Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security comparison

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Download the complete report

Helped 908,800 peers since 2012

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

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 Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Mimecast Advanced Email Security is 4.0%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Mimecast Advanced Email Security	4.0%
Cloudflare One	1.7%
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense	1.1%
Other	93.2%

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Cobe Van Coller

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.

Read full review

Nipuna Madhubhashana

Enginner at Millennium Information Technologies

Has faced challenges with configuration, taking actions, and learning curve but benefits from centralized management and good technical support

We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new product. Some customer requirements, such as sending logs to a Syslog server, are limited as ETD only supports sending audit logs. Customers have requirements for other system logs as well, which should be developed from their side. Another customer request is to restrict the IPs that can log in, which cannot be done from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense yet. Any user with login details can log in. We can restrict the IPs in Cloud Mail Gateways, but not from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. It would be beneficial to improve this feature. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense can take actions, such as requesting O365 to quarantine mail. In that case, the customer requires notification to the recipient from Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. This option would be valuable if available. The real-time threat intelligence of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is an AI-based classification. It took one to two months to optimize the classification, but we still experience some false positives. Reducing the learning period would be beneficial. The learning curve shows that in the beginning, there are numerous false positives. For one month, we had to reclassify the false positives manually until the system learned. Reducing the learning time would be much better. Additional features desired in the next release include IP restrictions and user logging IP restrictions, ensuring only the customer environment can log in to Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense. Logs forwarding needs improvement as currently it only has audit logs. In Cloud Mail Gateway, we can create an IPsec tunnel to forward logs. However, in Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, there is no option, and we must do API integration to send logs. Only SIM can get logs; Syslog cannot retrieve them.

Read full review

Avinash Mishra

Manager - EUC at Finthrive

Advanced email filtering has blocked massive spam volumes and prevents unauthorized data leaks

Improvements for Mimecast Advanced Email Security include enhancing the user interface and accessibility, particularly regarding admin capabilities to add or modify user accounts. Streamlining this could improve overall usability and security management for users. Reporting is another area needing improvement in Mimecast Advanced Email Security, as the reports provided are not very easy to decipher. With artificial intelligence being integrated into various tools including Mimecast Advanced Email Security, I believe there is potential to enhance functionality, enabling users to ask specific questions and retrieve concise answers instead of overwhelming data. I choose a nine for Mimecast Advanced Email Security because improvements such as better user interface and artificial intelligence integration features would greatly enhance its usability. While no tool is perfect, these adjustments could greatly elevate Mimecast Advanced Email Security's capabilities.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a perfect solution from my perspective; it's easy to understand and easy to configure."

"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 solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."

"Cloudflare One has assisted in securing my remote workforce through a SASE solution with Cloudflare One and the Workers part, although I am not currently using the Workers component."

"Enables me to work from two locations."

"Cloudflare Access is a stable solution."

"It will take the blow rather than our applications should an attack occur."

"Cloudflare, in my opinion, was easy to implement."

More Cloudflare One pros

"Cisco has a threat mechanism called cloud-based Talos, where all the threats are inbuilt."

"This solution is easy to use."

"Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense's best features include user management of graymail, enhancing security awareness by allowing users to manage cold calls, sales-based items, and ensuring email compliance."

"The advanced threat analytics and URL filtering in threat detection are good features that are working well."

"On ease of use, it rates very high. It's something that I was able to get into without really looking at any documentation. I wanted to see what it felt like before I started looking at any documentation on how to use it, and it was very easy to use. It works very smoothly. The user experience is very intuitive. They did an amazing job on that."

"I highly recommend it as one of the best choices."

"I would say it's very comprehensive, with multiple antivirus OEMs, virus encrypt features, encryption, and more."

"Cisco Cloud Mailbox is used for copying emails, anti-spamming, and securing the company's email, and we really enjoy the anti-spamming capabilities as well as the rejecting of bulk emails, which we can customize by adjusting the variables, and it is very user-friendly."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense pros

"The positive impact of Mimecast Advanced Email Security on our organization is evident in how it has drastically reduced spam emails and improved our data security."

"We're now certain business-critical mail is perfectly protected in multiple ways."

"I recommend Mimecast based on customer requirements and budget."

"It's really quite user-friendly. In terms of technical superiority and the product itself, there are no complaints. It is really cutting edge."

"The initial setup is easy."

"Email security is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"Mimecast Advanced Email Security proves to be a useful tool, allowing me as security personnel to work in a more peaceful manner."

"What I like about the integration is that it is directly into Microsoft 365, users can use their Microsoft 365 credentials to log into the portal and access their mail."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security pros

Cons

"Cloudflare One is not very powerful, but for what we require, it is basic and sufficient."

