MX Guarddog
MX Guarddog: A low-cost cloud gateway for domain owners who run their own email servers. Ranked #3 of 27 in Email Anti-Spam Software by our editors (8.7/10); pricing: Free plan · 30-day trial; best for budget-conscious domain owners.
At a glance
- Editor score8.7 / 10
- PricingFree plan · 30-day trial
- Best forBudget-conscious domain owners
- Free planYes
- Paid from$0.25/unit/mo
- Phishing detectionYes
- Founded2006
- Facts checked22 Sep 2026
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
Our verdict on MX Guarddog
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 viruses, quarantines suspicious mail, and forwards clean messages to the existing mail server. Deployment uses DNS mail routing, with no software installation or email-client changes. This makes it a fit for standard SMTP environments that need domain-wide filtering rather than protection for consumer Gmail or Hotmail accounts.
Pricing is designed around a free option and a paid email protection plan. The free service can remain available by earning tokens through visible website text links. The paid plan costs $0.25 per email address per month, billed monthly, and includes spam and virus filtering, no limit on received messages, user and domain aliases, and unlimited quarantine storage stated for additional service months. A 30-day free trial is available, and the first month is free without requiring a credit card. Budget-conscious domain owners can therefore start without a paid commitment, while larger or ongoing deployments can use a predictable per-address price.
The strongest functional coverage is in mail handling and continuity. Users and administrators can review and release quarantined messages through web accounts or quarantine reports, while AD, LDAP and cPanel synchronization can help align accounts with existing administration systems. The service also provides 168-hour outage mail spooling and TLS encryption with Perfect Forward Secrecy. Its main boundary is platform fit: organizations using consumer mailbox services should choose another option, while owners of standard SMTP domains who want a narrow, low-cost gateway should find the feature set aligned with that need.
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MX Guarddog pricing
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MX Guarddog fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | $0.25/unit/mo |
| Phishing detection | Yes |
| Malware scanning | Yes |
| Attachment scanning | Not verified |
| Quarantine access | User_and_admin |
| Supported mail platforms | Standard SMTP email servers for owned domains; not consumer Gmail or Hotmail accounts |
| Quarantine retention | 7 days |
| Deployment type | Cloud_gateway |
| Free trial | 30 days · no card needed |
| Money-back guarantee | 60 days |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| Platforms | Web |
| Support | Email, Docs |
| Built for | Solo, Small business, Mid-market (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 3 integrations: Windows AD, LDAP, cPanel |
| Pricing | Free plan · 30-day trial (source) |
| Website | mxguarddog.com |
| Facts checked | 22 Sep 2026 |
MX Guarddog integrations
MX Guarddog lists 3 integrations on its own site.
- Windows AD
- LDAP
- cPanel
Alternatives to MX Guarddog
- Barracuda Message ArchiverA strong email archive for compliance workflows, but not a primary anti-spam filter.9.4
- Symantec IT Management SuiteA broad endpoint management suite, but not a focused email anti-spam product.9.3
- N-able Mail AssureA broad, MSP-focused email security service with filtering, continuity, archiving, and multitenant control.8.6
See all MX Guarddog alternatives →
MX Guarddog vs the competition
- MX Guarddog vs Barracuda Message Archiver
- MX Guarddog vs Symantec IT Management Suite
- MX Guarddog vs N-able Mail Assure
- MX Guarddog vs Forcepoint Email Security Cloud
- MX Guarddog vs Mimecast Email Security
- MX Guarddog vs Rspamd
Compare MX Guarddog with any tool side by side →
Also Ranked In
MX Guarddog is ranked in 2 of our directories.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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