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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (2nd), Security Awareness Training (2nd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 4.8%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 21.6%, up from 18.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enhanced email security with potential agent compatibility issues
There are definitely features that Fortinet should work on. I'm not the right person to implement those features. For a portable cloud solution, a customer has more affinity towards a solution where endpoint security is already in place. In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor. 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. From that perspective, Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint. Maybe other solutions have an advantage when it comes to Fortinet.
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's initial setup is straightforward and simple, making it an easy-to-use tool."
"If there is a problem somewhere Fortinet can act on it immediately. That is very important."
"Cost-wise, it's a bit expensive, but it's totally worth it."
"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"It has the best feature for processed mail analysis."
"One of the most beautiful benefits is its integration, as it can seamlessly integrate with any third-party email servers."
"Fortinet and other software ensure that my company's email remains safe, helping to avoid access issues at some cost in production."
"The return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment."
"The solution offers very good flexibility. You can blacklist or whitelist with ease."
"They have customized security rules, mature rules, anti-virus protection, as well as email authentication similar to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC."
"The solution blocks malicious emails containing viruses and malware and reduces them out of spam."
"As a cloud-based product, it can scale well."
"The solution scales quite well."
"The anti-spam features are excellent on the email firewalls."
"The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the TAP Dashboard. It provides more detailed information that can be used for forensic analysis. This is an advantage that other email security providers, such as Cisco, IronPort, or Microsoft do not offer in their dashboards."
"It was easy to set up."
 

Cons

"Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint."
"I've not been able to use more than two domains in the back end. I like to view logs for the different domains. If I add any other domain I'm not able to get a proper cPanel for that domain. I am talking about the login factors. I'm not able to see logs for different domains in a different Window. Basically, it's an issue in the login process."
"The tool's UI can be simple since it's cluttered now and you can't understand where you are going. It's not obvious to find out the menus or things that you are looking to find."
"Its GUI needs improvement."
"The setup of the rules can be improved. I think it should be simplified and would be the best improvement in the system."
"In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor."
"Fortinet FortiMail Cloud doesn't have AI features, making it an outdated tool for me."
"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."
"Some use cases haven't been dealt with yet."
"They do not have an on-demand scan for the internal viruses and internal users, and they don't have a scan for the exchange server against viruses and spam as Symantec does."
"We find the cost to be prohibitive."
"Proofpoint has a lot of false alarms."
"The setup requires expertise. It needs someone with experience on managing it, and I would rate the implementation as needing someone experienced."
"We'd like to have the ability to create more customized reports."
"The solution's server console and cluster dashboard have been the same for four years so need to be upgraded."
"The solution should add post-sales training."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"It's on a subscribed basis."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"When we're talking about pricing, other products have about the same price. That is normal."
"You only have to purchase one license for multiple participants."
"In general, the pricing is competitive."
"Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
"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 licensing model for Proofpoint Email Protection is simple. It's based on the number of users. Price-wise, Proofpoint Email Protection is a five out of ten because it's a pretty expensive solution."
"The licensing cost of Proofpoint Email Protection is a lot higher than other solutions, such as Barracuda."
"The price is reasonable."
"The licensing is basically $8/user."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is a reasonably priced product, which means that it is neither too low nor too high in terms of price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Hospitality Company
6%
Non Profit
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value. The solution provides cost-saving and scalable options, especially in a clou...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The flexibility of the product is an area that could be improved. It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
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?
It became very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances, and I may advise Proofpoint to adjust marketing solutions based on each country.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe, 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: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.