Best Anti-Spam Tools

Anti-spam software or email spam blockers identify and filter out spam emails, allowing users to maintain a clutter-free and more secure email inbox.

Here is our list of the best anti-spam software:

  1. Guardz EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud platform for use by managed service providers protects data on endpoints and cloud platforms by blocking email-based attacks. It also filters out spam emails. Get a 14-day free trial.
  2. Mailwasher (FREE TOOL) A spam blocker for Windows Live Mail, Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Thunderbird, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, EM Client. Download free tool.
  3. ESET Protect Mail Plus (FREE TRIAL) This service is available as a cloud-based SaaS package or as a software package for Windows Server. It includes anti-phishing, anti-malware, and anti-spam services.Start a 30-day free trial.
  4. TitanHQ SpamTitan (ACCESS FREE DEMO) Helps to detect and block spam and phishing attempts by analyzing email headers, content, and sender information. Register to access the free demo.
  5. Hornetsecurity Email Spam Filter and Malware Protection Service This cloud-based system filters out spam and phishing emails and also blocks malware and DDoS attacks.
  6. SpamSieve The best email spam filter for Macs with adaptive spam identification over time.
  7. Trustifi Inbound Shield  This cloud-based email security system scans incoming mails and roots out malware and spam.
  8. Comodo Dome Antispam An edge email spam blocking service.
  9. MX Guarddog A spam filter that also blocks DDOS attacks, phishing attacks, malware, and viruses.
  10. SPAMfighter A spam filter for Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, and Thunderbird.
  11. ORF Fusion A spam filter with a 23-layered testing system.
  12. Zerospam This cloud-based solution works autonomously, looking for keywords and specific file types to block spam, phishing, and malware.

Tools utilize various techniques and algorithms to differentiate between legitimate email messages and spam, effectively reducing the volume of unwanted email traffic.

Without an email spam blocker, just one wrong click can place your device and network in danger. Inbound emails are one of the most common entry points for malicious software in enterprise environments.

The best anti-spam software / email spam blockers

Our methodology for selecting anti-spam software

We reviewed the market for anti-spam software and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:

  • An anti-spam system that integrates into email services
  • Automatic spam blocking
  • Customizable filtering rules
  • Malware blocking
  • An event log
  • A free assessment period or money-back guarantee
  • Value for money with a suitable set of tools for a good price

Features Comparison Table

Features/Anti-Spam ToolsGuardzMailwasherESET Protect Mail PlusTrustifi Inbound ShieldHornetsecurity Email Spam Filter and Malware Protection ServiceSpamTitanSpamSieveComodo Dome AntispamMX GuarddogSPAMfighterORF FusionZerospam
Real-time ProtectionYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Machine Learning DetectionYesYes (not primary)YesNoYesYesYesYesNoNoNoYes
Malware ProtectionYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesNoNoYesYes
Email FilteringYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Cloud-basedYesNoHybridNo (Hosted)YesYesNoYesYesNoNoYes
Reporting & AnalyticsYesNoYesNoYesYesNoYesNoNoYesNo
Custom Whitelists & BlacklistsYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYes

1. Guardz (FREE TRIAL)

Guardz Email Security Software

Guardz is a cloud-based security monitoring platform that includes spam blocking as part of its email security unit. This module will also block business email compromise (BEC), phishing, and malware. When a suspicious email is detected, Guardz moves it from the user’s mailbox to a quarantine area and reports on the event in the system dashboard.

Key Features

  • Blocks Spam: Effectively filters out unwanted spam emails, ensuring that your inbox remains clutter-free.
  • Prevents Account Takeover: Provides robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts, safeguarding sensitive information.
  • Operates on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365: Seamlessly integrates with popular cloud platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, making it versatile and easy to deploy.
  • Protects Data: Offers comprehensive data protection capabilities to keep your information secure from various cyber threats.
  • Designed for MSPs: Tailored specifically for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), enabling them to offer enhanced security services to their clients.

Why do we recommend it?

Guardz is a cloud platform of security scanning systems that aims to protect company resources and data from hacker access. One of the key routes into a business’s systems is through email tricks, such as phishing to gain account credentials or impersonation to manipulate employees into action. This package also filters out spam emails.

This package specifically monitors the components of Microsoft 365 and  Google Workspace. It protects data held in One Drive by scanning attacks launched against email accounts in Outlook/Exchange Server and attacks on data in Google Drive through trick emails sent to Gmail accounts.

When this system spots spam emails or attacks, such as phishing or business email compromise (BEC) it moves those suspicious communications to a quarantine area away from the mailboxes of users. The package alerts technicians by recording the detection in the Guardz dashboard. The emails can be viewed and assessed in case they have been flagged as malicious in error.

The Guardz system is also able to scan endpoints for attacks and alert on discoveries such as malware or intrusion. This package is intended for use by managed service providers to protect the systems of their clients.

