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Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection effectively enhances email security, productivity, and cost-efficiency compared to rivals like AppRiver and Trend.
Sentiment score
5.9
Proofpoint Email Protection enhances security by reducing spam and threats, though its interface may impact operational efficiency.
The ideal situation would be to have all these portals combined into one unified dashboard.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection support receives mixed reviews, with response times varying based on issue complexity and service level.
Sentiment score
6.9
Proofpoint Email Protection's support is often praised for expertise and responsiveness but criticized for inconsistencies and sluggish communication.
If I had to rate the support I received on a scale of ten, I would give it a ten because he went way beyond what was expected for me.
Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft offers excellent 24/7 support.
System Administrator at Shubham housing finance
My team is able to get the help they need when necessary.
General Manager at Ambient iT
I am familiar with the granular policy control feature of Proofpoint Email Protection, and I find their support excellent for modifying those policies.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Sometimes I get some really great responses and analysts, but sometimes when their cloud services have a failure, they are slow to respond and tell me about it, though they have been improving.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
I rate customer support a three out of ten mainly because of the phishing attacks that are getting through.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection efficiently scales from small businesses to large enterprises, offering seamless cloud migration and regular updates.
Sentiment score
7.6
Proofpoint Email Protection offers scalable, adaptable cloud-based architecture, efficiently supporting expansions for businesses of all sizes, despite minor licensing concerns.
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Proofpoint Email Protection is a scalable solution that very much fits our capacity requirements.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reliable and stable, with rare security incidents, benefiting from good maintenance and occasional third-party support.
Sentiment score
8.1
Proofpoint Email Protection offers consistent stability and reliability, with minor interface issues and infrequent outages reported by users.
When evaluating the stability of Proofpoint Email Protection in regards to downtime, bugs, and glitches, it comes and goes in waves.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection needs improved flexibility, security, user experience, intuitive interface, pricing, support, and integration with other platforms.
Proofpoint Email Protection's high cost and integration challenges hinder its usability, flexibility, and effectiveness in phishing and spam detection.
Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous.
General Manager at Ambient iT
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
From an end-user point of view, I am quite happy with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) because my favorite feature is the ease with which I can identify if an email is a phishing email or spam email.
Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
More security could be implemented.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Proofpoint Email Protection can improve in how it analyzes alerts by using more AI within its product suite to eliminate repeat alerts, such as filtering down the same attack to generate only one alert.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection pricing is seen as generally high, but justified by security features and Microsoft's reputation.
Proofpoint Email Protection is costly but valued for its robust features despite higher pricing than competitors like Mimecast and Barracuda.
I find the price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) to be fairly reasonable, and I have no problems with it.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Microsoft Exchange is more expensive compared to other services like Gmail.
System Administrator at Shubham housing finance
The pricing is reasonable.
General Manager at Ambient iT
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers robust security features including anti-spam, anti-phishing, malware protection, scalability, and seamless Windows integration.
Proofpoint Email Protection offers robust security, AI-driven threat detection, user-friendly management, and strong support for email threat visibility.
We've benefited from the anti-phishing features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), as it has been quite accurate and has eliminated most of our phishing emails, making it really impressive.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
In the last three years, has resulted in no antivirus problems.
Head Of Information Technology at a government with 201-500 employees
Another feature I appreciate is the ability to question things, as our Exchange server allows us to identify in real-time if an email is a phishing email or spam email.
Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
That provides top-level, best of breed protections for email services.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
The most beneficial feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is mostly spam filtering; it was very efficient, and we were very happy with the functionality as only relevant emails were allowed for mailboxes.
Manager, IT Director at Cakmak Avukatlik Ortakligi
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (12th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Email Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 4.4%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 7.9%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection7.9%
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)4.4%
Other87.7%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

NancyHartman - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Process Manager/ Educational Technologist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Layered email security has protected sensitive research and still flags phishing in real time
The valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) include providing an additional layer of protection, as it builds on the basic Exchange level of security that allows us to get our work done. Another feature I appreciate is the ability to question things, as our Exchange server allows us to identify in real-time if an email is a phishing email or spam email. It really helps us identify risks, especially through our external exchanges via email or through our cloud-based platforms. Our Exchange system blocks any embedded AI from all our applications and products, so we cannot use embedded AI in our daily work from our official laptops because we have secure information. The system is quite locked down.
Steve Bradbury - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
Email defenses have blocked advanced threats and provide deep visibility into risky users
The areas that have room for improvement in Proofpoint Email Protection include their cost of ownership, which is fairly high. To manage and run all their products, I have to list and manage administrators in seven or eight different places. That is too many places to keep track of since for this tool I have to go to one location, and for another tool I have to go to a different location. They need to simplify the administration management of administrators and consolidate that into one place for all their products. Access to all the different products is very scattered. For some products I go to one URL, and for different products I go to a different URL. They have a threat URL that has most of their products in it, but not all. They need to simplify the interface to show all the products I have access to in one location.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement, as at times it doesn't make sense where to go to access certain features.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
My use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is basically to protect ourselves from phishing emails and to improve our email security.
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?
I believe they still need to improve by consolidating some portals, as currently, you have to log in separately to a few of them.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Proofpoint Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.