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MetaDefender vs Symantec Content Analysis comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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

MetaDefender
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (18th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (7th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (5th)
Symantec Content Analysis
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
50th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of MetaDefender is 2.2%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Content Analysis is 0.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MetaDefender2.2%
Symantec Content Analysis0.8%
Other97.0%
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RS
Senior Associate at a educational organization with 11-50 employees
File protection has improved and now keeps millions of daily transfers secure and compliant
In my organization, while using this tool, we found that there were a few files flagged as suspicious; however, those were not suspicious and it was a false positive, so that can be improved. False positive results were an issue, and it took time to scan files if the file size was greater than 1 GB. For larger files greater than 1 GB, it needs to be improved. In some cases, the reconstruction of the file led to a failure of code deployment and it flagged a valid file as malicious, which was not effective; however, in other types of files, it was very effective and could scan files properly. We have already covered all the main suggestions; however, it can be improved to reduce false positive results, and scanning could be faster to process more files in a day.
Mel Stevenson - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at DXC Technology
The solution can be used for malware scanning, but its alerting and reporting could be improved
We use Symantec Content Analysis for malware scanning. Symantec Content Analysis is used to scan for viruses The solution's alerting and reporting are basic and could use some improvement. I have been working with Symantec Content Analysis since 2006. I rate Symantec Content Analysis an eight…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the simplicity, the way it works out of the box. It's pretty easy to run and configure. The integration of the network devices with the ICAP server was easily done."
"For one of my clients, a major bank in Turkey, they reported saving approximately 30 percent of their SOC time on analyzing emails since implementing MetaDefender."
"I assess the effectiveness of MetaDefender in blocking or sanitizing content based on policy as very good."
"MetaDefender is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer, which provides confidence in promoting and recommending it to others."
"OPSWAT is the best alternative."
"MetaDefender has positively impacted my organization by reducing the risk of file-based attacks, which has significantly improved our overall defense against phishing and malware delivery techniques."
"MetaDefender is a useful tool for scanning all incoming and outgoing files and keeping our applications and servers in compliance, and I found it useful because we can integrate it with multiple file transfer tools such as Globalscape EFT, GoAnywhere, or Sterling, which is the best feature as it integrates with multiple tools."
"MetaDefender is flexible because, for a free product, you can enroll up to 50 devices, and I have only used about eight devices so far."
"We use Symantec Content Analysis for malware scanning."
 

Cons

"What I would like to see improved in MetaDefender includes reducing the high cost of the license, as the pricing is very high."
"Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand."
"I did not manage to enroll my IoT devices, including my child's device running on iOS and some Amazon products."
"In some cases, the reconstruction of the file led to a failure of code deployment and it flagged a valid file as malicious, which was not effective."
"In some cases, the reconstruction of the file led to a failure of code deployment and it flagged a valid file as malicious, which was not effective; however, in other types of files, it was very effective and could scan files properly."
"While MetaDefender's mail gateway already gives fewer false positives, there is still room for improvement in reducing those even further."
"From the last year that we integrated OPSWAT in our company, I have not seen any improvements."
"The documentation is not well written, and I often need to talk with support."
"The solution's alerting and reporting are basic and could use some improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We bought a three-year license, and that was pretty expensive. We agreed that it was really worth buying. It could be cheaper, but we understand that quality comes at a price."
"Symantec Content Analysis is a very expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MetaDefender?
MetaDefender is generally considered a premium price compared to a standard antivirus solution, and since it has multiple engine scanning, deep Content Disarm and Reconstruct, and sandboxing capabi...
What needs improvement with MetaDefender?
Most of the time, in our experience at Danet Communications, we work with government offices, and they need the CDR. However, because CDR is affecting files such as MSI and EXE files, they are alwa...
What is your primary use case for MetaDefender?
I am an integrator for MetaDefender. My usual use cases for MetaDefender involve connecting the products into the environment of the customer, including MetaDefender Core, ICAPs, endpoints, and all...
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Also Known As

OPSWAT MetaDefender, MetaDefender Core
Symantec Content & Malware Analysis, Symantec Content and Malware Analysis
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
OLFA, Ricoh, McKesson, COTA, ABS-CBN, Finastra, KAKUDAI, SGN, Caravel, KORAMIS, Snapper, Budapest Bank, Rockwell Automation
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