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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Sophos Email comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (12th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (22nd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (12th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (8th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (13th), Access Management (12th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (8th), ZTNA (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (9th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (2nd)
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)
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cloudflare One is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 5.7%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 1.6%, down from 1.9% 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%
Sophos Email1.6%
Cloudflare One1.7%
Other91.0%
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.
ManojNair2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Comprehensive detection has protected email traffic and now simplifies endpoint security work
Sophos Email security is the primary product I use. It scans all your inbound and outbound email for malware. It also has a capability for looking for phishing and spear phishing content and blocking it. Email has an extended capability that includes what's called a secure web gateway. All user traffic gets managed through that, making it a combination product. The version of the product you run determines which features are available. Reporting is competent. There is scope for more improvements, which they will do as they do every year regularly. They keep updating the product. Reporting gives you the relevant details of what is happening, so it's mature on that front. The main benefit is security for your email. The beauty of the Sophos system is that the XDR functionality runs across the system. Sophos, Trend Micro, and Microsoft are the only three that have a very strong system with this concept. XDR stands for extended detection and response, and it's a technology where the system automatically exchanges security signals between the endpoint, the email, and other similar products of the same brand. If you have Sophos Endpoint and Sophos Email, you have very good connectivity from the endpoint to the cloud at the email level and to some extent onto the browsing traffic. You have a very rounded security aspect.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform removes the risk of exposing the applications to the public."
"Cloudflare DDoS mitigates DDoS attacks."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"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."
"It's a perfect solution from my perspective; it's easy to understand and easy to configure."
"It will take the blow rather than our applications should an attack occur."
"Cloudflare Access is a stable solution."
"For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has decreased my time to detection and time to respond by one hundred percent."
"We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
"One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests."
"Technical support is very good. They are knowledgeable and respond quickly."
"Overall, I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 at a ten."
"The most valuable feature is the integration; it's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products, and another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."
"The deployment is very easy. It's quite straightforward."
"The best thing about it is the logs."
"There are many features that are important, but among those, the spam protection feature is very valuable. It help us to safeguard the email against phishing and ensures that there is maximum security enabled for our communication processes. It has a huge role in protecting our emails from potential threats."
"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."
"I have found Sophos Email to be scalable."
"The platform is scalable when installed on server-based systems."
"The installation is straightforward."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
 

Cons

"Cloudflare One is not very powerful, but for what we require, it is basic and sufficient."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."
"The software has automated alerts, but the automated alerts are not available in the mobile app."
"Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions."
"The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems."
"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."
"The tool should provide on-premise versions. Currently, all versions are cloud-based."
"From a logging perspective, it is still a bit difficult to see exactly what users are being blocked with the current views."
"Microsoft needs to broaden its global support presence by establishing teams of subject-matter experts in all regions."
"I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost."
"We are waiting for better software to block viruses."
"Sometimes I have to recategorize things when it takes the wrong step and I do not want it to classify something as suspicious."
"The changes to customer service, specifically the new model for support agreements, are not favorable."
"Too many false positives and lacks an accurate capability to detect malicious SharePoint sites."
"The custom alerts have to improve a lot."
"Configuration at the mid-level could be improved for the support team."
"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."
"Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings."
"The main drawback is regarding the technical support."
"The security of the solution could improve."
"The solution should be able to support the cloud environment."
"I would like to see improvements in the initial setup process, ensuring better compatibility with diverse customer infrastructures."
"Some existing functionality in the product needs better articulation in how data is displayed."
"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"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."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"The product is very expensive."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."
"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."
"The tool's pricing is medium."
"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."
"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."
"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."
"Sophos Email is neither cheap nor expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?
In my opinion, Cloudflare One can be improved mainly through compatibility, as the integration should be much simpler...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?
Cloudflare One's primary use case for my organization is to protect servers and to provide remote access with the VPN...
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...
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 ...
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 Sophos Email?
Regarding Sophos Email pricing, I would rate it between six or seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
Some existing functionality in the product needs better articulation in how data is displayed. In one place there is ...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Email?
I work on the endpoints. I work on endpoint, email, and firewall. Email, I use it on my personal domain, so I know wh...
 

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
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

23andMe
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.