# Email security for small business buyers: 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 small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/email-security/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since.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/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Office 365 leads with 27% of first choices; verdict contested. 56 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) | 27% | 5% | 56 |
| 2 | [Proofpoint Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/proofpoint-email-protection/index.md) | 11% | 16% | 49 |
| 3 | [IRONSCALES](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ironscales/index.md) | 11% | 4% | 25 |
| 4 | [SpamTitan](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/spamtitan/index.md) | 11% | 20% | 25 |
| 5 | [Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/check-point-harmony-email-collaboration/index.md) | 9% | 17% | 23 |
| 6 | [Barracuda Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/barracuda-email-protection/index.md) | 7% | 21% | 38 |
| 7 | [Google Workspace](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-workspace/index.md) | 5% | 17% | 12 |
| 8 | [Mimecast Email Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mimecast-email-security/index.md) | 4% | 20% | 45 |
| 10 | [Abnormal AI](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/abnormal-ai/index.md) | 2% | 11% | 19 |
| 11 | [Coro](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/coro/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 65 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: IRONSCALES; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- GPT-5.4 mini: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Coro, Proofpoint Essentials for Small Business
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES; alternatives Abnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Sublime Security
- Perplexity Sonar: IRONSCALES, Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Guardz, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Grok 4.20: Mimecast Email Security; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Mistral Small: IRONSCALES, SpamTitan; alternatives Abnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint Email Protection
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Barracuda Email Protection; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration; alternatives Datto SecureDOC, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Sophos PureMessage
- Kimi K2: Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration; alternatives IRONSCALES
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, Coro, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- MiniMax M2.5: Google Workspace, Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- GPT-6 Luna: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Huntress Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, Coro, SpamTitan

## Sources the answers cite

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

- expertinsights.com: 47 answers, 70 citations
- ironscales.com: 34 answers, 37 citations
- g2.com: 32 answers, 56 citations
- esecurityplanet.com: 28 answers, 28 citations
- kaseya.com: 28 answers, 28 citations
- comparitech.com: 27 answers, 33 citations
- huntress.com: 27 answers, 31 citations
- adaptivesecurity.com: 22 answers, 39 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://ironscales.com/blog/the-best-email-security-companies-rankings-and-reviews (29 answers)
- https://esecurityplanet.com/products/best-email-security-software (28 answers)
- https://kaseya.com/blog/best-email-security-solutions (28 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/email-security/top-email-security-solutions-for-office-365 (25 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/email-security/top-email-security-gateways (23 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/email-security (22 answers)
- https://adaptivesecurity.com/blog/best-email-security-tools-businesses (20 answers)
- https://channelinsider.com/security/email-security-providers (20 answers)
- https://huntress.com/business-email-compromise-guide/10-best-email-security-providers (20 answers)
- https://thectoclub.com/tools/best-email-security-software (19 answers)

## Warned against

- Barracuda Email Protection: 8 of 38 labels negative. "Legacy on-premises versions flagged for avoidance due to outdated performance, maintenance hassles, and vulnerability risks." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Mimecast Email Security: 9 of 45 labels negative. "Why be cautious/avoid? - Primarily enterprise-focused with custom quotes... Complex setup and administration overwhelm small teams" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Proofpoint Email Protection: 8 of 49 labels negative. "Often recommended to skip traditional Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) like Proofpoint for SMBs due to high costs, steep learning curve" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- SpamTitan: 5 of 25 labels negative. "support and billing reliability issues make it risky for a small business without dedicated IT staff" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 at 28%.

- Microsoft Defender for Office 365: 44% to 28%, −16. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 55, unchanged.
- SpamTitan: 2% to 13%, +11. Inside the floor by 0 points · rank 7 → 3 of 55.
- IRONSCALES: 19% to 13%, −6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 2 of 55, unchanged.
- Proofpoint Email Protection: 6% to 11%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 3 → 4 of 55.
- Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration: 6% to 11%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 6 → 5 of 55.
- Mimecast Email Security: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 38 → 7 of 55.
- Abnormal AI: 6% to 2%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 9 of 55.
- Barracuda Email Protection: 6% to 9%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 → 6 of 55.
- Coro: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 10 of 55.
- Guardz: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 → 13 of 55.

## 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.