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Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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

Fortra's Clearswift Secure ...
Ranking in Email Security
41st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
0
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 6.0%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

PC
Stable, but malware needs improvement and customer support is poor
They need to improve the malware in the product. I am not satisfied with Clearswift because of the lack of customer support. The support is poor, the supplier takes a lot of time and it's expensive. We have some issues here when I contact the supplier, it takes a lot of time for them to get back to us but there's no solution. I am now looking at Symantec as a possible alternative.
Amber Worth - PeerSpot reviewer
Retrieves data from quarantines and easy to read logs with robust security features
Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious. Although eventually the information is located, it can be difficult if detailed information is lacking. Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous. Simplifying interfaces would also be appreciated.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A stable solution."
"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"The product's most valuable feature is third-party integrations."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of administration. Other solutions require complex administration, but Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is easier."
"The product protects against malware."
"Microsoft EOP's most valuable feature is a shared mailbox."
"It's definitely scalable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is used essentially for email filtering, acting as an anti-spam and security product for email."
"It's all running in the backend, so it doesn't affect the app functionality."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection are the EOP, ATP, safe links, fishing, and antispam."
 

Cons

"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
"Malware needs improvement."
"They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection."
"The licensing can be on the expensive side, especially in the cloud space."
"The solution can be complex at times. It would be nice to have the on-server version. It needs to improve the stability as well."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
"It wasn't easy or intuitive enough for me to start using it. So, the reason was that the solution changed."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could be reduced to make it more competitive."
"Some features, like encryption, are not available."
"I would like to get reports about vulnerable connections from our clients with information about domains, public IPs, etc. That would be highly useful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price could be lower."
"The solution's pricing is subscription-based rather than a yearly licensing cost. Pricing is based on the size of the environment and company and can be expensive."
"The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"The pricing for the solution depends on what you are trying to achieve with the use of the product, but I know that it is not a cheaply priced product. Yearly payments have to be made towards the licensing fees of the solution."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is very expensive, I rate the pricing a six. For licensing, we can make monthly or yearly payments. Right now, we pay 5 USD per month to secure a person's license."
"The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
Reporting could be one of the areas for improvement, as they could put more reporting into Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) natively rather than requiring additional licensing or connecti...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The company does work with this technology, but not me personally. I manage some other products currently, mainly in the modern workplace space, such as Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft 365. I d...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.