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Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Symantec Messaging Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (7th), Anti-Malware Tools (13th)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is designed for Anti-Malware Tools and holds a mindshare of 1.3%, up 1.3% compared to last year.
Symantec Messaging Gateway, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Email Gateway (SEG), holds 2.7% mindshare, up 2.6% since last year.
Anti-Malware Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)1.3%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint6.6%
VirusTotal3.1%
Other89.0%
Anti-Malware Tools
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec Messaging Gateway2.7%
Proofpoint Email Protection18.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36515.3%
Other63.4%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

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.
Girish Vijay - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Manager IT at Carl Bechem Lubricants India Pvt. Ltd.
A stable and reasonably priced solution that performs well and has a very good malware database
Since Symantec merged with Broadcom, they might have lost some good technical engineers. Maybe that’s the reason why the product is performing poorly. When we have a good marketing and sales team, even though our product cannot perform, we will sell it at a high price because of the buzzwords. However, at the end of the day, the product should perform. Most of the products might not perform. Symantec is a very good product, but the services are basic. I rate the technical features of the product a nine out of ten. However, I would rate the services provided by the solution a six out of ten. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do."
"Online Protection's most valuable feature is its admin interface."
"It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want."
"You can use the product to create special accounts."
"We like the holding facility that is available for potentially suspicious URLs, which allows a real-time review to be performed before the email reaches a user's inbox."
"It has a really nice web-based administration console."
"The initial setup of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection was easy."
"It offers great security against malware and other threats."
"Symantec is a secure product."
"The stability is good; it's not buggy or glitchy, it works well, the performance is good, and they kept up with security patches."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a huge knowledge base about phishing, spamming, spoofing, etc."
"We use the solution for its advanced virus protection, phishing and other features."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the content filtering policies because the solution offers huge options for configuration, such as hardware manipulation, et cetera, and the dictionaries make the work easier."
"The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept."
"I like that it's simple and easy to configure, deploy, and manage. The reporting function has all the features we're looking for, and we are fine with that."
"It has very good capabilities for managing malware."
 

Cons

"We have experienced issues while migrating from on-prem to the cloud. The tool needs to improve its stability."
"Our Exchange system is very locked down and secure, yet we still got hacked."
"Not all settings can be configured automatically and most still require manual configuration. However, there is an automation tool available that can be used to input all the configurations either as a script or a tool it would be helpful."
"Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation."
"The licensing can be on the expensive side, especially in the cloud space."
"Microsoft has some training portals, but more could be developed."
"The solution must improve the user experience."
"Performance and speed should continue to be improved."
"It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports."
"They really need to create a good package that competes with Microsoft."
"What needs to be improved in Symantec Messaging Gateway is its local partner support, as it's not as technical."
"The documentation could have more detailed examples of how to use the product in various situations. As more companies shift to the cloud, they could better integrate the on-prem and cloud versions through an on-prem client."
"The solution interface is from 2003 and is outdated. Symantec Messaging Gateway needs to update the interface."
"In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature."
"Where it is not available, as is the case with unstructured data, this product fails miserably."
"This product would benefit from better integration with Symantec Endpoint Protection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Online Protection is fairly expensive."
"The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's pricing is a little bit more because its price has recently increased."
"The product is bundled with Microsoft 365."
"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"The pricing for the solution depends on what you are trying to achieve with the use of the product, but I know that it is not a cheaply priced product. Yearly payments have to be made towards the licensing fees of the solution."
"It's a high price."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"It's a bit expensive compared to its competitor Barracuda Email Security Gateway but cheaper than Sophos Email."
"The cost of Symantec Messaging Gateway is too expensive in general. However, the appliance also includes the price of the license in the same bundle."
"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
"A subscription for technical support costs extra."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

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 Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
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...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) serves as the main use case for my company because, as a research company, we require a very high level of security. We use multiple authentication method...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
My experience with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is from an end-user perspective, and I do not have admin management experience. I am not familiar with the Advanced Threat Protection f...
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Also Known As

Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, SentinelOne, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Anti-Malware Tools. Updated: July 2026.
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