"Automation could be improved where you can easily add a TLS and SSL certificate to an application or web app if the developer did not include it."

"The onboarding process can be improved a little bit."

"From a logging perspective, it is still a bit difficult to see exactly what users are being blocked with the current views."

"The software has automated alerts, but the automated alerts are not available in the mobile app."

"They don't have a person to provide support for customers using the solution under their free plan."

"The tool should provide on-premise versions. Currently, all versions are cloud-based."

"Our subscription plan for the solution has a limitation of bot signatures."

More Cloudflare One cons

"The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."

"The search area has room for improvement."

"The learning curve shows that in the beginning, there are numerous false positives. For one month, we had to reclassify the false positives manually until the system learned."

"The physical appliance has been discontinued, although the platform still exists."

"The product's complexity at times results in redundant rule sets that are difficult to untangle, highlighting the need for streamlined management systems and a more user-centric approach to system configuration."

"The behavioral analysis capability of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is not particularly helpful for identifying new, evolving threats within my company, as it keeps flagging legitimate emails as malicious."

"The solution is a bit expensive. It could be cheaper."

"I wouldn't recommend Cisco to others because I think Fortinet is better."

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense cons

"They should improve the cookies management feature."

"Improvements for Mimecast Advanced Email Security include enhancing the user interface and accessibility, particularly regarding admin capabilities to add or modify user accounts."

"This solution can be frustrating. It blocks many things that should be going through."

"The solution is very expensive."

"While it's quick and easy, the initial setup could be more user-friendly."

"The system is not user-friendly because you have to create policies that are mapped in a dictionary."

"From an administrative point of view, Mimecast is a little bit cumbersome and difficult. It's not something that the end-user can easily find navigate themselves."

"The solution is expensive in comparison to similar solutions."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven 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 of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."

"The solution is not that expensive."

"The prices are slightly expensive."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."

"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."

"The feedback from vendors and customer is that it is expensive."

"It is expensive compared to other vendors."

"The solution’s pricing is manageable."

"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox does not have any competition with Sophos, Trend Micro, or other vendors of the world. However, there is a pricing premium for the solution. One has to look at it from that angle that while they are buying Cisco, there will be a premium, and Cisco justifies that premium value. That's why they're charging a high price."

"For what it is, the product is overpriced."

"The product price is moderate. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"Its price is in the middle range. It is a structured licensing model where there are various components that you can add or choose to add or not."

"The product has good pricing in terms of return on investment."

"The licensing costs are per-user for the product that you get with them."

"I'm always going to say the price needs to be lower, but it's reasonable."

"The price of Mimecast Mailbox Continuity is expensive."

"The customers can select the license packages as per their requirements."

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	19

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform?

Pricing is competitive. Akamai is more expensive, in my view.

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 Secure Email Threat Defense?

Comparatively with other products, the pricing of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is normal. As a technical guide, ...

What needs improvement with Secure Email Threat Defense?

We have deployed Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense in two customer environments. It is still in development as a new ...

What is your primary use case for Secure Email Threat Defense?

We are working with Cloud Mail Gateway and on-premise mail gateways. We have worked with Cisco Secure Email Threat De...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

Do you know anything about the pricing and cost of the Mimecast Email Security?

What needs improvement with Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

There is room for improvement since new threats are emerging. Considering the availability of new features would be w...

What is your primary use case for Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?

I have been working with Mimecast Email Security.

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cloudflare One

Comparisons

Compared 3% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

Twingate vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cloudflare One

Compared 3% of the time

More Cloudflare One Competitors

Cisco Secure Email vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 20% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 16% of the time

Check Point Anti-Spam and Email Security Software Blade vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 15% of the time

Kiteworks vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 12% of the time

Comodo Secure Email Gateway vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense Competitors

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 15% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 6% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 6% of the time

N-able Mail Assure vs Mimecast Advanced Email Security

Compared 2% of the time

More Mimecast Advanced Email Security Competitors

Product Reports

Cloudflare One

Download Cloudflare One product report

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense

Download Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense product report

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense report

Mimecast Advanced Email Security

July 2026

Download Mimecast Advanced Email Security product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform

Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense

Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection, Mimecast Web Security, Mimecast Mailbox Continuity, Email and Collaboration Threat Protection

Overview

Cloudflare One is a comprehensive platform for security, performance, and connectivity. It provides features like rate limiting, DDoS protection, and application access, tailored to enhance user experience while securing internet access and accelerating communications.

