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Fortra's Digital Guardian vs Proofpoint Enterprise DLP 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
Fortra's Digital Guardian delivers high ROI and efficiency, with dependable data loss prevention and minimal workflow interruptions.
Sentiment score
4.6
Users find time-saving automation improves efficiency, reduces incidents, and enhances data protection, though financial returns may vary.
It is reliable, it has a broad scope, and the vendor is easy to reach out to and makes it easy to request assistance.
Security Managed Services Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It doesn't block my workflows, saving me from wasting hours of troubleshooting security blocks that could happen with other tools.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I see some return on investment with Fortra's Digital Guardian since the license is based on the endpoints, which is where you can save.
System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd
The package that Proofpoint provides is better in the long run, especially since results have been seen in prevention and responses to exercises concerning external files being sent out during various departures.
Software Developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
ROI from Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is evident in terms of incident reduction, operational efficiency, and breach cost avoidance.
Director Cybersecurity at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
This allowed us to coach and train our users in managing their risky behaviors, as well as the alerting capabilities, which were superior and helped free up my team's time to focus on other important tasks.
IT Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.0
Fortra's Digital Guardian support is generally positive, though experiences vary; some face delays, others find software reliable.
Sentiment score
6.4
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP customer service is praised for responsiveness, technical skill, and effective communication, ensuring a positive user experience.
For others looking into using Fortra's Digital Guardian, I would suggest learning the steps for monitoring and maintaining the server, especially policy configuration, since it is quite tricky and includes a lot of processes.
Security Managed Services Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Technical support from Fortra can vary; sometimes I encounter great engineers with high experience who can resolve issues quickly, but other times I face less experienced engineers which can cause delays in issue resolution.
System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd
I have never had to contact Fortra's Digital Guardian's customer support because the software has never crashed or caused any issues on my machine.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
They are technical and provide options that help narrow down solutions.
Software Developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
This service or features plays a big role in protecting the information and protecting the sensitive details which are entered in the email body or somewhere in the emails as a subject, as a signature, or in any form.
Sr System Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP consultants are also provided who help in the security domain and analyze the monthly details about attacks and what needs to be done.
Senior Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortra's Digital Guardian is scalable and adaptable, efficiently handling performance, licensing, and stability for varied enterprise needs.
Sentiment score
6.0
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is scalable and adaptable, supporting growing data and users across diverse infrastructures with reliable integration.
Even when my laptop is under heavy load, running multiple instances of automated browsers via Selenium, PyCharm, and handling background API requests, the agent remains stable and completely unnoticeable.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
While there are limits, we attempt to work around them, sometimes needing to collaborate with Fortra's Digital Guardian engineers to find solutions.
System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP scales very well for enterprise environments due to its cloud-native architecture, which supports growth in users, policy complexity, integration volume, and data throughput without performance degradation.
Director Cybersecurity at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is scalable and can be used in a large environment, especially for emails and cloud workloads.
Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is very scalable to any size organization, from small, medium to large.
IT Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Fortra's Digital Guardian is highly stable, rated 9/10 by users, with minimal downtime and no significant issues reported.
Sentiment score
8.1
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is reliable with minimal downtime, effective support, consistent performance, and minor upgrade-related instability.
Fortra's Digital Guardian is stable; it doesn't have a negative effect on my system performance.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It also automatically blocks that sender if the sender is malicious. I really value that feature.
Cyber security Officer at a government with 201-500 employees
Given the single console for managing the entire Proofpoint portfolio solution, as well as managing policies and the privacy controls, it has been a very stable and productive tool.
IT Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is overall stable with minimal disruption and downtime.
Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortra's Digital Guardian struggles with user-friendliness, scalability, CPU efficiency, visibility, compatibility, and cost compared to alternatives.
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP needs improvements in AI integration, usability, visibility, endpoint monitoring, and addressing specific blind spots.
System reporting and default system reporting are not totally usable and require customization to be practical.
System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd
Fortra's Digital Guardian does have some mishaps and imperfections, but it has been really helpful for us as a DLP tool.
Security Managed Services Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I give Fortra's Digital Guardian a seven because it doesn't compromise my system performance, but I don't get any visibility about what's happening and I don't know which criteria are used for preventing data leaks or classifying my files as sensitive or not sensitive.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
An improvement opportunity would be advanced policy simulation tools for conflict detection between rules and clear rule precedence visualization, which would help understand the source of issues.
Director Cybersecurity at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is quite effective in detecting and preventing data loss through the analysis of user behavior and content.
Manager, Information Technology Operations at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Occasional mishaps arise related to users' devices affected by Proofpoint or when Proofpoint isn't logging specific device actions.
Software Developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Proofpoint Enterprise DLP offers advanced features and significant value, with pricing from $2-$10 per user plus additional fees.
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP pricing starts on a per user basis, from $2 to up to $8 or $10 per user depending on the features you need.
Senior Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is a little bit higher and not very cheap compared to other DLP tools, but it also has a lot of value if you use it properly.
Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I find with Proofpoint you get what you pay for, so it's a great service.
Manager, Information Security at a legal firm with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

Fortra's Digital Guardian offers customizable policies, cross-platform protection, and real-time detection, enhancing data control and productivity.
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP offers AI-driven data loss prevention, seamless email integration, and adaptive risk scoring for enhanced security.
Fortra's Digital Guardian can detect any user activity after installation and commissioning without the need for policy implementation; it just works by system default.
System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd
With this file tagging, everything that needs to be controlled or monitored is blocked for any file transfer because once the file is tagged by Fortra's Digital Guardian, that tag remains wherever the file is placed.
Security Managed Services Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Fortra's Digital Guardian's lightweight nature impacts my productivity and workflow positively because it delivers enterprise security without hurting developer productivity, and the system performance remains stable.
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Adaptive information protection with Proofpoint Enterprise DLP has changed how we handle sensitive data and respond to threats, allowing us to block sensitive data if it is being shared with external persons.
Graduate at a university with 10,001+ employees
The adaptive email feature helps me in tracking and automatically identifying if a user is sending sensitive information to the wrong recipient and provides real-time warning banners to nudge users when they are about to make a mistake or reduce accidental data loss.
Risk analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Detailed reporting and automated encryption have helped me because, since our DLP is on monitoring mode, the reporting helps us check how many users are currently sending emails with sensitive information.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortra's Digital Guardian
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
22nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Digital Guardian is 1.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is 1.3%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP1.3%
Fortra's Digital Guardian1.3%
Other97.4%
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

Lucianofernandez Fernandez Moroaga - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Security has protected data quietly and now needs to give users more visibility and control
Regarding how Fortra's Digital Guardian can be improved, the fact that it runs as a background process isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you don't get any visibility into what it's doing unless a security policy is triggered. In the future, they could improve that to give users more visibility about what's happening. I give Fortra's Digital Guardian a seven because it doesn't compromise my system performance, but I don't get any visibility about what's happening and I don't know which criteria are used for preventing data leaks or classifying my files as sensitive or not sensitive. I would give it a ten if it had more visibility about what's happening or more contact with the user. Regarding the accuracy and reliability of Fortra's Digital Guardian's output, since it's fully managed by my company's IT department, I don't get any visibility of what processes it runs internally, so I don't know how it classifies the files. Therefore, I cannot give you a certain answer about that.
SR
Director Cybersecurity at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Email data controls have reduced accidental leaks and support ongoing compliance monitoring
Overall, Proofpoint Enterprise DLP is a strong platform, but there are areas for improvement to enhance usability and effectiveness. One challenge is policy complexity and lifecycle management. As DLP programs mature, policies become layered and interdependent, leading to frustrations such as rule overlap that causes multiple triggers on a single message. Limited visibility into policy hierarchy impacts, difficulty modeling how new rules interact with existing ones, and change management requiring careful validation can all be challenging. An improvement opportunity would be advanced policy simulation tools for conflict detection between rules and clear rule precedence visualization, which would help understand the source of issues. The administrator user experience can feel dense from an admin perspective, especially when managing multiple layered policies, handling rule precedence, troubleshooting overlapping triggers, and onboarding new administration. As DLP programs mature, policy environments become complex quickly. Improvement opportunities would include visual policy mapping, impact previews, easier bulk policy editing, simpler policy cloning with conflict detection, and smarter recommendations during policy creation that would be very beneficial. Regarding data discovery and risk posture visibility, improvements are needed. While email layer protection is robust, organizations need better visibility across their repositories. There is an opportunity for built-in sensitive data discovery scanning and risk exposure mapping to identify which business units handle more sensitive data. A data movement visualization dashboard could also be beneficial, transitioning from reactive DLP blocking to proactive data exposure intelligence, which would significantly increase maturity.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's Digital Guardian?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, I am not aware of the actual cost since only the leadership discusses that. Regarding licensing, I believe we are able to get as much licensing as need...
What needs improvement with Fortra's Digital Guardian?
Regarding how Fortra's Digital Guardian can be improved, the fact that it runs as a background process isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you don't get any visibility into what it's doing unless a ...
What is your primary use case for Fortra's Digital Guardian?
My main use case for Fortra's Digital Guardian is that I don't configure the software directly; instead, I experience it as an end-user on my corporate laptop where it runs silently in the backgrou...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Enterprise DLP?
Proofpoint Enterprise DLP needs to focus on another area as well. For example, someone might want more security for shared drives and OneDrive. There might need to be some API connectors in the fut...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Enterprise DLP?
I have been working with Proofpoint Enterprise DLP for the last 10 years.
What advice do you have for others considering Proofpoint Enterprise DLP?
My core area of expertise is Proofpoint Enterprise DLP and Microsoft security. We provide user guides for normal users and conduct training from time to time, especially for DLP and phishing on ema...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Digital Guardian vs. Proofpoint Enterprise DLP and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.