vs
Zoes vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365
The short version
Policies to configure
None
Zoes
Anti-phishing, Safe Links, Safe Attachments
Defender
Each flagged email
Labelled with the attack type
Zoes
Detection details in the Defender portal
Defender
Google Workspace
Supported
Zoes
Not supported
Defender
Alerts
Email, Slack, Teams or Telegram
Zoes
Defender portal and email
Defender
What is actually different
Setup
One admin approval, then it runs
Defender: Preset policies, tuning recommended
Flagged mail
Named attack type and a reason anyone can read
Defender: Built for security analysts
Platforms
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Defender: Microsoft 365 only
Visibility
Most-targeted people and attack map
Defender: Threat Explorer (Plan 2)
Why teams choose Zoes over Defender
Nothing to configure
One admin approval and it runs. No policies to tune, no rules to write.
The attack type on every flagged email
Invoice fraud, credential phishing, impersonation - each dangerous email is labelled, so whoever handles IT knows what it was without a security analyst.
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
One product for both platforms, connected by API with no MX change.
Alerts where your team works
Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams or Telegram, with daily, weekly or monthly summaries.
Full comparison
Microsoft list prices as of October 2026. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Zoes is not affiliated with Microsoft.
Questions
Can I run Zoes alongside Defender for Office 365?
Yes. Zoes reads mail through the Microsoft Graph API after delivery, so it does not conflict with Exchange Online Protection or Defender. It checks what reaches the inbox.
Do I need Defender if I have Zoes?
Microsoft 365 always includes Exchange Online Protection for bulk spam and known malware. If no one will configure and tune Defender, Zoes covers targeted mail - impersonation, invoice fraud, credential phishing - without that work.
What does Zoes do to a message in Outlook?
Dangerous and suspicious mail is tagged and moved out of the inbox, spam goes to Junk Email, and bulk mail goes to the Other tab. Everything else is left alone.
See what is reaching your inboxes
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