their requirements and priorities. Seamless integration with other security solutions is also something I recommend. Third-party tools such as other XDR or SIEM tools or other MDR tools would benefit from seamless integration as well.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The simplicity of the solution is its valuable features as almost no effort was needed to learn the configurations. It is also one of the cheapest firewalls available in this category."
"The capabilities of the software are strong enough for me to do what it's supposed to do. For me, we don't need to do a lot of configuration on our site. We just enable it and monitor it."
"The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good."
"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."
"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"Enables me to work from two locations."
"For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection."
"The product is not resource-intensive."
"The insights provided with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are helpful because it comes with the E5 license, and by default, we can use a lot of capabilities."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has decreased my time to detection and time to respond by one hundred percent."
"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."
"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."
"The initial setup was easy."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 facilitates efficient management and updates through the cloud. We do not have to worry about incompatibilities. It just works."
"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"What's really good about this platform is that you have full visibility, it has a very nice and very friendly UI, it's quick, and there's no latency in the scanning."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to identify malicious content and phishing emails and reduce the workload we have to do in terms of security."
"Perception Point Advanced Email Security has a correct price point and offers very good email filtering capabilities."
"I see from time to time that Perception Point is being proactive. They approach us, and say, "Can you check this, and this?" So, it does seem that they are an extension of my incident response."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature I have found is the speed of scanning emails."
"The most valuable feature is the hardware-assisted platform module."
"The most valuable feature of Perception Point Advanced Email Security is the filtering and securing of emails."
 

Cons

"From a logging perspective, it is still a bit difficult to see exactly what users are being blocked with the current views."
"There are premium tier live service and lower tier live service, so we opted for the lower tier. But there is no medium tier where we pay a little extra and get a bit more service. So if that can be improved."
"The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems."
"Cloudflare DDoS has poor technical support."
"The response time for support must be reduced."
"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."
"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."
"Operating and tuning the product is difficult."
"From a development point of view, if I wanted to do development on my actual machine where Defender is, the organization can set certain policies or Defender makes that prohibitive."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."
"We are waiting for better software to block viruses."
"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"Specifically, within Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I want it to improve the DLP capabilities."
"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"There is room for improvement in terms of adding the DLP (Data Loss Prevention) solution, which would be a good option for Perception Point to look into."
"They just don't do a good job of promoting themselves. They seem like a typical busy IT company who is just working on fixing problems and making technology better. However, they are not fantastic at marketing themselves to existing partners, which is not a bad thing. It is just something for improvement."
"Coming from products in the Microsoft stack, Perception Point doesn't really give you, as an admin, a lot of options to make changes yourself. It's more on their side to make changes in the back end. That's something they could improve on in the future."
"They need more customer engagement. The product works very well. The IR works very well when we contact them. However, day-to-day, they should have more in communication with their customers explaining new products and features. There is possibly something that if I would know about it, then I would buy and use it. Maybe I need it. They need to improve their communications."
"They could improve their anti-spam engine a little bit, because there are a lot of false positives. Sometimes, emails pass through their system but are spam. In terms of security and engines for malicious emails and antivirus, they're doing a good job. Their other engines can be improved."
"Email alerts should be available in real-time."
"In terms of architecture, and I know that they're going to improve this, the solution needs to be much more redundant. There was an outage a month ago in AWS, and that basically stopped the service for two or three hours. Although in two years, this was the first time that something like that happened, our expectation from a company like Perception Point is that it should work with either a multi-cloud or multi-region architecture, to improve the resilience."
"Perception Point Advanced Email Security can be improved by increasing the speed of analysis and delivery."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not that expensive."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"The product is very expensive."
"Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"The solution is neither cheap nor expensive. There are no additional costs to the standard license."
"The pricing was fair in comparison with the other solutions. We have received good value for what we paid."
"They are not the most expensive vendor. There are much more expensive vendors. They are not cheap, but they are not the most expensive. They are somewhere in the middle."
"If a user only wants protection for email, then the price of the product is okay, but if they opt for the collaboration options offered by the product, then it becomes a little expensive."
"We would always like it to be cheaper and save more money. However, we are getting the value from it."
"We were able to get reasonable pricing that matches the ROI we want, so I think that it is the correct price point."
"It has very reasonable pricing. Normally, the end user is paying. Perception Point is already in the Amazon marketplace, so we cannot sell it as a distribution partner. For example, we cannot take more than that margin of what they offer in the marketplace. Whatever the end user is paying, it is definitely worth it and it is not that high."
"The pricing compared to the value Perception Point brings is super-competitive. They're not the cheapest in the market, but the value and the quality of the product are superior to anything else in the market, so we don't mind paying more for it."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access provides secure access to internal applications for employees, external members of the organization...
What advice do you have for others considering Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access is one of the best integrations available. While about two hundred vendors offer similar services, ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is for email protection, safe links, protection of links, documents...
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 expen...
What needs improvement with Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
I would like to improve reporting in Perception Point Advanced Email Security, along with adding options in the conso...
What is your primary use case for Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
My main use case for Perception Point Advanced Email Security is proactive defense against advanced threats, particul...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
MS Defender for Office 365
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

23andMe
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: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.