Email security · November 2026 Edition
Abnormal AI vs IRONSCALES
Three of fourteen models named Abnormal AI first on the direct prompt; two named IRONSCALES. Abnormal AI was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and IRONSCALES by twelve and Abnormal AI carries 43 labels and IRONSCALES 23, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share8%8%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate9%4%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#5A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels4323A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Abnormal AI reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Microsoft Defender for Office 365 was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Abnormal AI · Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs IRONSCALES · Abnormal AI vs Mimecast Email Security
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the email security page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Abnormal AIFirst choices, of fourteen modelsIRONSCALES
Direct32
Paraphrase111 against Abnormal AI
Comparative10
Budget-constrained003 against Abnormal AI
Scale-constrained01
Negative101 against IRONSCALES
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES were named in the same answer forty-two times, of the 117 answers naming Abnormal AI and the 72 naming IRONSCALES. In those answers IRONSCALES took the first choice ten times and Abnormal AI five.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | |||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | ||||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Abnormal AI IRONSCALES first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Abnormal AI on the left and IRONSCALES on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES stood in it.
Abnormal AI first, IRONSCALES not the choice
3 of 14 modelsIRONSCALES was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Gemini 3.5 FlashAbnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
DeepSeek V4 FlashAbnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection, Mimecast Email Security
GPT-6 LunaAbnormal AI alternatives: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
IRONSCALES first, Abnormal AI an alternative
2 of 14 modelsAbnormal AI was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.MiniMax M2.5Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Muse Glimmer 30BIRONSCALES alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security alternatives: Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Proofpoint Email Protection
Perplexity SonarMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
Grok 4.20Microsoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Qwen 3.7 FlashProofpoint Email Protection alternatives: Abnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES, Mimecast Email Security
Kimi K2Mimecast Email Security alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint Email Protection
GLM 4.7 FlashXMimecast Email Security alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Microsoft Defender XDR, Proofpoint Email Protection
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Mistral SmallMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
Llama 4 MaverickMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Barracuda Email Protection, ContentCatcher, SpamTitan
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
IRONSCALES leads by twelve points.
IRONSCALES12%#2 of 10Abnormal AI0%#9 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
Abnormal AI8%#2 of 9IRONSCALES8%#5 of 9Enterprise
The order flips: Abnormal AI leads at enterprise.
Abnormal AI17%#3 of 10IRONSCALES0%#10 of 10What the models said about Abnormal AI
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid for Budget Scenarios - Abnormal Security - ... pricing starts at $25,000/year” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Abnormal Security — powerful but requires expensive add-ons” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“without the complexity or high costs of tools like Abnormal Security (which starts at $25K+/year)” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · soft negative
“Add Abnormal AI (or an equivalent AI-based layer) to catch the sophisticated BEC and social engineering threats that generic gateways miss” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Consider modern platforms like Abnormal Security, Material Security, or Microsoft Defender for Office 365” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“My default pick: Abnormal AI for a mid-market B2B company using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about IRONSCALES
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“significant drop in recommendation confidence (from 9% to 2%)... indicating potential issues with performance, reliability, or user satisfaction” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Best overall customer satisfaction / AI-native mailbox protection: IRONSCALES. High willingness to recommend and rapid API deployment.” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“I'd suggest starting with either IRONSCALES or Check Point/Avanan” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Start with Proofpoint, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, or IRONSCALES” GLM 4.7 FlashX · scale prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Abnormal AIMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 vs IRONSCALESAbnormal AI vs Mimecast Email SecurityAbnormal AI vs Check Point Harmony Email & CollaborationAbnormal AI vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionAbnormal AI vs Barracuda Email ProtectionMimecast Email Security vs IRONSCALESCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs IRONSCALESIRONSCALES vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionIRONSCALES vs Barracuda Email ProtectionAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full email security standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.