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Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Symantec Messaging Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 4.5%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Messaging Gateway is 2.7%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enhanced email security with potential agent compatibility issues
There are definitely features that Fortinet should work on. I'm not the right person to implement those features. For a portable cloud solution, a customer has more affinity towards a solution where endpoint security is already in place. In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor. If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint. From that perspective, Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint. Maybe other solutions have an advantage when it comes to Fortinet.
Girish Vijay - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable and reasonably priced solution that performs well and has a very good malware database
Since Symantec merged with Broadcom, they might have lost some good technical engineers. Maybe that’s the reason why the product is performing poorly. When we have a good marketing and sales team, even though our product cannot perform, we will sell it at a high price because of the buzzwords. However, at the end of the day, the product should perform. Most of the products might not perform. Symantec is a very good product, but the services are basic. I rate the technical features of the product a nine out of ten. However, I would rate the services provided by the solution a six out of ten. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The encryption features are most valuable to us."
"FortiMail Cloud is very fast."
"It has the best feature for processed mail analysis."
"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"The return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment."
"One of the most beautiful benefits is its integration, as it can seamlessly integrate with any third-party email servers."
"Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup"
"Fortinet is good at providing security beyond our email solution assets."
"The cloud-based interface is very user-friendly."
"The solution is excellent at blocking spam."
"The setup is pretty simple."
"The solution is highly customizable. You can make rules for domains and configure policies for spam or malware. Messaging Gateway is an on-prem solution, so it's useful for companies without a cloud presence."
"It is a solid and stable product."
"It has very good capabilities for managing malware."
"The solution is stable and the performance is good."
"Symantec is a secure product."
 

Cons

"FortiMail needs to develop further, particularly in integrating AI features, to keep up with rapidly advancing technology."
"This ease of use and user-friendliness is something we believe could be improved in FortiMail."
"Email sorting is missing from this solution."
"Networking should be simplified."
"In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor."
"I can't see the feedback to the FortiMail gateway."
"The downside of this solution is that it is difficult to implement policies on FortiMail."
"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"Messaging Gateway's advanced malware detection could be improved."
"The documentation could have more detailed examples of how to use the product in various situations. As more companies shift to the cloud, they could better integrate the on-prem and cloud versions through an on-prem client."
"In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature."
"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."
"Sometimes the solution picks up false positive for viruses during scans."
"This product would benefit from better integration with Symantec Endpoint Protection."
"They really need to create a good package that competes with Microsoft."
"The biggest problem is it's an on-prem product and we're trying to get out of having equipment in data centers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud a five on a one to ten scale, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price. It is an averagely priced product."
"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"You only have to purchase one license for multiple participants."
"It's on a subscribed basis."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
"A subscription for technical support costs extra."
"The cost of Symantec Messaging Gateway is too expensive in general. However, the appliance also includes the price of the license in the same bundle."
"It's a bit expensive compared to its competitor Barracuda Email Security Gateway but cheaper than Sophos Email."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Hospitality Company
6%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
21%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value. The solution provides cost-saving and scalable options, especially in a clou...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The flexibility of the product is an area that could be improved. It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
What needs improvement with Symantec Messaging Gateway?
The solution takes up a lot of memory. The system becomes slow. The performance must be improved.
What is your primary use case for Symantec Messaging Gateway?
We use the solution to secure our data and emails.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.