Guardz email protection anti-spam

Who is it recommended for?

This system is available to individuals as well as to teams because the minimum team size for the account is one. However, Guardz insists that the package needs to be administered by a managed service provider rather than by an in-house IT support team.

Pros:

  • Cloud-Based Delivery: Delivered from the cloud through a web-based console, which simplifies deployment and management.
  • Live Email Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of email traffic with automated responses to potential threats, providing real-time protection.
  • Comprehensive Threat Blocking: Blocks spam, phishing, malware, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, ensuring a high level of email security.
  • Email Quarantining: Offers the ability to quarantine suspicious emails, which can be reviewed and reversed if necessary.
  • Remediation Action Reporting: Provides detailed reports on remediation actions taken, giving insights into security events and responses.

Cons:

  • MSP Requirement: Needs to be run by a Managed Service Provider, which might not be ideal for organizations looking to manage their security solutions in-house.

Guardz is available for use by managed service providers to protect the data of their clients and clean the email systems of those protected companies. You can examine the Guardz platform with a 14-day free trial.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Guardz is our top pick for anti-spam software because this package also identifies phishing and BEC threats, blocking all three hacker activities. The tool will identify malware and ransomware in attachments to emails and block them as well. When this package spots a malicious email, it raises an alert in the system dashboard and moves the offending email into quarantine. A technician can review emails logged into the quarantine system to check whether some genuine emails got miscategorized. In these instances, it is possible to restore the intercepted email back to the recipient’s mailbox. This tool specializes in protecting Gmail and Google Drive in Google Workspace and Outlook, Exchange Server, and OneDrive in the Microsoft 365 suite.

Official Site: https://guardz.com/free_trial

OS: Cloud-based

2. Mailwasher (FREE TOOL)

MailWasher Pro screenshot
I use to block spam before it reaches my inbox

Mailwasher is compatible with all email providers on desktop and mobile devices. Email providers supported by Mailwasher include Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, EM Client, and more. The diverse range of email accounts supported by Mailwasher makes the software versatile in enterprise environments.

Key Features

  • Malicious Attachment Scanning: Can scan and delete malicious attachments before they reach the inbox, enhancing security by preventing malware infections.
  • Content Filtering for Offensive Material: Filters offensive content, which is a good feature for protecting children with email addresses
  • Pre-Filters Mail Offsite: Processes emails before they reach your inbox, filtering out unwanted content and threats.
  • Content Filtering: Capable of filtering emails based on their content, providing an additional layer of security and customization.

Why do we recommend it?

Mailwasher is a proxy service that intercepts emails and blocks spam and malware while passing through all other emails. This service integrates with a lot more email services that the other options on this list and that includes Webmail systems.

To stop viruses from entering your inbox, the program allows you to preview and delete emails before they are downloaded to your computer. By blocking emails like this you can view information within the email without opening it and leaving your computer at risk of transmitting a virus.

Filtering is another way that Mailwasher monitors incoming emails for suspicious signs. The filter can spot spam content and offensive words so that the sender can be automatically blacklisted from future correspondence. To stop false alerts you can add colleagues and clients to your ‘friends’ list.

Who is it recommended for?

Mailwasher is a good choice for any business. Small businesses can access Mailwasher Free, which only protects one email account but it is possible to sign up for several accounts.

Pros:

  • Wide Compatibility: Available for all major mail applications, making it a flexible option for home users who utilize third-party mail services.
  • Integrates with Major Email Clients: Works seamlessly with popular email clients such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo, ensuring broad compatibility.
  • Free Version Available: Offers a free version alongside the paid one, providing a cost-effective option for users.

Cons:

  • Not Ideal for Enterprise Use: Not the best fit for enterprise networks or large businesses due to its design and feature set.
  • Expensive: Relatively expensive when compared to similar tools, which might deter budget-conscious users.

There are two versions of Mailwasher available to download: Mailwasher Free and Mailwasher Pro. Mailwasher Free is available free of charge and supports one email address. MailWasher Pro starts from $49.95 (£37.71) and supports multiple email addresses with support seven days a week.

Mailwasher Download 100% FREE Tool

3. ESET Protect Mail Plus (FREE TRIAL)

EMSX-02_MailServerProtectionLog
Has a sandbox feature if you are curious about opening a suspect file. The test worked just fine with the trial version

ESET Protect Email Plus detects and blocks malicious content in emails. This means that the service will block malware, spam, and phishing attempts. Malware is easy to deal with because the ESET system just needs to shield any attachments, unpack them, and, in the case of software, run them, in a protected sandbox that is hosted on the cloud.

Key Features

  • Anti-Spam: Efficiently filters out spam emails to keep your inbox clean and free from unwanted messages.
  • Anti-Phishing: Protects against phishing attempts, preventing malicious actors from tricking users into revealing sensitive information.
  • Anti-Malware: Provides robust protection against malware, ensuring your email system remains secure from various threats.

