Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
ROI from Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is hard to quantify, though enhanced security and decreased incidents indicate value satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.3
Proofpoint Email Protection offers strong phishing defense, significant ROI, but faces navigation challenges impacting operational efficiency.
Return on investment in the time is difficult to quantify, however, the return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The ideal situation would be to have all these portals combined into one unified dashboard.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud support is generally praised for its responsiveness and knowledge, despite some concerns about occasional delays.
Sentiment score
7.0
Proofpoint Email Protection customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise but needs improvement in documentation and lower-tier support.
As far as Fortinet secure support, I will rate them nine out of ten.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the technical support from Fortinet as ten out of ten.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Fortinet's support is really good.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I am familiar with the granular policy control feature of Proofpoint Email Protection, and I find their support excellent for modifying those policies.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
I rate customer support a three out of ten mainly because of the phishing attacks that are getting through.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers scalable user expansion, though experiences vary due to subscription and deployment choices impacting flexibility.
Sentiment score
7.5
Proofpoint Email Protection is praised for scalability due to its cloud-based design, benefiting large organizations despite cost constraints.
It is highly scalable, so I can give it a ten out of ten on that.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is highly stable with minimal downtime, consistently reliable performance, and high user satisfaction ratings.
Sentiment score
8.1
Proofpoint Email Protection is highly stable, reliable, and efficient, consistently earning high user ratings despite occasional server issues.
I would give it a high stability rating of nine out of ten.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud requires improved filtering, encryption, UI simplicity, and competitive pricing, while lacking sorting, archiving, and AI features.
Proofpoint Email Protection struggles with integration, setup complexity, high costs, and needs enhancements in detection, support, and features.
If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
Owner at wct it-solutions GmbH
We can't import files into the Fortinet FortiMail Cloud sensors.
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
More security could be implemented.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Proofpoint Email Protection can improve in how it analyzes alerts by using more AI within its product suite to eliminate repeat alerts, such as filtering down the same attack to generate only one alert.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers competitive subscription pricing, with annual licenses around $4,000, varying by organizational needs.
Proofpoint Email Protection pricing is considered high but offers value with no extra fees beyond the subscription cost.
The price is relatively expensive.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value.
Owner at wct it-solutions GmbH
Cost-wise, it's a bit expensive, but it's totally worth it.
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers robust email protection with advanced threat detection, seamless integration, and comprehensive management features.
Proofpoint Email Protection offers anti-spam, phishing prevention, AI detection, and integrates with Office 365 for robust, affordable security.
FortiMail's integration with other Fortinet solutions enhances the security part of the organization.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud has had a positive effect on our organization since we can classify each email coming to our organization.
Consultant for the Chairman at Financial Literacy Knowledge Hub
The return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The most beneficial feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is mostly spam filtering; it was very efficient, and we were very happy with the functionality as only relevant emails were allowed for mailboxes.
Manager, IT Director at Cakmak Avukatlik Ortakligi
I appreciate that it's the industry leader, and its firewalling is very easy to manage and implement.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (5th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (3rd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 4.6%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 20.3%, up from 20.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection20.3%
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud4.6%
Other75.1%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

HR
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
Provides solid functionality and allows room for enhancing content management and support services
They can improve their CDR content profile and some anti-spam features. They don't have any direct script to run to add personalization, and we have to do it manually one by one. There are many tasks which we have to complete individually. We can't import files into the Fortinet FortiMail Cloud sensors. That's a drawback, as they need to provide a feature to import files. We can make the format, but we cannot import the file into Fortinet FortiMail Cloud. Additionally, in Fortinet FortiMail Cloud, not in FortiSandbox, they need to improve the block and allow list functionality to block URLs and allow specific types of URLs or regex.
DD
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
Email security has increased analyst workload but has improved detailed data loss controls
I have not seen specific outcomes or metrics since implementing Proofpoint Email Protection, such as a reduction in phishing incidents or improved response time. Proofpoint Email Protection can improve in how it analyzes alerts by using more AI within its product suite to eliminate repeat alerts, such as filtering down the same attack to generate only one alert. In summary, using AI more within the platform would reduce our workload. I would suggest advanced phishing training that uses AI to generate phishing training simulations and to catch and filter more phishing attacks. Proofpoint Email Protection feels like just the baseline approach, which is very static.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Email Gateway (SEG) solutions are best for your needs.
880,511 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud in Egypt is very competitive against other products, including the setup cost and licensing of this solution.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The improvement in Fortinet FortiMail Cloud can be made regarding the classification process itself because it has some false positives.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
I have experience working with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud as a mail gateway, not a firewall, and we have been using it for about three or four years. I have worked with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud for t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of pricing, it is okay compared to others. I would say it is normal. Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
I believe they still need to improve by consolidating some portals, as currently, you have to log in separately to a few of them.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs. Proofpoint Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,511 professionals have used our research since 2012.