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Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) 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...
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (7th)
SonicWall Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
34th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 12.9%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 6.7%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Email Security is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Sandeep G. - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy and user-friendly with simple dashboards
I'm also using Microsoft Defender. We've also used Proofpoint. Proofpoint has more granularity. It also offers different features. Exchange Online and Defender offer safe attachments and anti-malware. However, they just have one single option for features, and you check a box, and it enables one blanket policy. With Proofpoint, you can choose your options. Microsoft products are good and more user-friendly in general. They are just missing the granularity aspect. In Proofpoint, the tap and trap work very well, and it has some kind of monitoring as well for the tap and trap. When you're moving from Proofpoint to Microsoft, if you need to do a comparison and if you need to showcase to the customer all features are working as expected, some functionalities might be a little difficult for us to showcase. Maybe that dashboard will differ. It's a common dashboard that we have for Microsoft. Maybe Proofpoint has got more features, however, for use cases, it'll be a little difficult to demonstrate to the customer. We've moved to this solution since we were moving the majority of our products to Azure. We wanted to move to the cloud to reduce hardware costs and avoid having a separate server, which we do not need for Exchange.
Constantnos Achilleos - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides strong email filtering and threat intelligence but pricing needs improvement
I work with SonicWall Email Security SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security. It filters emails before they come to my provider, such as Office 365. It has real-time threat intelligence and provides strong data loss prevention. Additionally, it filters emails before they reach my…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender has a feature to protect each and every attachment. Even if it's an encrypted attachment, it will check for any potential threats."
"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."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"It has significantly decreased my time to detection and response."
"The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."
"The email policy configuration options in Microsoft EOP are satisfactory."
"It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want."
"I like the product's ZAP feature."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is the accidental release of information protection capabilities. Additionally, the solution is easy to use."
"The pre-set policies and configuration analyzer are the most valuable features."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) nine out of ten."
"The initial setup is just a standard process."
"The security features provided by Microsoft are robust."
"There are no wasted extras and the interface is really simple."
"The most valuable feature is that it protects from spam."
"This solution provides very good email security that protects us against spamming and malware."
"SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security."
"Setup was easy. It took about 30 minutes."
"The most valuable features are the anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-virus, and anti-spoofing."
"SonicWall Email Security uses multi-layer cloud security."
"The anti-spam aspect of the solution is its most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"Specifically, within Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I want it to improve the DLP capabilities."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"There is room for improvement in terms of reporting."
"There needs to be an improvement in integrating the product to work across multiple operating systems, and to have better support for non-Microsoft file types."
"The security compliance features need to be improved. Sometimes, a client's mailbox becomes full because of retained information and not because of mail. I would like to see improvement in block rules as well."
"The solution lacks to elaborate on its spam policies."
"The management interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) could be intuitive."
"The tool is not 100% stable."
"It doesn't protect against everything. We do need protection for, for example, endpoints."
"The security features could be better."
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
"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."
"The reporting needs improvement."
"They should integrate the solution with third-party platforms."
"A lot of spoofed emails are still coming to the end-user, so the configuration for this option needs to be improved."
"We would like to see more information on a dashboard about what is happening when it comes to spamming and malware."
"The pricing could be improved."
"The protection level for email security isn't 100%. I'm still getting some spam and junk mail."
"SonicWall Email Security could improve by making the file blocking and the release feature easier to use"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"The product is expensive."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"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 is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"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."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"The solution should reduce the cost."
"Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
"The product is bundled with Microsoft 365."
"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 price could be lower."
"It is a low-price solution."
"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 expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
"We have a two-year license subscription and the price is very high."
"The platform offers a yearly license."
"Our customers purchase the solution's yearly license."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Wholesaler/Distributor
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS recor...
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?
I would like to improve the setting of rules in Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) as it is currently working...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
I am using Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) ( /products/microsoft-exchange-online-protection-eop-reviews ) ...
What do you like most about SonicWall Email Security?
According to our customers, the product's most valuable feature is the ability to detect spam and reduce phishing ema...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
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.
Information Not Available
Star Kay White, Locala Community Partnerships
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. SonicWall Email Security and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.