FrozenSpam vs Gmail Workspace
Is FrozenSpam complementary or competing with Gmail Workspace? Honest comparison. Updated May 2026.
One-sentence verdict — Gmail Workspace is excellent at obvious spam. FrozenSpam sits in front (MX gateway) and adds challenge-response + explicit outbound auto-WL to block targeted spear-phishing Gmail misses, and eliminate false positives in your spam folder.
How it works together
You configure your Workspace MX to point first to FrozenSpam, then FrozenSpam relays to Google. You keep your Gmail interface, Drive shares, Calendar — nothing changes on the user side. FrozenSpam filters upstream, so what Gmail receives is already cleaned.
Detailed comparison
| Criterion | FrozenSpam (upstream) | Gmail Workspace alone |
|---|---|---|
| Obvious spam (Nigerian, viagra) | ✓ Blocked at the door | ✓ Very good Google filter |
| Targeted spear-phishing | ✓ CR requires human validation | ✘ ~20% slips through Google |
| Does spam arrive in your inbox? | ✓ No, doesn't enter | ✘ Sorted into spam folder |
| Spam folder to monitor | ✓ Disappears, doesn't exist anymore | ✘ Present, source of stress |
| Exposed outbound auto-WL | ✓ Zero false-positive guarantee | ≈ Internal Google, undocumented |
| France hosting | ✓ | ✘ Google US/EU |
| Native GDPR | ✓ standard DPA | ≈ Google complex (US transfers) |
What Gmail Workspace does better
- Complete suite — Gmail + Drive + Calendar + Meet + Docs integrated. FrozenSpam is only anti-spam.
- Google AI filter — Excellent on mass spam. Huge training base.
- Gmail UI — Very good. Everyone knows how to use it.
- No anti-spam config — Included, just works.
What FrozenSpam adds in complement
- Targeted spear-phishing is blocked — Gmail lets ~20% of targeted phishing through. FrozenSpam requires human validation of each unknown.
- Your spam folder disappears — No more "did I miss something?". Spam never arrives.
- Exposed outbound auto-WL — Gmail does it internally but doesn't expose. With FrozenSpam it's contractually guaranteed.
- Enhanced European compliance — Google = opaque US transfers. FrozenSpam = pure France.
- Backscatter guard.
- Complete logs and journal — You see what was blocked and why.