Proofpoint Email Protection vs Symantec Messaging Gateway comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Proofpoint Email Protection and Symantec Messaging Gateway based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Secure Email Gateway (SEG) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway Report (Updated: March 2024).
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The solution is very user-friendly.""The solution blocks malicious emails containing viruses and malware and reduces them out of spam.""The most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection are ease of use, data loss prevention, antivirus, and spam protection.""Proofpoint Email Protection's advantage is that, when it's working properly, it tends to catch more threats as compared to other products.""They have customized security rules, mature rules, anti-virus protection, as well as email authentication similar to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.""The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the dashboards and their visibility, easy configuration, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the reports are very important and helpful.""Proofpoint Email Protection offers an additional layer of protection compared to other brands like Microsoft, Mimecast, and Barracuda. While these major companies excel at detecting malicious attachments, the solution goes further by analyzing the context of emails, allowing for more nuanced decision-making.""The solution scales well."

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"The solution is stable and the performance is good.""The most valuable feature of the solution is the content filtering policies because the solution offers huge options for configuration, such as hardware manipulation, et cetera, and the dictionaries make the work easier.""The solution is excellent at blocking spam.""Symantec Messaging Gateway is stable and scalable. Installation is easy, and the deployment and maintenance can be done by one administrative person.""I like that it's simple and easy to configure, deploy, and manage. The reporting function has all the features we're looking for, and we are fine with that.""The cloud-based interface is very user-friendly.""The solution is "set and forget". You pay for it and everything is done for you.""The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept."

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Cons
"Proofpoint Email Protection could improve by allowing more customization of the reports, such as exceptions and black-and-white lists.""The solution should add post-sales training.""Pricing for the platform could still be cheaper.""There is room for improvement in detecting and preventing phishing attacks. While the solution performs well in some aspects, it struggles with phishing threats.""Proofpoint Email Protection's interface is confusing and could be improved.""You only receive one model in Proofpoint Email Protection and the other ones you have to purchase at a high price. There should be more available with the solution and additional models should be less expensive.""The accessibility of Proofpoint Email Protection, particularly access to product trials, could be improved. It's hard to get a trial for Proofpoint Email Protection, and many customers prefer not just to do the POC or demo but try the product out.""The initial setup is complex."

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"What needs to be improved in Symantec Messaging Gateway is its local partner support, as it's not as technical. The support my company gets from the partner isn't good. Vendor support is good, but local partner support isn't. I'm happy with Symantec Messaging Gateway as a solution, but the problem is with its partner support. To me, Symantec Messaging Gateway is a complete solution, but it can be very difficult to search the web for resolutions to issues or problems you experience from it. If this could be improved or resolved in the next release of Symantec Messaging Gateway, then that would be good.""They have updated the version of the Messaging Gateway and the new features they are adding the need to be re-evaluated. They have done some changes on the policy.""We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam.""The solution interface is from 2003 and is outdated. Symantec Messaging Gateway needs to update the interface.""The biggest problem is it's an on-prem product and we're trying to get out of having equipment in data centers.""It could be more scalable.""It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports.""In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."
  • "The price is reasonable."
  • "Proofpoint is fairly expensive."
  • "The licensing is basically $8/user."
  • "It is multiple times more expensive, which made it very much less attractive."
  • "Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
  • "The solution charges per user per month to use it. There are not any additional fees in addition to the standard living fees."
  • "Clients pay for an annual subscription of Proofpoint Email Protection. Every client always finds it expensive."
  • More Proofpoint Email Protection Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "A subscription for technical support costs extra."
  • "It's a bit expensive compared to its competitor Barracuda Email Security Gateway but cheaper than Sophos Email."
  • "The cost of Symantec Messaging Gateway is too expensive in general. However, the appliance also includes the price of the license in the same bundle."
  • "They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
  • "For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
  • "Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
  • More Symantec Messaging Gateway Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The product is costly. I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. When you want to change what capabilities you want in the product, you… more »
    Top Answer:The whole configuration management piece of the product requires some work, as it is one of the areas where the tool has certain shortcomings. Though it is an easy-to-install product, it might be… more »
    Top Answer:The solution takes up a lot of memory. The system becomes slow. The performance must be improved.
    Top Answer:We use the solution to secure our data and emails.
    Ranking
    Views
    2,085
    Comparisons
    1,560
    Reviews
    23
    Average Words per Review
    454
    Rating
    8.1
    Views
    489
    Comparisons
    358
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    399
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe
    Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
    Learn More
    Overview

    Proofpoint Email Protection is a machine learning email gateway that catches both known and unknown threats. Through Target Attack Protection, emails will be analyzed and potentially blocked from advanced threats while users gain visibility around these threats. The technology can also classify various types of email and can be deployed both on premises or as a cloud service. In addition, users can tag suspicious emails to help raise user awareness and track down any email quickly.

