We use Proofpoint Email Protection mostly for email filtering, spam, and phishing.
IT System Administrator at Data 4 Information Technology B.V.
A stable solution that can be used for email filtering and protection from spam and phishing
Pros and Cons
- "URL scanning and online relay service are the most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection."
- "Integration and filtering out who you want and don't want to have integrated ID could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
URL scanning and online relay service are the most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection.
What needs improvement?
Integration and filtering out who you want and don't want to have integrated ID could be improved. Sometimes it takes longer for an email sent through Proofpoint Email Protection to reach the client.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Proofpoint Email Protection for five years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Proofpoint Email Protection has no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Proofpoint Email Protection is easy to scale. Around 50 users are using the solution in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Proofpoint Email Protection has comparable pricing. The solution has a monthly license. Suppose Proofpoint Email Protection can have 50 users, but you have only 30 current employees; then you only pay for those that are active.
What other advice do I have?
We are using the latest version of Proofpoint Email Protection. Depending on the number of users, one or two people are required for the maintenance of Proofpoint Email Protection.
I would recommend others to compare Proofpoint Email Protection with other tools before choosing it.
Overall, I rate Proofpoint Email Protection an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Senior Consultant (Siem Admin) at IBM
Good at identifying threats, helpful sandboxing capabilities, and useful support
Pros and Cons
- "It's very good at identifying threats."
- "Sometimes it detects false positives."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily used for email protection. However, it is not as good as EDR. It is good at handling privacy.
How has it helped my organization?
It's helped us when one of our senior managers got a fake email about getting a payment. The solution automatically flagged and notified us.
What is most valuable?
It's great for email protection.
It's very good at identifying threats.
There is useful sandboxing available.
The pricing is very reasonable. This is an affordable product.
Technical support is very good.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes it detects false positives.
We'd like the sandbox to integrate with the on-prem device.
It needs to identify the paths and signatures. We'd like advanced machine learning for detection.
We'd like the have more lunch and learns to get more out of the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for around two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'd rate the stability five or six out of ten. It's okay. It's not perfect.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'd rate the scalability around six or seven out of ten. It's decent.
We have around 100 people using it.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is quite good. We are happy with the level of support we receive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
It was quite easy to set up.
We have about four people able to deploy and maintain the product.
What was our ROI?
I have witnessed an ROI after using it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is reasonable. I'd rate the pricing one out of ten in terms of affordability. It is not expensive at all.
What other advice do I have?
I've been using the latest version of the solution.
If you understand email technicalities like email authentication, you will have an easy time with the solution. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Proofpoint Email Protection
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about Proofpoint Email Protection. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
911,493 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Country Manager at PT Symcaw Solutions Indonesia
Easy to set up with good protection but could be cheaper
Pros and Cons
- "The solution scales well."
- "The solution could lower its price."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution to protect email. It's primarily used for security purposes.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has improved the productivity of the users. It works in the background protecting us.
What is most valuable?
The protection has been fair so far. We haven't had any issues.
It's easy to set up. The deployment is also fast.
The solution has been stable.
The solution scales well.
What needs improvement?
So far, the protection on offer is okay. There are no improvements needed at this time.
The solution could lower its price.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for quite a long time at this point. I'm not sure how long it has been
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not had any stability issues. There are no bugs or glitches. It is reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. It's easy to expand. We have about ten people using it in our environment.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It is not overly complex at all.
The deployment itself is very quick. It doesn't take long to set up. You only need one person to set up the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution could be cheaper. The pricing is transparent. There are no extra costs.
What other advice do I have?
I am a customer and end user.
I'm not sure which version I'm using.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's okay.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Marketing Manager at Veronym
User-friendly and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very user-friendly."
- "The flexibility of the solution can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
The solution protects our mailboxes from phishing and scanning.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
The flexibility of the solution can be improved. We have a history of a white labeling project that we completed with one of the largest worldwide telecom companies. We encountered a major issue with some blending cases, as it was almost impossible to meet the blending of colors or requirements expected by our customers within the white labeling project. This is not only a technical issue, but from a marketing perspective, it is also very important. A white hyperlink means that we have prepared a dedicated infrastructure specifically labeled. All parts of our service had to be labeled with a very specific brand, and it was very challenging to make it all happen.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
How was the initial setup?
For customers unfamiliar with DNS settings, we created very specific instructions with informative graphics to make the process less complicated. If we had no knowledge, it could have been difficult, so we created several infographics to show the steps that needed to be taken, and it worked.
