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Proofpoint Email Protection vs Trend Micro Email Security comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 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
7.2
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enhances email protection, reduces costs, and increases productivity, offering invaluable data security.
Sentiment score
7.0
Proofpoint Email Protection effectively reduced phishing threats, provided financial benefits, and received positive feedback for its cost savings.
Sentiment score
7.6
Entities reported substantial ROI from Trend Micro Email Security, highlighting cost savings, enhanced protection, and improved security posture.
It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.
Overall, cost of owning and operating our system goes down.
It's hard to quantify the return on investment we've seen from Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers reliable support, praised for responsiveness, despite some challenges with clarity and third-party resolutions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Proofpoint Email Protection's customer service is responsive and professional, though global availability and portal access could be improved.
Sentiment score
7.6
Trend Micro Email Security support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though response times vary by region.
Over the past two years, there have been no critical problems.
we opened tickets, and they typically resolve them quickly.
Customer service and support have been fantastic.
Clients are generally very satisfied with the various types of support available.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales seamlessly across configurations, supporting thousands of users with effortless integration and optimal performance.
Sentiment score
7.6
Proofpoint Email Protection is praised for its scalability and adaptability, effectively supporting large enterprises with its cloud-based architecture.
Sentiment score
7.8
Trend Micro Email Security is a scalable cloud-based solution ideal for medium to enterprise-sized businesses with strong user flexibility.
We have never faced scalability problems, and Microsoft manages it effectively.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales transparently for us, as we grew from 1,000 users to 3,000 users, and we didn't notice much difference.
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is highly reliable, offering stable performance, quick issue resolution, and high user satisfaction ratings.
Sentiment score
8.1
Proofpoint Email Protection is praised for its reliability, with minimal disruptions and occasional concerns related to its recent sale.
Sentiment score
8.0
Trend Micro Email Security is highly reliable, stable, easy to manage, and performs well with minimal reported issues.
The solution is stable, as we have been using it for the past two years.
I would assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as very stable, with barely any issues.
Overall, the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are good.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 needs enhanced virus protection, compatibility, UI, integration, reporting, and cost transparency to improve user experience.
Proofpoint Email Protection needs enhanced integration, improved functionality and support, better UI, lower pricing, and additional security features.
Trend Micro Email Security needs stronger phishing detection, better integration, improved interface, and cost efficiency for enhanced user experience.
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process.
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published.
There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console.
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
More security could be implemented.
The company also needs to work on pricing because it is quite costly compared to other products.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing complex but valuable due to integration with Office 365 features.
Proofpoint Email Protection is costly but valued for its robust security features, with clear pricing at $8 per user.
Trend Micro Email Security is costly but offers great enterprise value, with pricing around $6,000 annually for 300 users.
We've likely saved 30% of costs.
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro.
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
Prices range from 11 to 12 dollars for licenses and can fluctuate up and down.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers comprehensive security with real-time updates and automated threat response, enhancing multi-platform enterprise safety.
Proofpoint Email Protection excels in anti-phishing, spam blocking, integration with Office 365, and advanced threat detection using AI.
Trend Micro Email Security provides comprehensive protection with advanced features, easy management, and seamless integration for reliable email security.
It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats.
It provides end-to-end visibility on email threats such as phishing, extending beyond Exchange Online Protection.
The value of the DLP feature is significant to us because we have internal data, sometimes sensitive, and the users may not always be aware of security and privacy, which might lead them to send out information mistakenly to external parties.
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
The product is quite strong, and that is one reason most clients are replacing their existing email security solutions with it.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
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Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Email Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Security Awareness Training (2nd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (3rd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
Trend Micro Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 12.9%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 8.1%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trend Micro Email Security is 2.7%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.
AhmedRamadan - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimize email security with effective sandboxing and auto Pull for quarantine
Proofpoint is used as an email security gateway for big enterprises, primarily for their on-premises servers. Many customers also use it alongside Office 365 Proofpoint offers a complete solution for email security with features like DLP, email archiving, and encryption. The most valuable…
Nadeem Syed - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers comprehensive security, easy integration, and good support
It integrated easily. About 99% of the time, we do not face any challenges in integrating any product of Trend Micro with the existing network. It is usually compatible with all kinds of networks. They have recently added AI to all Trend Micro products. It makes life a little bit easier by catching viruses, providing solutions, and helping out whenever you are stuck somewhere. It is one of the very good features they have right now. For example, one of our clients experienced a network attack and became confused about resolving the issues. The AI was helpful by suggesting initial steps to solve the problem.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS recor...
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 enh...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of improvement, the price could be better. Additionally, more security could be implemented.
What do you like most about Trend Micro Email Security?
The tool provides a strong defense against attacks. It is also easy to use. Trend Micro Email Security's integration ...
What needs improvement with Trend Micro Email Security?
There is room for improvement in mobile device management. The company also needs to work on pricing because it is qu...
What advice do you have for others considering Trend Micro Email Security?
I would definitely recommend it. Trend Micro is better than any of its competitors. I would rate it a nine out of ten...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe, Proofpoint Digital Protection
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Air21, Azra Solutions, CBOSS, De Montfort University, Depaeuw, DHR Health, Fukui University Hospital
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Trend Micro Email Security and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.