Email security · October 2026 Edition
Abnormal AI vs IRONSCALES
Two of fourteen models named Abnormal AI first on the direct prompt; one named IRONSCALES. Abnormal AI was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and IRONSCALES by twelve and Abnormal AI carries 42 labels and IRONSCALES 26, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share4%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate2%0%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#7#8A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels4226A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Abnormal AI reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Proofpoint Email Protection was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Abnormal AI · Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs IRONSCALES · SpamTitan vs Abnormal AI
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the email security page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Abnormal AIFirst choices, of fourteen modelsIRONSCALES
Direct21
Paraphrase00
Comparative30
Budget-constrained00
Scale-constrained00
Negative311 against Abnormal AI
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES were named in the same answer forty-six times, of the 111 answers naming Abnormal AI and the 75 naming IRONSCALES. In those answers IRONSCALES took the first choice nine times and Abnormal AI two.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | |||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | ||||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | ||||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | |||||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | |
Abnormal AI IRONSCALES first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Abnormal AI on the left and IRONSCALES on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Abnormal AI and IRONSCALES stood in it.
Abnormal AI first, IRONSCALES not the choice
2 of 14 modelsIRONSCALES was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.DeepSeek V4 FlashAbnormal AI alternatives: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint Email Protection
GPT-6 LunaAbnormal AI alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
IRONSCALES first, Abnormal AI an alternative
1 of 14 modelsAbnormal AI was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Kimi K2IRONSCALES alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Barracuda Email Protection alternatives: IRONSCALES, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security, Proofpoint Email Protection
Gemini 3.5 FlashCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, IRONSCALES
Grok 4.1 FastProofpoint 365 Total Protection alternatives: Abnormal AI, Mimecast Email Security
Qwen 3.7 FlashProofpoint Email Protection alternatives: Abnormal AI, IRONSCALES, Microsoft Defender for Office 365
GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Integrated Email Protection, IRONSCALES, Proofpoint Email Protection
Muse Glimmer 30BProofpoint Email Protection alternatives: Abnormal AI, Barracuda Email Protection, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Guardian Digital, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, ThreatDown Email Security, Trustifi
Neither was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Perplexity SonarMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 alternatives: Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Mimecast Email Security
Mistral SmallCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Proofpoint Email Protection alternatives: Mimecast Email Security, Symantec Email Security.cloud
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
MiniMax M2.5Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, Mimecast Email Security
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
IRONSCALES leads by nine points.
IRONSCALES11%#3 of 10Abnormal AI2%#9 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Abnormal AI leads at mid-market.
Abnormal AI4%#7 of 9IRONSCALES2%#8 of 9Enterprise
Abnormal AI leads by eight points.
Abnormal AI10%#3 of 8IRONSCALES2%#5 of 8What the models said about Abnormal AI
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Abnormal Security (caution, not avoid)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd shortlist Abnormal AI as the best add-on for catching business-email-compromise (BEC), vendor impersonation, and other attacks that slip past standard filtering” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
“Abnormal Security is the top AI-native option for teams that need API-based detection of social-engineering attacks without gateway overhead.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“These solutions (such as Abnormal Security, Avanan, or Sublime) connect directly to your email provider via native APIs.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
What the models said about IRONSCALES
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.
“prioritize Behavioral AI (like Abnormal AI or IRONSCALES) over signature-based gateways” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, I'd recommend IRONSCALES as the top choice” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“Modern solutions (like Abnormal Security, Check Point/Avanan, Ironscales, or Sublime Security) connect directly to Microsoft or Google via API.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · alternative
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Abnormal AIMicrosoft Defender for Office 365 vs IRONSCALESSpamTitan vs Abnormal AISpamTitan vs IRONSCALESMimecast Email Security vs Abnormal AIMimecast Email Security vs IRONSCALESBarracuda Email Protection vs Abnormal AIBarracuda Email Protection vs IRONSCALESProofpoint Email Protection vs Abnormal AIProofpoint Email Protection vs IRONSCALESCheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Abnormal AICheck Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs IRONSCALESAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full email security standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.