Zivver and Conbool compared.
Both encrypt, filter, train and evaluate DMARC. The difference lies in how the message reaches the recipient, and in what comes after delivery: archiving, backup, signatures and keeping mail running during an outage.
Where the two meet, and where they do not.
Nine modules, one platform, one contract. Zivver covers five of them according to its public portfolio, four it does not.
- MailGuardspam, phishing, BEC
- SecureMailS/MIME, OpenPGP, portal
- SecureFileslarge attachments
- Disclaimersignatures centrally
- DMARC Reportsoutbound identity
- Archiveaudit-proof, WORM
- 365 Backupback up Microsoft 365
- Awarenessphishing simulation
- Continuitymail flow during an outage
Classification follows the portfolio published on zivver.com, product overview and pricing page, retrieved in September 2026. Four products are listed there: Secure Email, Email Threat Protection, DMARC Service and Awareness Training. What your contract covers is settled by the quote.
Verifiable
Eight points that make the difference.
Every point is described in our public documentation and can be checked in a demo.
Audit-proof archive with WORM
Retention periods, immutability and four-eyes approval for access to other people's mailboxes. Journal rule or copy recipient, even without changing the MX.
DocumentationBack up Microsoft 365 and restore it
Mailboxes, calendars and files on a fixed schedule, plus users and groups from Entra ID. Restorability is tested and documented once a year.
DocumentationContinuity when the mail server is down
Incoming mail is accepted and stays readable, replies keep working. After the outage the backlog is moved into the mailbox in a controlled way.
DocumentationRetrospective threat scan
Links and attachments are re-assessed after delivery. If the verdict changes, the platform reports the affected message.
DocumentationSIEM export as a stream
Events go to Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel and QRadar, in CEF, LEEF, ECS or JSON. The audit log is the same for every module, not one per product.
DocumentationS/MIME and OpenPGP in the recipient's own client
Anyone holding a certificate or a key reads the message in Outlook or Thunderbird, with no portal and no second factor. The reader portal steps in only when both are missing.
DocumentationSignatures and legal footers centrally
One template per tenant, applied server side, with campaign banners and measurement. Also available as an add-in without touching the mail flow.
DocumentationGateway bypass is detected
Mail trying to skip the filter through direct delivery stands out. Without that check, any gateway can be bypassed.
DocumentationPath to the recipient
How the message arrives.
The most visible difference day to day: according to its published flow, Zivver takes the recipient through a link and a second check. Conbool encrypts to the standard first and keeps the portal ready for the cases where the recipient holds no key.
Conbool
- Recipient with a certificate or key: the message is encrypted with S/MIME or OpenPGP and opens in the familiar client.
- Recipient with neither: an invitation to the reader portal, replies possible, no account needed.
- Optionally as an encrypted PDF that opens on any device.
Zivver
- The recipient receives a notification containing a secure link.
- Before reading there is a second check, by Zivver account, SMS code, an agreed access code or a verification email.
- No account of their own is required for this; reading happens in the portal.
Zivver describes the four verification methods in its own documentation and rates the verification email there as the least secure one, to be used only as a last resort. S/MIME and OpenPGP are not stated on the public product pages.
Operations
Where messages are processed.
For operations Zivver names certified servers in the EU. An installation in your own data centre is not stated on the public pages. At Conbool the deployment model is a property of the tenant.
Cloud in Germany
Operated in German data centres, a German company as your contracting party, processing under Article 28 GDPR.
Your own outbound path
Partners and system houses send from their own IP without leaving the shared administration.
In your own data centre
A complete installation on your premises when no message may leave the building. Same interface, same rules.
In operation
Six points from everyday use.
What matters in operation is documented and can be followed in a demo.
Outbound messages
Rules per recipient domain, attachment type and size decide whether a message is signed, encrypted or placed in the portal.
DocumentationInbound messages
Decryption and signature checking at the gateway, so the filter sees the plain text instead of stopping at the encryption.
DocumentationMicrosoft 365
Connected through a connector, or as an add-in without touching the mail flow where no connector may be set.
DocumentationThunderbird and other clients
A dedicated Thunderbird add-on, plus the gateway route for any client that speaks SMTP.
DocumentationArchive and search
Full-text search across the archive, export for auditors, retention per tenant.
DocumentationRunning it yourself
The same platform on premises, updated at the push of a button and with no call home to the cloud.
DocumentationOur view
When Conbool is the right choice.
- If you want standard cryptography: S/MIME and OpenPGP, so the recipient decrypts in their own client instead of switching to a portal.
- If you need archiving, backup, signatures and continuity from one source instead of four contracts.
- If you want to choose the deployment model yourself, from cloud to an installation in your own data centre.
- If you manage several tenants and hand rule sets on as a sealed package.
- If you need a German contracting party and German-speaking support without an intermediary.
In fairness
When Zivver is the right choice.
- If you work in Dutch healthcare or education and NTA 7516 is a stated requirement.
- If you have to send very large files: Zivver states an upper limit of 5 TB for file transfer.
- If you run Outlook and Gmail side by side and want one interface for both.
- If you want training right at the mailbox rather than on a separate learning platform.
What prospects ask us about this.
Where these statements come from.
Statements about Zivver rely exclusively on publicly available sources: the product overview and pricing page on zivver.com and the documentation at docs.zivver.com, in particular its description of recipient verification methods. We make no claims about internal processes or architecture that are not publicly documented. Where a source is silent, the table says not stated rather than no. Statements about Conbool rely on our own documentation and on contractual commitments. As of September 2026. Products change, so we recommend asking both vendors directly about the points that matter to you and taking the answers in writing.
See both in a demo.
We show the path of an encrypted message, the archive and continuity using an example from your industry.