The time to deploy depends on if we have a dedicated person or team working on the deployment or if we have to pull someone off another job.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation is completed in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a very specific licensing setup for all the vendors we use for our infrastructure. The end customer is buying our solution, which can be for monthly or annual usage depending on our payment and business model. If someone is trying to test the imaging, the shortest period for testing is a free trial of either fourteen days or seven days or a paid period of one month. The customer does not need to worry about any licensing with Proofpoint, as this is included with our solution.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution an eight out of ten.
We have almost 1000 people using the solution.
I recommend the solution to others.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Global Account Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Brings down malicious email reporting by over 50% and allows you to open suspicious emails in a sandbox environment
Pros and Cons
- "Its main defense is to stop malicious emails from coming through. There is a sandbox environment where you can open malicious or suspicious emails to make sure that they're not malicious, instead of taking the risk of having your employees do it. This is definitely something that everybody needs nowadays, especially with the rise in cyber attacks."
- "Our clients have definitely seen an ROI; their level of breach and reporting of malicious emails from their user base actually went down by over 50% by using this product."
- "I want Security Awareness Training in there as a package deal. A lot of companies are starting to value email security a little bit more and take it a little bit more seriously, and the great product that we link together with a lot of these sales is a training product called Security Awareness Training. It is an upsell that we do with Proofpoint, and it is definitely something that I recommend everybody with email security to look into. It would be great if Security Awareness Training is included with the email security."
- "It can be improved pricing-wise so that it is affordable for the SMB market."
What is our primary use case?
It serves as an added layer above your email gateway.
What is most valuable?
Its main defense is to stop malicious emails from coming through. There is a sandbox environment where you can open malicious or suspicious emails to make sure that they're not malicious, instead of taking the risk of having your employees do it. This is definitely something that everybody needs nowadays, especially with the rise in cyber attacks.
What needs improvement?
It can be improved pricing-wise. One downfall of the product from the SMB side is the pricing. Currently, everybody can't afford it. Everybody wants a Mercedes, but not everyone has the budget for it.
I want Security Awareness Training in there as a package deal. A lot of companies are starting to value email security a little bit more and take it a little bit more seriously, and the great product that we link together with a lot of these sales is a training product called Security Awareness Training. It is an upsell that we do with Proofpoint, and it is definitely something that I recommend everybody with email security to look into. It would be great if Security Awareness Training is included with the email security.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability is great. There are no outages.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is very good. It is a SaaS solution. So, it is very adaptable. Out of my about 50 clients, more than half are using it. It is always going to be used well by customers, but we need to emphasize a little bit more on email security.
How are customer service and support?
They are good. I would rate them a 10 out of 10. They are responsive and very intuitive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Most customers switched from Microsoft. The reason why they switched over was the results. There were more and more people who were coming to them asking why something or a breach happened. We actually caught a live breach during a PoC, and it was getting through their Microsoft, but Proofpoint was picking it up.
How was the initial setup?
It is pretty straightforward. Its deployment is done by Proofpoint. It takes less than a day.
What about the implementation team?
Its implementation is done through Proofpoint.
What was our ROI?
Our clients have definitely seen an ROI. Their level of breach and reporting of malicious emails from their user base actually went down by over 50% by using this product. That's over a two-year span for emails.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is on a yearly basis. Their floor for SMB doesn't matter. The user count is 100 users and below at $2,500 a year.
Its cost is higher than other solutions. It is probably about 20% to 30% higher than what you would get with Microsoft. There are no additional costs. All costs are factored in.
It can be improved pricing-wise so that it is affordable for the SMB market.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
They didn't evaluate any other solution.
What other advice do I have?
We get no complaints, and that's why we sell it. It has been very good. I would recommend this product to everybody. It doesn't matter whether you are a large business or a small business. You need it no matter what. Going forward, it is going to be the norm to have something more than just your basic email protection because the SEC is actually catching onto a lot of these bad actors. As per the survey, the number one risk for companies was their own employees clicking something. It is a good story I tell my customers, and just like that, they're purchasing from us. It is an easier sell. It isn't hard to sell. Your average sales cycle, from PoC to close, on this one is most likely going to be within the 90-day period.
It is overall good. I would rate it an 8 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
System Administrator at emco Bautechnik GmbH
Easy to set-up and effectively drops spam and phishing emails
Pros and Cons
- "It was easy to set up."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for our email flow. We use it for our daily operations. For example, it helps in dropping spam and phishing emails.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement. One aspect that could be enhanced is finding a better way to follow outgoing mail. This would be particularly useful in situations where customers or suppliers claim they did not receive our messages.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for seven years. We are also using a Proofpoint protection server and Proofpoint Threat Response.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. We have about a thousand people using it.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support team is okay.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
It was easy to set up. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten. The deployment took half a day.