Why do we recommend it?

The anti-spam feature of ESET Protect Mail Plus will improve with service and it will also adapt to each user’s preferences. It could be that a particular unsolicited email is from a site that the user visits and its contents are of interest to the recipient. In which case, repeated access by that user to mails from that source will de-list that source as a spam sender.

The anti-spam and anti-phishing processes are a little more complicated. Spam filtering relies on whether emails from particular sources and with particular subject lines have previously been listed as unwanted. This blacklisting is based both on global experience and on the reaction of the user, such as deleting an email without reading it.

The anti-phishing process is similar to the anti-spam service. It uses machine learning and external source and text databases to spot undesirable emails.

Who is it recommended for?

This system only operates on the Microsoft Exchange Server and IBM Domino email systems, so if you don’t use either of those, you will need to look elsewhere for a spam filter. The smallest package you can buy covers five hosts, so it isn’t suitable for very small businesses.

Pros:

  • AI-Based Spam Assessments: Utilizes artificial intelligence to assess and filter spam emails more accurately, reducing the number of false positives.
  • Secure Attachment Sandboxing: Analyzes email attachments in a secure sandbox environment to detect and prevent the delivery of malicious files.
  • Behavior Analysis: Employs behavior analysis to identify and mitigate potential threats based on the behavior of emails and attachments, adding an extra layer of security.

Cons:

  • Limited Compatibility: Only works with Exchange Server and IBM Domino, which may not be suitable for organizations using other email platforms.

ESET Protect Mail Plus is a subscription package with an annual rate and you can get a 30-day free trial. Email security is also included with the ESET XDR packages.

ESET Protect Mail Plus Start 30-day FREE trial

4. TitanHQ 360 Security (FREE TRIAL)

TitanHQ SpamTitan Screenshot
Pairs well with my Microsoft Office 365 account

TitanHQ SpamTitan is a web-based anti-spam solution intended for Microsoft Office 365 accounts. The tool is designed to discover phishing email attacks, spear-phishing attacks, and zero-day attacks. To recognize the latest threats SpamTitan uses a mixture of machine learning and Bayesian analysis to identify new attacks. The powerful email protection against zero-day threats is excellent for minimizing exposure towards emerging email threats.

Key Features

  • Spam Filtering & Phishing Protection: Uses advanced techniques such as Bayesian analysis, heuristics, and reputation checks to identify and filter out spam emails.
  • Antivirus Protection: It scans email attachments and links for viruses, malware, and other malicious content.
  • Content Filtering: Administrators can set up rules to filter emails based on content, keywords, attachments, or sender.
  • Policy Management: It allows administrators to create and enforce email usage policies tailored to the organization’s needs.
  • Quarantine Management: Users and administrators can manage quarantined emails, review, release, or delete them as needed.

Why do we recommend it?

SpamTitan implements AI-based detection that scans through the contents of each email and looks for anomalies, such as address spoofing. The tool can build up its own blacklist for a specific client company but the company doesn’t deploy a global blacklist like N-able Mail Assure.

IP address whitelisting and blacklisting controls whether mail reaches your inbox or gets blocked from future communication. For wider security, you can apply different degrees of Spam Confidence Levels to users, user groups, and domains. By segmenting your email environment in this fashion you can manage potential entry points much more effectively.

Spamtitan antispam

Who is it recommended for?

SpamTitan is a cloud-based system, so you don’t need to have technical skills to install it. The system plugs into Microsoft 365, so it will monitor all of the Outlook mailboxes for your users. However, the SpamTitan system isn’t available for any other email system. The minimum number of email accounts this service will cover is 25, so it isn’t suitable for very small businesses.

Pros:

  • User-Friendly Interface: The web-based interface is intuitive and easy to use, making it simple for administrators to manage email security settings.
  • Scalability: SpamTitan is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to large corporations, and can handle increasing email volumes as the organization grows.
  • Cost-Effective: Compared to some enterprise-grade email security solutions, SpamTitan offers competitive pricing without compromising on features and effectiveness.
  • Reporting and Analytics: SpamTitan provides detailed reports and analytics on email traffic, spam detection, and threat trends.
  • Integration: It integrates with popular email platforms such as Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, and Google Workspace.

Cons:

  • Setup Complexity: While the interface is user-friendly, initial setup and configuration may require some technical expertise, particularly for organizations with complex email environments.
  • Resource Requirements: SpamTitan typically requires dedicated hardware or virtual machine resources to operate efficiently, which may add to the overall cost of implementation.

Prices are levied as a subscription with a rate per user per month. There is a minimum order of 25 user licenses. The price per user per month lowers if you choose a longer payment cycle. The options range from a monthly payment to a 3-year payment plan. The lowest price comes with the 3-year plan, which works out at $1.49 (£1.12) per user per month. However, you have to pay for the whole payment period in advance, so that 3-year option for 25 users works out at an upfront payment of $1,336,50 (£1008.95). You can get access to a free demo.

