McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention comparison

McAfee and Broadcom are both solutions in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) category. McAfee is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.0, while Broadcom is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.0. Additionally, 76% of McAfee users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention and Symantec Data Loss Prevention compete in the data protection category, with Symantec having the upper hand due to its advanced feature set that users find worth the higher cost.

Features: McAfee Total Protection offers straightforward data loss prevention capabilities, a user-friendly administration system, and excellent endpoint security. Symantec Data Loss Prevention provides advanced network monitoring, rich data classification, and extensive endpoint and server protection.

Room for Improvement: McAfee could improve resource intensity on virtual machines, integration complexity, and advanced DLP features like better data matching. Symantec faces challenges with its complex installation process, high licensing costs due to Oracle dependency, and limited cloud capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: McAfee offers flexible deployment in on-premises and cloud environments but suffers from unhelpful technical support. Symantec, often deployed on-premises, combines with private cloud options and is criticized for slow support but usually resolves issues effectively once engaged.

Pricing and ROI: McAfee is less expensive than Symantec, offering good ROI but needing a deeper understanding of licensing layers. Symantec’s higher pricing, driven by Oracle licensing costs, is challenging for smaller firms yet justified by a comprehensive feature set providing substantial ROI over time.

To learn more, read our detailed McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention

April 2025

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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

Cloudflare

Featured Reviews

Spencer Malmad

Owner at Tech Exchange

It's easy to set up because you point the DNS to it, and it's working in under 15 minutes

Cloudflare is highly scalable. Cloudflare is a system with a web portal that the end users like me see. It's a console where we can adjust the DNS, caching, and security features all in that console. Cloudflare owns thousands of servers across the world that cache the data. It's a powerful solution. When clients sign up for Cloudflare, they're getting this monster content delivery network, security, and a web application firewall in one. It's all rolled into one, and it's massive. Unless you have your website hosted on a massive hosting provider, there's no way that you can deliver the amount of data that Cloudflare can provide to the end users. If you have static content, there's no way that you can ever match what Cloudflare can do. Obviously, there are competitors to Cloudflare that do the same, but I'm saying other types of solutions. Let's say you go with F5. Great, that's on-prem. That's in your colo. You can't deliver as much data to the internet as you can with a CDN. You don't have to spend $20,000 on a net scaler, F5, or whatever Cisco's selling now. You don't have to buy that. You pay them $50 a month or $150 a month. It's totally worth it because even in five years, you'll never get the performance value, not just the actual ROI. You have to consider how much throughput you can get with Cloudflare.

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VivekGupta7

DGM at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Versatile with good patching and a straightforward setup

There is some fine-tuning needed, even once you define something. We need to do a lot of configuration. It would be easier if they made the configuration simpler, especially in the beginning. They need to give the user more choices and provide more guidance to help avoid problems later on. We'd like some more built-in predictive analytics so we can be prepared for what might happen in the future. We did have some bandwidth issues during setup. If your update fails, you may have stability issues. We find it difficult to reach higher levels of support when we face larger issues.

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ARAVINDAN K

Information Security Engineer 4 at Amadeus

Strengthened security operations with endpoint-level protection but database flexibility could improve

Symantec Data Loss Prevention has proprietary metadata and is well-suited for endpoint-level security. It stands out for supporting multiple protocols like email and SMTP without needing user profile login for endpoint agents. Once policies are downloaded to the local system, they function independently of a user's login. The solution helps enhance security operations when integrated with ServiceNow and offers robust incident response capabilities.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is its usability."

"The web application firewall brought us good security and a view of the accesses/blocks of the entire domain and subdomain that were accessed both by region (country) and IPs."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is external DNS. It is also very secure. They have their own main server and once you configure it, the product takes care of everything. There are no issues in resolving IPs and low latency is also present."

"The solution is stable, and the DNS servers are simple to use."

"The overall experience with Cloudflare is positive, with a rating of eight out of ten."

"New and innovative way to protect the client's data."

"The solution automatically detects and responds to certain types of traffic based on geolocation."

