Top 10 Email Security Software for Small Businesses

Email security software helps businesses protect themselves against phishing and other unauthorized attacks.

In today’s world, email has become one of the most popular means of communication. In fact, many small businesses cannot think of functioning if prevented from emailing their customers, vendors, or partners. On the other hand, there are cybercriminals as well who also depend on these emails to breach business-critical data and make money out of it. The easiest way to protect your small business against this is by configuring an email security solution.

Email security software allows organizations to protect their email accounts from malicious email threats, phishing attacks, and data leaks. Email security spans gateways, email systems, user behavior, content security, and various supporting processes, services, and adjacent security architecture. This is how you can help avoid spam and minimize business risks such as ransomware, malware, and phishing, among others.

To help you make the right software choice, we’ve listed the top ten email security software based on two parameters: user ratings and popularity. Each parameter is weighed and scaled to a value between 1 and 50.

User ratings: This parameter considers the overall user ratings of products based on reviews written in the last 24 months. Users rate products on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

Popularity: This parameter considers the average monthly search volume for a standardized set of keywords for each product, as derived by a proprietary search methodology, as well as the position of the vendor’s domain on the search engine results page (SERP) for each keyword. It’s a measure of user interest and relevance used as a proxy for popularity.

Note: Products are listed in descending order of their total scores—i.e., summation of user ratings and popularity scores. If two or more products have the same score, they are listed alphabetically. (Read how we selected these products.)

1. McAfee Security for Email Servers

• User rating: 48/50

• Popularity score: 50/50

McAfee Security for Email Servers is a cloud-based content security tool that helps users detect and filter viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malware. This solution offers multilevel email protection for all the emails entering or leaving your mailbox while enforcing policy and on-demand malware scanning to avoid any loss or abuse of crucial data.

The solution provides in-built dictionaries that include almost every compliance rule specific to any enterprise and country. In fact, you can create global rules based on your business needs and customize the security filters to avoid any data leaks.

McAfee Security for Email Servers provides mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. The support options include 24/7 customer support from security experts.

2. Microsoft Defender for Office 365

• User rating: 48/50

• Popularity score: 38/50

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a cloud-based email filtering solution that protects your organization against email threats including phishing, malware attacks, ransomware, and spyware. This application lets your security teams detect, investigate, prevent, and prioritize threats in the Office 365 workspace.

The solution has the capability to scan the attachments in email threads and test links in a controlled environment to identify if any suspicious activity occurred. You can also identify email threats in real time via security information and event management (SIEM) integration. Additionally, you can track the threats’ paths across your organization to gain valuable insights into potential security breaches. The solution also has the capability to automatically investigate and respond to threats, freeing up some time for IT professionals to focus on threats that actually require human interventions.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. The support options include 24/7 phone & online support, self-help resources, and admin self-help.

3. Avanan

• User rating: 49/50

• Popularity score: 35/50

Avanan is a cloud-based email and collaboration security solution that helps enterprises prevent sophisticated attacks such as phishing, malware, data leakage, account takeover, and more. The solution uses the machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to evaluate the multiple aspects of an email to look for phishing attacks while checking multiple indicators. With the help of this solution, you can scan and protect different cloud applications that you might already be using, such as OneDrive, Slack, and DropBox, via a multi-level process to detect zero-day threats.

This application also lets you evaluate and mend compromised business emails while implementing automated AI algorithms to prevent malicious files as well as messages from appearing in the inbox. Additionally, you can leverage this software solution to identify confidential files with flexible workflows such as whether the content is quarantined and the user is alerted.

The support options offered by Avanan include phone support, email/help desk, chat, and FAQs.

4. Virtru

• User rating: 48/50

• Popularity score: 35/50

Virtru is a web-based data encryption platform for email and file sharing that helps you protect emails and attachments with end-to-end encryption. Using the software, you can prevent third-party access to your data via an interoperable, open standard trusted data format (TDF). Also, you can maintain control over your sensitive data while setting email access controls.

Additionally, you can prevent data loss and leaks by configuring data loss prevention (DLP) policies such as scanning email messages and attachments before they go out of your mailbox. The solution integrates with the existing email platforms that you might already be using such as Gmail and Outlook. Thus, you need not separately install any other software or portal applications.

The software has a mobile application for Android and iOS devices. The support options include online assistance, deployment support, a designated customer success team, and a 99.9% uptime service-level agreement (SLA).

5. SpamTitan

• User rating: 47/50

• Popularity score: 25/50

SpamTitan is a web-based email security and anti-spam solution utilized by small and midsize businesses, service providers, educational institutions, and more. With this solution, you can block phishing, spam emails, malware, viruses, ransomware, and malicious email threats.

The solution lets you improve email security flow via whitelisting and blacklisting, recipient verification, advanced reporting, and outbound scanning of emails. You can also connect your personal devices to the solution and generate custom reports on threat types and security trends.

The support options offered via SpamTitan include a knowledge base (FAQs, user guides, release notes, and installation guides), and a help desk.

6. Graphus

• User rating: 47/50

• Popularity score: 23/50

Graphus is a cloud-based anti-phishing and advanced email security solution that provides you with immediate protection against malware, ransomware, identity spoofing, and business email compromise (BEC) for your Office 365 and Google Workspace accounts. The software lets you analyze your employees’ business relationships to ensure user profiles are trustworthy.

