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Head-to-head · Email Anti-Spam Software

MX Guarddog vs Rspamd

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 3 checks side by side
Higher score MX Guarddog #3 in Email Anti-Spam Software 8.7/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 2 of 3 features Visit MX Guarddog
Rspamd #7 in Email Anti-Spam Software 7.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Rspamd

MX Guarddog leads on 0 checks, Rspamd on 0, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 3 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreMX Guarddog · 8.7/10
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialonly MX Guarddog
  • Most featuresMX Guarddog · 2 of 3

MX Guarddog scores higher on our rubric for email anti-spam software: 8.7 against 7.9 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #7.

MX Guarddog is the better fit for budget-conscious domain owners. Rspamd is the better fit for technical teams building programmable filtering.

  • MX Guarddog fits best

    Budget-conscious domain owners

  • Rspamd fits best

    Technical teams building programmable filtering

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature MX Guarddog 8.7/10 Visit ↗ Rspamd 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.7 7.9
Ranking #3 in Email Anti-Spam Software #7 in Email Anti-Spam Software
Best for Budget-conscious domain owners Technical teams building programmable filtering
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $0.25/unit/mo £100/mo
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial 30 days —
Deployment Cloud Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms Web Linux, macOS
Integrations 3 integrations 11 integrations
Features MX Guarddog 2/3 · Rspamd 0/3
Phishing detection ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Malware scanning ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Attachment scanning Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Quarantine access User_and_admin Not checked yet
Supported mail platforms Standard SMTP email servers for owned domains; not consumer Gmail or Hotmail accounts Not checked yet
Quarantine retention 7 days Not checked yet
Deployment type Cloud_gateway Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Spam, phishing, malware and virus scanning
  • Quarantine access with message release and reports
  • 168-hour outage spooling with TLS encryption
  • Open-source scoring with Bayesian and machine learning classification
  • SPF, DKIM, DMARC, phishing, antivirus, and outbound controls
  • HTTP API, Milter, Lua rules, and broad mail-server integrations
Cons
  • Does not support consumer Gmail or Hotmail accounts
  • Designed for owned domains using standard SMTP servers
  • Free access requires visible website text links to earn tokens
  • Requires technical administration of rules, protocols, and deployment
  • Scale starts at £100/month for 5K mailboxes
  • Custom configuration may be more than small teams need
Our verdict

MX Guarddog is a hosted email security service for organizations, individuals and domain owners operating their own email servers. It routes incoming mail through MX Guarddog data centers, scans messages for spam, phishing, malware and…

Read the review →

Rspamd is an open-source email filtering engine for enterprises, email service providers, hosting providers, and mail-server operators. It analyzes inbound and outbound messages through statistical learning, reputation checks,…

Read the review →
  1. MX GuarddogEmail Anti-Spam Software 8.7Free plan · 30-day trial
  2. RspamdEmail Anti-Spam Software 7.9Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • MX Guarddog — where it wins

    • Spam, phishing, malware and virus scanning
    • Quarantine access with message release and reports
    • 168-hour outage spooling with TLS encryption

    Where it doesn't

    • Does not support consumer Gmail or Hotmail accounts
    • Designed for owned domains using standard SMTP servers
    • Free access requires visible website text links to earn tokens
  • Rspamd — where it wins

    • Open-source scoring with Bayesian and machine learning classification
    • SPF, DKIM, DMARC, phishing, antivirus, and outbound controls
    • HTTP API, Milter, Lua rules, and broad mail-server integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires technical administration of rules, protocols, and deployment
    • Scale starts at £100/month for 5K mailboxes
    • Custom configuration may be more than small teams need

More comparisons

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update