# Email security: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "email security platform" and as "phishing and email threat protection tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/email-security/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/email-security/index.md

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Office 365 leads with 32% of first choices; verdict contested. 50 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Microsoft Defender for Office 365](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-office-365/index.md) | 32% | 6% | 51 |
| 2 | [SpamTitan](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/spamtitan/index.md) | 16% | 0% | 19 |
| 3 | [Mimecast Email Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mimecast-email-security/index.md) | 10% | 22% | 50 |
| 4 | [Barracuda Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/barracuda-email-protection/index.md) | 10% | 13% | 31 |
| 5 | [Proofpoint Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/proofpoint-email-protection/index.md) | 8% | 24% | 59 |
| 6 | [Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/check-point-harmony-email-collaboration/index.md) | 8% | 3% | 36 |
| 7 | [Abnormal AI](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/abnormal-ai/index.md) | 4% | 2% | 42 |
| 8 | [IRONSCALES](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ironscales/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 26 |
| 14 | [Cisco Secure Email](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cisco-secure-email/index.md) | 0% | 21% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 74 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Barracuda Email Protection; alternatives IRONSCALES, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- GPT-5.4 mini: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES
- Perplexity Sonar: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Mimecast Email Security
- Grok 4.20: Proofpoint 365 Total Protection; alternatives Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security
- Mistral Small: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Proofpoint Email Protection; alternatives Mimecast Email Security, Symantec Email Security.cloud
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Abnormal AI; alternatives Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Proofpoint Email Protection; alternatives Abnormal AI, IRONSCALES, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Kimi K2: IRONSCALES; alternatives Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Integrated Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Proofpoint Email Protection
- MiniMax M2.5: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Mimecast Email Security
- GPT-6 Luna: Abnormal AI; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Proofpoint Email Protection; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Guardian Digital

## Sources the answers cite

79 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- huntress.com: 34 answers, 35 citations
- comparitech.com: 29 answers, 42 citations
- sublime.security: 28 answers, 44 citations
- proofpoint.com: 28 answers, 36 citations
- expertinsights.com: 28 answers, 34 citations
- ironscales.com: 28 answers, 33 citations
- kaseya.com: 28 answers, 29 citations
- gartner.com: 27 answers, 36 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://kaseya.com/blog/best-email-security-solutions (27 answers)
- https://ironscales.com/blog/the-best-email-security-companies-rankings-and-reviews (24 answers)
- https://huntress.com/business-email-compromise-guide/10-best-email-security-providers (23 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/email-security (22 answers)
- https://sublime.security/articles/top-email-security-companies (22 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/email-security (21 answers)
- https://guardz.com/blog/best-email-security-for-msps (19 answers)
- https://flamingo.run/blog/email-security-solutions (18 answers)
- https://adaptivesecurity.com/blog/best-email-security-tools-businesses (15 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/email-security/top-email-security-gateways (14 answers)

## Warned against

- Proofpoint Email Protection: 14 of 59 labels negative. "the email security landscape has shifted heavily away from traditional, complex Secure Email Gateways (SEGs like traditional configurations of Proofpoint or Mimecast)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- Mimecast Email Security: 11 of 50 labels negative. "shifted heavily away from traditional, complex Secure Email Gateways (SEGs like traditional configurations of Proofpoint or Mimecast)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- AOL Mail: 5 of 5 labels negative. "These are consistently rated among the least secure consumer email providers." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Gmail: 4 of 4 labels negative. "Gmail — cited for extensive data collection and historical content scanning for ads." (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 at 32%.

- SpamTitan: 5% to 18%, +13. Cleared the floor by 2 points · rank 8 → 2 of 69.
- Abnormal AI: 12% to 2%, −10. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 2 → 7 of 69.
- IRONSCALES: 9% to 2%, −7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 5 → 8 of 69.
- Proofpoint Email Protection: 12% to 7%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 3 → 6 of 69.
- Barracuda Email Protection: 7% to 11%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 7 → 3 of 69.
- Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration: 11% to 9%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 4 of 69, unchanged.
- Mimecast Email Security: 7% to 9%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 5 of 69.
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365: 32% to 32%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 1 of 69, unchanged.
- Sublime Security: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 of 69, unchanged.
- Cisco Secure Email: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 18 → 14 of 69.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.