Suped

Cloudflare vs InboxMonster

Choose Cloudflare for a broad security suite including DMARC, choose InboxMonster for dedicated email deliverability expertise.
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Compare product functionality

Feature set

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Cloudflare's DMARC Management is a component of its extensive security and performance ecosystem. It provides core DMARC reporting capabilities, allowing us to gain visibility into email authentication, identify unauthorized senders, and monitor email traffic patterns. It integrates with Cloudflare's broader DNS and security offerings.
We found that its strength lies in consolidating DMARC with other critical web services, such as WAF, CDN, and DNS. This offers a unified approach to digital asset protection, making it convenient for organizations already leveraging Cloudflare for their web infrastructure. It's less about deep-dive email specifics and more about overarching domain health.
InboxMonster is a specialist in email deliverability, and its DMARC reporting is part of a comprehensive suite designed to ensure emails land in the inbox. Beyond basic aggregation, it focuses on providing actionable insights, correlating DMARC data with inbox placement, blocklist (or blacklist) monitoring, and spam trap hit analysis.
Our experience shows that InboxMonster excels at granular data interpretation, helping us understand the 'why' behind DMARC failures and how they impact deliverability. It's built for email marketers and deliverability professionals who need to optimize their email channel performance, offering deep dives into ISP feedback and sender reputation.
How easy is each product to use

User experience

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Cloudflare’s dashboard is generally intuitive for those familiar with DNS management and web security. We found the DMARC section to be straightforward for initial setup and viewing aggregated reports, especially if our domain's DNS is already managed by Cloudflare.
However, for users solely focused on DMARC or new to Cloudflare's ecosystem, the breadth of options can be overwhelming. The DMARC interface itself is functional but may lack the specialized, email-centric visualizations that dedicated DMARC tools offer. It feels like an add-on, albeit a well-integrated one.
InboxMonster offers a user interface tailored specifically for email professionals. We found it relatively easy to navigate, with reports and dashboards designed to highlight critical deliverability metrics. The focus is clearly on making complex email data understandable and actionable.
While there's a learning curve with any specialized tool, InboxMonster's emphasis on deliverability means the interface guides users towards relevant insights for email performance. Some initial users might find the sheer amount of data intimidating, but its structure helps make sense of it quickly.
Which product has the best support

Support

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Cloudflare's support can vary significantly depending on the service tier. For DMARC Management, which is currently in beta, support channels are primarily through community forums and general Cloudflare documentation. For paid plans, we've experienced a range of response times, with enterprise customers typically receiving dedicated assistance.
Many users report that getting timely and detailed technical support for non-critical issues on lower tiers can be a challenge. While the documentation is extensive, specific DMARC troubleshooting might require more direct interaction than is readily available without a premium plan.
InboxMonster prides itself on a 'white glove' support approach. Our experience confirms this, with a strong emphasis on dedicated account reps and proactive outreach. They often provide actionable insights and recommendations without us even asking, which is a significant advantage.
The support team is highly knowledgeable in email deliverability, and we've found them instrumental in helping us navigate complex ISP challenges and reputation recovery. This hands-on, consultative support is a key differentiator, making it feel more like a partnership than a typical vendor relationship.
Who should use each product

Suitability

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Cloudflare is best suited for organizations already using or planning to use its ecosystem for broader web security, CDN, and DNS management. For these users, DMARC becomes another seamlessly integrated layer of protection. SMBs and enterprises looking for a unified security stack will find value here.
MSPs managing a diverse portfolio of web properties can leverage Cloudflare for a consistent security posture across clients. It's less ideal for organizations whose primary focus is deep email deliverability optimization without also needing Cloudflare's other services.
InboxMonster is designed for email-intensive businesses, agencies, and ESPs where email deliverability directly impacts revenue and operations. It's an excellent choice for enterprises and mid-market companies that need granular control and expert guidance over their email programs.
MSPs specializing in email marketing or deliverability services for their clients will find InboxMonster's features and consultative support highly valuable. While SMBs focused on critical email channels can benefit, its pricing structure generally targets organizations with significant email volume and a need for dedicated deliverability expertise.
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DMARC report analysis
Source detection
Forward detection
Spoof detection
Notifications and alerts
Reporting
API
Multi-tenancy
SPF flattening
Not a native DMARC feature, can be achieved via Cloudflare Workers.
Hosted DMARC
BIMI
Focuses on DMARC policy, less direct BIMI support.
MTA-STS/TLS-RPT
Blocklists and reputation
Primarily focused on DMARC, less on comprehensive email blocklist monitoring.
AI copilot
DNS monitoring
Monitors DMARC records, but not general DNS health.
Self hostable
Free trial/free tier