"The most valuable feature of Cloudflare DNS is security."

More Cloudflare pros

"The solution is very user-friendly and valuable."

"The product provides us with an excellent, dependable solution to recommend to clients for their security needs."

"The initial setup process was easy."

"The whitelisting works well."

"The interface showcases threat incidents very well."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to control access to USB drives and other external devices."

"The most valuable features of McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention are the DLP. The DLP, data loss prevention is the most important feature right now that users are looking for."

"The administrative capabilities and the interface make this product accessible and easy to use."

More McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention pros

"Symantec has one of the best incident management capabilities."

"It is a scalable solution...The solution's technical support was good."

"I found Symantec to be user-friendly and easy to use."

"I'm able to track everyone who is trying to send information outside the environment and to know if they are not supposed to be sending it. I'm also able to see the people who are accessing or maybe try to access the information they are not supposed to be accessing based on their level of classification. It gives me overall control of who has got access to what and at what point. And who can do what with specific information."

"There's only one policy needed to implement for all channels."

"All of the features are really important, including DLP for the OCR and endpoint. It will be all of the combined features that will give you the strength to control the data. Every feature has its own uniqueness, different control and will help you to protect the data."

"DLP's most valuable feature is compliance."

"Symantec DLP has many servers, and the solution is very powerful because you can use it in ports, endpoints, networks, and email servers to prevent the leakage of emails. DLP can be integrated with Symantec encryption."

More Symantec Data Loss Prevention pros

Cons

"Support response time could be improved."

"They lack a good way to manage DNS as a company, since everything is relegated to single account logins until you get to the higher levels. They have come out with a paid feature to remedy this, but I have not had a chance to fully review it yet to know if it fixes the access problem."

"The solution could work at being less expensive. It costs a lot to use it."

"It would be helpful if the solution could continue evolving to compete with the other solutions on the market."

"I would like Cloudflare to offer a dedicated account manager for large enterprise clients like us."

"The timing aspect can lead to it being considered overpriced. This is a particular concern we have with Cloudflare, as they may struggle with accurately detecting the client."

"DNS Management."

"We are a product integrator and reseller, and we would like to have a better partner relationship, similar to a channel sales relationship. Sometimes we are on our own or get diverted by Cloudflare because they have direct sales, which competes with us and makes it difficult to build a relationship with this company since we want to be an MSP or a managed service provider for the solution."

More Cloudflare cons

"The user interface is messy and could be simplified."

"We need to do a lot of configuration."

"It could improve how it deals with solar data."

"There needs to be support for blocking the sending of files by email because even if you block or remove an external disk, the files are not protected."

"There are a lot of vulnerabilities and viruses and malware can proliferate."

"The interface can be improved, it's too cluttered."

"The solution needs to be a one-stop protection shop. And yet, the DLP isn't strong. Anyone can break it quite easily."

"The UI needs to be simplified."

More McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention cons

"We want a more proactive reporting structure."

"The product must provide data encryption."

"The upgrade process is convoluted. The server and database software must run in line with third-party providers like the Oracle database. If an Oracle database reaches the end of its life, then servers must be decommissioned, and you need to bring new servers online. When the maintenance packages are deployed to the management server, they don't get pushed to the detection servers. Each detection server must be manually installed rather than automatically made from a single server. If it's a large enterprise, you need to manually install it or use a GPO or some other technology, which I never use."

"A main disadvantage of Symantec DLP is its reliance on Oracle, especially compared to other products like Forcepoint, which offer MSSQL database options that are more convenient."

"The console is not the best one. There is room for improvement in the management console."

"The solution could offer improved more informative documentation."

"Since being acquired by Broadcom, the support has really degraded for small and medium enterprises."

"Sometimes setting up the solution can get a little tricky because it would depend on your internal infrastructure. For example, you have to connect the Symantec Data Loss Prevention platform and you need to integrate it, so that could make the process somewhat difficult."

More Symantec Data Loss Prevention cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is a premium product, so it is very expensive."

"We are using the free tier of the solution."

