Is Cloudflare DMARC Management truly free?

Cloudflare's DMARC Management is currently available in beta, and users can join the waitlist for free. Their general pricing structure also includes free plans for other services, but specific pricing for DMARC beyond beta would be part of their broader tiered offerings.

What is the primary difference in approach between Cloudflare and Palisade for DMARC?

Cloudflare offers DMARC as part of a comprehensive internet security and performance suite, ideal for users already in their ecosystem or seeking consolidated services. Palisade, on the other hand, is a highly specialized DMARC reporting and management tool, providing a focused solution for email authentication without the breadth of other features.

Which product is better for small businesses?

For small businesses, if you prioritize an all-in-one solution and are already a Cloudflare user, their DMARC Management can be convenient. If you prefer a dedicated, straightforward DMARC tool without additional complexities, Palisade's specialized approach might be a better fit.

Does Palisade offer a free trial?

Based on the information we have, Palisade does not publicly advertise a free trial or free tier. It is recommended to contact them directly for pricing and trial options.

How do their support models compare?

Cloudflare has tiered support, with extensive self-service options for lower plans and dedicated support for enterprise clients. Palisade, being specialized, tends to offer more direct and focused support for DMARC-specific issues, which can be beneficial for users seeking expert guidance without navigating a broad product portfolio.

Cloudflare vs Palisade

Choose Cloudflare for a broad security suite; choose Palisade for focused DMARC management.

4.5 / 5(561)

Compare to Suped

0 / 5(0)

Compare to Suped

Compare product functionality

Feature set

Cloudflare's DMARC Management is part of a much larger ecosystem, providing a holistic approach to internet security. When we explored its DMARC features, we found them to be robust, integrating well with their existing DNS and security offerings. The platform aims to give you a single pane of glass for various security needs, including DMARC, DNS, WAF, and CDN, which can be a huge advantage for organizations already leveraging Cloudflare for other services.

Their DMARC service focuses on delivering comprehensive reporting and visualization, helping you understand your email authentication landscape. It provides insights into email sources, authentication results (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and potential spoofing attempts. Because it's part of a larger security infrastructure, we also benefit from Cloudflare's extensive threat intelligence, which subtly enhances its ability to identify malicious email traffic.

Palisade positions itself as a specialized DMARC reporting and management tool, concentrating solely on email authentication. Our experience with Palisade showed a strong dedication to core DMARC functionalities. It offers detailed DMARC reports, making it straightforward to pinpoint legitimate and fraudulent email sources.

While Palisade might not offer the breadth of security features found in a platform like Cloudflare, its specialized focus means that its DMARC specific tools are often deeply developed and intuitive for those whose primary concern is email authentication. We found it to be a solid choice for organizations that need a dedicated DMARC solution without the overhead of a broader security suite.

How easy is each product to use

User experience

Cloudflare's user experience is generally smooth, especially if you are already familiar with their ecosystem. The DMARC reporting interface is integrated into their broader dashboard, which can be a double-edged sword. For existing Cloudflare users, it feels natural. However, for newcomers, navigating the vast array of features to find specific DMARC settings can sometimes be overwhelming. We appreciate the consistent UI across their products.

Setup typically involves pointing your DNS to Cloudflare, which is a common practice for their services. Once that's done, configuring DMARC records and viewing reports is relatively intuitive, though some advanced configurations might require digging into their extensive documentation. We found their visualization of DMARC aggregate reports to be clear, providing actionable insights into email traffic.

Palisade offers a focused user experience, designed specifically for DMARC management. The dashboard is clean and streamlined, making it easy to access DMARC reports, configure policies, and identify issues quickly. We found the onboarding process to be quite direct, largely because there's less peripheral functionality to contend with, allowing us to get straight to DMARC data.

Its reporting interface is highly specialized, offering granular control and detailed breakdowns of DMARC enforcement, SPF, and DKIM alignment. For users who want a tool solely dedicated to DMARC without the distraction of other security features, Palisade's UI is generally more straightforward and less intimidating. The dedicated focus helps in quickly understanding and acting on email authentication data.

Which product has the best support

Support

Cloudflare's support structure is tiered, reflecting its vast customer base from free users to large enterprises. For DMARC, we've observed that standard support for non-enterprise plans can sometimes be slow to respond, with an emphasis on self-service through their extensive knowledge base and community forums. While the documentation is comprehensive, getting direct, personalized assistance for specific DMARC issues can be challenging on lower tiers.

However, for enterprise clients, Cloudflare offers dedicated support channels with faster response times and more in-depth technical assistance. Our experience suggests that the quality of support scales with your plan. If you're a small business, you might rely heavily on community support, whereas larger organizations benefit from more direct access to their expert teams.