Drawbacks and what to watch out for

When considering the drawbacks, Cloudflare's DMARC offering, while functional, can feel less specialized. Its support structure might not meet the needs of those requiring in-depth, rapid email-specific assistance. InboxMonster's primary drawback is its cost, being a premium, specialized solution that might be out of reach for smaller operations. Its comprehensive feature set, while powerful, can also have a learning curve if not utilized with their hands-on support.
We have pulled the average ratings from G2 for each product, and also included the most recent negative reviews for each product in full. Positive reviews tend to have less detail and have a higher chance of being fraudulent, so negative reviews are a better signal for your decision.
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Horrible Support and Billing - They run with your money and don't care to get billing correct
What do you like best about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? Ease of deployment, dashboard and configurations for the WAF, Cache, and other features are top tier with ease, settings, and logging. Just don't have an issue with them or you're on your own. Also, don't keep a credit card on file or they'll bill you for their mistakes. What do you dislike about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? Customer support and billing. Their support does not read what you have to say but rather comes in with their own interpretation of what has happened and forces their views on your issue rather than trying to understand exactly what is happening. On two occassions in the last few months I have had this happen when I encountered an issue with the core product and their billing. The billing should be detailed further as it is sketchy business practices. Back in April they changed their billing software and charged me incorrectly for a month as it included the previous month as well (which I already paid). I brought this to their attention and the billing support assured me that it was not a problem. Come last week, they limited my account as I "had unpaid biling" so I contacted them again and brought attention to this wrong invoice that they never corrected. Come yesterday, they just charged my credit card on file without my authorization or explanination of what is going on. I've replied to the open ticket and created a new ticket and no one is answering. I don't want to be a drama case but this is ridiculous to have been charged something from months ago and not be given an explanation. What problems is Cloudflare Application Security and Performance solving and how is that benefiting you? Improve the security and performance of our websites/applications. Their configurable/customizable WAF, CDN/Caching, bot mitigation, and DDoS protection accomplish this for our websites/applications.
Jim M.
Owner Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Josie + InboxMonster has helped our email team tremendously!
What do you like best about Inbox Monster? I'm newer to the email team that utilizes InboxMonster but from what I've gathered from my coworker who has worked with Josie and InboxMonster for over a year, Josie was instrumental in providing actionable insights to enhance deliverability. What do you dislike about Inbox Monster? We don't have a proper CRM tool to leverage so InboxMonster isn't as much a problem as the tool we're using for email. What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you? At the beginning of the year, the team discussed solutions such as better domain/IP allocation, stricter demark policies, and monitoring iCloud; they also noted the impact of email frequency and rogue franchisees on complaint rates. Next steps included investigating unsubscribe inconsistencies, exploring click activity data, discussing IP address optimization, and a future demo of Inbox Monster's "Creative Projects" tool; Josie Garcia will also provide further ISP and deliverability information. Most recently, Josie shared SendGrid-specific recommendations, best practices, and provided platform training, including user management, notifications, campaign tagging, subscriber insights, and spam trap analysis.
Verified User in Maritime
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Support very unresponsive. Not understanding P1 urgency. Delayed project 3 whole days.
What do you like best about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? The website is intuitive, implementation steps are straightforward. It has numerous features, and they are indeed needed by a web app. What do you dislike about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? If your implementation goes well, it's fine. However, if you are in trouble, the support doc is useless. You pay for the pro plan to try to get some technician support. No one cares about your business or service, even if you identify it as a P1 urgency. My project was down and could not get anyone to help me when I identified it as a high-impact ticket. What problems is Cloudflare Application Security and Performance solving and how is that benefiting you? The ticket support system is horrible. No technicians provide you with timely manner answers and support. Not worth the price.
Andrew Z.
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Great toolset and helpful account support
What do you like best about Inbox Monster? The toolset is very robust and they are consistently adding to the functionality. The account support has also been great and incredibly proactive. Thom is the best and always super helpful. What do you dislike about Inbox Monster? Right now, there is nothing currently that I do not like or appreciate about Inbox Monster. What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you? Inbox Monster is helping us manage and get insight into deliverability problems when they arise. There is a great toolset that is built behind this management and the additional tools with respect to content rendering is super helpful.
Verified User in Publishing
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
WAF is good, but so many half baked side features
What do you like best about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? The WAF is pretty industry standard. Its not too slow, gets regular updates, easy to deploy and cheap What do you dislike about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? The side features are just trash. Its clear they have been shipped and dropped. Cloudflare Bot Detection should not exist. Its not even funny how easy it is to bypass. Page Shield is a joke, their API security is a joke. What problems is Cloudflare Application Security and Performance solving and how is that benefiting you? OWASP top 10
