InboxMonster primarily focuses on comprehensive email deliverability, offering insights into inbox placement, spam trap monitoring, and sender reputation. It delves into pre-send workflows, creative proofing, and even SMS performance, providing a broad view of email and SMS health.
We have found its strength lies in diagnostic tools for creative elements and AI summaries for major email clients like Apple and Gmail. The platform aims to be a one-stop shop for email performance, extending beyond DMARC to cover a wider array of marketing and security aspects.
Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense specializes in email fraud defense, with a strong emphasis on DMARC deployment, domain spoofing prevention, and supplier risk visibility. Its feature set is geared towards identifying and mitigating advanced email threats across the email ecosystem.
The platform offers hosted authentication services like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to streamline management and enforce policies. This includes features to overcome DNS lookup limits for SPF and simplify DKIM key management, making it a robust solution for organizations primarily concerned with email security and brand protection.
How easy is each product to use
User experience
InboxMonster's platform is generally intuitive, and many users find it straightforward, especially with the proactive support from their client success team. The UI aims for simplicity, allowing non-deliverability experts to utilize it effectively.
While we have found the array of data and features can sometimes be overwhelming, regular check-ins with their support staff help demystify the complexities, making it accessible even for those without a strong deliverability background. The quick loading of previews and comprehensive reporting contribute to a positive experience.
While robust in its security offerings, Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense's user interface can be less intuitive. We have observed that initial configuration and ongoing management can present a learning curve, with some users describing it as not very interactive or needing more intuitive design.
However, the system's ability to filter out fraudulent emails is a core strength, even if occasional legitimate emails get caught in the robust filtering. Releasing these quarantined emails can sometimes take time, which might impact the immediate user experience for recipients.
Which product has the best support
Support
This is where InboxMonster truly shines. Their hands-on support, including dedicated consultants and proactive outreach, is consistently highlighted in user reviews. Many users describe the support as a "partnership," with analysts providing actionable insights and frequently checking accounts for issues.
We have seen their team provide excellent assistance with IP warming, directly coordinate with email providers to resolve deliverability issues, and offer tailored recommendations. This level of personalized support significantly enhances the product's value, making complex deliverability problems manageable.
Proofpoint offers a professional team that can assist with DMARC implementation and automating tasks. Their consultants are highly knowledgeable in email security and fraud prevention, which is crucial for complex enterprise deployments.
However, some users report that their support can be less responsive, sometimes requiring multiple follow-ups to get a reply. While the expertise is there, the accessibility and speed of support might be an area for improvement, especially for critical issues requiring immediate attention.
Who should use each product
Suitability
We find InboxMonster highly suitable for mid-market and enterprise businesses that prioritize proactive deliverability management and value hands-on support. Its comprehensive suite makes it ideal for marketing teams seeking to optimize email performance and maintain a strong sender reputation across various ISPs. Its "white glove setup" and dedicated consultants are a strong draw.
For MSPs (managed service providers), its multi-user capabilities combined with expert support could be beneficial, though specific multi-tenancy features are not explicitly detailed in publicly available information. SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) might find the starting price point substantial, making it a better fit for organizations with larger email volumes and budgets.
Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense is primarily designed for enterprise-level organizations with a critical need for advanced email security and fraud prevention. It is particularly strong for companies needing robust DMARC deployment, protection against sophisticated spoofing and phishing attacks, and comprehensive domain discovery.
Its focus on integrating with existing email gateways and offering hosted authentication services makes it a strategic choice for large corporations with complex IT infrastructures. While it provides comprehensive protection, its complexity and likely enterprise pricing may make it less suitable for SMBs or MSPs looking for a more cost-effective or streamlined solution.
How does InboxMonster compare with Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
DMARC report analysis
Analysis of DMARC aggregate and forensic reports.
Comprehensive deliverability insights
Focused on fraud defense
Source detection
Identifies email sending sources.
Identifies legitimate senders
Identifies legitimate senders for DMARC
Forward detection
Detects email forwarding chains.
Part of deliverability insights
Less emphasis on this aspect
Spoof detection
Identifies domain and brand impersonation attempts.
Monitors sender reputation
Core feature, including lookalike domains
Notifications and alerts
Real-time alerts for critical events.
Customizable alerts for deliverability
Alerts for fraud and policy violations
Reporting
Provides detailed reports and analytics.
Detailed deliverability and creative reports
Analytics on phishing/secure messages
API
Application Programming Interface for integration.
API for real-time email validation planned
Not a prominent feature for EFD
Multi-tenancy
Support for multiple independent client accounts.
Unlimited users, potential for MSPs
Designed for large organizations
SPF flattening
Consolidates multiple SPF records.
Not a core feature
Hosted SPF to overcome lookup limits
Hosted DMARC
Manages DMARC records externally.
DMARC monitoring, not hosted service
Simplifies DMARC record management
BIMI
Brand Indicators for Message Identification support.
Not a core offering
Not a core offering
MTA-STS/TLS-RPT
Support for secure email transport protocols.