Palisade, as a more specialized provider, often has a more accessible and focused support team for DMARC related inquiries. We found that their support is typically more hands-on, leveraging their expertise specifically in email authentication. This can be a significant advantage for organizations that require direct guidance without navigating a broader product portfolio.

While Palisade might not have the sheer volume of documentation that a giant like Cloudflare does, the directness and expertise of their support for DMARC issues often make up for it. Our interactions generally resulted in prompt and knowledgeable assistance, geared towards resolving specific DMARC configuration and reporting challenges effectively.

Who should use each product

Suitability

Cloudflare's DMARC Management is best suited for organizations already within the Cloudflare ecosystem, or those looking for a comprehensive suite of internet security and performance services. For **Enterprise** clients, it offers seamless integration and a unified platform for security, making it highly suitable for large organizations with complex needs. It is also a strong contender for **SMBs** that value consolidated services, especially if they are already using Cloudflare's DNS or WAF.

For **MSPs**, Cloudflare can offer a powerful, scalable solution to manage DMARC alongside other security services for multiple clients, though the learning curve for the entire suite might be a consideration. Organizations that prefer a single vendor for a wide range of web and email security needs will find Cloudflare appealing.

Palisade is ideal for organizations specifically seeking a dedicated, focused DMARC reporting and management solution without the added complexity of a broader security platform. It's an excellent fit for **SMBs** that want a straightforward, effective tool to achieve DMARC compliance and monitor their email senders. Its specialized nature makes it easy to implement and manage without deep technical expertise in multiple security domains.

For **MSPs**, Palisade offers a clear, specialized tool to provide DMARC services to their clients, potentially simplifying the onboarding and management process compared to a sprawling platform. While it can serve **Enterprise** clients, especially those that prefer best-of-breed solutions for each security layer, its primary appeal lies in its singular focus on DMARC excellence.

How does Cloudflare compare with Palisade?

DMARC report analysis

Ability to parse and visualize DMARC aggregate and forensic reports.

Source detection

Identify all senders using your domain, legitimate or otherwise.

Forward detection

Detect and analyze email forwarding chains that might impact DMARC.

Spoof detection

Identify and alert on email spoofing attempts against your domain.

Notifications and alerts

Receive real-time alerts for DMARC compliance issues or suspicious activity.

Reporting

Generate various reports on email authentication and compliance.

API

Programmatic access to DMARC data and configuration.

Multi-tenancy

Manage DMARC for multiple domains or clients from a single account.

SPF flattening

Simplify SPF records to avoid the 10-lookup limit.

Hosted DMARC

Provides hosted DMARC records and management.

BIMI

Support for Brand Indicators for Message Identification.

MTA-STS/TLS-RPT

Support for email transport security standards.

Blocklists and reputation

Monitoring email blocklists (or blacklists) and sender reputation.

More focused on DMARC authentication, less on broader reputation monitoring.

AI copilot

AI-powered assistance for DMARC policy management and insights.

DNS monitoring

Monitors general DNS health and changes beyond DMARC records.

Focuses on DMARC records but not broader DNS monitoring.

Self hostable

Option to self-host the DMARC reporting solution.

Free trial/free tier

Availability of a free trial or a permanently free service tier.

DMARC Management currently in free beta.

No public free trial or tier available.

Drawbacks and what to watch out for

When considering Cloudflare, we've observed that its primary drawbacks often revolve around its support responsiveness for non-enterprise tiers and the sheer complexity of its vast platform, which can be daunting if DMARC is your only focus. For Palisade, the main drawback stems from its lack of public pricing, making it harder for potential users to evaluate costs upfront, and the absence of publicly available reviews means less external validation of its service quality and user experience.

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.

4.5 / 5(561)

0 / 5(0)

Horrible Support and Billing - They run with your money and don't care to get billing correct

0.0 / 5

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.)

No G2 reviews

G2 is the most popular review platform for DMARC products, so this is a strong signal that this product is not popular.

Support very unresponsive. Not understanding P1 urgency. Delayed project 3 whole days.

0.0 / 5

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.)

WAF is good, but so many half baked side features

2.5 / 5

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.)

Love the product- support could use some work

2.5 / 5

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.)

Don't Pay for Support

2.5 / 5

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.)

Pricing

Cloudflare offers a free beta for DMARC Management and a tiered pricing model for its broader services, while Palisade's pricing is not publicly disclosed and requires direct contact.

Small

Up to 10k emails / month

Free (beta) / Contact for pricing

Contact for pricing

Medium

Up to 100k emails / month

Contact for pricing

Large

Up to 1 million emails / month

Contact for pricing

Enterprise

Over 1 million emails / month