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Fortinet FortiMail vs MetaDefender Email Gateway Security comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 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

Fortinet FortiMail
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MetaDefender Email Gateway ...
Ranking in Email Security
32nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail is 2.7%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MetaDefender Email Gateway Security is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiMail2.7%
MetaDefender Email Security Solutions1.0%
Other96.3%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Abhimanyu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at Kyndryl
Targeted email filtering has reduced spam and phishing and now saves significant investigation time
The best features of Fortinet FortiMail include its techniques and tactics, which are highly effective compared to other solutions such as Microsoft 365. Although Fortinet FortiMail may not be as advanced in some aspects, it is well recognized for its strong performance in handling spam and phishing. It performs thorough mail scanning and also offers a sandboxing feature that enhances protection. Fortinet FortiMail has had a positive impact on my organization by significantly reducing unwanted email activities such as spam and phishing. It provides accurate detection and generates results that often exceed what can be achieved through manual analysis. Since deploying Fortinet FortiMail, I have observed a reduction in investigation time by at least 20 to 30 percent.
RM
Senior Information Systems Engineer at Liberty Pumps, Inc.
Helpful support, and useful dashboards
They offer a feature called SmartLink neutralization. I have tried it before. It seemed to work most of the time; however, I had a few users for whom it just wouldn't work. Whenever they click on a link, it stays on the MetaDefender page, saying that it's scanning it and never moves forward. I haven't tried it in a while since then. Since I can't turn it off on a per-user basis, I had to turn it off globally. I have certain exceptions for not doing the sanitization, and how to set those up is not intuitive. It would be useful if there were a better way of doing that. Using digital certificates is hard. It would be better if it used Windows Servers' built-in certificate management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiMail is a very good product and reliable, and we find it easy to sell it."
"The solution can scale."
"It is a scalable solution."
"FortiMail has a low cost and high support."
"The technical support is excellent."
"Troubleshooting is very simple because you can see where the email was not delivered and why it would be considered as spam."
"The most valuable features of this solution are anti-spam, sender reputation, and antivirus."
"We compared it to Sophos, but it is more for users that aren't IT experts."
"The most valuable feature is called summary reconstruction which is used to deliver encrypted files to users."
"The sanitization is very good."
"The most valuable feature of MetaDefender Email Security is the CDR. Customers purchase this solution specifically for data communication, as the other features can be obtained through other technologies that most customers already possess. Therefore, data communication serves as the foundation for the platform."
 

Cons

"I think the security of the product could improve."
"Fortinet FortiMail should allow more flexibility with the content rules."
"It would be nice if we could manage the solution from the cloud so I could handle things off-site if necessary."
"My customers frequently ask to have detailed documentation for FortiMail and FortiWeb as they have in FortiGate. What they currently have is not enough."
"The product's price is an area with shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Fortinet FortiMail could improve general user management. There are no password policies for users."
"The area that could use some improvement in Fortinet FortiMail is the integration process. I would like the integration to be easier."
"The support could be faster because we've been receiving complaints from customers, they say that when they raise a ticket, it doesn't take 24 hours to respond, sometimes the support responds after three days. This is a lot of time."
"They offer a feature called SmartLink neutralization. I have tried it before. It seemed to work most of the time; however, I had a few users for whom it just wouldn't work. Whenever they click on a link, it stays on the MetaDefender page, saying that it's scanning it and never moves forward."
"Although the number of AV engines is good, it could be better."
"The DLP should be upgraded and has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing model for this solution is better because it is based on the box and not the number of users."
"Compared to its competitors, Fortinet's products are available at a higher price range."
"This is a good solution and value for the money."
"Fortinet FortiMail is inexpensive."
"I find Fortinet FortiMail pricing reasonable. There's no additional cost apart from its standard licensing fees."
"There is a license required for this solution and it is on an annual basis. I am satisfied with the price."
"Price-wise, the solution is not far from Microsoft ATP. So, it is affordable."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
"According to our customers, the price of MetaDefender is high and it continues to increase by almost 15 percent each year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Pharma/Biotech Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
I think they should improve Fortinet FortiMail on-premises by enhancing its user interface. Additional features they could have in the future would include advanced analytics capabilities. I do thi...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiMail?
I do have a partnership with Fortinet. I have been both a partner and reseller.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

FortiMail
OPSWAT MetaDefender Email Security, MetaDefender Email Gateway Security, MetaDefender Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
https://www.opswat.com/blog/how-one-of-the-largest-banks-in-taiwan-uses-opswat-metadefender-email-security-to-close-security-gaps https://www.opswat.com/blog/hapool-insurance-achieves-almost-100-reduction-in-email-threats-with-opswat https://www.opswat.com/blog/luzerner-psychiatrie-ag-stops-email-borne-malware-attacks-with-opswat-technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail vs. MetaDefender Email Gateway Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,956 professionals have used our research since 2012.