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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs SonicWall Email Security comparison

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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

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)
SonicWall Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
26th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 5.2%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Email Security is 0.8%, up from 0.5% 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%
SonicWall Email Security0.8%
Other94.0%
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.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Engineer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient
Improved email threat visibility and security posture through adaptive reputation and analytics
I have experience with Cisco and other vendors like Sophos. I have more than 10 years of experience in this field. I worked with the Adaptive Reputation Management feature of SonicWall. Machine learning plays an important role in updating threat intelligence, particularly with SonicWall. The pricing for SonicWall Email Security is reasonable and budget-friendly. My overall rating for SonicWall Email Security is 8 out of 10 because, apart from the areas that need improvement, it was overall good.

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 facilitates efficient management and updates through the cloud. We do not have to worry about incompatibilities. It just works."
"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."
"It has helped us in improving our security posture; it detects any kind of attack or abnormal behavior in accessing the system and sends an alert to the administrator who can check, understand, and review on time to ensure that all activities are legit."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has decreased my time to detection and time to respond by one hundred percent."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"The risk level notifications are most valuable. We get to know what kind of intrusion or attack is there, and we can fix a problem on time."
"Technical support is very good. They are knowledgeable and respond quickly."
"Defender has reduced the time our security team spends on tasks by 10 to 15 percent, allowing us to focus on other areas."
"The most valuable feature is that it protects from spam."
"There are no wasted extras and the interface is really simple."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"This solution has been really good for us and I recommend using it."
"The product is easy to manage in terms of configurations."
"The anti-spam aspect of the solution is its most valuable feature."
"SonicWall Email Security has benefited the company by preventing attacks, protecting us from threats such as ransomware and phishing, and notifying the IT team when phishing emails have been blocked."
"SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security."
 

Cons

"We are waiting for better software to block viruses."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 must improve the overall management style, including the GUI. It also needs to change the filters so that it is easy to whitelist and blacklist data."
"It would be better if it were more scalable. It depends on the architecture, but we would like to make it more scalable for both data centers."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"I think that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could be improved if it could use VirusTotal to compare the programs or anything that I download."
"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is not up to the mark in comparison with Wiz or Palo Alto."
"The technical support from the company is not always very good at solving issues, but they offer access to a good community of users where problems are easily solved."
"SonicWall Email Security is scalable, but the price per license is expensive."
"The pricing could be improved."
"Other than that, really I think the features are perfect, but attachment controls are so important it hurts the usability of the product."
"SonicWall Email Security could improve by making the file blocking and the release feature easier to use"
"Overall, this is a solution that provides good security but at a very high cost."
"I am not satisfied with phishing protection, as it falls completely under the email domain security."
"The reporting needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"The pricing has become expensive."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"The product is very expensive."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"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."
"I rate the application’s pricing a five out of ten."
"The cost is cheaper than Sophos. I would rate it as five out of ten."
"The overall price of SonicWall Email Security should be reduced and there should be an option to purchase one or two licenses more instead of their current policy of bulk increases only. There should be more flexibility in the licensing model. Each license cost approximately $33 annually."
"When compared with Cisco, it is very well priced. Cisco is very expensive."
"We have a two-year license subscription and the price is very high."
"Our customers purchase the solution's yearly license."
"The platform offers a yearly license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with SonicWall Email Security?
Policy deployment could be time consuming and represents an area for improvement in SonicWall Email Security.
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Email Security?
SonicWall Email Security was used for security purposes, which aligns with the product's core function.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Dell SonicWALL Email Security Platform, SonicWall Hosted Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Star Kay White, Locala Community Partnerships
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. SonicWall Email Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.