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Forcepoint Email Security [EOL] vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Forcepoint Email Security [...
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Proofpoint Email Protection
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (1st), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Senior IT Security at ALEXBANK
Easy to use and setup and expands well
We primarily use the solution for email security The solution is very easy for administration. The interface is very good.  It's easy to set up initially. We have found the product to be stable.  It can scale well.  The solution could use better integration capabilities.  There are other…
Siva_Prasad - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Email defenses have reduced phishing incidents and protect sensitive data across our enterprise
As things are evolving and threats develop in unpredictable ways, Proofpoint must adopt AI solutions and agentic solutions more aggressively and provide them to customers as part of service offerings. Inbuilt AI solutions would add more value and make Proofpoint a more premium choice for customers. With the help of AI solutions, agentic AI, and generative AI capabilities, the product would be more efficient than it currently is. Filtering false positives is highly challenging because it is impossible for humans to identify which emails are genuine and which are spam. Proofpoint should focus more on this area with back-end agents or other tools. Proofpoint should decide which emails are genuine and which are spam so it is not a challenge for end users. When receiving an email, end users should not have to determine whether to respond or not. Proofpoint should not release such spam emails and should strictly block such spam and spoof emails based on connection IPs. Currently, false positives occur in the product, and while this occurs in every product, it is an area where Proofpoint can focus on improving and reducing false positives. One email is enough for an end user to be deceived and lose money, so addressing this area is critical.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The filtering of the solution is very good. You can do URL filtering and, while you need a custom URL to filter under other solutions like Symantec, here the solution covers most categories and the database."
"It meets the client's requirements; whatever categories need to be blocked, it does the job perfectly."
"The Forcepoint Email Security roadmap easily integrates with the data loss prevention (DLP) suite of Forcepoint. Therefore, the customer doesn't have to buy another solution for DLP."
"With businesses running on email now, the companies are completely protected with this solution, and our customers are happy."
"The solution has been very stable over the years."
"Unlike other competitors, it doesn't cause any performance issues."
"I like how versatile the options are. For example, we can set it where we are able to access and browse Facebook but we are denied the ability to post photos. There is also that ability integrate with Office 365 - SharePoint app."
"We have found the product to be stable."
"Proofpoint Email Protection has positively impacted my organization by definitely lowering the amount of phishing or scam-type emails that our users were receiving, helping them focus more on their work rather than dealing with these types of fraudulent emails."
"Proofpoint Email Protection has positively impacted my organization by ensuring we are not at risk of a breach through email."
"It's one of the top products out there."
"Since I started using Proofpoint Email Protection, I have blocked numerous phishing emails, and while I cannot remember the exact numbers, it is more than 200 or 300."
"Proofpoint is the main tool for blocking spam because it denies the connection altogether."
"The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is superior to other third-party applications such as Cisco IronPort or FireEye, as it is really very comfortable to use, easy to operate, easy to manage, easy to take actions, easy to deploy, and easy to migrate."
"Using Proofpoint Email Protection has successfully reduced the volume of emails that we need to review."
 

Cons

"My advice, if you're looking into using Forcepoint Email Security, is that you can find better options out there."
"The reporting functionality needs to be improved, as it is not customizable."
"I would like to see some improvement like cloud application and integration capabilities and the classification part is missing from the DLP."
"The pricing could always be just a little bit better."
"An area for improvement in Forcepoint Email Security is technical support. The agents need to be more knowledgeable. The support also needs to be faster."
"The solution could use better integration capabilities."
"Technical support is lacking. It could be a lot better."
"Forcepoint Email Security is stable, but it could be improved."
"The only limitation we have with Proofpoint Email Protection is when we implement it with Google Workspace."
"The largest complaint that we hear from our customers is that there is no local support."
"The solution's server console and cluster dashboard have been the same for four years so need to be upgraded."
"The downside is I feel the vendor support is a little lacking and should be more responsive."
"Given my other experience with other vendors, I think they are a bit on the high end and a bit on the pricey end for the email security functionality that we were using."
"The price could be improved."
"Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's a little complex."
"The reporting section could be enhanced. I like some reports but if they could allow us to create custom reports with more flexibility it would enhance the reports more."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are three types of support licenses."
"Licensing is a yearly subscription that is based on the number of users."
"When compared to other email security solutions, the price is not cheap."
"My company pays for Forcepoint Email Security licensing annually."
"The licensing is user base (per user). The product is purchased mostly by medium to large companies. For smaller companies, we have other solutions because the pricing is not cheap."
"Its licensing is quite easy and straightforward. They have two or three suites, and the price is negotiable. It depends upon the size of the deal. They have multiple licenses. The standard is one, and then there are additional licenses that you can go for. There are three or four licensing models. You have the network suite, endpoint suite, email security, and the standard one."
"We sell annual licenses for this solution."
"The licensing is basically $8/user."
"Proofpoint Email Protection has comparable pricing."
"The solution is expensive."
"They are competitively priced, but I have been forced to get quotes for other solutions now because they haven't been responding to requests to do the work that we would like them to do."
"The price is reasonable."
"Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."
"It is on a yearly basis. Their floor for SMB doesn't matter. The user count is 100 users and below at $2,500 a year. Its cost is higher than other solutions. It is probably about 20% to 30% higher than what you would get with Microsoft. There are no additional costs. All costs are factored in. It can be improved pricing-wise so that it is affordable for the SMB market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Healthcare Company
8%
Performing Arts
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise62
 

Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
To improve Proofpoint Email Protection, I suggest breaking down the URL into one versus three different GUIs. Regarding Proofpoint Email Protection's AI capabilities, I think its governance and sec...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Email Protection?
My main use case for Proofpoint Email Protection includes phishing emails, spam, URL isolation, and training. I utilize the email protect portal to ensure that none of our employees in any of the b...
 

Also Known As

Websense Email Security
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alphawest, Amadori, AudioNova, Betsson, Confartigianato Vicenza, Davies Turner, iGATE, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Landa Digital Printing, Northern California Bank, Scavolini, Toyota
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: September 2026.
914,322 professionals have used our research since 2012.