Email security · November 2026 Edition
IRONSCALES vs Proofpoint Email Protection
Two of fourteen models named IRONSCALES first on the direct prompt; one named Proofpoint Email Protection. IRONSCALES was named by twelve of the fourteen models and Proofpoint Email Protection by fourteen and IRONSCALES carries 23 labels and Proofpoint Email Protection 57, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share8%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate4%26%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#5#6A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels2357A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, IRONSCALES 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 IRONSCALES · Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Proofpoint Email Protection · Abnormal AI vs IRONSCALES
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.
IRONSCALESFirst choices, of fourteen modelsProofpoint Email Protection
Direct213 against Proofpoint Email Protection
Paraphrase103 against Proofpoint Email Protection
Comparative04
Budget-constrained011 against Proofpoint Email Protection
Scale-constrained111 against Proofpoint Email Protection
Negative001 against IRONSCALES · 7 against Proofpoint Email Protection
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, IRONSCALES and Proofpoint Email Protection were named in the same answer fifty-one times, of the 72 answers naming IRONSCALES and the 187 naming Proofpoint Email Protection. In those answers Proofpoint Email Protection took the first choice eleven times and IRONSCALES four.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where IRONSCALES and Proofpoint Email Protection 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 | | | | | |
IRONSCALES Proofpoint Email Protection first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, IRONSCALES on the left and Proofpoint Email Protection on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where IRONSCALES and Proofpoint Email Protection stood in it.
IRONSCALES first, Proofpoint Email Protection an alternative
2 of 14 modelsProofpoint Email Protection 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
Proofpoint Email Protection first, IRONSCALES an alternative
1 of 14 modelsIRONSCALES was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Qwen 3.7 FlashProofpoint Email Protection alternatives: Abnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, IRONSCALES, Mimecast Email Security
Neither was the first choice, one was named
5 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
Gemini 3.5 FlashAbnormal AI, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Grok 4.20Microsoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
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
6 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Perplexity SonarMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
Mistral SmallMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
DeepSeek V4 FlashAbnormal AI, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection, Mimecast Email Security
Llama 4 MaverickMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Barracuda Email Protection, ContentCatcher, SpamTitan
GPT-6 LunaAbnormal AI alternatives: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
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 eight points.
IRONSCALES12%#2 of 10Proofpoint Email Protection4%#7 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
IRONSCALES leads by two points.
IRONSCALES8%#5 of 9Proofpoint Email Protection6%#6 of 9Enterprise
The order flips: Proofpoint Email Protection leads at enterprise.
Proofpoint Email Protection41%#1 of 10IRONSCALES0%#10 of 10What 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
What the models said about Proofpoint Email Protection
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“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 · soft negative
“Unlike legacy Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) like Mimecast or Proofpoint Enterprise, ICES solutions deploy via cloud APIs in minutes” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Use Caution with Proofpoint/Mimecast unless you have a dedicated security operations center (SOC) to manage their complexity.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Proofpoint Essentials ~$3.03/user/mo is the most frequently recommended "best overall" for small business.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“Proofpoint is widely considered the gold standard for heavy-duty email security in large organizations.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Start with Proofpoint, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, or IRONSCALES for a 500-person company” GLM 4.7 FlashX · scale prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs IRONSCALESMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionAbnormal AI vs IRONSCALESAbnormal AI vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionMimecast Email Security vs IRONSCALESMimecast Email Security vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs IRONSCALESCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Proofpoint Email ProtectionIRONSCALES vs Barracuda Email ProtectionProofpoint Email Protection 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.