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Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) vs Symantec Data Loss Prevention 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

Proofpoint Email Data Loss ...
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
37th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Data Loss Prevention
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) category, the mindshare of Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Data Loss Prevention is 6.3%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

HP
Offers flexible licensing and easy setup, but has challenges with European compliance
It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies. Additionally, there is uncertainty about the future level of license pricing because American organizations sometimes change their product offerings. Barracuda's Active Directory checking feature is one area where Proofpoint could improve.
ARAVINDAN K - PeerSpot reviewer
Strengthened security operations with endpoint-level protection but database flexibility could improve
Symantec Data Loss Prevention has proprietary metadata and is well-suited for endpoint-level security. It stands out for supporting multiple protocols like email and SMTP without needing user profile login for endpoint agents. Once policies are downloaded to the local system, they function independently of a user's login. The solution helps enhance security operations when integrated with ServiceNow and offers robust incident response capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Proofpoint offers flexibility in licensing, accommodating various levels from small businesses to governments."
"We have too many features included in the solution. These include third-party malware detection as a primary feature and a secondary feature focused on dealing with various security threats."
"Proofpoint offers flexibility in licensing, accommodating various levels from small businesses to governments."
"With respect to the amount of intelligence that they have with respect to how they formed the DLP solution, for example, exact data matching. If you compare Forcepoint with Symantec, Symantec is more sophisticated than Forcepoint."
"DLP's most valuable feature is that it's more granular in terms of creating block-based policies, which gives you more options to create policies in a filtered way."
"Symantec has one of the best incident management capabilities."
"It has good options for policy findings. You can do granular policy enhancements with multiple options. And the SMB blocking is a very good feature."
"The tool's really working well, and the agents are good."
"All of the features are really important, including DLP for the OCR and endpoint. It will be all of the combined features that will give you the strength to control the data. Every feature has its own uniqueness, different control and will help you to protect the data."
"An excellent solution for data classification."
"For detection, it has a great algorithm. It can recognize ID numbers and everything that you put in a policy for the end-users. That is really great for us as an institution where we have sensitive data. It recognizes all the sensitive data when someone tries to transfer it or put in other data."
 

Cons

"The tool is expensive."
"It is difficult to meet the European security compliance regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies."
"It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies."
"Their support program needs a lot of improvement. If you are stuck somewhere, getting their support can be difficult."
"The Symantec DLP solution is very complex, and installation requires many components."
"The upgrade process is convoluted. The server and database software must run in line with third-party providers like the Oracle database. If an Oracle database reaches the end of its life, then servers must be decommissioned, and you need to bring new servers online. When the maintenance packages are deployed to the management server, they don't get pushed to the detection servers. Each detection server must be manually installed rather than automatically made from a single server. If it's a large enterprise, you need to manually install it or use a GPO or some other technology, which I never use."
"There should be more information about the features of the solution and what they do. This way we would be able to use all the features that are available."
"The product must improve its interface."
"They could improve the predefined reports because they don't have much information. We would like detailed reports."
"There are some features that are not available which are required by every data loss prevention solution."
"We're not sure if there was an issue or a bug on the system recently because as of right now if someone sends out a compressed encrypted file, the DLP won't scan it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price of Symantec DLP is fair. I don't recall the cost of the license, but it wasn't outrageous enough that it was an obstacle to approval. I'm not concerned with how much per seat or server, but I know they charge a lot."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"I think that it's an expensive product, even as an enterprise-suite product."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"The price of Symantec Data Loss Prevention could be reduced."
"The pricing is competitive and not pricey. We also receive corporate discounts."
"The pricing and licensing are based on per user endpoints."
"From what I know the pricing is good, it's not too expensive. If you negotiate you can get a good price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
10%
Performing Arts
10%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
The licenses for Proofpoint are effective, however, there is uncertainty about future pricing as American organizations might change their product, thereby altering the license. Microsoft has been ...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
It is difficult to meet the European security compliancy regulations using Proofpoint since it is very focused on the American market, differing significantly from European policies. Additionally, ...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
I know the portfolio of Proofpoint. I work with email backup and email security. Most of the time, I consult for various organizations about email and email security.
What do you like most about Symantec Data Loss Prevention?
It can prevent copying and encoding of HTTP data to various sites like Google, and Webex.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Data Loss Prevention?
I do not have an idea about pricing, as it is handled by another team responsible for procurements.
What needs improvement with Symantec Data Loss Prevention?
A main disadvantage of Symantec DLP is its reliance on Oracle, especially compared to other products like Forcepoint, which offer MSSQL database options that are more convenient.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Symantec DLP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Hadassah University Hospital, Her Majestys Government (HMG), United Kingdom, Hitachi Consulting Software Services India Pvt Ltd., Hua Nan Bank, Hyundai Department Store Group,JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, Lake Health, McCann Erickson Israel, Molina Healthcare Inc., PGi, Quilvest Switzerland Limited, State of Nevada Public Employees Benefits Program, Symantec Corporation (Enterprise Security), The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (DLP), The Saudi Industrial Property Authority, TSO cloud, Visa, Yunnan Power Grid Company
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Data Loss Prevention (DLP) vs. Symantec Data Loss Prevention and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.