TitanHQ SpamTitan Access a 14-day FREE Trial

5. Hornetsecurity Email Spam Filter and Malware Protection Service

ZEROSPAM screenshot
Powerful tool, but I find the interface a bit wanting

Hornetsecurity Email Spam Filter and Malware Protection Service is a cloud-based system that stands between your email server and the rest of the world. It will filter out phishing, spam, malicious links, and malware and it also blocks DDoS attacks. The service checks outgoing emails as well. For further protection, the program uses TLS encryption to keep your interactions safe from snooping. In the event the client-server goes down, the tool will use automatic mail queuing to help you return to normal operations ASAP.

Key Features

  • Edge Service: Operates at the edge of the network, filtering emails before they reach your internal email servers, providing an additional layer of security.
  • Ransomware Protection: Offers protection against ransomware attacks, ensuring that malicious emails designed to encrypt your data are blocked.
  • Phishing Detection: Detects and blocks phishing attempts, safeguarding users from malicious actors attempting to steal sensitive information.

Why do we recommend it?

Hornetsecurity Email Spam Filter and Malware Protection Service doesn’t link into your mail system as a plug-in. Instead, it acts as a proxy, pre-filtering emails before forwarding clean emails to your mail server. Hornetsecurity offers a service availability guarantee of 99.99 percent uptime.

Hornetsecurity has a 99 percent success rate in blocking spam. Infomails are also blocked but held in quarantine, offering you the option to download them. It strikes a balance between screening out harmful messages without blocking communications from legitimate email users. From an enterprise perspective, this is an anti-spam platform that doesn’t get in the way of day-to-day operations.

Hornetsecurity email spam filter anti-spam

Who is it recommended for?

As it also checks outgoing emails, Hornetsecurityy offers a data loss protection system built into its email filtering service. This makes the tool a very good choice for businesses that need to comply with sensitive data protection standards.

Pros:

  • Cloud-Based Operation: Runs entirely in the cloud, eliminating the need for complex installation or onboarding processes, making it easy to deploy and manage.
  • Complex Routing Capabilities: Supports complex routing to manage multiple domains and email servers efficiently, providing flexibility for organizations with diverse email infrastructures.
  • Low False-Positive Rate: The anti-spam feature has a low false-positive rate, which helps avoid the risk of losing important business-related emails to the spam filter.

Cons:

  • Management Features: Could benefit from improved management features for handling multiple inboxes, which would enhance usability for administrators overseeing large numbers of email accounts.

The Hornetsecurity service is able to operate for multiple email servers and can also serve multiple domains per client. The service queue mail if your own email server becomes unavailable. This means that even if something goes down, your service stays available when you need it.

6. SpamSieve

SpamSieve
I make extensive use of the Blocklist

The spam filter in Mail on Macs isn’t very good. If you use a different email client, you are stuck with whatever Junk main identification that system provides. However, if you want a better spam filtering service, you can try SpamSieve instead.

Key Features

  • Accurate Filtering: SpamSieve uses advanced algorithms, including Bayesian spam filtering, to accurately classify incoming emails as spam or legitimate.
  • Adaptive Learning: It learns from user interactions, improving its filtering accuracy over time by adapting to the user’s preferences.
  • Integration with Email Clients: SpamSieve seamlessly integrates with popular macOS email clients such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Airmail, and more.
  • Customizable Rules: Users can create custom rules to fine-tune the spam filtering process based on specific criteria or sender information.
  • Whitelist and Blacklist: It allows users to maintain whitelists and blacklists to ensure that emails from trusted senders are always delivered and spam from specific senders is blocked.
  • Sandboxing: SpamSieve can isolate suspicious emails in a separate folder for review, preventing potentially harmful content from reaching the inbox.

Why do we recommend it?

SpamSieve is specifically designed to operate on the native email system for Macs and other email clients that run on macOS. This tool is very easy to install because it is offered as a plug-in. The system builds up a whitelist and a blacklist over time to fine-tune blocking for your regular activity.

This spam filtering solution includes whitelisting and blacklisting and it uses machine learning to improve spam identification in your Inbox over time. You can set up your own block list and also customize other features of the interface, such as its color and layout. SpamSieve also allows you to create your own mailbox management scripts that perform different actions depending on factors such as the sender or subject line.

SpamSieve works as a plug-in so you can access its functions from within your email client instead of needing to go to a different application. It will work with a long list of email systems on Macs, including Apple Mail (Mail.app), Airmail, Entourage, MailMate, Mailsmith, Postbox 5, PowerMail, and Outlook.

C-command SpamSieve anti-spam

Who is it recommended for?

As it only runs on Macs, this tool is suitable for businesses that only have Macs on site. The pricing structure means that you can get a license for just one Mac or many, which means that it is a scalable service that is easy to expand as a small business grows. Large organizations get bulk discounts.

