Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 5, 2023

We compared Microsoft Exchange Online Protection and Proofpoint Email Protection across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Features: Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers seamless integration with Windows, a central alert console, and real-time monitoring of suspicious URLs. Users describe Proofpoint Email Protection as a convenient all-in-one solution that offers effective defense against phishing attempts.

  • Room for Improvement: Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could offer more training and enhance its security features. Users also requested better encryption, gray email management, and integration with non-Microsoft platforms. Proofpoint Email Protection could make its interface clearer and simplify admin management. 

  • Ease of Deployment: Users had varied experiences setting up Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, ranging from easy to difficult. It may necessitate dedicated personnel for maintenance.  Proofpoint Email Protection can be set up in a relatively short amount of time. Some users found it simple, while others mentioned that it requires technical skills.

  • Service and Support: While some users found Microsoft support to be helpful and responsive, others experienced slower response times. Proofpoint Email Protection’s customer service, is described as responsive, professional, and knowledgeable. However, there are some concerns about availability.

  • Pricing: Some users said Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is expensive, but others considered it reasonable. The opinions on the cost of Proofpoint Email Protection vary, with some users finding it costly while others find it reasonable.

  • ROI: Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has proven to be a profitable investment. Proofpoint Email Protection stands out with its robust phishing signature file, surpassing competitors in threat detection.

Comparison Results: Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is praised for its seamless integration with Windows and useful features like URL holding and threat management. At the same time, users say it could improve in areas such as pricing, documentation, and security features. Proofpoint Email Protection provides effective email protection and strong threat-detection features. However, it needs to simplify its user interface and administration.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Proofpoint Email Protection Report (Updated: January 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The threat management feature includes policies and alerts that are valuable.""The initial setup is just a standard process.""The pre-set policies and configuration analyzer are the most valuable features.""It is an easy solution.""Microsoft EOP's most valuable feature is a shared mailbox.""It's definitely scalable.""The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do.""It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want."

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"They have customized security rules, mature rules, anti-virus protection, as well as email authentication similar to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.""The initial implementation is pretty easy to handle.""URL scanning and online relay service are the most valuable features of Proofpoint Email Protection.""Proofpoint Email Protection is stable enough and does its job of virus, malware, and email scam detection. Setting it up is not too complicated.""Proofpoint is the main tool for blocking spam because it denies the connection altogether.""The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the blocking capabilities, it blocks a lot of potential threats.""The most valuable feature is the ability to remove bad messages that were delivered, prior to being classified as unwanted.""The solution scales well."

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Cons
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined.""They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection.""Having orchestration features added to Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, particularly automation and remediation, would be quite useful.""The biggest issue that I experience is that Microsoft keeps moving things around, and it's very inconsistent as to where you find the information when you're trying to work on different pieces.""Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation.""We would like the solution to have more in-built intelligence in the way that it reviews potential security risks, rather than our team constantly having to update the policies.""The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could be reduced to make it more competitive.""The solution needs to improve its backup."

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"Proofpoint has a lot of false alarms.""It has too many screens. It is kind of a conglomeration of products. In other words, they built product A, product B, and product C, and they are yet to integrate them into a single administrative console. I would certainly like to see a more seamless administrative interface. I would also like to see them include more bang for the buck, by including features like email fraud protection, rather than making their product so piecemeal, where you are buying little pieces. I agree with the idea of having multiple tiers or layers, but maybe as small, medium, and large, as opposed to an a la carte menu.""You only receive one model in Proofpoint Email Protection and the other ones you have to purchase at a high price. There should be more available with the solution and additional models should be less expensive.""The incident reporting on offer needs to be improved. It's lacking right now. It should be on the platform somewhere.""It's scalable, but the devil's in the details — you have to know your email volumes.""The solution could lower its price.""The reporting section could be enhanced. I like some reports but if they could allow us to create custom reports with more flexibility it would enhance the reports more.""Proofpoint Email Protection could improve on the training. Every organization is different and to fine-tune it to block everything properly there needs to be better training. Sometimes it can block some of the information it shouldn't."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The price could be lower."
  • "The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
  • "The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
  • "The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
  • "It is a low-price solution."
  • "Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
  • "Online Protection is fairly expensive."
  • "The tool's pricing is excellent."
  • More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."
  • "The price is reasonable."
  • "Proofpoint is fairly expensive."
  • "The licensing is basically $8/user."
  • "It is multiple times more expensive, which made it very much less attractive."
  • "Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
  • "The solution charges per user per month to use it. There are not any additional fees in addition to the standard living fees."
  • "Clients pay for an annual subscription of Proofpoint Email Protection. Every client always finds it expensive."
  • More Proofpoint Email Protection Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The stability must be improved. The tool is not 100% stable. That is why we are exploring FortiMail.
    Top Answer:We deploy the solution as a part of the Microsoft 365 suite. We are a security provider. We deploy Microsoft Exchange Online Protection for clients who purchase Microsoft 365 so that the spam and… more »
    Top Answer:The product is costly. I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. When you want to change what capabilities you want in the product, you… more »
    Top Answer:The whole configuration management piece of the product requires some work, as it is one of the areas where the tool has certain shortcomings. Though it is an easy-to-install product, it might be… more »
    Ranking
    10th
    out of 110 in Anti-Malware Tools
    Views
    1,127
    Comparisons
    988
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    425
    Rating
    8.3
    Views
    2,144
    Comparisons
    1,588
    Reviews
    24
    Average Words per Review
    443
    Rating
    8.2
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
    Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is a comprehensive email filtering and security service designed to protect organizations from spam, malware, and other email-based threats. It provides advanced threat protection, anti-malware and anti-spam filtering, and data loss prevention capabilities.

