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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs PhishER Plus comparison

 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (10th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
PhishER Plus
Ranking in Email Security
24th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
1.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 9.1%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PhishER Plus is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3659.1%
PhishER Plus0.4%
Other90.5%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

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.
GN
Cyber Security Officer at Gudu
Users report increased security awareness and effective training implementation
I am not familiar with the intelligent filtering system in PhishER Plus and whether it helps focus on actual threats. At the moment PhishER Plus meets our needs, but we could benefit from reports that show information from other companies. It would be useful to see what percentage of users from other companies make unsafe clicks. Currently, I cannot think of additional features that I would want to see in PhishER Plus. The current functionality seems sufficient for our needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
"The feature I like the most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is that it typically runs in the background—you do not know it is there until you need to access it."
"The insights provided with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are helpful because it comes with the E5 license, and by default, we can use a lot of capabilities."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved my organization's security. It makes it easier to manage the infrastructure without the help of third-party applications."
"The product's scalability is good."
"There are several features that I consider valuable."
"The coolest feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its ability to look for phishing emails."
"The stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic."
"PhishER Plus is a user-friendly tool, we can get effective training with PhishER Plus which helps prevent clicks on real phishing emails and this experience saves company money."
 

Cons

"The inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster."
"Configuration requires going to a lot of places rather than just accessing one tab."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
"Microsoft needs to broaden its global support presence by establishing teams of subject-matter experts in all regions."
"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 inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster."
"There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console."
"I am not familiar with the intelligent filtering system in PhishER Plus and whether it helps focus on actual threats."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"The pricing has become expensive."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
Information not available
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881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise31
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is for email protection, safe links, protection of links, documents, protecting my documents, and protecting attachments. I also use it to conduct ...
What needs improvement with PhishER Plus?
I am not familiar with the intelligent filtering system in PhishER Plus and whether it helps focus on actual threats. At the moment PhishER Plus meets our needs, but we could benefit from reports t...
What is your primary use case for PhishER Plus?
I am using PhishER Plus for sending phishing emails and training. I have created some custom phishing emails in PhishER Plus by myself. We use the reporting feature for phishing. When we receive a ...
What advice do you have for others considering PhishER Plus?
Our company has 220 users working with PhishER Plus. I am not certain about plans to increase the usage of PhishER Plus. PhishER Plus is a good product and I recommend it to potential users. The so...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Proofpoint, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.