Pros:

  • Integration with Email Clients: Operates within your existing email client, seamlessly integrating with your current email setup without requiring significant changes.
  • AI-Based Spam Detection: Utilizes artificial intelligence to detect and block spam emails effectively, continuously improving over time.
  • High Accuracy: SpamSieve is known for its high accuracy in filtering spam while minimizing false positives, ensuring that legitimate emails are not mistakenly classified as spam.
  • Ease of Use: The software is user-friendly, with a simple setup process and intuitive interface that requires minimal configuration to get started.

Cons:

  • Mac Exclusive: SpamSieve is only available for macOS, so users on other operating systems cannot benefit from its features.
  • No Server-Side Filtering: Since SpamSieve operates locally on the user’s device, it does not provide server-side filtering for emails accessed from multiple devices.
  • Not Free Forever: The software is not free indefinitely, which means users will eventually need to purchase a license to continue using it after the trial period ends.

A single-user license costs $30 (£22.65) per year and you can also get a two user license, called the Family plan, for $48 ($36.24). A site-wide plan is priced on consultation. SpamSieve is available for a 30-day free trial.

7. Trustifi Inbound Shield

Trustifi
This was the easiest tool on this list to implement

Trustifi Inbound Shield is a cloud-based email protection system that you implement in your own mail server through an API. Adding on this plug-in sets up a call to the remote process to scan each incoming mail. The service is also available as a plug-in for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

Key Features:

  • Spam Filtering: The solution filters out spam emails based on various criteria, including sender reputation, content analysis, and email authentication checks.
  • Phishing Protection: It uses machine learning and behavioral analysis to detect phishing attempts and fraudulent emails, helping to prevent users from falling victim to phishing attacks.
  • Content Filtering: Administrators can create custom filtering rules based on content, keywords, sender, or other criteria to enforce email usage policies and regulatory compliance.
  • Email Encryption: The solution offers email encryption capabilities to secure sensitive information and ensure compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA.
  • Quarantine Management: Users and administrators can manage quarantined emails, review, release, or delete them as needed, providing visibility and control over potentially harmful emails.

Why do we recommend it?

Trustifi is a very effective spam filter. However, there are many tools on this list that match that description. The advantage that this tool has over its rivals is that it is very easy to implement. The service is delivered as a plug-in for all of the major email systems, including those that are cloud-based, such as Microsoft Exchange and Gmail.

The Trustifi system is able to spot spam, phishing emails, and bulk emails that are termed “graymail.” The system uses a combination of AI-based threat detection and email address and IP address blacklists. It looks at source email addresses and correlates them to known identifies of employees to block impersonation attempts. It can also detect malicious links to impersonating or infected websites.

Trustifi Inbound Shield Antispam

Trustifi Inbound Shield slots into your Google Workspaces and Microsoft 365 accounts to offer protection for your email system that expands beyond spam filtering. This security service uses AI to identify phishing attempts and will also look for mismatches in source domains and IP addresses to identify masquerading. This system will also scan emails and attachments for viruses.

Who is it recommended for?

Medium-sized businesses through to large enterprises would mostly benefit from using Trustifi. The system can be set up by any administrator who is able to manage a mail server, so you don’t need exceptional technical skills to install and manage this service.

Pros:

  • Email Server Plug-In: Functions as a plug-in for email servers, making it easy to add advanced security features to existing email systems.
  • Integrations with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace: Compatible with popular platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, ensuring broad applicability and ease of use for organizations using these services.
  • Cloud-Based: Operates entirely in the cloud, providing seamless integration and eliminating the need for on-premises hardware.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Both administrators and end-users can easily manage email security settings and quarantine management through an intuitive web-based interface.

Cons:

  • Lack of Free Trial: Does not offer a free trial, which may be a drawback for potential users who prefer to test the service before committing to a purchase.
  • Cost: The pricing of Trustifi Inbound Shield may be a concern for some organizations, especially smaller businesses with limited budgets.

As well as scanning the email header and body, Trustifi Inbound Shield checks through attachments. What the system does with suspicious emails is up to you. The system presents a range of options that can be configured to coordinate with your security policy. When suspicious emails are detected, they can be quarantined for manual inspection. The system will notify the administrator when malicious mails are detected and compile reports on detection rates and outcomes. In order to discover the price for Trustifi Inbound Shield, you need to request a quote.

8. Comodo Dome Antispam

Comodo Dome anti spam screenshot
Effective tool, but there can be a time lag in receiving an email with large attachments

Comodo Dome Antispam is a spam prevention tool designed for enterprise users. Comodo Dome Antispam scans and filters emails to keep your inbox safe from cyber attackers. When downloading files from the inbox, Comodo Dome Antispam uses its Valkyrie file verdict platform to analyze files as they are being downloaded. You can open and interact with a file without any risk of infection even from the latest malware attacks.