With Graphus, you can scan suspicious emails, content in messages, and attachments to detect phishing attacks. The software also helps you gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of the security level imposed, attachment types, risk levels, and more.

The solution is available for iOS and Android mobile devices to access various functions including remotely managing endpoints, IT documentation, and professional services automation. Support options include email, a help desk, and a knowledge base.

7. Libraesva ESG

• User rating: 49/50

• Popularity score: 13/50

Libraesva ESG is a cloud-based email security gateway solution. The solution lets you protect your Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 against email threats including phishing, email fraud, and BEC while imposing different layers of protection at both gateway and API layers.

With this software solution, you can identify several other malicious activities such as account takeover protection and deep URL scanning with AI and ML algorithms. For example, a threat intelligence engine detects email threats whereas a threat remediation engine prevents such emails from reaching multiple accounts.

The software also leverages its own sandboxing technologies to scan different links and documents for active code and indistinct behavior to avoid visiting any unsafe links.

Libraesva ESG comes with a mobile application for Android and iOS devices. Its support options include email, resource center, and phone support.

8. Paubox Email Suite

• User rating: 50/50

• Popularity score: 12/50

Paubox Email Suite is a cloud-based HIPAA-compliant email encryption solution for healthcare providers and institutions. The solution lets you prevent data breaches, phishing, and display name spoofing attacks while automatically detecting and blocking the impersonating administrators.

The software allows you to archive specific inbound and outbound emails and configure data loss protection (DLP) to prevent accidental or malicious data leaks. You can also add a personalized layer of authentication to filter out suspicious emails, which may be unique to every customer.

Support options include phone support by their customer success team.

9. AVG Internet Security Business Edition

• User rating: 45/50

• Popularity score: 14/50

AVG Internet Security Business Edition is a web-based security solution for small businesses that helps protect their business endpoints. The solution also helps protect your business email and network from ransomware, spam, phishing, and much more.

With this solution, you can prevent viruses, worms, and Trojans from spreading into your devices while ensuring confidentiality and data security. Its link-scanning capability helps you avoid visiting any dangerous website while scanning clicked links (be it on Facebook or Twitter) for threats and warning you of anything suspicious.

AVG Internet Security Business Edition offers mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices. Its support options include knowledge base, phone, help desk, email, and chat support.

10. Symantec Email Security.cloud

• User rating: 46/50

• Popularity score: 3/50

Symantec Email Security.cloud is a cloud-based email security service that protects your cloud email including Office 365 and Google Workspace along with on-premises email such as Microsoft Exchange. The solution helps you block new and sophisticated email threats such as spear phishing with multiple layers of protection, threat isolation, spam filtering, and advanced security email analytics.

You can also prevent ransomware with content defense, sandboxing, and link protection technologies that detect emerging, stealthy, and zero-day attacks. The solution also lets you preserve the security and privacy of your confidential information with advanced policy-based encryption controls.

Symantec Email Security.cloud support options include email and a help desk.

Here are some of the key features of an email security software solution:

• Email filtering: Filters spam and unwanted messages.

• Threat protection: Protects incoming and outgoing communications against malware, spam, display spoofing, and other threats.

• Threat response: Identifies security issues and initiates remediation to avoid any potential malicious behavior.

All the products listed in this report include the core features mentioned above. Besides these core features, email security software tools also tend to offer certain other common features, which include:

• Activity dashboard

• Email attachment protection

• Email management

• Fraud detection

• Phishing protection

• Spam blocker

How to choose the best email security software for your business

To find the most effective email security software solution, you must consider these important factors:

• Architecture type: While choosing an email security solution for your business, you must consider whether the email architecture type is gateway or API-based. Usually, email gateways are imposed on the front end for email threats to stop slipping and passing through them. As gateway’s architecture is positioned outside of Office 365 or Google Workspace, malicious external IP addresses can be blocked easily by the endpoint. However, API-based architecture acts as a layer and interacts with cloud email such as Office 365 to impose rules on the gateway for better email security.

• Single unified interface for all messages: An email security solution ensures lesser false positives and a streamlined process for managing the quarantine so you need to spend less time on your IT administration. Therefore, inquire about how many quarantine areas you should have to look through before you actually find what is required.

Common questions to ask when choosing email security software

When looking for a comprehensive and robust email security solution, ask the following questions:

Which software features does your business require?

An email security solution should protect your business from potential malicious behavior. Therefore, it’s important to check if your chosen email security software offers basic features such as prevention against malware, phishing attacks, spam, and viruses as well as advanced features such as sandboxing, AI, machine learning, or email security training for your staff.

Are there any additional charges for support?

Quality customer support should be a crucial factor to determine the right email security solution for your business. With so many options available in the market it’s important to check whether the support offered by the vendor is free of cost or comes at a price. It is advisable to check the means of support available and whether or not it is provided 24/7.

Does the software integrate with productivity applications?

While evaluating an email security solution, you should check whether the solution integrates with third-party applications such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and Google Drive.

How did we choose these products? We didn’t—you did

To find your ideal software match, you need information you can trust—so you can save time, stay on budget, and focus more energy on growing your business. It’s why we vet and verify all our user reviews and recommend only the tools endorsed by people such as you.

In other words, our product recommendations are never bought or sold, or based on the opinion of a single individual—they’re chosen by your peers, reflecting the views and experiences of our independent base of software reviewers.

At Capterra, we objectively select and rank products based on a methodology developed by our research team. Some vendors pay us when they receive web traffic, but this does not influence our methodology.