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Cybersecurity · head to head

Mimecast vs VMware Carbon Black

Mimecast logo

Mimecast

Cybersecurity

Email and collaboration security

From
$4/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
V

VMware Carbon Black

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered endpoint protection and EDR, now owned by Broadcom and positioned alongside Symantec.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Mimecast no pricing is published for any product or plan, and every route ends at a quote or demo request; VMware Carbon Black broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • They diverge on capability: Mimecast covers Advanced threat detection, VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mimecast and VMware Carbon Black actually diverge.

Attributes where Mimecast and VMware Carbon Black differ
AttributeMimecastVMware Carbon Black
Starting price$4/monthOn request
PlatformsEmail, Cloud, CollaborationDesktop, Api
Founded20032002

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mimecast

  • Advanced threat detection
  • Secure sharing
  • Email encryption
  • Message tracking
  • Email archiving
  • Legal hold
  • eDiscovery
  • Backup and recovery

Only in VMware Carbon Black

  • Endpoint Standard
  • Enterprise EDR
  • Audit and Remediation
  • Single sensor
  • Live Response
  • Workload protection
  • Container security
  • Watchlists and feeds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mimecast

  • Email security filtering against phishing and targeted attacksnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Email archiving, continuity and compliance for organisationsnot VMware Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black

  • A SOC that wants unfiltered endpoint telemetry to hunt over rather than only vendor-generated alertsnot Mimecast
  • A vSphere estate that wants workload protection deployed through the hypervisor instead of installing an agent in every guestnot Mimecast
  • Replacing signature antivirus after an incident where the incumbent product had no record of what the attacker didnot Mimecast
  • An organisation already inside a Broadcom or Symantec enterprise agreement that can consolidate endpoint onto an existing contractnot Mimecast

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mimecast

  • No pricing is published for any product or plan, and every route ends at a quote or demo request
  • The platform is split into separately sold products for email security, awareness training, data protection and governance
  • Collaboration threat protection, DMARC analysis, incident response and email archiving are all further add ons on top of those

VMware Carbon Black

  • Broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • Continuous EDR recording is retained for a defined window and longer retention is a paid tier, so the investigation you most need is often the one whose telemetry has already aged out, and that is discovered during the incident rather than before it.
  • The product assumes an operator: watchlists, policy tuning and alert triage are ongoing work, and organisations without a dedicated analyst or an MDR contract typically leave policies in monitor mode and pay for telemetry that is never reviewed.
  • The sensor operates in the same kernel and file-filter territory as other endpoint agents, so running it alongside an incumbent antivirus, DLP or backup agent commonly produces performance complaints and requires maintained exclusion lists on both sides.
  • Linux sensor support is tied to specific distribution and kernel versions, so a routine operating system upgrade can leave hosts without a supported sensor until a matching build ships, and anything outside the supported list gets no coverage at all.

Pricing, plan by plan

Mimecast

$4/month
  • Defender$4/month
    • Per user
    • Threat protection
    • Impersonation prevention
  • Archive$3/month
    • Email archiving
    • Legal hold
    • Search & recall
  • Unified$6/month
    • All Defender features
    • All Archive features
    • Backup

VMware Carbon Black

On request
  • CB Endpoint StandardFree
    • NGAV
    • Behavioral EDR
    • Device control
  • CB Endpoint AdvancedFree
    • All Standard features
    • Threat hunting
    • Audit and remediation
  • CB Endpoint EnterpriseFree
    • All Advanced features
    • Advanced threat hunting
    • Live response

Which should you pick?

Choose Mimecast if

  • You need advanced threat detection.
  • You work on Email, Cloud, Collaboration.
  • You also want secure sharing.
Mimecast review

Choose VMware Carbon Black if

  • You need endpoint standard.
  • You work on Desktop, Api.
  • You also want enterprise edr.
VMware Carbon Black review

Questions people ask

Is Mimecast or VMware Carbon Black better?
Neither clearly leads. Mimecast starts at $4/month and VMware Carbon Black at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mimecast or VMware Carbon Black?
Mimecast starts at $4/month and VMware Carbon Black at On request.
Does Mimecast or VMware Carbon Black run on more platforms?
Mimecast runs on Email, Cloud, Collaboration. VMware Carbon Black runs on Desktop, Api.
What is Mimecast best used for?
Mimecast is most often used for email security filtering against phishing and targeted attacks, email archiving, continuity and compliance for organisations. Of those, email security filtering against phishing and targeted attacks and email archiving, continuity and compliance for organisations are not what VMware Carbon Black is typically brought in for.
What can Mimecast do that VMware Carbon Black cannot?
Mimecast covers Advanced threat detection, Secure sharing, Email encryption, Message tracking. VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard, Enterprise EDR, Audit and Remediation, Single sensor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mimecast: How much does Mimecast cost?

Mimecast does not publish pricing on its website. Customers must request a custom quote by contacting the sales team at +1 617 393 7000 or using the Get a Quote button.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Who owns Carbon Black now?

Broadcom. It acquired VMware in November 2023, and Carbon Black now sits in Broadcom's enterprise security business alongside Symantec. VMware branding is being phased out.

Mimecast: Is there a free trial of Mimecast?

Mimecast's trial and pricing options are not specified on the public website. Contact sales at +1 617 393 7000 or through their support portal at mimecastsupport.zendesk.com for trial availability.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Why do the docs use names I do not recognise?

The product has been renamed repeatedly. CB Defense is now Endpoint Standard, CB ThreatHunter is Enterprise EDR and CB LiveOps is Audit and Remediation. Older community answers and runbooks still use the previous names.

VMware Carbon Black: Does it replace my existing antivirus?

Yes on supported Windows, macOS and Linux versions, and running it alongside another antivirus is not recommended because the two agents contend for the same hooks. Check your compliance requirements, as some auditors still ask for a named antivirus product.

VMware Carbon Black: Do I need a full-time analyst to run it?

To get value from Enterprise EDR, effectively yes. The prevention tier can run with part-time attention, but the hunting and recording capability is only worth its cost if somebody is querying it, which is why many customers buy it through an MDR provider.

VMware Carbon Black: How is it licensed?

Per endpoint, per year, with the capability tier determining the rate and workload and container protection priced separately. Extended EDR data retention is an additional line item.

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