# Email security: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 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/2026-11

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Office 365 leads with 45% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 53 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) | 45% | 3% | 63 |
| 2 | [Abnormal AI](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/abnormal-ai/index.md) | 8% | 9% | 43 |
| 3 | [Mimecast Email Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mimecast-email-security/index.md) | 8% | 19% | 54 |
| 4 | [Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/check-point-harmony-email-collaboration/index.md) | 8% | 3% | 35 |
| 5 | [IRONSCALES](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ironscales/index.md) | 8% | 4% | 23 |
| 6 | [Proofpoint Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/proofpoint-email-protection/index.md) | 6% | 26% | 57 |
| 9 | [Barracuda Email Protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/barracuda-email-protection/index.md) | 2% | 18% | 33 |
| 14 | [Sublime Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sublime-security/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |
| 78 | [Cisco Secure Email](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cisco-secure-email/index.md) | 0% | 47% | 15 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 90 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: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Abnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Perplexity Sonar: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
- Grok 4.20: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- Mistral Small: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Abnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection, Mimecast Email Security
- Llama 4 Maverick: Microsoft Defender for Office 365; alternatives Barracuda Email Protection, ContentCatcher, SpamTitan
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Proofpoint Email Protection; alternatives Abnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES, Mimecast Email Security
- Kimi K2: Mimecast Email Security; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Mimecast Email Security; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Microsoft Defender XDR, Proofpoint Email Protection
- MiniMax M2.5: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES; alternatives Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
- GPT-6 Luna: Abnormal AI; alternatives Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Muse Glimmer 30B: IRONSCALES; alternatives Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security

## Sources the answers cite

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

- huntress.com: 32 answers, 40 citations
- checkpoint.com: 30 answers, 46 citations
- microsoft.com: 24 answers, 31 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 34 citations
- proofpoint.com: 19 answers, 30 citations
- securityboulevard.com: 19 answers, 21 citations
- softwareadvice.com: 16 answers, 21 citations
- expertinsights.com: 16 answers, 18 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://checkpoint.com/comparison/best-email-security-companies (17 answers)
- https://huntress.com/business-email-compromise-guide/10-best-email-security-providers (16 answers)
- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/small-medium-business (12 answers)
- https://getapp.com/security-software/email-security/org/mid-size-business (11 answers)
- https://huntress.com/business-email-compromise-guide/10-best-email-security-providers?hnt=qjzmwriybly7 (11 answers)
- https://proofpoint.com/us/compare/email-security-solutions (10 answers)
- https://guardiandigital.com/resources/blog/email-security-service (10 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/email-security-software (10 answers)
- https://huntress.com/phishing-guide/best-phishing-protection (10 answers)
- https://checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/threat-prevention/what-is-email-security/best-alternative-to-microsoft-defender (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Proofpoint Email Protection: 15 of 57 labels negative. "Pure "MX-Record Only" Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) for Cloud Email ... Traditional SEGs (like older implementations of Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Cisco)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- Mimecast Email Security: 10 of 54 labels negative. "Mimecast — typically priced for mid-market and enterprise" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- AOL Mail: 6 of 6 labels negative. "consumer-focused platforms like Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, Gmail, and Microsoft Outlook have significant privacy and security concerns" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Gmail: 6 of 7 labels negative. "often criticized for their data collection practices, lack of end-to-end encryption, and past security incidents" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 at 45%.

- SpamTitan: 16% to 2%, −14. Cleared the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 10 of 90.
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365: 32% to 45%, +13. Cleared the floor by 2 points · rank 1 of 90, unchanged.
- Barracuda Email Protection: 10% to 2%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 4 → 9 of 90.
- IRONSCALES: 2% to 8%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 8 → 5 of 90.
- Abnormal AI: 4% to 8%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 7 → 2 of 90.
- Mimecast Email Security: 10% to 8%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 3 of 90, unchanged.
- Proofpoint Email Protection: 8% to 6%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 6 of 90.
- Sublime Security: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 14 of 90.
- Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration: 8% to 8%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 4 of 90.
- Cisco Secure Email: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 → 78 of 90.

## Record

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