What about the implementation team?
We worked on the deployment process together with our provider.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. We are really satisfied with the solution.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Global Account Executive at Tata Consultancy
Stable platform that detects malware, viruses, and other email scams and the setup is not too complicated
Pros and Cons
- "Proofpoint Email Protection is stable enough and does its job of virus, malware, and email scam detection. Setting it up is not too complicated."
- "At this point in time, there's nothing that needs to be changed or improved in the tool."
- "Pricing for the platform could still be cheaper."
- "Every client always finds it expensive, but I don't know how much they're paying for it."
What is our primary use case?
Proofpoint Email Protection is used as an email security platform to detect all kinds of malware, viruses, and unethical acts being done through email solicitations.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been dealing with Proofpoint Email Protection for at least three years. We've been providing the support for it and deploying it across different countries within the group.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Proofpoint Email Protection is stable enough, and it has a good image within the group. It's doing its job.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Proofpoint Email Protection is not too complicated. I won't classify it as complicated or complex, though it does require a certain level of technical skills to manage and run the platform, which is also required on similar platforms.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My clients pay for an annual subscription of Proofpoint Email Protection. Every client always finds it expensive, but I don't know how much they're paying for it. The price for the license could still be cheaper, in general.
What other advice do I have?
I provide products to clients. I have clients who use a product for email protection that I provided: Proofpoint Email Protection. They use it in their corporate offices.
At this point in time, there's nothing that needs to be changed or improved in the tool. We have regular updates for Proofpoint Email Protection, so there's no specific need to change anything.
I have two to three clients using the tool, but globally, within our group, I don't have information on the total number of clients using Proofpoint Email Protection.
My company provides L3 support, and we reach out to Proofpoint for typical, vendor-type support, L4 support via a ticketing system.
I'm rating Proofpoint Email Protection eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
CTO at DSM Technology Consultants, LLC
Straightforward installation, little maintenance, and good support
Pros and Cons
- "Proofpoint Email Protection's initial installation is straightforward. It took us less than a day to complete the implementation."
- "Proofpoint Email Protection is a very robust solution."
- "Proofpoint Email Protection could improve the Mail Trace feature and make navigation easier."
What is our primary use case?
Proofpoint Email Protection is used to protect your entire email.
How has it helped my organization?
Proofpoint Email Protection has improved the organization by reducing spam emails.
What needs improvement?
Proofpoint Email Protection could improve the Mail Trace feature and make navigation easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Proofpoint Email Protection within the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Proofpoint Email Protection is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have not had an issue with the scalability of Proofpoint Email Protection.
We have had projects with 5,000 users and some with 50 users using Proofpoint Email Protection. We are using this solution extensively and we plan to increase our usage of the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Proofpoint Email Protection is very good.
I would rate the support from Proofpoint Email Protection a four out of five.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Proofpoint Email Protection on-premise to Proofpoint Email Protection on the cloud.
How was the initial setup?
Proofpoint Email Protection's initial installation is straightforward. It took us less than a day to complete the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution charges per user per month to use it. There are not any additional fees in addition to the standard living fees.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did evaluate other options before we choose Proofpoint Email Protection.
What other advice do I have?
Proofpoint Email Protection is a very robust solution. I would advise others to read the manual before use.
I rate Proofpoint Email Protection an eight out of ten.
It does have some issues, but it's very good.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Data Security Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Excellent quarantining function and very powerful
Pros and Cons
- "Provides better control over emails, especially those sent via Office 365 on the cloud."
- "We've observed that we have almost 99.9% control over our emails now in an easy to configure and easy to implement solution."
- "Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's a little complex."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is the encryption tooling of email security. Emails sent externally are automatically encrypted as is all the information included. There are some DLP related options available in Proofpoint, which we enabled with the help of classifying the emails, like internal, external, private, public, sharing. That's our main use. We are customers of Proofpoint.
What is most valuable?
The value for us is that we now have much better control over emails, especially those sent via Office 365 on the cloud. We've configured it so that all emails go to Proofpoint and are quarantined or encrypted. I believe the quarantine email function is very rare to find in other solutions. It's a powerful tool and I believe cost effective.
What needs improvement?
Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's a little complex. Right now we have integrated with Power BI to get logs and information from Proofpoint. That has to be improved with the API and there are also latency issues which need to be simplified and improved. Those are the areas I've observed that need improvement.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is hosted by Proofpoint on Amazon AWS, with some on servers on-prem. We've done the load balancing and I believe it's pretty strong now. We haven't experienced any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good, we have around 100,000 employees. For now, we have implemented two data centers. It covers 60% of traffic. We're moving ahead so that by the end of the year we'll have 100% implementation.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is relatively good although the solutions and ticketing system requires a lot of improvement.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using Symantec but switched to Proofpoint because Symantec didn't offer the email quarantine function. Cost was another issue with Symantec being a more expensive solution. But the main reason we switched was because we were looking for more control over the cloud email, especially with the sensitive information we have.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a mixed experience. Nothing is simple nowadays and we were dealing with both cloud and on-prem, dividing the load blancing. As a result, it's taken almost six months to get full implementation. We were testing for a lot of that time. We initially implemented only in the cloud. And later on we integrated it with the reporting applications, and lastly we implemented on-prem. We are a team of seven, and implemented ourselves. I did a lot of demos and trainings which helped us a lot when it came to deploying ourselves.
We now have around 10 staff who have access to the administration portal; the project manager, a couple from the messaging team, architects, and security engineers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Forcepoint and McAfee but both dropped out in the middle stage and we moved on to testing with Proofpoint. Both solutions had an easy environment, with an easy to configure and straightforward dashboard. However, when it came to security controls, including inscription and quarantine options, those things were more available in Proofpoint.
What other advice do I have?
We've observed that we have almost 99.9% control over our emails now in an easy to configure and easy to implement solution. It's simple and easy for the administration as well. We're looking forward to any upgrades or updates they provide. I recommend this solution if it suits your needs and requirements. If you have concerns about data floating in emails, it's a good solution. If that's not an issue then you can choose something else.
I rate the solution nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief Information Officer at a consumer goods company with 51-200 employees
Reliable, scalable, protects your email from threats, and has good support
Pros and Cons
- "The setup was easy."
- "We have a lot fewer malicious emails coming in since implementing this product."
- "I would want better spear phishing protection in the essentials package."
- "To move to a more sophisticated email security solution was cost-prohibitive. When you compare it to others, it was too expensive."
What is our primary use case?
I am the CIO, I have consultants.
We use Proofpoint Email Protection to filter out malicious emails.
How has it helped my organization?
We have a lot fewer malicious emails coming in since implementing this product.
What is most valuable?
The setup was easy.
What needs improvement?
It was easier to use Microsoft than Proofpoint.
We had some issues with their sales consultant. We got into a dispute and he ended up leaving the company. It's unknown if he was unhappy being at the company, or if it was a reflection of the company, but I can say that their sales consultant was not good.
I think they have everything that I would want in the advanced version.
There are certain things, I would want. I would want better spear phishing protection in the essentials package.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Proofpoint Email Protection for two years.
It's a subscription, and we are always using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good.
I am going to reiterate. To move to a more sophisticated email security solution was cost-prohibitive. When you compare it to others, it was too expensive.
All users of the company, all departments were using this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support was okay. I think it was good, although it wasn't outstanding.
It would be excellent, f they had chats and instantaneous responses. That would make it better.
We always struggled with getting on the phone with someone.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were able to get the same security levels using Microsoft that we were getting with Proofpoint.
With this company, we used Proofpoint straight out of the gate.
We have now switched to Microsoft. The features were definitely there. It was more integrated; people don't have to go to a different website to see what was quarantined. They can see it right in their account on Outlook.
Microsoft is easier to use, it's more integrated, and it's cheaper. It was cheaper than their advanced module, for sure, but it was comparable to their basic package.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It was easy to set up.
It took few hours to set up. It was really quick.
We have an admin that would go in to see what was quarantined every now and again a quarter of full-time equivalent approximately 10 hours a week.
This solution was being used every day, 24 hours a day.
What about the implementation team?
We used a consultant to deploy the solution.
I have had a relationship with this consultant for more than 20 years. If I keep a consultant for that long it's because they are worth their weight.
It is always a pleasant experience working with them.
What was our ROI?
For sure, we have seen a return on investment. It does what it's supposed to do, which is to protects you.
If Proofpoint was the only product out there, I would gladly pay for it. It would be fine and good. But they are not the only game in town. Their competitors managed to give the same level of protection for much less.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The Basic Email Coverage is pretty close to the same price as the Extended Email Security of other companies.
To start basic at Proofpoint, let's say more expensive than other basic packages.
To jump into the Advanced versions of Proofpoint, the costs multiply four or five times, which made it not feasible for us. Being multiple times more expensive, it very much less attractive.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise people to look at the options.
It does what it says it's going to do. The only issue is the cost.
I would rate Proofpoint Email Protection an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: August 2026
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