    Proofpoint Email Protection offers Advanced BEC Defense, which can precisely detect and block different types of emails, even if they don’t involve a malicious payload, such as business email compromise (BEC). Email Protection, which is powered by NexusAI, is a sophisticated detection technique developed to stop a variety of kinds of email fraud from affecting compromised accounts. It’s specifically designed to analyze message components, such as the sender’s IP address (including reputation and x-originating IP), the message header, and the message body. Using machine learning and AI, it will then determine if that message is a BEC threat.

    Benefits of Proofpoint Email Protection

    Proofpoint Email Protection is a favorite for organizations looking to utilize their cybersecurity budget accurately, and provides the user with incredible visibility. While preventing email fraud, the technology can also detect and block advanced malware as well as identifying possible risks.

    Email Protection offers many benefits, including:

    • Email warning tag - Raise user awareness and reduce the risk of possible compromises by automatically tagging suspicious emails.

    • Gain granular control of unwanted email - Gain control over low-priority emails through granular email filtering, which can pinpoint gray mail, like newsletters and bulk mail.

    • Multi-layered detection - Defend against continuous evolving threats with reputation and content analysis. Email Protection offers a dynamic classification of various emails, including malware, spam, phishing, imposter threats, and bulk email.

    • Smart search - Track down an email based on dozens of search criteria in seconds. Smart search also provides the ability to trace where emails came from.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Proofpoint Email Protection enables business continuity capabilities through their machine learning, AI-powered email gateway. With its innovative approach toward detecting, analyzing, identifying, and blocking advanced threats, users can gain unique visibility into their business data environments. Users especially like the ability to block spam, as well as the business email compromise protection.

    An anonymous reviewer who is a principal consultant at a tech company, notes, "Proofpoint is the main tool for blocking spam because it denies the connection altogether."

    Sridhar R., a security professional at Qatar Computer Services WLL, writes, "The most valuable features are the business email compromise protection and targeted attack prevention."

    Symantec Messaging Gateway is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and spam. It combines multiple layers of protection, including anti-malware, anti-spam, and data loss prevention, to safeguard sensitive information and ensure email continuity. 

    With its advanced threat intelligence and machine learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks, such as ransomware and spear-phishing. The solution also offers robust encryption and authentication features to secure email communications. 

    Its intuitive management console provides administrators with granular control and real-time visibility into email traffic. Symantec Messaging Gateway is a reliable and scalable solution that helps organizations mitigate email-borne threats and maintain a secure messaging environment.

    Sample Customers
    Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
    Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Retailer12%
    Healthcare Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Pharma/Biotech Company27%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Energy/Utilities Company18%
    Healthcare Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Government10%
    Construction Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business46%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise32%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise34%
    Large Enterprise46%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business55%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise35%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise56%
    Buyer's Guide
    Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Proofpoint Email Protection is ranked 1st in Secure Email Gateway (SEG) with 44 reviews while Symantec Messaging Gateway is ranked 6th in Secure Email Gateway (SEG) with 20 reviews. Proofpoint Email Protection is rated 8.4, while Symantec Messaging Gateway is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Proofpoint Email Protection writes "A reasonably priced product that offers protection to emails, along with spam filters". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Symantec Messaging Gateway writes "A stable and reasonably priced solution that performs well and has a very good malware database". Proofpoint Email Protection is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Cisco Secure Email and Fortinet FortiMail, whereas Symantec Messaging Gateway is most compared with Cisco Secure Email, Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Fortinet FortiMail and Barracuda Email Security Gateway. See our Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway report.

    See our list of best Secure Email Gateway (SEG) vendors.

    We monitor all Secure Email Gateway (SEG) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.