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Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs Symantec Messaging Gateway 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

Check Point Email Security ...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (3rd), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (3rd), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (7th)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is designed for Email Security and holds a mindshare of 3.9%, down 5.0% compared to last year.
Symantec Messaging Gateway, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Email Gateway (SEG), holds 3.0% mindshare, up 2.5% since last year.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration)3.9%
Proofpoint Email Protection5.9%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3655.2%
Other85.0%
Email Security
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec Messaging Gateway3.0%
Proofpoint Email Protection18.0%
Mimecast Advanced Email Security14.1%
Other64.9%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

Harish (Kumar) - PeerSpot reviewer
Cybersecurity And Information Governance Head at Aeren
Email security has blocked sophisticated phishing and now protects inboxes with AI detection
The only challenge with Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is that it is an API-based solution. In an API-based solution, the major challenge is that it can read email content and Google Drive content. This presents a data privacy challenge, and we had to mitigate it by signing a Data Processing Agreement and other agreements. Because it is not a traditional in-line solution, Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) connects with Google Workspace using API permission and can access email, attachments, sender, recipient information, links, and all metadata is with Check Point. Data storage and everything else is with Check Point, which is the challenge. This solution has a drawback because of API deployment, while other solutions are traditional secure email gateways that are in-line solutions. In those solutions, we need to change the MX record, but with this solution we do not need to change the MX record, which is a pro of API-based deployment. However, there is also a con in that with API solutions, the email is scanned but after delivery in the mailbox.
Dennis O'Reilly - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber SecOps Principal at Dotcom Security
The product provides good content filtering options, but the false positive submissions must be improved
The tool is very stable. I rate the stability a seven out of ten. It's an on-premise application that runs on a virtual machine. It has dependencies on the hypervisor host that we're running it on. If it's not configured, the application can be influenced by it. Sometimes, there is a service stop error while the service is still running. Sometimes, the service just stops. Some policies do not act the way that we intend them to respond.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten."
"The main benefit is that hackers can't steal information."
"Because of its features and abilities, it has saved us from a lot of possible breaches."
"Check Point has made my threat prevention better; it has helped me avoid having to redo machines and has helped protect our data by not letting unauthorized items through."
"The dashboard provides information to investigate more about malicious activity and blocked emails."
"Checkpoint Harmony Email and Collaboration is one of the cloud solutions for email that has given us the most added value."
"Its total protection has been the greatest aspect since it completely protects all the mail from the cloud."
"In my opinion, it's one of the best products. It does protect other things like Slack and Salesforce, which are more about communication."
"My advice to others who plan to use Symantec Messaging Gateway is that it's a very good product, it's very stable, and it's user-friendly, but the only problem is that it doesn't have good partner support here in Bolivia, where I'm located."
"I've been using Messaging Gateway for ten years."
"We use the solution for its advanced virus protection, phishing and other features."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a huge knowledge base about phishing, spamming, spoofing, etc."
"The solution is highly customizable. You can make rules for domains and configure policies for spam or malware. Messaging Gateway is an on-prem solution, so it's useful for companies without a cloud presence."
"The cloud-based interface is very user-friendly."
"The solution is "set and forget". You pay for it and everything is done for you."
"Symantec’s spyware and malware signature database is very good compared to other products."
 

Cons

"Navigating between quarantine, threat logs, and policy settings sometimes feels clunky, requiring too many clicks to get to commonly used features."
"if a phishing email were to get through and bypass the product — which very few do — it would be nice if, when a user clicked on that phishing email, they got a second-chance opportunity, a chance to double-check that they really wanted to proceed to that website."
"The solution fails to support hybrid deployments."
"For tech people who want to dive deep into self-servicing capabilities, Check Point could improve in this area."
"I would rate the customer support a four, maximum, because I have had to reach out to them, and it wasn't great. I ended up with a technician that didn't actually know how to resolve the issue and was just doing basic level one troubleshooting, so it was very time-consuming to work with them."
"The NAVEX metrics that I have been using on the CloudGuard dashboard cannot be exported. If they were to add report exporting capabilities on each of metric objects on the dashboard, that would be awesome."
"Check Point could improve its marketing strategy."
"They should consider a module that allows the customizing of reports so we can generate executive information for the client (to explain in simple language the general security situation in the SaaS environment)."
"This product would benefit from better integration with Symantec Endpoint Protection."
"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."
"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."
"If the customer has to think about budget and solutions to reduce IT cost, they should get away from Symantec and try using Microsoft."
"The solution interface is from 2003 and is outdated. Symantec Messaging Gateway needs to update the interface."
"It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports."
"Recently, I've had some problems regarding their support. The tech was acquired by Broadcom, and since then, the support part is very bad."
"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing are always negotiable."
"Being able to keep the phishing campaigns out of my company has been ROI for me."
"You can get CloudGuard as part of Infinity. When you do the solution through Infinity, it's a per user type of license cost."
"The pricing is expensive."
"The pricing is in the middle. Check Point's pricing is not the highest in the competitive market."
"Usually, we pay for the licensing part on a yearly basis and not on a monthly basis. If Check Point's team is providing a good amount of discount, then it is very easy for us to select it since its competitors are also giving the best prices or best discounts."
"Due to its pricing, I would say that Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is more suitable for medium to enterprise organizations."
"This is a very good product if you are on the cloud, but the price is a little more expensive."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
"A subscription for technical support costs extra."
"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
16%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
19%
Construction Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise37
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
We are not currently using this product. Six months back, we removed that product due to a few issues. The major issue is naturally the budget, as it is expensive. Our organization is expanding and...
What is your primary use case for Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
The major use case for Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) was Business Email Compromise, CEO fraud, and vendor impersonation. Phishing attacks were also a major...
What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Email & Office?
The only challenge with Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) is that it is an API-based solution. In an API-based solution, the major challenge is that it can rea...
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Also Known As

Check Point CloudGuard, Check Point CloudGuard SaaS , Check Point Harmony Email & Office
Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Helvetia, Denham Capital, Daymark Solutions, Neopharm Group
Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint, Microsoft, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Email Security. Updated: August 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.