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Cisco Secure Email vs Sublime Security 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
Cisco Secure Email is valued for security and efficiency, though financial benefits are mixed and hard to quantify.
Sentiment score
4.3
Sublime Security boosts ROI by reducing phishing risks, optimizing efficiency, and automating responses, lowering operational costs significantly.
Importantly, we didn’t need to hire any additional staff; we were able to absorb this responsibility using our existing team.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
I estimate that we have improved our efficiency, especially for phishing campaigns where we can handle multiple similar emails together, which has reduced repetitive analyst work and improved our response time.
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Email's superior customer service, marked by prompt, reliable support, is rated highly over competitors like Fortinet.
Sentiment score
6.2
Sublime Security is praised for accessible, knowledgeable support, ensuring smooth integration and efficiently resolving issues through effective communication.
Regarding my interaction with the technical support of Cisco Secure Email, it was zero downtime for the mail production.
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Cisco's tech support can be hit or miss, depending on the engineer you get.
Cloud Partner & Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The support is pretty decent, with a rating of eight out of ten.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
We were able to get in touch with the person who constructed the LLM and its agentic aspects relatively quickly to address our questions.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
I would rate customer support ten out of ten.
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Email provides flexible scalability and security enhancements, supporting large setups with positive user experiences and expansion options.
Sentiment score
7.1
Sublime Security efficiently scales with growing email volumes and evolving threats, supporting enterprise expansion while maintaining performance.
The on-premises hardware is not very scalable, but switching to the SaaS offering is expected to improve scalability.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
My thoughts on the scalability level of Cisco Secure Email is nine because of the delay in making a configuration and the slowness in the console.
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Despite nearly doubling the number of mailboxes and adding significantly more detection rules, the service remains just as fast as it was when we first implemented it.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Its scalability is also good, as it can scale with the number of protected mailboxes or users, or as email volume grows, supporting enterprise development across Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco Secure Email is valued for stability and reliability, with minimal issues and efficient operation, requiring minimal maintenance.
Sentiment score
8.6
Sublime Security is highly praised for stability, reliability, zero-crash performance, efficient threat handling, and scalable infrastructure.
Based on my experience, the stability of Cisco Secure Email is very strong.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
Sublime Security acted quickly; once Microsoft alerted Outlook about the incoming email, Sublime Security managed to pull it from the stream before it had a chance to appear in the user's inbox.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Email faces complex UI, integration issues, high costs, and lacks advanced features, affecting usability and scalability.
Sublime Security requires enhanced reporting, better integration, improved automation, and accessible pricing to appeal to mid-sized businesses.
The solution should better analyze the actual content rather than only focusing on the email header or origin.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated into the Email Security Gateway so customers don't have to buy two products for full email protection.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
It may take nearly an hour to get back to normal while configuring policies.
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
While they do provide API-level access and web hooks, I believe more out-of-the-box integrations with SOAR platforms and SIEM tools would enhance Sublime's value.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
One breach could potentially put a small company out of business, so having a tool such as this might save them from that fate.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
Sublime Security could be improved by enabling more integration, better customization of alerts, and more detailed reporting.
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Email is costly yet valued for features, with variable pricing based on factors like environment and user count.
Sublime Security offers cost-effective email protection via AWS Marketplace, praised for its value despite higher subscription fees.
Its cost is bundled with other Cisco products.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
The licensing is a mess and needs sorting out.
Cloud Partner & Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
It's competitive with its peers, especially for the number of mailboxes we have.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Email offers advanced protection, integration, and user-friendly management, enhancing security against malware, spam, phishing, and ransomware.
Sublime Security enhances email protection with advanced threat detection, AI analytics, seamless integrations, and automated remediation.
It also possesses multiple modules for spam detection, malware detection, and threat intelligence, which are valuable in categorizing emails and determining actions.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
It is highly effective in catching phishing and spam emails.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
The integration of Cisco AMP for Advanced Malware Protection with Cisco Secure Email has helped our organization's security posture.
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
This level of detail is essential for analysts and anyone conducting evaluations, as it helps them understand the specific circumstances of their environment.
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
It adds a smarter layer that catches anything missed by Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace protection.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
The best features of Sublime Security are advanced phishing and BEC detection, campaign grouping, threat hunting, and automated remediation.
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Email
Ranking in Email Security
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Sublime Security
Ranking in Email Security
15th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email is 4.5%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sublime Security is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Email4.5%
Sublime Security1.2%
Other94.3%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

KS
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Email security has protected financial data and provides clear tracking for every branch message
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP and other content filters compared to other consoles. It may have been due to on-premises, but it was much noisy at some times while configuring DLP. When we tried to configure a DLP policy, the console became much slower. In that case, we cannot see what had happened in the mail which was blocked at that time. It may take nearly an hour to get back to normal while configuring policies. That is the major issue in the product.
reviewer2764257 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Security Operations Center at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Improves decision-making with clear verdict explanations and works well across multiple environments
I know that a lot of time has been invested in improving the efficacy of the platform, and it shows; it performs very well. Moving forward, I think our focus should be on how to achieve better integration with other systems. While they do provide API-level access and web hooks, I believe more out-of-the-box integrations with SOAR platforms and SIEM tools would enhance Sublime's value. This would allow it to be integrated more closely with the workflows of various teams and could potentially increase its market appeal. From my perspective, the tool itself functions exceptionally well, which gives me confidence in the system. I want to see this functionality extend to other tools that I use, enabling faster automation and improved workflows for the team, particularly from a security operations standpoint. I have no critiques regarding the tool itself. They've done an outstanding job and are maintaining high quality throughout their development process. They have a great product, and it's essential that they continue to uphold that standard, even though it requires significant effort.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Email?
We are using Cisco Secure Email to monitor the outgoing and incoming mail traffic in our financial institute. We have nearly 900 branches all over India. We have an on-premises mail server in which...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sublime Security?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is limited, but I noticed that Sublime Security was slightly more expensive than Avanan or Defender, as Defender comes included with other Micr...
What needs improvement with Sublime Security?
I believe the main areas for improvement for Sublime Security are ease of onboarding and learning, as the platform has many powerful capabilities, making it take some time for new analysts to becom...
What is your primary use case for Sublime Security?
My main use case for Sublime Security is email security and phishing detection, where I use it to investigate suspicious emails, identify phishing and BEC attempts, analyze malicious links and atta...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
Snowflake, Spotify, Anduril, Elastic, Compass, Encompass Health, Zscaler, Ovo Energy, Personio, Beneteler 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Sublime Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.