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Deep Instinct Prevention Platform vs Symantec Protection Engine 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

Deep Instinct Prevention Pl...
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (27th)
Symantec Protection Engine
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
20th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Deep Instinct Prevention Platform is 1.0%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Protection Engine is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Deep Instinct Prevention Platform1.0%
Symantec Protection Engine0.6%
Other98.4%
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Tom Foal - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Klaatu IT Security Ltd
Stops ransomware before it executes and reduces response time for the team
A potential area of improvement for Deep Instinct Prevention Platform is their focus on file uploads and large data storage, backups, and other related areas. It is difficult to think of what they could improve, but low information provided by the system when it detects something is one area, particularly in scripting. Deep Instinct Prevention Platform detects malicious scripts but it needs better measures, perhaps signing scripts, so we can be sure that a script is created by a client, not by some malware. It is really about helping us triage incidents effectively, so a bit more help with the analysis of incidents, particularly what the Deep Instinct Prevention Platform agent has discovered, would be beneficial. We need to know what it has spotted that makes it suspect malware.
Abhimanyu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at Kyndryl
Real-time file security has reduced incident tickets and improves threat detection accuracy
The best features of Symantec Protection Engine include machine learning, file reputation, and real-time scanning. It efficiently handles heavy loads through ICAP and cloud-based processing, reducing the burden on endpoints compared to Trend Micro and other endpoint security solutions. Its centralized control is also noteworthy. Through machine learning, it detects both known and unknown malware and malicious URLs, in addition to performing signature-based scans that assist SOC teams in analysis. The solution is highly effective in leveraging both machine learning and file reputation. Regarding centralized control, it offers a unified management console for policy deployment and provides real-time visibility through dashboards, helping save significant administrative time. Symantec Protection Engine has had a positive impact on our organization by enhancing our overall security posture. It effectively blocks a high volume of file-based threats across more than 200 servers, saves SOC analysts time in endpoint remediation, and streamlines compliance processes. It further strengthens security through real-time scanning and machine learning-based quarantine, blocking phishing payloads in SharePoint uploads before they reach endpoints, thereby reducing incidents by 30–40% compared to signature-only tools.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Deep Instinct's detection rate is close to 100 percent."
"The product offers integration capabilities and is also easy to use."
"Deep Instinct’s prevention-first approach to stopping unknown ransomware and malware is the reason why we purchased the product. The pre-execution versus post-execution is a big piece for us where it is able to stop something before it even hits the box or desktop. That was one of the big reasons why we went with Deep Instinct."
"Deep Instinct Prevention Platform stops all malware, including zero-days in 20 milliseconds, and I have never managed to get anything past it, which means I do not have to get out of bed whenever something happens at the client because we know anything bad has been stopped."
"The user interface is a good feature; it shows which process has been accessed and the flow, and the detections for PowerShell are also pretty good, as is the active scripts detection feature."
"This solution is good at catching viruses and it's very effective and lightweight, which are all things that you want in an antivirus product."
"It has a very low false-positive ratio. That is important because it means we're not wasting time... We're able to run that entire 20,000-endpoint base with just a handful of engineers."
"I like the dashboard. It looks very simple."
"Symantec Protection Engine provides me with the option of both cloud and on-premise solutions, which stands out for both me and my clients."
"The best features that I like the most include the threat intelligence network, which is effective in protecting against evolving threats."
"Symantec Protection Engine's been a game-changer for us at Kantar—blocks like 80-85% of file-based threats right at the gateway before they hit our 200 servers, cutting down endpoint incidents big time."
"Symantec Protection Engine has improved my security posture by helping me identify potentially malicious files before they reach users or critical systems, and the automated scanning process has also reduced manual efforts for my team, allowing us to focus on other security tasks and respond to threats more efficiently."
"What I appreciate in Symantec Protection Engine is the Virtual Policy Manager (VPM) and the Application Name feature, which are really effective."
"The operational efficiency with the high-performance scanning of Symantec Protection Engine is very good."
 

