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Digital Guardian vs Microsoft BitLocker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Digital Guardian
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
7th
Ranking in Mobile Data Protection
5th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (9th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (20th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (31st)
Microsoft BitLocker
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
1st
Ranking in Mobile Data Protection
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Endpoint Encryption category, the mindshare of Digital Guardian is 0.7%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft BitLocker is 40.9%, up from 39.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Encryption
 

Featured Reviews

Sandeep Jopat - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly customizable, helpful support, and multiple modules available
Digital Guardian is generally considered stable, with its robust data loss prevention capabilities being highly valued by organizations. However, as with any complex software solution, there may be occasional challenges in terms of compatibility with certain operating systems or applications. In such cases, it may be necessary to modify settings or entries within Digital Guardian to ensure optimal performance. Overall, Digital Guardian is a stable solution that can be highly customized to meet the specific needs and requirements of organizations. As with any software solution, regular maintenance and support from a team of experts is necessary to ensure optimal performance and stability.
Douglas Curry - PeerSpot reviewer
Users can easily deploy and manage it
The solution's most valuable feature is that it is simple to deploy and manage. I can't say what features of the tool I like since it is very much a deploy-and-forget product. We don't use any advanced features of the tool in my company. The tool's recovery options are good, especially since it integrates with Active Directory, making everything a simple process. The product's integration capabilities are good.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"There is a built-in endpoint detection response that helps save money."
"We have been able to monitor access to files from each of our workstations."
"The most valuable feature of Digital Guardian is its reputation. They have scored high on the Gartner Magic Quadrant."
"It can scale from 100 to 10,000. There's no problem with the scalability."
"It has been scalable."
"The technical support is really terrific."
"In Digital Guardian, they have the cloud correlation servers that give you visibility work like EBR and the correlation server works very well for security analysis."
"The feature we call desktop recording is the most valuable aspect of the solution. Not only can we collect data from the user's usage, but we also capture his screenshots when he is trying to steal the data."
"The platform provides good performance."
"Microsoft BitLocker's most valuable features are stability and simplicity in terms of usage."
"I liked the way it works with our Microsoft tools. As we roll out Intune, we can validate if the device has been encrypted, and if not, we can push it down. It is pretty simple to deploy."
"The hard drive encryption is very good."
"It is easy to implement and has AD integration."
"The tool is stable."
"Microsoft BitLocker's most valuable feature is endpoint encryption, and it's quite easy to manage."
"It is free and native to the OS. We don't have to worry about upgrades or maintaining the product. You encrypt the disk, and you save the recovery key. That's it. The person puts their password in, and after that, it is up to them. If they forget their password, they have to bring it in to get it unlocked."
 

Cons

"Technical support could be better."
"If the client uses Windows 10 or 11 and Microsoft updates the operating system's version, Digital Guardian must update their product to match compatibility."
"There are a lot of issues with the current version of the Endpoint agent. It's not stable, it's resource-consuming, and there are some performance issues. If they could improve the stability of the agent it would be great."
"It would be helpful if there was an on-premise version of the solution for companies that cannot use the cloud, such as government sectors."
"Digital Guardian is an excellent solution but our experience with the partner has been the most horrible experience we have ever had with any partner."
"Some features on Mac and Linux are not complete currently. For example, some device control features haven't been transferred over to the other systems. If they could have their Windows features also available on Mac and Linux, that would be perfect. Some of our customers have a Mac environment for their RD environment. Having the solution fully capable of handling everything in a Mac environment is crucial."
"The initial setup is a bit more complex than other solutions."
"When considering potential areas for improvement, it may be beneficial for Digital Guardian to optimize its processes and reduce the computational demands on the system, particularly with regard to high CPU usage. Although Digital Guardian offers numerous benefits, it can consume a substantial amount of RAM and CPU power."
"The people at the first level of support refer you to articles that do not pertain to the problem at hand."
"Microsoft BitLocker needs to be an all-inclusive solution. For example, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cryptoprocessor is required to use Bitlocker with your computer which keeps Bitlocker from adoption beyond Windows."
"They should offer better login capabilities that are more secure."
"They could improve cloud integration regarding attribute and encryption key management."
"The management of the product could be made a little easier."
"It would be good if Microsoft offered improved recovery options or if it could automate the recovery options a bit."
"The deployment process regarding prerequisites and automation could be easy to understand."
"User profiles can be improved so that people can create their own passwords. It has one password per machine, which is a problem. We would prefer each user to have his or her own boot password. Each user can have a username and password or biometrics, such as fingerprints and iris scanner, integrated into the boot process, but I really can't see that coming anytime soon, if ever."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If I compare Digital Guardian with Symantec, the license cost is lower, but McAfee can be cheaper than Digital Guardian. It depends on how many licenses you plan to buy and how big the project is. The cost is not so high as Symantec, but not as cheap as McAfee. They can easily sell the solution for price."
"The cost was around $300,000."
"The price of Digital Guardian is expensive."
"The price of Digital Guardian is on the higher end compared to other vendors."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten because Digital Guardian is expensive."
"Digital Guardian has both, subscription and perpetual licenses, but I think when everything (all technologies) will go to the cloud they will only offer subscriptions."
"We didn't pay for additional licenses since the solution is built into Windows."
"It's not about pricing, because we are working with Enterprise companies that already have Windows Enterprise, so BitLocker comes already included as a Windows feature. It's free for Enterprise users. The price is only for deployment. The customer will pay for McAfee, however."
"It operates on a subscription model on an annual basis."
"BitLocker is included in our license and doesn't cost us anything extra."
"Microsoft BitLocker is a free feature when you are using Microsoft solutions."
"For reasons unknown, Microsoft products seem to be getting more expensive."
"The product's cost is included in Windows."
"Microsoft BitLocker's pricing is included in the Microsoft license, and you don't have to pay an additional fee for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Digital Guardian?
I like the solution's adaptive inspection and container inspection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Digital Guardian?
Technical support is included in the subscription package. But if, during the subscription, our clients want to include the professional services of a Digital Guardian engineer, the price changes. ...
What needs improvement with Digital Guardian?
If the client uses Windows 10 or 11 and Microsoft updates the operating system's version, Digital Guardian must update their product to match compatibility.
What should one take into account when replacing PGP with Microsoft BitLocker?
Beware to make backup of useful data, then use reverse decryption policy from Symantec panel/McAfee ePO to decrypt the DE partitions while it is sometimes more straightforward and faster to reinsta...
Would you choose Microsoft BitLocker or McAfee Complete Data Protection?
Microsoft BitLocker is very intuitive and easy to maintain. It is basically the global standard solution for drive encryption and successfully fulfills regulatory needs in terms of data protection....
How does Microsoft BitLocker compare with Symantec Endpoint Encryption?
Microsoft BitLocker is very intuitive and easy to maintain. It is basically the global standard solution for drive encryption and it successfully fulfills regulatory needs in terms of data protecti...
 

Also Known As

No data available
BitLocker, MS BitLocker
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Fifth Avenue Theatre, Jabil Circuit
ACV, Proaxis Therapy, Choice Hotels International, adnymics GmbH, Intermedia, NMBS/SNCB
Find out what your peers are saying about Digital Guardian vs. Microsoft BitLocker and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.