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Cofense Platform vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 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

Cofense Platform
Ranking in Email Security
32nd
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Security Incident Response (12th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (42nd), Security Awareness Training (11th)
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)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cofense Platform is 1.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 5.2%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3655.2%
Cofense Platform1.2%
Other93.6%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

MohamedShaker - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Team Leader at ITVikings
Secures the business for customers quickly and accurately
It secures the business for the customers. For instance, if any phishing emails come into the environment and employees see it, we direct the email to Triage. The Triage system will investigate it through AI technology to see if it's a phishing email or not. If it is a phishing email, it will quarantine it and erase it from the environment.
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

"It secures the business for the customers."
"For instance, if any phishing emails come into the environment and employees see it, we direct the email to Triage. The Triage system will investigate it through AI technology to see if it's a phishing email or not. If it is a phishing email, it will quarantine it and erase it from the environment."
"Defender for Office 365 has helped eliminate having to look at multiple dashboards and that is the aspect I like most about it. It is simpler, effective, and convenient. The users like the process efficiency."
"It has significantly decreased my time to detection and response."
"The good part is that you don't have to configure it, which is very convenient."
"We have seen a return on investment because if we would have received a phishing email, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 would help out to detect the threat instead of crashing down the whole company."
"The solution is very easy to use. All you have to do is to assign the license to the end-user and it's done. The customer will only have the feature activated, and the solution will monitor the emails to determine if they are a threat or not."
"Technical support is very good. They are knowledgeable and respond quickly."
"The initial setup was easy."
"It definitely is a must for email protection and O365 app DLP, and combined with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender for Identity, and MCAS, it provides a holistic solution for threat protection, email protection, O365 apps protection, and DLP for both internal and external risks."
 

Cons

"If they continue improving and enhancing this solution, it could be even faster and more accurate."
"The cost of Security Copilot is up there right now, and I think it needs to come down for more people to adopt."
"They have moved features from one console to another. Things have been moved around in the interface and it takes me time to find where certain features are."
"Configuration requires going to a lot of places rather than just accessing one tab."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."
"There is room for improvement in terms of reporting."
"Microsoft security solutions work as expected. They are constantly updating the solutions to make them better. At the same time, the changes can impact a customer's environment, and we need to adjust settings. Sometimes we aren't aware of the changes, and nothing is pushed from the backend automatically."
"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"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."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

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

Ask a question
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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

Cofense Intelligence, PhishMe Intelligence, Intelligence ThreatHQ, Cofense Triage, Cofense LMS
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Jackson Health System
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: August 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.