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PhishGuard vs The Alternatives

The phishing protection your team actually needs — without the complexity, that deploys in minutes.

Mimecast and Proofpoint are powerful. But they require DNS changes, IT projects, and annual contracts. PhishGuard deploys in 10 minutes, works inside Outlook and Gmail, and catches what they miss.

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10 min
to deploy across your org
$0
setup cost or IT project
30 days
free trial, no card needed
The Problem with Traditional Tools

Feature PhishGuard Our Pick Mimecast Proofpoint KnowBe4 Defend KnowBe4 Training Deployment time ✓ 10 minutes ⚠ Days–weeks ⚠ Days–weeks ⚠ Days–weeks ⚠ Days–weeks DNS / MX record changes ✓ None required ✗ Required ✗ Required ✓ None required ✓ None required Works inside Outlook & Gmail ✓ Yes — inbox-native ✗ Gateway only ✗ Gateway only ✓ Yes — inbox banners ✗ No Real-time per-email scanning ✓ Every email ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✗ No — simulations only BEC / invoice fraud detection ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✗ No BEC wire fraud detection ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ Community threat intelligence network ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ Encrypted phishing kit detection PATENT PENDING ✓ Yes — only PhishGuard ✗ No ✗ No ✗ No ✗ No Visible warning to end user ✓ Instant banner in inbox ⚠ Email tags only ⚠ Email tags only ✓ Color-coded banners ✗ No No minimum user count ✓ Start with 1 user ⚠ 25+ users ⚠ 25+ users ⚠ Enterprise only ✗ 25 user minimum Monthly billing, cancel anytime ✓ Yes ✗ Annual only ✗ Annual only ✗ Annual, 3-year term ✗ Annual only Transparent public pricing ✓ From $3.99/month ✗ Contact sales ⚠ Partial ✗ Contact sales ⚠ Partial 30-day free trial ✓ No card required ⚠ On request ⚠ On request ✗ No free trial ✗ No free trial Works alongside existing gateway ✓ Yes — adds a layer ✓ Replaces gateway ✓ Replaces gateway ✓ Adds a layer ✓ Standalone Starting price Free — $3.99 — $9.99/user $5–$15/user/month
+ IT implementation $3–$6/user/month
+ DNS setup required $4.00–$5.30/user/month
25 seat min · 3-year term · no trial ~$2.35/user/month
Training only, not detection

Why PhishGuard is Different

It's a layer inside your inbox — not in front of your mail server.

Mimecast and Proofpoint intercept email before it arrives. PhishGuard scans it when your employee opens it — catching threats that slipped through any gateway, including Microsoft's own built-in filters.

🔧
01

Deploy in your admin console

Upload a manifest URL in Microsoft 365 Admin Center, or add a deployment ID in Google Workspace. No DNS changes. No MX record updates. No IT project.

Takes about 10 minutes
🔍
02

PhishGuard scans as emails open

Every email your team opens is silently analysed in real time. Sender authentication, link reputation, domain age, brand impersonation, attachment names, and phishing language patterns — all checked automatically.

Happens in under 2 seconds
⚠️
03

Instant warning when it matters

When a threat is detected, a clear risk banner appears inside Outlook or Gmail — before the user clicks anything. No alert fatigue, no training sessions. Just a warning, exactly when needed.

Zero training required for users
Common Questions

Things IT managers ask us.

We already have Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Why do we need PhishGuard?
Microsoft Defender catches a lot — but it's a gateway filter, not an inbox layer. It doesn't show the user a warning when they open a suspicious email. PhishGuard adds the human-facing layer that Defender lacks: a real-time risk score and warning banner visible to the employee at the moment they're reading the email. They work together, not against each other.
We're already paying for KnowBe4. Isn't that enough?
KnowBe4 is excellent at training employees to recognise phishing. But training and protection are different things. Studies show employees forget 90% of training content within a week, and even trained employees click under stress. PhishGuard catches the email in real time — it works even when your training doesn't. Most customers run both.
How is PhishGuard priced higher than KnowBe4?
KnowBe4 at ~$2.35/user/month is training software — it teaches people, it doesn't protect them. PhishGuard is closer in function to Proofpoint or Mimecast, both of which charge $5–$15/user/month and require significant IT setup. Starting at $3.99/month for small teams, we're the most accessible option — with no annual contract and a 10-minute deploy.
Can PhishGuard replace our existing email security gateway?
Not entirely — and we'd never suggest it. Gateways like Mimecast and Proofpoint block a huge volume of spam and bulk threats before they reach your inbox. PhishGuard is an inbox layer that catches sophisticated targeted attacks that slip through gateways. The ideal setup is both: a gateway to block volume threats, PhishGuard to catch targeted ones.
What if a phishing email still gets through?
PhishGuard is a best-effort detection tool — no security product catches 100% of threats. What we do is dramatically raise the bar. A sophisticated phish that passes our detection still triggers zero warning from gateway tools. Our real advantage: we show users a risk score on every single email they open, building their intuition even when we don't flag something as high risk.
Is our email data sent to your servers?
No. The full body content of emails is never transmitted to our servers — analysis runs locally within Outlook or Gmail. We receive only metadata: sender address, subject hash, URLs, and authentication results. For Enterprise customers, URLs are optionally submitted to VirusTotal and Google Safe Browsing for deep scanning. Full details in our Privacy Policy.
Simple Pricing

No quotes. No sales calls. No annual lock-in.

Start your trial today. Subscribe only when you're ready. Cancel anytime.

Starter
Free
forever · up to 10 users
  • ✓ Up to 10 users
  • ✓ Real-time scan on every email open
  • ✓ Instant risk banner in Outlook & Gmail
  • ✓ SPF, DKIM & DMARC checks
  • ✓ Brand impersonation detection
  • ✓ BEC & invoice fraud detection
  • ✓ Works on mobile, desktop & web
Get Started Free

Free forever · No credit card

Professional
$3.99
/user/month · 11–99 users
  • ✓ Everything in Starter
  • ✓ Reply-to hijacking detection
  • ✓ Voicemail & fax phishing detection
  • ✓ Attachment name scanning
  • ✓ Usage-based billing
  • ✓ Works on mobile, desktop & web
Start Free Trial

30 days free · No credit card

Enterprise
$9.99
/user/month · or $999/year unlimited users
🏆 $999/year — unlimited users, best value for teams of 9+
  • ✓ Everything in Professional
  • ✓ VirusTotal deep URL scanning
  • ✓ Google Safe Browsing checks
  • ✓ HTML attachment URL extraction
  • ✓ Encrypted phishing kit detection PATENT PENDING
  • ✓ WHOIS domain age analysis
  • ✓ Flag senders & domains org-wide
  • ✓ Admin portal with threat reports & CSV export
  • ✓ Weekly threat digest email
  • ✓ Custom sensitivity threshold
Start Free Trial

30 days free · No credit card

How this compares: Mimecast starts at $5–15/user/month plus the cost of an IT implementation project. Proofpoint requires DNS changes and annual contracts. KnowBe4 at ~$2.35/user/month trains employees but doesn't protect them in real time. PhishGuard Starter is free forever for teams up to 10 — deployed in 10 minutes, no IT project, cancel anytime. Professional starts at $3.99/user/month and Enterprise at $9.99/user/month or $999/year unlimited. KnowBe4 Defend starts at $5.30/user/month with a 25-seat minimum and a 3-year contract commitment.

Catch a Phish before anyone clicks.

Deploy across your entire team in 10 minutes. No credit card. No IT project. No annual contract.

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Questions? Email hello@phishguardd.com — we reply within one business day.