"I believe their performance has improved, but I'd like to refrain from discussing the pricing aspect related to the cloud. The pricing, in my opinion, could be simplified, and I think they should consider reevaluating the pricing for support, as it can be quite high. At times, this cost can make it challenging to choose CARFAGuard or opt for the support."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"The product's pricing is cheap."

"We don't have any issues with the price."

"There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."

"The product's pricing is minimal compared to other products."

More Cloudflare pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution could improve, it is expensive. We typically sell one and three-year licenses."

"There is an annual license to use this solution."

"I would rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"I'm paying the license for McAfee Total Protection yearly. It could be cheaper, but it's fine."

"It's not a cheap option."

"The price of McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention is expensive. It is not the most expensive solution but it is typically 15 to 20 percent higher than other solutions. There is no additional cost to using McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention."

"If the client purchases the entire suite of McAfee Endpoint, the license is included."

More McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention pricing and cost advice

"Support is a little costly, but you get what you pay for."

"I think that it's an expensive product, even as an enterprise-suite product."

"The price of Symantec DLP is fair. I don't recall the cost of the license, but it wasn't outrageous enough that it was an obstacle to approval. I'm not concerned with how much per seat or server, but I know they charge a lot."

"Pricing is above average."

"The price is competitive."

"In terms of pricing, Symantec DLP works with Oracle Database. Oracle Database licensing is much more expensive than other databases. That might be a drawback for customers. The pricing is on a yearly subscription basis."

"We are happy with the pricing and licencing."

"The platform is expensive."

More Symantec Data Loss Prevention pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Retailer

Real Estate/Law Firm

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

Cloudflare. We are moving from Akamai prolexic to Cloudflare. Cloudflare anycast network outperforms Akamai static GR...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Cloudflare DNS or Quad9?

Cloudflare DNS is a very fast, very reliable public DNS resolver. It is an enterprise-grade authoritative DNS service...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cloudflare?

Cloudflare offers CDN and DDoS protection. We have the front end, API, and database in how you structure applications.

See all answers

What do you like most about McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention?

The tool focuses on endpoints rather than networks. Endpoints cover everything. It wouldn't be possible to steal conf...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention?

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention?

The product’s pricing could be cheaper.

See all answers

What do you like most about Symantec Data Loss Prevention?

It can prevent copying and encoding of HTTP data to various sites like Google, and Webex.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Data Loss Prevention?

I do not have an idea about pricing, as it is handled by another team responsible for procurements.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Data Loss Prevention?

A main disadvantage of Symantec DLP is its reliance on Oracle, especially compared to other products like Forcepoint,...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Imperva DDoS vs Cloudflare

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HP Wolf Security vs McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

Compared 80% of the time

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention vs McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

Compared 5% of the time

Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention vs McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

Compared 4% of the time

Trellix DLP vs McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco Secure Endpoint vs McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 37% of the time

Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Compared 19% of the time

Trellix DLP vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Compared 9% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Compared 6% of the time

Safetica ONE vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Compared 2% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare

May 2025

Download Cloudflare product report

Buyer's Guide

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention

May 2025

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention report

Download McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Data Loss Prevention

April 2025

Download Symantec Data Loss Prevention product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare DNS

McAfee Total Protection for Data, McAfee Total Protection for DLP, Total Protection for Data, Intel Security Total Protection for Data

Symantec DLP

Overview

Cloudflare is a highly-regarded Content Delivery Network (CDN) and a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) protection solution. The robust global connectivity cloud platform that is Cloudflare ensures users are able to connect to the Internet quickly, securely, and reliably. Cloudflare is one of the world's largest networks in the marketplace today. Using Cloudflare, businesses, educational entities, NGOs, vloggers, bloggers, and anyone else with an internet presence can experience more secure, faster websites and applications.

Currently, there are millions of Internet locations on Cloudflare, and the Cloudflare network
continues to grow every day by the thousands. The solution is able to fulfill the requests for
millions of websites seamlessly and serves on average 45 million HTTP requests per second.