Key Features

  • Sandboxing for Attachments: Provides a sandbox environment for analyzing email attachments, ensuring they are safe before reaching the user.
  • Pre-Filters Spam: Filters out spam before it reaches the mail server, reducing the load on email infrastructure and improving security.
  • Real-Time Threat Analysis: Analyzes files for threats as they are downloaded and before they arrive in the inbox, providing proactive protection.
  • Advanced Email Filtering: Offers advanced filtering capabilities to junk or sort emails based on keywords, sender, or size, allowing for customized email management.

Why do we recommend it?

Comodo Dome Antispam offers the option of a hosted SaaS package or a downloadable software package, so it competes with every other system on this list. The tool provides file scanning for attachments, phishing detection, spam filtering, malicious link blocking, and malware detection.

Email filtering controls the type of messages you see when you open up your email account. Emails with viruses are blocked so you don’t get put offline to make sure you have complete transparency over emails sent to your inbox. Through the management console, you can view archived and quarantined emails.

Who is it recommended for?

The deployment options of Comodo Dome Antispam give it a very wide market. Comodo has a menu of highly-regarded cybersecurity tools and existing customers of Comodo will be particularly attracted to the anti-spam system.

Pros:

  • Flexible Deployment: Available as both an on-premise and cloud-based solution, providing options to fit various IT environments and preferences.
  • Scalability: The solution is scalable and suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to large corporations, and can handle increasing email volumes.
  • Compliance: Comodo Dome Antispam helps organizations achieve compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA.

Cons:

  • Outdated Interface: The user interface feels outdated and may not provide the best user experience, potentially hindering ease of use.
  • Email Delays: Misconfiguration can lead to delays in email delivery, which can be disruptive to communication and workflow.

There are three installations of Comodo Dome Antispam available: Shared Server, Hosted Cloud, and On-Site. To view the pricing, you need to contact the company directly. If you’re looking for an anti-spam solution with flexible deployment options, Comodo Dome Antispam is highly recommended and you can assess it with a 30-day free trial.

9. MX Guarddog

MX Guarddog
I am unsure about the per-email spend for this tool, otherwise quite trusty and easy to use

MX Guarddog is a spam blocker that uses TLS encryption to protect your email inbox. Phishing attacks, malware, DDoS attacks, and viruses are just some of the things that MX Guarddog defends against. Once any communication is blocked, you can view a quarantine report which will show the message content that was blocked.

Key Features

  • Blocks Spam and Malware: Provides robust protection by blocking spam emails and detecting malware threats.
  • LDAP and Active Directory Integration: Integrates and syncs with LDAP and Active Directory services, particularly beneficial for Windows-based email systems, improving compatibility and management.
  • Phishing Protection: Provides protection against phishing attacks in addition to file-based malware, ensuring comprehensive email security.
  • Integrates with Access Rights Managers: Seamlessly integrates with access rights managers, enhancing security and control over email access.

Why do we recommend it?

MX Guarddog operates as a proxy service that receives your emails, filters them, and then passes on the good ones. It blocks malware, spam, phishing attempts, and DDoS attacks. The system is a good continuity service, too because it stores up emails if your own mail server goes offline and delivers them when it comes back.

Legitimate mail is forwarded straight to your email server. MX Guarddog automatically syncs email addresses from Windows AD, LDAP, and cPanel systems for convenience. In the event that your server goes down, your mail will be stored and automatically delivered to you the next time you’re online.

MXGuarddog antispam

Who is it recommended for?

MX Guarddog is affordable and has a rate per email address, so it is accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Pros:

  • Improved Interface: Offers a user-friendly interface compared to similar solutions, enhancing usability and management.
  • Easy False Positive Management: Allows users to easily remove false positives from quarantine, reducing the risk of important emails being mistakenly blocked.
  • SaaS Package Hosted in the Cloud: Delivered as a Software as a Service (SaaS) package, hosted in the cloud for easy deployment and management.

Cons:

  • Per-Email Charges: Charges per email, which can lead to unpredictable budgeting and potentially higher costs, especially for organizations with high email volume.

MX Guarddog is a great low-cost alternative for stopping spam in its tracks. The tool operates as a SaaS package and starts at a price of $0.25 (£0.20) per email address, per month. There is no charge for user or domain aliases. The service is available on a one-month free trial.

10. SPAMfighter

SPAMfighter
I got to test the Pro version under trial for this review

SPAMfighter is a spam filter compatible with Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, and Windows Live Mail. SPAMfighter’sfiltering works in multiple languages and can block spam in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Danish, and more. Once a suspicious email has been flagged the software will add the sender to the blacklist and block future emails from reaching your inbox.

