Market report · Oct 2026
Secure Email Gateway
24 vendors tracked and 699 case studies read: what teams report, who signs off, who is winning switches, and where vendors fall short.
Market leaders
Top Secure Email Gateway vendors by known customers
- 1.Barracuda Networks167 known customers · 62 case studies · 3 documented switches won
- 2.Abnormal AI124 known customers · 77 case studies · 9 documented switches won
- 3.Fortinet103 known customers · 29 case studies
- 4.Mimecast86 known customers · 75 case studies · 4 documented switches won
- 5.Sophos85 known customers · 8 case studies · 1 documented switch won
- 6.Forcepoint84 known customers · 65 case studies · 4 documented switches won
- 7.INKY Technology (acquired by Kaseya)82 known customers · 11 case studies · 2 documented switches won
- 8.sublime.security79 known customers · 87 case studies
- 9.Proofpoint71 known customers · 40 case studies · 3 documented switches won
- 10.Fortra69 known customers · 8 case studies
Ranked by publicly known customers · Airframe, Oct 2026
Switching
Who is winning Secure Email Gateway switches
- Abnormal AI: 9 documented switches in, most often from Microsoft (4), Cisco (2), Mimecast (2)
- Material Security: 7 documented switches in, most often from Google (4), Google Workspace (3)
- Trustifi: 6 documented switches in, most often from Microsoft (4), Google Workspace (1), Cloudflare (1)
- Ironscales: 5 documented switches in, most often from Microsoft (4), Mimecast (1)
- Mimecast: 4 documented switches in, most often from Proofpoint (2), Microsoft (1), Google (1)
From 713 customer stories · Airframe, Oct 2026
Loss reasons
Why Secure Email Gateway vendors lose deals
- Total cost is too high for the value.
- Legit mail is blocked and work stops.
- Admin work is hard and takes too much time.
- Mail flow risk is too high at cutover.
- Mail is late and users lose trust.
Loss reasons across the category · Airframe, Oct 2026
Buyer questions
What buyers ask Secure Email Gateway vendors
- How do you find and block phish mail, bad links, and fraud lures?
- What catch rate do you reach for new fraud lures in live mail?
- How do you block known bad code, ransom code, and bad files in mail?
- How do you test suspect files in a safe box to find new harm?
- How long does the safe box test take per file before mail delivers?
- How do you stop fraud mail that fakes chiefs, staff, or vendors?
- How do you check sender trust to stop fake chief and vendor mail?
- How do you check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove the sender?
Most decisive first, from pre-purchase questions and RFPs · Airframe, Oct 2026
For buyers
Buying secure email gateway?
The market at a glance
- 24 vendors tracked
- 699 case studies read
- 310 buyers mapped
Airframe, Oct 2026
Who signs off
- IT (Corporate Engineering): 95
- Cyber Security: 90
- Software Engineering: 21
- Operations: 15
Of 310 buyers mapped in this market · Airframe, Oct 2026
Ask what matters
- How do you find and block phish mail, bad links, and fraud lures?
- What catch rate do you reach for new fraud lures in live mail?
From the market's RFP question bank · Airframe, Oct 2026
For vendors
Who's winning your category?
Documented switches in
- Abnormal AI: 9
- Material Security: 7
- Trustifi: 6
- Ironscales: 5
From 713 customer stories · Airframe, Oct 2026
Find the gaps rivals leave open
- Anti phishing detection: 79%
- Threat intelligence sharing: 58%
- Inline gateway deployment: 25%
Share of vendors offering each · Airframe, Oct 2026
Know why deals are lost
- Total cost is too high for the value.
- Legit mail is blocked and work stops.
- Admin work is hard and takes too much time.
Loss reasons across the category · Airframe, Oct 2026