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Proofpoint Email Protection vs Sophos Phish Threat comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 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

Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Security Awareness Training
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (2nd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Sophos Phish Threat
Ranking in Security Awareness Training
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Security Awareness Training category, the mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 9.5%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Phish Threat is 5.1%, up from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Awareness Training
 

Featured Reviews

AhmedRamadan - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimize email security with effective sandboxing and auto Pull for quarantine
Proofpoint is used as an email security gateway for big enterprises, primarily for their on-premises servers. Many customers also use it alongside Office 365 Proofpoint offers a complete solution for email security with features like DLP, email archiving, and encryption. The most valuable…
Shaun Gordon - PeerSpot reviewer
Identifies vulnerable employees through customized simulations
Sophos Phish Threat effectively identifies susceptible employees. It depends on knowing my staff. For example, if I receive an email claiming my Facebook account is compromised, I immediately recognize it as suspicious, as I don't have Facebook. If I know my staff use LinkedIn, I utilize the LinkedIn simulation. Similarly, if they bank with Absa, I use the Absa simulation. There isn't a single 'one size fits all' approach. Sophos Phish Threat ensures users do not click on dodgy emails or dodgy links within an environment.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its main defense is to stop malicious emails from coming through. There is a sandbox environment where you can open malicious or suspicious emails to make sure that they're not malicious, instead of taking the risk of having your employees do it. This is definitely something that everybody needs nowadays, especially with the rise in cyber attacks."
"The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"It's detection of true positives are great, as it's cloud based it's very scalable and stable."
"The most valuable feature is the option to edit the inbound security."
"The archive feature is valuable."
"It's easy to use, even for those new to IT."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is the best solution from the perspective of email security."
"It's the top choice because no company can operate without security. Ensuring email protection is a major priority for any organization when building its infrastructure."
"It is simple to push tests out to a group of users."
"The scalability is very good."
"It is very simple to install and you can do it by yourself."
"It is easy to use."
"I have found the implementation process to be simple and straightforward."
"The installation is straightforward. You only need to upload the user's email address to the cloud and you can start using it."
"Sophos Phish Threat is valuable as it is easy to use and effectively educates end users on the threats they may face and how to identify them."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Phish Threat are internal web filtering and security."
 

Cons

"The solution could be improved with the addition of PLP and email encryption features."
"Unfortunately, the whole product is going downhill right now, ever since they were sold to Thoma Bravo. We're constantly having problems with stability and the product in general."
"Proofpoint Email Protection could improve on the training. Every organization is different and to fine-tune it to block everything properly there needs to be better training. Sometimes it can block some of the information it shouldn't."
"It has too many screens. It is kind of a conglomeration of products. In other words, they built product A, product B, and product C, and they are yet to integrate them into a single administrative console. I would certainly like to see a more seamless administrative interface. I would also like to see them include more bang for the buck, by including features like email fraud protection, rather than making their product so piecemeal, where you are buying little pieces. I agree with the idea of having multiple tiers or layers, but maybe as small, medium, and large, as opposed to an a la carte menu."
"The flexibility of the solution can be improved."
"The largest complaint that we hear from our customers is that there is no local support."
"Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's too complex."
"There is room for improvement in detecting and preventing phishing attacks. While the solution performs well in some aspects, it struggles with phishing threats."
"Sophos Phish Threat can improve by adding other languages, such as Mandarin or Cantonese to their online trainer video center, it would be helpful."
"Integration with other products could be improved."
"Sophos should offer tests where we can emulate new attacks happening now."
"Sophos Phish Threat can improve load balancing."
"The security could be simplified within the product."
"There is a need for improvement regarding false negatives dealing with Office 365."
"The pricing of Sophos Phish threat can be improved."
"The security of the solution could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
"Proofpoint Email Protection has comparable pricing."
"The licensing is basically $8/user."
"We sell annual licenses for this solution."
"Proofpoint is fairly expensive."
"It is multiple times more expensive, which made it very much less attractive."
"The end customer is buying our solution, which can be for monthly or annual usage depending on our payment and business model."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"Licensing fees are paid annually."
"There is a license required for this solution and the cost depends on the number of users."
"There are monthly and annual subscriptions available to use Sophos Phish Threat. The price is reasonable."
"The license for the product comes with the firewall offered by Sophos, so a user need not buy it separately."
"The pricing is very good, and some of my customers who have used other vendors say that Sophos is priced well within the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
32%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Real Estate/Law Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
Proofpoint is considered a very expensive solution compared to others like FortiMail, being double in cost. Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription ...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
Phishing detection & Response capabilities could improve further to match some of the capabilities offered by competitors. Proofpoint could expand its PDR capabilities to improve its efficiency...
What do you like most about Sophos Phish Threat?
I find the solution's reports very valuable.
What needs improvement with Sophos Phish Threat?
There is a need for improvement regarding false negatives dealing with Office 365. The issue stems from policies in Office 365 that prevent scanning certain elements, which might trigger errors. I ...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Phish Threat?
I use Sophos Phish Threat to test employee security awareness. Essentially, my clients utilize Phish Threat to ensure that users are not clicking on suspicious emails or links. It is a simulated ca...
 

Also Known As

Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe, Proofpoint Digital Protection
Phish Threat
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Sophos Phish Threat and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.