Key Features

  • Plug-In for Major Email Clients: Offers a plug-in for major email clients, making it easy to integrate with existing email systems.
  • Live Email Statistics: Provides live statistics on emails, including volume, spam ratio, and the number of blocked spam attempts, enabling users to track and analyze email trends.
  • Spam Forwarding for Learning: Allows users to forward spam that gets through the filter, helping the system learn and improve its spam identification capabilities over time.
  • Maintains Local Blacklist: Maintains a local blacklist to block known spam sources and improve filtering accuracy.

Why do we recommend it?

The SPAMfighter system works on a crowdsourced intelligence model. When a user receives an email and marks it as spam, the source email address and IP address get flagged. If enough users flag the same source, it gets added to the global blacklist.

The user interface is simple to navigate and you can view live statistics on blocked messages. In addition, you also have Spam Abuse Reporting at the click of a button if you need to gather information. Being able to organize all of this security information helps to make sure that you know about everything that is trying to reach out to your account.

Spamfighter anti-spam

Who is it recommended for?

Home users will definitely want to try the free SPAMfighter. For businesses, the reliance on enough people reporting a spam email campaign might seem a little weak. However, the system has more than 8 million users, so it should be able to catch most spam campaigns.

Pros:

  • Effective Spam Filtering: The community-based approach can be effective in catching new spam emails.
  • Multi-Language Support: Supports multiple languages, making it suitable for international users and organizations with diverse language needs.
  • Free Version Available: Provides a free version with basic spam filtering capabilities, suitable for personal use or small organizations.
  • Easy to Setup and Use: SPAMfighter is known for being user-friendly.

Cons:

  • Dated Interface: The interface feels dated and can be challenging to navigate and learn, potentially affecting user experience and efficiency.

Apart from the free SPAMfighter for home use, there are three business options: SPAMfighter Mail Gateway, which installs on Windows, SPAM fighter Hosted Mail Gateway, which is a SaaS version, and SPAMfighter Exchange Module, which is a special plug-in for Microsoft Exchange Server. You can access any of the business packages with a 30-day free trial.

11. ORF Fusion

ORF Fusion
This dashboard is as WYSIWYG as can be

ORF Fusion is a piece of spam filter software designed specifically for business use cases. The tool eliminates false positives and ensures that legitimate email makes its way to your inbox. One of the unique selling points of ORF Fusion is that it has 23 layered tests to check the status of mail. These tests are a mixture of blacklist and whitelist tests that stop malicious mail without affecting genuine mail.

Key Features

  • Layered Protection: ORF Fusion utilizes a multi-layered approach with 23 different tests to identify spam emails. This includes blacklists, whitelists, content analysis, and other checks.
  • Multiple Filtering Points: It intercepts emails at various points during transfer, minimizing resource usage on your server and preventing issues like backscatter (emails bounced back due to spam filtering).
  • Self-Learning Whitelists: ORF Fusion can automatically whitelist trusted senders based on your outbound email traffic, ensuring important messages get through.
  • DNSBL & SURBL Support: It integrates with DNS-based Blackhole Lists (DNSBLs) and Sender Reputation Lists (SURBLs) to identify suspicious email sources.

Why do we recommend it?

ORF Fusion is a software package that runs on Windows. It is specifically designed to integrate with Exchange Server and IIS SMTP server. This tool operates through a blacklisting mechanism to which, over time, are added whitelisted addresses. The balance between acceptable and banned email addresses is interlinked with a series of other scans and checks on each arriving email.

You can create your own whitelists to make sure that your trusted email senders aren’t put through spam filtering. The user also has control over what happens to those emails that are caught by the spam filter. For instance, you can bounce them to reject the transmission, keep the mail, or redirect it to a different mailbox.

Vamsoft ORF antispam

Who is it recommended for?

You would need to be running your business on Windows Server and have your email system operated by Exchange Server to benefit from the ORF Fusion package. Pricing is charged per year according to the number of email accounts covered by the software with the minimum number of accounts being 10.

Pros:

  • High Spam Detection Rate: The layered approach aims to catch a wider range of spam emails compared to simpler filters.
  • Reduced Server Load: Filtering emails before they reach your server saves resources.
  • Improved Business Continuity: Self-learning whitelists help ensure emails from important contacts aren’t blocked.
  • Highly Configurable: Offers a high level of configurability, allowing administrators to tailor settings to match their organization’s security policies and preferences.
  • Integrates with Mail Servers: Seamlessly integrates with mail servers, providing enhanced email security without disrupting existing email workflows.

Cons:

  • Higher Learning Curve: Requires a higher learning curve compared to similar software, as it is designed for professionals with technical expertise in email administration.
  • Not User-Friendly for Non-Technical Users: Not built for non-technical users, as the complexity of configurations and settings may be overwhelming for those without technical knowledge.
  • Potential for Misconfiguration: Misconfiguration could lead to delayed emails and false positives, highlighting the importance of proper setup and ongoing management.