Not a core offering
Part of hosted authentication services
Blocklists and reputation
Monitors IP and domain reputation on blacklists/blocklists.
Blocklist monitoring, reputation analysis
Monitors reputation, Virtual Takedown Service
AI copilot
AI-driven assistance and insights.
Apple & Gmail AI summaries for creative
No explicit AI copilot
DNS monitoring
Monitors DNS records for changes and issues.
Implicit with DMARC monitoring
Continuous domain discovery
Self hostable
Option to host the software on-premise.
Cloud-based SaaS
Cloud-based SaaS
Free trial/free tier
Availability of a free trial or perpetually free plan.
Paid annual plans only
Contact for pricing
Drawbacks and what to watch out for
InboxMonster's drawbacks often revolve around its higher cost compared to some alternatives, and the sheer volume of data it presents can sometimes be overwhelming without expert guidance. Some users also reported occasional seed list data outages, which can temporarily impact monitoring accuracy. Proofpoint, on the other hand, is sometimes criticized for being "overkill" with its filtering, occasionally quarantining legitimate emails, leading to delays. Its user interface is also noted as less intuitive, and some users experience slower support response times.
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.
4.9 / 5(44)
4.3 / 5(12)
Josie + InboxMonster has helped our email team tremendously!
4.0 / 5
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.)
Overkill
2.0 / 5
What do you like best about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
Great filters for junk and spam. Easy widgets in email notifications to release legit email that is not spam
What do you dislike about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
Too much filtering. At times, overkill. Filters out legitimate emails.
What problems is Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense solving and how is that benefiting you?
Protect network from illicit email spoofing. Employees that are non tech savvy that click on fishing emails.
Verified User in Food & Beverages
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
Great toolset and helpful account support
4.0 / 5
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.)
Not sure if it's worth the hassle
2.5 / 5
What do you like best about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
I do like that it auto scans my emails and sorts out the scam/fraudulent ones.
What do you dislike about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
I greatly dislike having to wait for the flagged emails, that are actually not fraudulent, but something that I am looking for. It does not send me the alert until the next day, and then once its been released and approved, it ends up taking another 10 minutes or so (Max) to get to me.
What problems is Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense solving and how is that benefiting you?
I am getting significantly fewer fraudulent/scam emails
Verified User in Construction
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Valuable Deliverability Insights
4.5 / 5
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.)
Email Protection by Proofpoint Fraud Defence
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
This product provides email protection for both Inbound and outbound emails from all the domains which help in securing the mailboxes. This adds the advantage of the analytics features alike continuously shows the volume of mails as phishing /secures messages.
What do you dislike about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
Like other proofpoint products this also has implementing and configuring problems as they are not easy to configure in the organization environment.
Recommendations to others considering Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense:
This product offers you great security over emails and customers can leverage the support and different product portfolio they offer.
What problems is Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are securing our emails from phising mails /messages for all the domains and for both inbound outbound messages.
Anjali V.
Cyber Security Analyst Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
A Game-Changer for Email Deliverability
4.5 / 5
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.)
Reliable tool for spam emails!
4.0 / 5
What do you like best about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
It's a great reliable tool and keep your inbox more secure and spam free. As a security measure this is great tool which prevents from any fraudulent emails and send alerts as necessary. I am currently using at my company and find all the spam emails being avoided. We usually receives too many on our generic email alias and this help in securing.
What do you dislike about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
It's a great tool, though I find the use of it a very little. Only being capable of avoiding spam emails. Also the dashboard is not much interactive
Recommendations to others considering Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense:
It was always better to have precaution than being penalized by unwanted threat. It's always good to be more secure and spam free and take preventive steps towards running your business securely.
What problems is Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense solving and how is that benefiting you?
We consider our emails to be safe and spam free. And probably easy to set up
Verified User in Information Technology and Services
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
Great tool with excellent consulting support
4.5 / 5
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
What do you like best about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
Ability to filter by most likely spam emails. We also have the ability to open up domains.
What do you dislike about Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?
The UI can be a bit more intuitive if it was up to me.
Recommendations to others considering Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense:
I would recommend for the ease of use and security features offered.
What problems is Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense solving and how is that benefiting you?
Fraud emails and Spam emails for our Enterprise account.
Verified User in Computer & Network Security
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
Pricing
InboxMonster offers suite-based annual pricing starting at $3,000, while Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense does not publicly disclose pricing, requiring direct contact for a quote.
Small
Up to 10k emails / month
Contact for pricing, suites start at $3,000/year
Contact for pricing
Medium
Up to 100k emails / month
Contact for pricing, suites start at $3,000/year
Contact for pricing
Large
Up to 1 million emails / month
Contact for pricing, suites start at $3,000/year
Contact for pricing
Enterprise
Over 1 million emails / month
Contact for pricing, suites start at $3,000/year
Contact for pricing
Suped hard sell incoming!
Still not satisfied with InboxMonster or Proofpoint Email Fraud Defense?