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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)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (3rd), Security Awareness Training (2nd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 6.2%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 21.3%, down from 21.9% 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

"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"The product's initial setup is straightforward and simple, making it an easy-to-use tool."
"The implementation was very professional. There are a lot of features I can get through Fortinet and FortiMail, such as security. FortiGuard is the most reliable and professional mitigation center to handle incidents and risk that I have to face."
"The most valuable features are filtering and sandboxing."
"The most valuable features are email ATB and Malware Analysis."
"It has the best feature for processed mail analysis."
"Overall, it is a comprehensive and reliable solution."
"The quarantine feature of FortiMail is the most valuable, as it quarantines emails based on my policies."
"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."
"Proofpoint Email Protection offers an additional layer of protection compared to other brands like Microsoft, Mimecast, and Barracuda. While these major companies excel at detecting malicious attachments, the solution goes further by analyzing the context of emails, allowing for more nuanced decision-making."
"The setup was easy."
"The most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection are the performance from being on the cloud."
"The initial implementation is pretty easy to handle."
"The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the dashboards and their visibility, easy configuration, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the reports are very important and helpful."
"The anti-spam features are excellent on the email firewalls."
"The tool has improved our workflow by ensuring people receive only the emails they need for work rather than being inundated with hundreds or thousands of unnecessary emails daily."
 

Cons

"The price is relatively expensive."
"Fortinet FortiMail Cloud doesn't have AI features, making it an outdated tool for me."
"The URL filtering and handling should be enhanced because it doesn't support all languages. I believe that this would be easy to enhance in the future."
"The downside of this solution is that it is difficult to implement policies on FortiMail."
"I can't see the feedback to the FortiMail gateway."
"Fortimail Cloud should include more advanced AI features that can analyze every traffic type."
"Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint."
"I would like to see more advanced sandbox features, where you can actually download to a machine where you can test."
"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."
"Integration and filtering out who you want and don't want to have integrated ID could be improved."
"Proofpoint Email Protection could improve by allowing more customization of the reports, such as exceptions and black-and-white lists."
"In terms of improvement, the price could be better. Additionally, more security could be implemented."
"The product's deployment is complex and requires technical knowledge."
"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."
"I want Security Awareness Training in there as a package deal. A lot of companies are starting to value email security a little bit more and take it a little bit more seriously, and the great product that we link together with a lot of these sales is a training product called Security Awareness Training. It is an upsell that we do with Proofpoint, and it is definitely something that I recommend everybody with email security to look into. It would be great if Security Awareness Training is included with the email security."
"The flexibility of the solution can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's on a subscribed basis."
"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud a five on a one to ten scale, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price. It is an averagely priced product."
"When we're talking about pricing, other products have about the same price. That is normal."
"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees."
"The licensing cost of Proofpoint Email Protection is a lot higher than other solutions, such as Barracuda."
"Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."
"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."
"It is multiple times more expensive, which made it very much less attractive."
"In general, the pricing is competitive."
"The licensing is basically $8/user."
"We sell annual licenses for this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Hospitality Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
30%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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?
FortiMail is cost-efficient, however, Symantec Mail Gateway and DLP solutions might be comparable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
There are no specific new features I would suggest at this moment. FortiMail needs to develop further, particularly in integrating AI features, to keep up with rapidly advancing technology.
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?
In terms of improvement, the price could be better. Additionally, more security could be implemented.
 

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: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.