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Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs McAfee Web Protection [EOL] 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

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (8th), Internet Security (4th), Web Content Filtering (3rd)
McAfee Web Protection [EOL]
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1047669 - PeerSpot reviewer
PS & Technical Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Has faced usability challenges while managing integrated components
We are working with web gateway and full endpoint security. URL filter is a notable feature. While it is not specifically related to Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway alone, if you have the complete Forcepoint solution, it can integrate with other Forcepoint products, such as DLP solution and email gateway. The URL filter of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is good for web gateway. Clients and consumers do not prefer it because the interface is not good. When using FSM with DLP, web gateway, and email gateway, upgrades cannot be performed simultaneously since Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway might need an upgrade while email gateway does not, despite having the same manager controlling them. Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway works well with banking and small companies. Email gateway is less needed as everything is moving to the cloud.
BharatUjenia - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Group Manager - Enterprise IT at WNS Global Services
Provides very good accessibility and handles any overload very well
McAfee Web Protection has been around for many years and the solution holds its ground as a product providing good accessibility and handling any overload very well. McAfee has developed new features similar to those found in other solutions; enabling seamless deployment, reducing the footprint on data centers, and making the solution more scalable, more resilient, and more reliable.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The DLP functionality is very good, including features like OCR."
"Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway does most of its job well, but I especially like its data security feature."
"Giving visibility to people's actions in the network, while keeping attackers out: across data centers, offices, branches, and the cloud."
"Real-time analytics."
"This solution allows us to control web usage to ensure that our employees use the internet for business research only, and it also monitors all employees' traffic, giving alerts for searches and blocking any websites not allowed by company policies so the company can ensure our employees make the best use of their time and get the most value from the internet itself."
"Being able to have managers or department leads run their own reports has saved us an incredible amount of time."
"Secure Web Gateway's most valuable features are firewall blocking and anti-malware scanning."
"SWG allows me to track internet usage patterns, helping optimize bandwidth and understand how much time each employee spends online."
"McAfee Web Protection is good technology, absolutely, and it has a very particular configuration that you can implement in a granular way."
"I receive a monthly report and I've never had a problem so I presume that it's doing its job well."
"McAfee Web Protection is a good solution and its mature security environment has helped our organization."
"It doesn't seem to take too much system bandwidth, and I also like its reporting. Once a month, it gives me a reminder of the activity. It reminds me that the protection is on, and if there are any issues, it summarizes those minor issues. During the month, it only notifies when there is something special."
"The stability has a good standard right now."
"McAfee may be easier to deploy and handle."
"The LiveSafe version works very well and has a very small price."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it protects against threats that are coming from the web."
 

Cons

"When we first began working with it, the product was not mature and we had performance issues."
"Database synchronization failures"
"We have had latency issues."
"The solution should be better able to support itself and operate faster. Sometimes the technical support team takes too long to respond."
"I would suggest focusing on improving the GUI's stability, especially when implementing new filters or patches."
"The Sandbox solution should be integrated with the NIST to handle whatever new vulnerabilities or new sites are identified as potential threats."
"Customer Service: 2 out of 10 Technical Support: 6 out of 10"
"The biggest issue that hampered Forcepoint was the lack of development and good consistent support."
"The solution is stable unless there are dynamic components. If you have remote users then there are a lot of issues in terms of the replication that happens within the hybrid solution."
"We need a better customer experience and more flexibility in the product."
"The solution should be more proactive in regards to sending you updates."
"The solution could always use more security features. If it was more secure, it would be an even stronger product."
"It is not strong in terms of spam filter so I do get that at times."
"The configuration could be simplified because it is more complex to make the configuration on McAfee. What can be improved is the support of the agent on smartphones, IOS or Android. That still now is not available yet."
"I'm not sure if the solution itself is cloud-based or not. If it isn't they really need to begin to develop that out a bit."
"The True Key version for mobile phones should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's price is good."
"The cost for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is lower than that for Zscaler and Netskope. It could be around $4 per user annually."
"The licensing is not expensive."
"Forcepoint's pricing is moderate."
"Expensive, but with a good reseller you can get a very good price."
"Compared to the other products in the market, Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway can be a cost-effective tool."
"The pricing depends upon the number of users."
"The price of this solution is reasonable."
"In McAfee Web Protection you have the ability to install any appliance you want with the same license. If you need an appliance on-premise, you can install it with the same license because the license is for users, not for appliances. If you need one more, you can install it and you don't have problems with the license or need to change your environment."
"$150 Canadian per year."
"The license number would be approximately $35,000."
"It is not very expensive. It costs 100 Canadian Dollars per year per license. I buy one-year or two-year protection. The license covers my PC, laptops, and telephone. The cost is per user but for multiple devices. It has just the standard licensing fees. There are some options for extended protection. For example, if I wanted to have a VPN, there will be an extra cost. So, there are upgradable features, but I'm very happy with what it is giving me with the basic plan. It gives me the basic privacy protection that I need."
"The pricing is cheaper than some of the other options that are available."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Construction Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
I would rate pricing for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway a two out of ten. It's really expensive.
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is not endpoint security. If we have a chance to change, we would change it because it is not user-friendly. The setup process is complex. You need to install FSM, whi...
What is your primary use case for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
We have no big project, but we are trying to sell it in the market here. We are working with Forcepoint because there is no vendor working with this technology. If we have another vendor working wi...
Do you recommend McAfee Web Protection?
I highly recommend McAfee Web Protection. In my opinion, it is a comprehensive web protection platform with a great firewall. I find that it is a lot less bulky than competing solutions on the mark...
 

Also Known As

Forcepoint SWG, Websense Web Security, Forcepoint TRITON
McAfee Web Gateway, McAfee SaaS Web Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Adventist Health, Alphawest, Amadori, Anoka County, Compartamos Banco, Davies Turner, EverBank, iGATE, Karlstad Municipality, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Scavolini, Smurfit Kappa, Toyota
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