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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Webroot Advanced Email Encryption powered by Zix comparison

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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 Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd), Email Security (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (8th)
Webroot Advanced Email Encr...
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
15th
Average Rating
7.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 12.4%, down from 27.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Webroot Advanced Email Encryption powered by Zix is 1.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 36512.4%
Webroot Advanced Email Encryption powered by Zix1.5%
Other86.1%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

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.
John Zupancic - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President / Branch Manager / Senior Technician at Aperion Information Technologies, Inc.
Inexpensive, with good email security, but the technical support could be improved
We don't have as many problems with email security. They have some areas that could be improved. For example, we also use this solution for email encryption, which was clunky and could be improved, but the email security itself has been excellent. The web interface works well but the Outlook plug-in has been problematic. We've had to uninstall/reinstall it. On some Outlook clients (including mine), it causes Outlook to stop responding. I disabled the Outlook plug-in and only use the web interface.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 that I like the most is probably the email features specifically, because those are the ones that a typical end user will accidentally click on a link not knowing what it is, and it'll catch it, and then it'll feed it over to Defender and stop the attack from happening before it actually can."
"The basic features are okay and I'm satisfied with the Defender."
"The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."
"Overall, I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 at a ten."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests."
"Defender is a SaaS platform, so it offers more flexibility. Managing the permissions is easier. The solution's automated detection and response features are scalable."
"They do a better job of determining what's real and what's not than most of the other solutions we have tried, and it's been very painless to use."
 

Cons

"I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost."
"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
"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 cost of Security Copilot is up there right now, and I think it needs to come down for more people to adopt."
"I assess the stability and reliability of the solution as seven out of ten."
"To improve Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it would be nice to have more accessibility for users to see on their end what they are doing that could cause a threat."
"They have some areas that could be improved. For example, we also use this solution for email encryption, which was clunky and could be improved, but the email security itself has been excellent."
"Because the encryption has been very clunky, I would rate Zix Email Encryption a seven out of ten."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is very expensive."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"The product is expensive."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"In terms of pricing, I believe they provide excellent value."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise32
No data available
 

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.
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Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Zix Email Encryption, ZixEncrypt
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Erie County of Pennsylvania’s Human Services Department, Justice Federal Credit Union, STAR Financial Group, Chisago County, Minn., The National Banks of Central Texas, Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS), Frankfort, Ky, Athletico Physical Therapy, District of Columbia Retirement Board (DCRB), CIBM Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Mimecast and others in Secure Email Gateway (SEG). Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.