Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention 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

Proofpoint Email Data Loss ...
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
37th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Data Loss Prevention
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) category, the mindshare of Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Data Loss Prevention is 4.2%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Symantec Data Loss Prevention4.2%
Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)1.0%
Other94.8%
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

HP
Cosultant at Kadaster
Offers flexible licensing and easy setup, but has challenges with European compliance
It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies. Additionally, there is uncertainty about the future level of license pricing because American organizations sometimes change their product offerings. Barracuda's Active Directory checking feature is one area where Proofpoint could improve.
OT
Technical Team Leader at Redington (India) Ltd
Experienced implementation enhances security with robust detection and centralized management
A significant case highlighted an improvement need when a banking company lost 500 customer information pieces through screenshots. The data theft occurred through individual screenshots of credit note pages rather than taking complete PDF files. This incident led to the suggestion for implementing image detection methods, as Data Loss Prevention solutions needed to analyze image details. Symantec responded by creating an OCR module, enabling the capability to search within images. The pricing structure remains an area for improvement. We lost a POC despite installing 2,000 endpoints because Symantec Data Loss Prevention is more expensive compared to other solutions. Although the competing product couldn't match all the best practices, the price difference influenced the final decision.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Proofpoint offers flexibility in licensing, accommodating various levels from small businesses to governments."
"We have too many features included in the solution. These include third-party malware detection as a primary feature and a secondary feature focused on dealing with various security threats."
"Proofpoint offers flexibility in licensing, accommodating various levels from small businesses to governments."
"With respect to the amount of intelligence that they have with respect to how they formed the DLP solution, for example, exact data matching. If you compare Forcepoint with Symantec, Symantec is more sophisticated than Forcepoint."
"I have found the most valuable feature to be partial enlisting."
"The exfiltration capabilities are great. You can put all of these rules in the product to detect the patterns and text."
"The most valuable aspect of Symantec DLP is its broad coverage. Symantec DLP covers USB, Outlook email clients, and web traffic. If we install the endpoint DLP, we can cover multiple channels, including the clipboard and printer."
"Symantec Data Loss Prevention is completely designed for the enterprise area because it enables great segmentation."
"The product is very robust."
"The detection capabilities are comprehensive."
"DLP's most valuable feature is compliance."
 

Cons

"It is difficult to meet the European security compliance regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies."
"The tool is expensive."
"It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies."
"There is room for improvement in the remote control capabilities of the DLP solution."
"That fine tuning has to be done for the customer as well as the vendor. So if I take Symantec DLP, we have to have some final fine tuning but we may need some time developing this depending on the customer. This is an area where something can be done to improve the product."
"From a management perspective, it takes a lot of time to manage the infrastructure."
"Since being acquired by Broadcom, the support has really degraded for small and medium enterprises."
"What could be improved in Symantec Data Loss Prevention is its security. It should be more secure."
"There should be more information about the features of the solution and what they do. This way we would be able to use all the features that are available."
"They could improve the predefined reports because they don't have much information. We would like detailed reports."
"We are finding delayed response if the macOS is updated. They need to make sure their solution is compatible."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"DLP could be a bit cheaper."
"The platform is not very expensive. I rate its pricing an eight out of ten."
"If you are a small firm with less than 150 users, Symantec can be too pricey."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"The product is high-priced."
"The platform is expensive."
"The price of Symantec Data Loss Prevention could be reduced."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
The licenses for Proofpoint are effective, however, there is uncertainty about future pricing as American organizations might change their product, thereby altering the license. Microsoft has been ...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies. Additionally, ...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
I know the portfolio of Proofpoint. I work with email backup and email security. Most of the time, I consult for various organizations about email and email security.
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Data Loss Prevention?
I am not aware of the licensing cost for Symantec Data Loss Prevention because the licensing cost is up to senior management's decision. I really don't know what the cost of that is. It is based on...
What needs improvement with Symantec Data Loss Prevention?
In future updates of Symantec Data Loss Prevention, I would like to see improvements based on the many attacks happening around the world. They can improve their product and the features mainly to ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Symantec DLP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Hadassah University Hospital, Her Majestys 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
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.