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AppRiver Email Archiving vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

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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

AppRiver Email Archiving
Ranking in Email Archiving
11th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Archiving
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (8th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Email Archiving category, the mindshare of AppRiver Email Archiving is 2.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 8.4%, down from 30.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Archiving Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3658.4%
AppRiver Email Archiving2.4%
Other89.2%
Email Archiving
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1888686 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees
Great for email archiving, good search functionality, and bug-free
The deployment was very simple. It was backed into the Global Relay host exchange. We're using it through a company called Global Relay and it's on their server. The deployment is instantaneous. It's across all the emails under the domain. You only need one person to implement it. The product does not require any maintenance.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security aspect and the search feature are the best features."
"Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack."
"Defender helps us prioritize threats across our organization."
"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."
"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."
"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."
"The risk level notifications are most valuable. We get to know what kind of intrusion or attack is there, and we can fix a problem on time."
"The ability to respond to threats if very important."
 

Cons

"We'd like there to be an app whereby we could access the solution."
"I assess the stability and reliability of the solution as seven out of ten."
"We are waiting for better software to block viruses."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"I think that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could be improved if it could use VirusTotal to compare the programs or anything that I download."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 must improve the overall management style, including the GUI. It also needs to change the filters so that it is easy to whitelist and blacklist data."
"In the areas of improvement for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, the console is the biggest challenge for me."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"The product is expensive."
"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."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"The product is very expensive."
"The pricing has become expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

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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.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Smith Electric and Associates
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Mimecast, Microsoft, Barracuda Networks and others in Email Archiving. Updated: October 2026.
920,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.