Verified User in Computer Software
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Valuable Deliverability Insights
What do you like best about Inbox Monster? Inbox Monster provides a lot of valuable insights into how are email deliverability is across many different email service providers. What do you dislike about Inbox Monster? Inbox Monster has many features and data sets, but not all of the data feels immediately actionable and I don't understand what every feature does. What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you? Before Inbox Monster, we couldn't see where our emails were landing or what seeds were having deliverability issues.
Verified User in Higher Education
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
Love the product- support could use some work
What do you like best about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? Super easy to use. Very developer friendly. Tons of value for price. Undoubtedly #1 in WAF. What do you dislike about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? Could use some better support. No direct channels for tech questions. What problems is Cloudflare Application Security and Performance solving and how is that benefiting you? It's providing great security for our web app.
Verified User in Computer Software
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
A Game-Changer for Email Deliverability
What do you like best about Inbox Monster? Inbox Monster has been a life saver for our email program. We have worked with Josie for just under a year, but the amount of dedication and support she provided to analyze our deliverability, help us come up with an action plan to remediate our poor deliverability and sender reputation, and ongoing monitoring of trends after working through our issues, has played a significant role in the health and success of our email marketing. Josie is always quick to respond and will walk through the issues with us, giving us valuable insights and recommendations along the way. My team does not have a strong background in deliverability, but Josie and the Inbox Monster team, has made a very technical part of email marketing very easy to understand and action against, allowing us to grow our skillset while also educating the rest of the company on deliverability best practices to ensure we do not fall into the same mess that we worked so hard to pull ourselves out of. In October 2024, we found out, with the help of Inbox Monster, that our inbox rate with Gmail was at 1% with low sender reputation. After working with Josie, we were able to increase and maintain our Gmail inbox rate to 95-100% with high sender reputation within 4 months. I cannot recommend Inbox Monster enough. What do you dislike about Inbox Monster? Email deliverability is overwhelming. This is not an Inbox Monster issue. The team at Inbox Monster is incredibly knowledgeable and gives so much information. A lot of the time, the analysis is easy to follow while meeting with the Inbox Monster team, but the amount of numbers and tabs within the platform make it a little difficult to follow on our own. We have a wonderful support team who are willing to meet at our cadence to discuss, but it's a bit difficult to do our own analysis outside of those meetings. What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you? Inbox Monster helps provide valuable insight to our email deliverability and sender reputation.
Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
Don't Pay for Support
What do you like best about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? In general, cloudflare is really easy to navigate, especially for simple DNS and domain management. Unless you have a complicated setup, I find it easy enough to move a domain or simply manage DNS for most sites. What do you dislike about Cloudflare Application Security and Performance? Their support is terrible. Had an issue with a client's DNS and the person I was talking to clearly didn't have a clue what they were talking about. They took so long between answers, it seemed like they were just asking someone else. Ultimately, they were of no help and we were out the money we paid to have live support. What problems is Cloudflare Application Security and Performance solving and how is that benefiting you? Makes DNS and Security easy for most websites and domains.
Verified User in Marketing and Advertising
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Great tool with excellent consulting support
What do you like best about Inbox Monster? Clear reporting to understand our deliverability/inboxing, as well as domain/IP reputation factors. And the consulting services offered save us a ton of time, as they leverage existing relationships with email providers to troubleshoot/address inboxing issues. Super easy to use and onboard as well. What do you dislike about Inbox Monster? Everything is worth it, but the tool costs more than other deliverability platforms, however, that's largely because they are taking on the work of coordinating with email providers What problems is Inbox Monster solving and how is that benefiting you? They offer a one-stop shop of crucial information to understand our sending domain/ip health, and most importantly, offer services that help us work with email providers quickly and effectively. This saves our team a ton of time we would otherwise have to spend coordinating with each ESP
Brandon G.
Senior Manager, Marketing Operations Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

Pricing

Cloudflare's DMARC Management is currently in beta with a free tier, while InboxMonster offers comprehensive, specialized suites starting at $3,000 annually, billed annually.
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Small
Free (Beta)
Contact for pricing
Medium
Free (Beta)
Creative suite from $3k/yr
Large
Free (Beta)
Deliverability suite from $15k/yr
Enterprise
Contact for pricing
Contact for custom pricing

Suped hard sell incoming!

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Suped double trouble

What makes Suped different

Automated sender discovery that finds shadow IT and third-party services
DMARC copilot that pinpoints failures and prescribes the exact fix
Guided path to full p=reject enforcement, safely and quickly
Proactive alerts to prevent misconfigurations before they block your mail
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Frequently asked questions