Overall, ORF Fusion’s low false-positive rate makes it ideal for enterprises looking for information security that doesn’t impede their ability to communicate. ORF Fusion integrates with Microsoft Exchange and the IIS SMTP Service. The price of the product starts at $55 (£43.75) per year for 10 users. ORF Fusion is available for a 42-day free trial and buyers get a 90-day money-back guarantee.

12. Zerospam

Zerospam
My testing requirements are not on the enterprise level that would justify the cost of this tool

Zerospam operates as a proxy based in the cloud. It catches all of your incoming emails and assesses each message before forwarding the safe emails on to your email server. The tool quarantines all suspicious emails, so they can still be checked and approved manually.

Key Features

  • Spam Filtering: ZeroSpam utilizes advanced filtering techniques, including machine learning algorithms and real-time threat intelligence, to accurately detect and block spam emails.
  • Phishing Protection: The solution employs URL and attachment scanning, as well as behavioral analysis, to detect and block phishing attempts in real-time, protecting users from email scams.
  • Malware Detection: ZeroSpam scans email attachments and links for malware, viruses, ransomware, and other malicious content, ensuring that users are protected from email-borne threats.
  • Content Filtering: Administrators can create custom filtering rules based on content, keywords, sender, or other criteria to enforce email usage policies and regulatory compliance.

Why do we recommend it?

Zerospam claims to block 98.99 percent of all spam. This could be due to an overzealous policy. However, the administrator will loosen the detection process over time. Some blocked emails might be valid and as you approve them, the system alters its blocking algorithm, which leads to a more accurate assessment for future emails.

The tool will block Trojans and other malware in attachments and identify links to suspicious sites easily. However, identifying spam and phishing attempts is a lot more complicated. The Zerospam system uses a machine learning method to adapt its blocking system.

The Zerospam policy requires administrator input in the first few weeks of operation. This can be time-consuming. However, it is the only way that a business can get a truly tailored spam filter that properly adapts to the regular pattern of email activity that the company expects to receive.

zerospam antispam

Who is it recommended for?

Zerospam offers a very reasonable price, which makes it appealing to businesses of all sizes. Its method of channeling all inbound emails means you save a lot of space on your own servers and infections won’t be able to get anywhere near your own system. This is a particularly good option for businesses that run virtual offices with a dispersed, home-based workforce.

Pros:

  • Cloud-Based Solution: Delivered as a cloud-based solution, providing easy deployment and management without the need for on-premises hardware.
  • Machine Learning: Utilizes machine learning algorithms to enhance spam detection accuracy and adapt to new threats.
  • Keyword Searches: Supports keyword searches to customize filtering rules based on specific criteria.
  • Email Archiving: Offers an email archiving option, allowing organizations to securely store and retrieve emails for compliance and record-keeping purposes.
  • Scalable Pricing: Provides scalable pricing options, allowing organizations to adjust their subscription based on their needs and user count.

Cons:

  • Custom Pricing for Large Systems: For very large systems, custom pricing may be required, which could potentially lead to higher costs or complexity in pricing structures.
  • Reliance on Cloud Infrastructure: Since ZeroSpam operates in the cloud, organizations may have concerns about data privacy and security, particularly regarding sensitive email content and metadata.

Zerospam is based in Italy and the company sets its subscription price in Euros. This is 5 Euros ($5.44/£4.39) per month to cover five mailboxes or 10 Euros ($10.88/£8.78) per month to protect up to 1,000 mailboxes. There is also a Premium plan that adds on email archiving and costs 20 Euros ($21.76/£17.56) per month for 1,000 mailboxes. You can get a 30-day free trial to test the Zerospam system.

Best anti-spam software

There is so much variety amongst anti-spam software providers that it can be difficult to choose. If you’re unsure you can’t go wrong with a tool like N-able Mail Assure or SpamTitan. Both tools are easy to use with whitelisting and blacklisting to control what mail reaches your inbox.

Email spam blocker software FAQs

Is scanning outbound emails important?

There are two important reasons to scan outgoing email. The first is to prevent spam emails from being sent from addresses on your domain. This is a reputation management issue because a high volume of spam will get all of the emails sent from your domain name filtered out as spam. The second purpose is for data loss prevention.

Can spammers tell if you open an email?

Some email systems include a read receipt notification option. However, the corresponding email clients of those systems also allow the recipient to block the sending of email opening confirmation while other systems, such as Gmail, only enable read receipt notifications between email addresses within its domain. A more common notification method is to include a tracking pixel in the email. When the recipient opens the email, the pixel loads from its home server, triggering a record that the email was opened. Recipients can prevent this notification process by setting a block on images loading in emails.

Can anti-spam software companies be trusted with my sensitive emails?

Anti-spam systems usually work as a filter. They don’t store emails on their own servers and so won’t compromise your privacy. Secure sensitive emails with end-to-end encryption to be sure that no proxy service can read the contents.