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Mimecast Email Security 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

Mimecast Email Security
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (3rd)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
6th
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 July 2025, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Mimecast Email Security is 11.9%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Messaging Gateway is 2.6%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

ShaheenKapery - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides valuable security features and has a straightforward setup process
The initial setup process is straightforward and takes a weekend at most. A .com domain can take up to forty-eight hours, while a local domain takes about four to eight hours because it has to propagate through the international DNS records. It is a cloud-only solution. If you're managing email security on-premises, you use your bandwidth to download emails, including spam, and then use your servers to clean it up. For example, say a third of your email is spam; this consumes significant bandwidth and resources. However, if you use Mimecast, they filter the emails on their servers before delivering them to you. It can be a major selling point in regions with expensive bandwidth, such as Africa. You can save bandwidth and improve overall efficiency by offloading the spam filtering to Mimecast.
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 solution offers good technical support."
"Its administration console is very easy to use. The administration console is absolutely important because you interact with the platform through it."
"I recommend Mimecast based on customer requirements and budget."
"The integration is straightforward."
"The product's most valuable features are impersonation protection and phishing countermeasures."
"The interface of this solution is very easy to navigate and user-friendly. There is no delivery in email and other communications, making it reliable. The configuration is relatively easy."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It's really quite user-friendly. In terms of technical superiority and the product itself, there are no complaints. It is really cutting edge."
"The solution is "set and forget". You pay for it and everything is done for you."
"Symantec is a secure product."
"I like that it's simple and easy to configure, deploy, and manage. The reporting function has all the features we're looking for, and we are fine with that."
"The setup is pretty simple."
"The solution is excellent at blocking spam."
"Symantec’s spyware and malware signature database is very good compared to other products."
"What I like most about Symantec Messaging Gateway is its usability. I also find its interface very friendly. The solution has a very good interface."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a huge knowledge base about phishing, spamming, spoofing, etc."
 

Cons

"The tool can be challenging because it relies on rule-based configurations, especially for addressing impersonation threats. This approach requires setting up numerous rules to ensure filtering. It should work based on behavior-based analytics."
"While it's quick and easy, the initial setup could be more user-friendly."
"They could provide a unified licensing model, including all the security features."
"Its pricing can be improved. It is a bit expensive."
"The feature that should be included is to remove the block on the encrypted files."
"Mimecast needs to reduce the number of false positive emails; a big pain point for us."
"The solution should include more AI features instead of Mimecast's more general static configuration tooling."
"Mimecast needs to reduce the number of false positive emails; a big pain point for us."
"In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature."
"The solution takes up a lot of memory."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway should include better exclusions and exceptions for better administration."
"The product must improve the user dashboards."
"Messaging Gateway's advanced malware detection could be improved."
"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."
"The false positive submissions must be improved."
"They really need to create a good package that competes with Microsoft."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay monthly fees to our provider."
"The customers can select the license packages as per their requirements."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
"Compared to the other solutions in the market, Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection's pricing is fine."
"The licensing costs are per-user for the product that you get with them."
"I'm always going to say the price needs to be lower, but it's reasonable."
"It is a bit expensive."
"For what it is, the product is overpriced."
"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."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
"A subscription for technical support costs extra."
"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
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
18%
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 Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The interface of this solution is very easy to navigate and user-friendly. There is no delivery in email and other communications, making it reliable. The configuration is relatively easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The pricing is higher for Mimecast, particularly for the Indian market, where it is considered expensive.
What needs improvement with Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
There is nothing that notably stands out in need of improvement at present.
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

Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection
Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Azizi Developments, Affinity Credit Union, Aftercare, Al Abbar Group
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 Mimecast Email Security vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.