Designed to integrate security measures with ease of use and scalability, Cloudflare One offers a secure web gateway and zero trust network access. These features ensure seamless setup and operation, making connectivity reliable and protected. Users appreciate its integrated console, intuitive interface, and the ability to manage risk effectively. It offers straightforward deployment, improves latency, and boasts cost-effectiveness. While its onboarding process and documentation need enhancement, its value in content delivery and application shielding is notable. Despite challenges in integrating Cloudflare Access with existing VPNs and the need for better automation and support, it remains vital for DNS and infrastructure protection.

What features make Cloudflare One stand out?

Rate Limiting: Controls the traffic rate to prevent abuse.
DDoS Protection: Shields applications from distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Secure Web Gateway: Provides secure internet access with seamless operation.
Zero Trust Network Access: Ensures secure, application-based connectivity without relying on traditional VPNs.
Access for Connectivity: Facilitates access to internal applications securely.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Security: Robust measures for DNS and browsing protection.
Performance: Enhanced site accessibility and communication speed.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing for its features.
Ease of Deployment: Straightforward and efficient setup process.

In industries like finance, retail, and technology, Cloudflare One is crucial for enabling secure remote access and protecting web applications against dynamic threats. It supports compliance access policies and enhances content delivery, playing a key role in safeguarding digital infrastructure.

Cloudflare

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense offers robust email security with features like east-west traffic visibility and seamless SaaS deployment. It enhances cloud email protection by integrating Threat Grid sandboxing and AMP for malware defense, supported by Cisco Talos threat intelligence.

Enhancing email security for Microsoft 365 and cloud emails, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense acts as an email gateway, blocking phishing, malware, and business email compromise. Users benefit from a centralized management console, efficient graymail administration, and strong filtering capabilities. Despite its strengths, it requires improvements in integration, spam detection accuracy, and enhances phishing protection.

What are the most important features of Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense?

East-West Traffic Visibility: Offers insight into email tenant interactions.
SaaS Application Deployment: Simplifies deployment processes.
Threat Grid Sandboxing: Provides advanced malware protection.
AMP Integration: Enhances malware defense capabilities.
Anti-Spam and Antivirus: Powered by Cisco Talos threat intelligence.
Cloud Mailbox Features: Includes robust email filtering and management.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated in reviews?

Enhanced Security: Provides protection against advanced threats.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces reliance on help desk services.
User-Friendly Management: Streamlines email administration tasks.
Improved Email Filtering: Ensures effective threat blocking.

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is highly applicable in industries requiring stringent data protection, such as finance and healthcare. It serves cloud-based environments by closely monitoring email activity to prevent unauthorized access and breaches. Tailored deployment options cater to both on-premise and cloud architectures, allowing flexible integration in existing workflows.

Cisco

Mimecast Email Security protects organizations against phishing, malware, business email compromise, and impersonation attacks, with detection built on 20 years of experience and over 1.3 billion emails inspected daily. It's available as a secure email gateway (MX-based) for full control over complex, multi-region environments, or via API integration with Microsoft 365, which deploys in hours with no MX changes. Administrators get a single console for policy management, monitoring external communications, and customizing configurations, and can pair it with Mimecast Cloud Archive for long-term email retention and compliance.

What key features should users explore?

Sandboxing: Full emulation sandboxing and AI-driven static analysis detect threats in attachments before delivery.
Spam and Phishing Protection: Multi-layered detection catches both payload-based attacks and payloadless, socially-engineered BEC attempts.
URL Inspection: Computer Vision AI analyzes destination pages to catch phishing and brand impersonation.
API Deployment Option: Deploys in hours without MX or mail flow changes, with 30-day historical scanning to show threats your current defenses missed.
Email Archiving (via Cloud Archive): Secure long-term storage supporting compliance needs.

What benefits can impact ROI?

Regulatory Compliance: Supports adherence to standards like HIPAA through retention and monitoring.
Integration: Deep integration with Microsoft 365, deployable as a gateway or via API depending on your environment.
Rapid Time to Value: API deployment proves protection value in hours, before any infrastructure commitment.
Threat Prevention: Detection engines refined daily against 1.3 billion emails, trusted by 42,000 customers globally.

Industries and use cases

Mimecast Email Security is used across industries, including healthcare and finance, to secure inbound and outbound communications and support compliance requirements. Enterprises use it as a gateway, an API-based layer on top of Microsoft 365, or both, depending on how much control versus deployment speed they need.

Mimecast

Sample Customers

23andMe

Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom

Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), Cushman and Wakefield, PIB Group, Swissport

Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense vs. Mimecast Advanced Email Security