    With EOP, organizations can ensure the security and integrity of their email communications. It uses multiple layers of filtering and scanning to detect and block malicious content, including phishing attempts, viruses, and ransomware. EOP also leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to continuously improve its threat detection capabilities.

    In addition to its robust security features, EOP offers advanced anti-spam filtering to reduce unwanted and unsolicited emails. It uses a combination of reputation-based filtering, content filtering, and sender authentication techniques to identify and block spam messages.

    EOP also includes data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities to prevent sensitive information from being leaked or shared inappropriately. It allows organizations to define policies to detect and prevent the transmission of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers, via email.

    Furthermore, EOP integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Online and other Office 365 services, providing a unified and integrated email security solution. It can be easily managed through the Exchange admin center, allowing administrators to configure and monitor security settings, review reports, and manage quarantined emails.

    Proofpoint Email Protection is a machine learning email gateway that catches both known and unknown threats. Through Target Attack Protection, emails will be analyzed and potentially blocked from advanced threats while users gain visibility around these threats. The technology can also classify various types of email and can be deployed both on premises or as a cloud service. In addition, users can tag suspicious emails to help raise user awareness and track down any email quickly.

    Proofpoint Email Protection offers Advanced BEC Defense, which can precisely detect and block different types of emails, even if they don’t involve a malicious payload, such as business email compromise (BEC). Email Protection, which is powered by NexusAI, is a sophisticated detection technique developed to stop a variety of kinds of email fraud from affecting compromised accounts. It’s specifically designed to analyze message components, such as the sender’s IP address (including reputation and x-originating IP), the message header, and the message body. Using machine learning and AI, it will then determine if that message is a BEC threat.

    Benefits of Proofpoint Email Protection

    Proofpoint Email Protection is a favorite for organizations looking to utilize their cybersecurity budget accurately, and provides the user with incredible visibility. While preventing email fraud, the technology can also detect and block advanced malware as well as identifying possible risks.

    Email Protection offers many benefits, including:

    • Email warning tag - Raise user awareness and reduce the risk of possible compromises by automatically tagging suspicious emails.

    • Gain granular control of unwanted email - Gain control over low-priority emails through granular email filtering, which can pinpoint gray mail, like newsletters and bulk mail.

    • Multi-layered detection - Defend against continuous evolving threats with reputation and content analysis. Email Protection offers a dynamic classification of various emails, including malware, spam, phishing, imposter threats, and bulk email.

    • Smart search - Track down an email based on dozens of search criteria in seconds. Smart search also provides the ability to trace where emails came from.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Proofpoint Email Protection enables business continuity capabilities through their machine learning, AI-powered email gateway. With its innovative approach toward detecting, analyzing, identifying, and blocking advanced threats, users can gain unique visibility into their business data environments. Users especially like the ability to block spam, as well as the business email compromise protection.

    An anonymous reviewer who is a principal consultant at a tech company, notes, "Proofpoint is the main tool for blocking spam because it denies the connection altogether."

    Sridhar R., a security professional at Qatar Computer Services WLL, writes, "The most valuable features are the business email compromise protection and targeted attack prevention."

    Sample Customers
    Information Not Available
    Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Retailer13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Construction Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Retailer12%
    Healthcare Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business64%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise21%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise54%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business46%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise32%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise34%
    Large Enterprise46%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Proofpoint Email Protection
    January 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Proofpoint Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is ranked 10th in Anti-Malware Tools with 33 reviews while Proofpoint Email Protection is ranked 1st in SEG (Secure Email Gateway) with 44 reviews. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is rated 8.4, while Proofpoint Email Protection is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) writes "An effective email security solution that provides DLP, Safe Attachment, and Safe Links". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Proofpoint Email Protection writes "A reasonably priced product that offers protection to emails, along with spam filters". Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Cisco Secure Email, Mimecast Email Security, Fortinet FortiMail and Barracuda Email Security Gateway, whereas Proofpoint Email Protection is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Cisco Secure Email, Fortinet FortiMail and KnowBe4. See our Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Proofpoint Email Protection report.

    We monitor all Anti-Malware Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.