Abnormal Security vs Tessian
Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool
Abnormal Security
Content Marketing
Abnormal Security revolutionizes email protection with behavioral AI that detects sophisticated threats like business email compromise, account takeover, and vendor fraud that bypass traditional signature-based gateways. By analyzing thousands of signals per message and learning normal communication patterns, it catches socially engineered attacks that contain no malicious payloads.
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~$30/user/year (enterprise, custom quoted)Tessian
🟢No CodeContent Marketing
AI-powered email security platform using behavioral analysis to prevent phishing, data loss, and misdirected emails. Now integrated into Proofpoint's email protection suite following the December 2023 acquisition.
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Starting Price
EnterpriseFeature Comparison
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Abnormal Security - Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓Behavioral AI detects novel BEC, vendor fraud, and executive impersonation attacks that contain no malicious payloads — catching socially engineered threats that signature-based gateways routinely miss, with reported detection rates up to 65% higher than traditional solutions
- ✓API-based deployment to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace completes in minutes with no MX record changes, no gateway reconfiguration, and no disruption to existing mail flow, dramatically reducing implementation complexity and time-to-value compared to traditional SEGs
- ✓Analyzes internal east-west email traffic in addition to inbound messages, enabling detection of compromised internal accounts, lateral phishing, and account takeover attempts that purely inbound-focused tools cannot see
- ✓AI Security Mailbox automatically triages user-reported phishing emails with AI-powered investigation and response, reducing SOC analyst workload by up to 95% and providing consistent, rapid feedback to end users who report suspicious messages
- ✓Rich forensics per incident — named threat actors, attack timeline reconstruction, behavioral deviation explanations, and detailed reasoning for each detection decision — give security teams the context they need to understand and trust the AI's determinations
- ✓Expanding platform now covers posture management, graymail filtering, account takeover protection, and multi-channel messaging security for Slack and Teams, positioning Abnormal as a comprehensive communication security solution beyond traditional email protection
Cons
- ✗Premium enterprise pricing on a per-mailbox annual basis makes the platform cost-prohibitive for small and mid-sized businesses, with no self-service tier or SMB-friendly pricing option currently available
- ✗Requires a learning period of approximately one to two weeks to build behavioral baselines across the organization, during which detection accuracy may be lower and some false positives or missed threats may occur
- ✗Pricing is not publicly listed — every deal requires a custom sales engagement and quote process, making it difficult for organizations to budget or compare costs without entering a lengthy evaluation cycle
- ✗Primarily a cloud email product: organizations still running on-premises Exchange, Lotus Notes, or other legacy email systems cannot use the platform, limiting adoption for enterprises that have not fully migrated to cloud email
- ✗As an overlay that operates post-delivery, it generally complements rather than fully replaces existing email security infrastructure, meaning organizations may still need to maintain a SEG or native protection alongside Abnormal for comprehensive coverage
Tessian - Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓Behavioral approach catches sophisticated threats that rule-based filters miss entirely
- ✓Unique misdirected email prevention capability that most competitors lack
- ✓Non-disruptive security education model builds user awareness without blocking productivity
- ✓Fast 24-hour deployment with immediate protection through historical data analysis
- ✓Now backed by Proofpoint's enterprise infrastructure, threat intelligence, and global support
- ✓API-based deployment requires no email flow changes or infrastructure modifications
Cons
- ✗No longer available as standalone product—requires purchasing Proofpoint's enterprise email security suite
- ✗Enterprise-only pricing puts advanced behavioral features out of reach for small and mid-market businesses
- ✗Behavioral models require several weeks of learning period to reach optimal accuracy for new users
- ✗Integration into Proofpoint's platform means original Tessian UI and standalone management experience no longer available
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