Cloudflare has safe, secure data centers in close to 300 cities worldwide to ensure every
client request is filled as quickly as possible. It is Cloudflare’s edge network that makes this
possible by keeping content and other services as close to each client as possible, so the
information requests are always only seconds away.

Many organizations that work in democracy, civil society, human rights, or the arts are able to
access Cloudflare's highest levels of protection for free via Project Galileo. Additionally, official
election websites can be secured from hacking and fraud through Cloudflare’s Project
Athenian, also at no additional cost.

Cloudflare can also help organizations of all sizes develop a robust zero-trust strategy to
ensure the highest levels of productivity and profitability. Employees, stakeholders, and end users have a greater level of satisfaction and overall improved user experience, which can, in
turn, result in higher revenues and overall ROI. Zero-trust and BYOD (bring your own device)
access ensure end users and employees always have the best resources and technology
available to them at all times.

Cloudflare benefits

Cloudflare has many benefits. Some of its most valuable benefits include:

- Faster load times

- Robust DNS security

- Intuitive cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF)

- Free universal SSL

- Image enhancement

- Automatic browser caching

- Next-generation cloud load balancer

- Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

- Rate limiting

- Minification

- Zero-trust capabilities

- Cost-effective

- Reduced carbon footprint

Reviews from real users

“Many websites require an SSL certificate because they sell stuff and want SSL. Cloudflare
comes with an SSL certificate built in. It's automatic. You sign yourself up for Cloudflare, and
an SSL certificate automatically protects your website. If you have a connection between your
website and your host, the server, Cloudflare, and the host, you don't necessarily need a
certificate.” Spencer M., Owner at Tech Exchange

“What I like best about Cloudflare is that my company can use it to trace and manage
applications and monitor traffic. The solution tells you if there's a spike in traffic. Cloudflare
also sends you a link to check your equipment and deployment and track it through peering,
so it's a valuable tool.” Daniel P., Network Engineer at Ufinet

“The most valuable feature of Cloudflare is the GUI. You are able to control the solution very
well through the interface. There is a lot of functionality that is embedded in the service.” PeerSpot user, Competence Center Manager at a tech services company

Cloudflare

McAfee Total Protection for Data solution suite protects your data using a combination of powerful encryption, access control, and user-behavior monitoring.

McAfee

Keeping sensitive corporate information safe and compliant has never been easy. But today, you’re faced with a totally new set of data protection challenges. Sensitive information is leaving the safety of your corporate network as more employees share files over consumer cloud storage services and access those files on their own mobile devices. The number of targeted cyber attacks continues to grow, as cybercriminals develop effective new methods for defeating traditional security measures and stealing corporate information. And as all of these factors converge, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage corporate information and protect it against loss and theft.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention (DLP) provides a comprehensive approach to information protection that embraces today’s cloud- and mobile-centered realities. With DLP, you can:

• Discover where data is stored across all of your cloud, mobile, network, endpoint, and storage systems

• Monitor how data is being used, whether your employees are on or off the network

• Protect data from being leaked or stolen—no matter where it’s stored or how it’s used

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Trusted by over 9,000,000 Internet Applications and APIs, including Nasdaq, Zendesk, Crunchbase, Steve Madden, OkCupid, Cisco, Quizlet, Discord and more.

Kleberg Bank

Hadassah University Hospital, Her Majestys Government (HMG), United Kingdom, Hitachi Consulting Software Services India Pvt Ltd., Hua Nan Bank, Hyundai Department Store Group,JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, Lake Health, McCann Erickson Israel, Molina Healthcare Inc., PGi, Quilvest Switzerland Limited, State of Nevada Public Employees Benefits Program, Symantec Corporation (Enterprise Security), The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (DLP), The Saudi Industrial Property Authority, TSO cloud, Visa, Yunnan Power Grid Company

Buyer's Guide

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention

April 2025

Free Report: McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention

Find out what your peers are saying about McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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We monitor all Data Loss Prevention (DLP) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.