Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

Hornetsecurity and Sophos are both solutions in the Email Security category. Hornetsecurity is ranked #21 with an average rating of 9.0, while Sophos is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Hornetsecurity holds a 1.4% mindshare in Email Security, compared to Sophos’s 2.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hornetsecurity users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection and Sophos Email are competing in the email security solutions market. Hornetsecurity holds an edge in cost-effectiveness and customer support, while Sophos Email shines with advanced features that justify its higher price.

Features: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection offers advanced threat protection, compliance filters, and the ability to ensure email continuity, all of which integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365. Sophos Email provides AI-driven threat detection, detailed reporting, and advanced encryption to strengthen its email security approach.

Room for Improvement: Hornetsecurity could enhance its threat detection capabilities and reporting features to match more sophisticated systems. Additionally, expanding its encryption options would improve its security depth. Sophos Email might focus on simplifying its initial setup process, and enhancing the user interface's intuitiveness, while minimizing false positives in its spam detection.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is appreciated for its straightforward setup and responsive support. Sophos Email, though slightly more complex to deploy, offers extensive support documentation and live assistance, ensuring thorough guidance during the process.

Pricing and ROI: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is valued for its competitive pricing and dependable ROI, with a clear cost structure. Sophos Email commands a higher price but offers substantial ROI through its superior security features, making it an attractive investment for those prioritizing comprehensive email protection.

To learn more, read our detailed Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs. Sophos Email Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs. Sophos Email

February 2025

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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

Microsoft Defender for Offi...

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.1%, down from 19.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.3%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja

Head of Department of Network Communications at Eko electricity

Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis

The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

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Asif Usmani

Regional Sales Manager at S2

A stable product that provides security and control over spam and phishing emails

I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails. I can monitor and manage it from Hornetsecurity’s console. The live tracking system is valuable. We can track every incoming and outgoing email live. We can decide whether to block, release, or quarantine emails. We can also review the emails before releasing them. The product provides 99.9% coverage for email security.

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NaveedAli

Senior manager IT infrastructure at Machine Learning 1 Limited ·

Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved

Sophos gives you a feature set to manage your on-premises firewall on the cloud. I just integrated my on-premises firewall into the cloud, and I can manage the tool through the cloud as well if needed. I recommend using Sophos Email as a proxy. For email gateways, I advise choosing mature products with rich feature sets, like Trend Micro or CrowdStrike. The solution's integration with other tools is very simple. I easily integrated Sophos Email with my Active Directory. My organization needs a WAF with a limited feature set, which we use through Sophos. Purchasing additional WAF will be costly, but I get sandboxing and WAF features free of cost with Sophos, which is included in the license. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 facilitates efficient management and updates through the cloud. We do not have to worry about incompatibilities. It just works."

"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps people to work remotely. It is a secure solution. We don't need to use our company's computers or get VPN connections to the networks. I can control how they share screens and what they send to the devices. It keeps our organizations confidential and sensitive information safe."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."

"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."

"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable feature is its performance."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros

"Backup and restore are precious features."

"Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution."

"The best part is, I rarely have to access the portal as everything is set up and tweaked the way I wanted it. But the feature set is incredibly granular and allows for deep levels of customization."

"I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails."

"There are many features that are important, but among those, the spam protection feature is very valuable. It help us to safeguard the email against phishing and ensures that there is maximum security enabled for our communication processes. It has a huge role in protecting our emails from potential threats."

"The solution protects users from phishing links and spam."

"The filtering capabilities are precious and far superior to others I've used. It's intuitive in what it pushes to quarantine, and users can quickly review, free, or delete items without needing an administrator, making it ideal for a multi-user environment."

"The speed and stability were fine."

"Sophos Email offers encryption and malware protection, provides visibility into emails, has 99% accuracy in catching spam, enhances organizational safety, integrates with various vendors like Microsoft, is deployable with any email service, prevents data loss, features authentication rules, synchronizes with Active Directory and Azure, and includes a self-service portal. The product is very flexible."

"Endpoint and server protection are very effective."

"I cannot guarantee any email by its name. It can be spam. Sophos Email helps to double-check whether an email is spam or not. It has a dashboard which gives an overview of the alerts."

"It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface."

More Sophos Email pros

Cons

"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication."

"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."

"The custom alerts have to improve a lot."

"The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included."

"The GUI is sometimes slow to fetch the device report and could be improved."

"You should be able to deploy Defender for every subscription without the need to add servers."

"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."

"I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 cons

"The pricing is a little high compared to other products."

"I guess I would say maybe quick access to training material for end-users. I know partners have access to this but I as an end-user do not have immediate access to new update information."

"A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement."

"The solution’s pricing is not reasonable."

"The product could include all the essential features and capabilities, similar to the on-premise, server-based version."

"Lacks visibility into spam emails."

"The tool’s stability should be improved."

"The solution should be able to support the cloud environment."

"The tool has some performance issues and bugs, making it an area where improvements are required."

"However, the setup was tricky, particularly with the DNS routing between Microsoft Exchange Online and Sophos cloud services. It took me about four attempts to get it working correctly. Despite that, Sophos Email does everything we need, so we don't require any additional capabilities now."

"Sophos Email could better detect fake emails, especially when the domain names are similar. It needs to improve spotting spoofed domains, like when one letter differs in a domain name. It also needs to incorporate AI detection. Barracuda detects suspicious emails better. However, malware scanning is better in Sophos Email."

"The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak."

More Sophos Email cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."

"The product is very expensive."

"While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment."

"It's a user-base subscription."

"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."

"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."

"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."

"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive."

"The pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."

"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."

"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."

"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."

"The solution is expensive."

"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."

"The pricing is affordable, so I’d rate it around a four out of ten on the pricing scale. We pay about fifty pounds a month, including hardware so that costs may differ without it."

"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

24%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

I don't have detailed specifics on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost.

See all answers

What do you like most about Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement.

See all answers

What do you like most about Sophos Email?

The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?

Sophos Email pricing is a bit high, especially since I purchase through a partner, and they sell it at a higher price...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner. If made more use...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 14% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 7% of the time

Mimecast Email Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Abnormal Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 4% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection

Compared 17% of the time

Mimecast Email Security vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection

Compared 4% of the time

More Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 5% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Sophos Email

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Email vs Sophos Email

Compared 5% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

March 2025

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report

Download Microsoft Defender for Office 365 product report

Buyer's Guide

Office 365 Protection

March 2025

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection report

Download Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email

March 2025

Download Sophos Email product report

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365

No data available

Sophos Email Security

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

Microsoft

365 Total Protection from Hornetsecurity offers comprehensive protection for Microsoft cloud services – specially developed for Microsoft 365 and seamlessly integrated to provide comprehensive protection for Microsoft cloud services. Easy to set up and extremely intuitive to use, 365 Total Protection simplifies your IT Security management from the very start.

With 365 Total Protection, we offer you two comprehensive packages for your Company Security Management in connection with Microsoft 365. Find the right security version to suit the individual needs of your company with our detailed overview. 365 Total Protection Business offers you a comprehensive security solution with a variety of features that ensure the protection of your email and complete data security for Microsoft 365.

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection fits any M365 plan. Secure your email communication now.

Hornetsecurity

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sophos

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.

concordia, fraunhofer, mazars

Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School

Buyer's Guide

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs. Sophos Email

February 2025

Free Report: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs. Sophos Email

Find out what your peers are saying about Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.

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