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Digital Guardian vs McAfee Complete Data Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 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
5.8
Digital Guardian improved data protection, reduced breach risks, ensured compliance, saved money, and enhanced security and operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
5.9
McAfee Complete Data Protection offers automated incident response, robust security features, and cost savings by preventing unauthorized access and breaches.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Digital Guardian's customer service is prompt but can be inconsistent, especially for complex issues or international clients.
Sentiment score
6.8
Users generally appreciate McAfee's prompt and knowledgeable support, though some encounter response delays or expertise issues in specific areas.
For vendor support, such as Fortra support, I would rate it a seven because all the support comes from different parts that sometimes have challenges meeting time zones, and sometimes they reroute to distributors and rely on partners.
IT Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I've spoken to support engineers out of the USA, and they're excellent. They know what they're talking about. They're passionate about the product.
Information Security Analyst at a real estate/law firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Digital Guardian efficiently scales across environments, managing endpoints for organizations of all sizes, despite minor regional replication challenges.
Sentiment score
7.3
McAfee Complete Data Protection is praised for scalability and adaptability despite minor cloud integration and encryption complexities.
Regarding scalability, it is a 10 out of 10.
IT Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Digital Guardian offers superior stability with frequent updates, but some users face challenges requiring specific modifications for optimal performance.
Sentiment score
7.1
McAfee Complete Data Protection is stable, reliable in prevention and monitoring, with swift bug resolution and few performance issues.
 

Room For Improvement

Digital Guardian needs improvements in compatibility, ease of use, performance, support, and efficiency across platforms for better operation.
McAfee needs better user-friendliness, compatibility, and stability, with improved dashboards, encryption, and support for diverse platforms.
The issue is that it works only with users or companies with more than 500 users.
IT Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
On a technical level, when I draw a comparison between McAfee Complete Data Protection and CrowdStrike, McAfee Complete Data Protection is a one out of ten, and then CrowdStrike is a ten out of ten.
Information Security Analyst at a real estate/law firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
They must improve or address USB-bound viruses and external media-bound viruses properly in McAfee Complete Data Protection.
Analyst at PCS
 

Setup Cost

Digital Guardian provides flexible licensing and custom solutions, considered the best DLP option despite higher costs.
McAfee Complete Data Protection offers competitive pricing with comprehensive features, but additional cloud control costs may confuse users.
 

Valuable Features

Digital Guardian enhances data security with scalable DLP, seamless integration, advanced features, and comprehensive monitoring for compliance.
McAfee Complete Data Protection offers scalable, cost-effective data security with encryption, threat prevention, and cross-platform compatibility.
I find it to be a very good solution, and in fact, it is an enterprise-level solution that has very tight integration with most of the products, with Fortra but also with others.
IT Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
McAfee Complete Data Protection has its own encryption version, and it works independently.
Information Security Analyst at a real estate/law firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Digital Guardian
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
14th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (24th), Mobile Data Protection (6th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (32nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (61st)
McAfee Complete Data Protec...
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Encryption category, the mindshare of Digital Guardian is 2.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of McAfee Complete Data Protection is 6.2%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Encryption Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
McAfee Complete Data Protection6.2%
Digital Guardian2.6%
Other91.2%
Endpoint Encryption
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Mubeen - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Enterprise data protection has supported regulatory compliance and integrates with classification tools
In terms of functionality, many features are valuable in Digital Guardian, as the first thing for most customers is that they are using solutions such as Boldon James and Titus, which fall under the classification side, and Digital Guardian can easily integrate with this data classification solution and has a very granular level of configuration and policy tuning. Digital Guardian's data protection policies are indeed useful for my clients. Regarding Digital Guardian, I find it to be a very good solution, and in fact, it is an enterprise-level solution that has very tight integration with most of the products, with Fortra but also with others.
reviewer2083461 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Analyst at a real estate/law firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Secures data loss for our law firm but has struggled with outdated, complex management
On a technical level, when I draw a comparison between McAfee Complete Data Protection and CrowdStrike, McAfee Complete Data Protection is a one out of ten, and then CrowdStrike is a ten out of ten. I say that technically McAfee Complete Data Protection is so low because the console and the portal haven't changed in almost ten years. It's had some slight visual improvements, but that's it. It's not really working in a modern portal the way that some of the enterprise apps like CrowdStrike actually work. McAfee Complete Data Protection is also very difficult to use. It takes a lot of time to get my head around how it actually operates. It's not very intuitive. However, in terms of pricing and the specific use cases that I have, it's good.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Digital Guardian?
Regarding points for improvement, from a technical aspect, I do not see any suggestions that have come to my notice, but it is an enterprise-level product, and the issue is that it works only with ...
What is your primary use case for Digital Guardian?
The main use case for Digital Guardian is for endpoint DLP, as it is the product for endpoint-level DLP and is one of the core requirements for many enterprises that have to follow compliance, so t...
What advice do you have for others considering Digital Guardian?
I would recommend Digital Guardian to other users, as I mentioned, we have to see the client's existing environment, and since we are not bound to sell Digital Guardian, we are open to selling even...
Would you choose Microsoft BitLocker or McAfee Complete Data Protection?
Microsoft BitLocker is very intuitive and easy to maintain. It is basically the global standard solution for drive encryption and successfully fulfills regulatory needs in terms of data protection....
What do you like most about McAfee Complete Data Protection?
It worked for me: it's easy to use and has been very effective.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Complete Data Protection?
The huge problem I see is pricing. We understand that DLP is not cheap anywhere in the world, but we constantly lose our protection because of pricing. Sometimes, this is because end users prefer t...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Fifth Avenue Theatre, Jabil Circuit
Xcel Energy
Find out what your peers are saying about Digital Guardian vs. McAfee Complete Data Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.