Cons

"The Achilles heel in our industry is reporting. I would love to see exceptional, outstanding level of reporting."
"If they can bring some additional, complementary solutions, like network scanning and the like, that will help. If they had some sort of a firewall which could help detect DDoS attacks and other things, it would be an improvement"
"Due to the nature of deep learning, it’s sometimes difficult to determine why the AI model has blocked a specific file, although this has improved over time."
"Some features are too resource intensive."
"The Management Console is not localized."
"Its support for Linux and Unix operating systems can be improved. Currently, they cover macOS and Windows, but they don't cover Linux and some of the Unix products. Pricing is also an issue. Its pricing is not as aggressive as it could be, and its price makes it difficult to sell. Customers feel that they can get an antivirus for a lower price, even though it is not a similar product. It is technically different. Their SLAs can be better. They have to give you 24/7 support, but their SLAs are not very good. They should be better documented, and the offerings should also be a little bit better. What happens is that the SLAs end up in the hands of the intermediary, seller, or the local partner of Deep Instinct in a country. The customers want very fast SLAs in a very short time, but Deep Instinct doesn't give them at the same speed. Having said that, SLAs are important when you have a lot of issues, but this product doesn't have too many issues, so it is not a big concern. However, for a customer who doesn't know the product, it could be a concern."
"Pricing is also an issue. Its pricing is not as aggressive as it could be, and its price makes it difficult to sell."
"I would like to see improvement in the user interface so that the user has more control. For example, it would be good if a user could change their grouping if they want to be part of another group. Or if I want to right-click and scan a specific file that I just imported, that would be helpful. Sometimes you just want to do an extra scan to make sure you're safe."
"I would like to see improvements in reporting and troubleshooting capabilities for Symantec Protection Engine, as more detailed insights and simplified diagnostics would make day-to-day administration easier."
"For the improvement of Symantec Protection Engine, the engine did not work with their basic engine when I was working, which was almost three or four years before."
"While I have mentioned many advantages of Symantec Protection Engine, there are areas for improvement, particularly the dashboard features."
"I have concerns about scalability."
"Price is a significant area for improvement. The pricing is quite expensive, and it is particularly high for regular customers."
"To improve Symantec Protection Engine, I suggest simplifying its integration with other tools, as it is more complex compared to Trend Micro and CrowdStrike."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need for customers of the product to pay towards the licensing costs of the tool."
"We are a nonprofit. The MSP had provides pretty decent nonprofit rates for us. This was one of the key factors that made us choose Deep Instinct over its competitors who were significantly more expensive."
"The pricing is a little bit expensive but we are satisfied with DI's performance."
"Pricing and licensing are very straightforward. It's two SKUs, one is for the console and the other is for the client."
"One thing about their licensing program that I like is that just one covers the server as well as on the endpoint as well as mobile devices. There is no complexity in calculating how many SKUs I need for mobile, for laptop, for desktop, and for servers. It's very simple and that makes it much easier to budget."
"There are no additional costs on the price, and our company has a support contract, which bundles in those services anyway."
"If I include the false positive rate and the detection rate in the comparison, Deep Instinct is worth its price."
"Its pricing is too high, but that is not because of the product. It is expensive because of the cost of the console. You need a console to control the whole thing, but the console is expensive. You have to split this cost among all possible users. Normally, to be able to make it economically attractive, you need at least 1,000 agents, PCs, or users. If you have a customer with 300 to 500 agents, PCs, or users, it becomes too pricey."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
12%
Healthcare Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
12%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Deep Instinct?
The price for Deep Instinct Prevention Platform is reasonable. It is about the same price as any other antivirus.
What needs improvement with Deep Instinct?
A potential area of improvement for Deep Instinct Prevention Platform is their focus on file uploads and large data storage, backups, and other related areas. It is difficult to think of what they ...
What is your primary use case for Deep Instinct?
Deep Instinct Prevention Platform is basically a stopper that prevents any malware, including zero-days. The main benefit Deep Instinct Prevention Platform provides is that it stops ransomware, whi...
What needs improvement with Symantec Protection Engine?
While I have mentioned many advantages of Symantec Protection Engine, there are areas for improvement, particularly the dashboard features. I find that some features are not available, leading us t...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Protection Engine?
Clients usually use Symantec Protection Engine primarily for protecting their computers from malware or any kind of attacks, which includes viruses or trojans, as a comprehensive security solution ...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Deep Instinct Prevention Platform vs. Symantec Protection Engine and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.