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Proofpoint Email Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 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

Cloudflare One
Sponsored
Ranking in Email Security
21st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (15th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (20th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (11th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (7th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (13th), Access Management (13th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (9th), ZTNA (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (10th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (1st), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cloudflare One is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 7.3%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 1.8%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection7.3%
Sophos Email1.8%
Cloudflare One1.5%
Other89.4%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

CV
Network Architect at IP Dimension
Cloud security has improved remote access and has reduced costs for smaller client sites
I have used Cloudflare One's Identity-Aware Proxy, and it is quite straightforward from what I have seen so far. The app registration on the Azure side integrates fully into Cloudflare, and I am very satisfied with that part because it is easy to set up. The integration of Cloudflare One's Secure Web Gateway and Zero Trust Network Access works without any issues. That part is pretty automatic, and if you complete the rest of the setup, it comes together by itself with no issues from my side. What makes it nice is that we can actually start replacing on-site firewalls at this stage for the smaller clients because it does not matter if they go to a coffee shop or work from home; they are still secured by the same connection. The hops get shorter and you get better latency. We have done testing to see if it is better. One thing that we did notice with our proof of concept with our current client is that they have people connecting from the UK. When they used their previous VPN solution, uploading CAD drawings and other files to the server took a long time. They mentioned that it is much quicker on Cloudflare One's solution. I definitely believe that is part of the improved performance, and I am satisfied with that as well. What is nice about Cloudflare One is that it makes the setup easier and also easier to train technicians to maintain it. Compared to legacy systems, we do not need to get fancy firewalls in place that are costly. That is definitely also a cost-saver with Cloudflare One.
AshishKochhar - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Team Lead at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Advanced email protection has blocked targeted attacks and reduces manual threat handling
I feel Proofpoint Email Protection is overpriced. I cannot say that the security level being provided does not justify the cost, but when comparing the similar level of security with other applications or security systems, it is overpriced. If Proofpoint could provide offers or discounts for customers who are already using the product or for new customers implementing it, along with some free services or add-ons, that would be helpful in terms of financial expense. Proofpoint Email Protection has recently introduced AI functionality in terms of data security capabilities and protecting AI assistance from targeted attacks. This is important since everything is now related to AI. The solution is doing threat detection and real-time threat detection and response pretty well. There are a few things I would like to see improved. Sometimes Proofpoint Email Protection takes time to analyze the workflow and the nature of the email. In this age of AI, the solution should analyze an email on the first receipt and determine whether it should pass or be marked as spam without checking previous data. Another improvement would be to have a more user-friendly dashboard. Additionally, if Proofpoint could add the same features in BCP as part of email protection in BCP, it would be helpful since I currently have to take a different add-on for BCP, and integrating it would save costs. I cannot say that threats have increased or decreased with Proofpoint Email Protection because it depends on the mail flow. The solution captures and filters out all threats, and the email threats vary every day depending on how many users are receiving how many emails per day. Today there might be 1,000 emails, tomorrow 5,000, and the day after 500. Proofpoint Email Protection does its job by scanning all emails and threats are reduced to some extent. Since I am aware that virus definitions are updated every day, I cannot blame Proofpoint Email Protection if they take time to determine the nature of an email being received. There are sometimes emails that are false positives, and Proofpoint Email Protection is a bit strict in analyzing false positives, sometimes stopping emails that are actually required. It analyzes the previous nature of an email and if a template looks like an informational template or related to spam, it blocks it because it looks similar to one blocked earlier. However, the template might actually be required. If I receive the same template today that is also blocked by Proofpoint Email Protection, that particular template might be useful and should not be blocked. In such cases, I have to raise it as a false positive stating that this is something in use or my users use and should be released. When AI starts doing its work, it analyzes the email from a sender with a particular template and releases it, but if the same email and template come from another sender, it blocks it according to the policies.
Kalyan  Chowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Computech infosysetm
Stronger email and mobile security has protected users from ransomware and simplified management
Price is obviously a challenging part, and I think it is the biggest problem we have suffered from over the last two or three years due to a 7 to 8% hike per year, twice a year, which is why we have some renewals on Sophos Email, Sophos XDR, EDR, and the firewall, but due to price hike, they are unable to renew it. The price is going to be very high. It would be better if Sophos can provide a more flexible pricing model for different types of businesses. Price could be lower. The main competitor for Sophos in the market is Palo Alto, which has reduced their price by more than 35 to 40%, making it a very challenging part to sell this product. Palo Alto provides the same functionality for email security, which adds to the challenge because the price is going very high.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cloudflare is simple to use."
"For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection."
"The capabilities of the software are strong enough for me to do what it's supposed to do. For me, we don't need to do a lot of configuration on our site. We just enable it and monitor it."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"Enables me to work from two locations."
"Clover is the best product globally."
"It is a stable solution."
"Using Cloudflare One makes my work quite easy because for DDoS protection, all I need to do is understand the OSI model and click; it makes it easier than trying to write a command line or use a Linux command."
"As a cloud-based product, it can scale well."
"The most valuable features are the business email compromise protection and targeted attack prevention."
"The targeted attack protection that we use has been great, as has the email filtering and the rules that we have set for Proofpoint."
"The spam filter for email is good."
"It's a mature product. It does a good job in detection."
"From a business perspective, the solution was very helpful as it speeded our business flow and increased email delivery."
"The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the dashboards and their visibility, easy configuration, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the reports are very important and helpful."
"I would recommend Proofpoint Email Protection to others because it is useful, simple to use, and provides whatever is required."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos Email is the sandbox. We're able to scan the file, isolate it, and look at it before it is delivered. It is highly effective."
"I found the user interface friendly."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
"I cannot guarantee any email by its name. It can be spam. Sophos Email helps to double-check whether an email is spam or not. It has a dashboard which gives an overview of the alerts."
"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."
"The solution is very good at covering all of my organization's needs."
"The tool is a good solution for protecting against email attacks and monitoring networks. It supports our compliance efforts and is easy to use and stable."
"The installation is straightforward."
 

Cons

"Cloudflare DDoS has poor technical support."
"The software has automated alerts, but the automated alerts are not available in the mobile app."
"Our subscription plan for the solution has a limitation of bot signatures."
"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."
"Operating and tuning the product is difficult."
"Lacks a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."
"From a logging perspective, it is still a bit difficult to see exactly what users are being blocked with the current views."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."
"Some use cases haven't been dealt with yet."
"I have not noticed much change in operational efficiency after implementing Proofpoint Email Protection, but the process execution is light."
"The support team was a bit slow."
"The solution could lower its price."
"The initial setup is complex."
"I believe if the GUI were more user-friendly for people using it for the first time, or if there were more training available for end users to share with them, that would be good."
"Every client always finds it expensive, but I don't know how much they're paying for it."
"Proofpoint has a lot of false alarms. Even their mail flow rules are not the best thing."
"The installation of Sophos Email could be easier. It's a bit difficult because setting up the email virtually requires some bit of technical knowledge."
"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."
"Sophos Email can improve security."
"If they had better deployments for email security, I might rate them higher."
"The installation of Sophos Email could be easier. It's a bit difficult because setting up the email virtually requires some bit of technical knowledge."
"The pricing could improve by having additional discounts."
"The tool has some performance issues and bugs, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Sophos Email can improve mail security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"Pricing has recently been increased and the cost is a downside"
"I rate the price of Proofpoint Email Protection a four out of five."
"Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees."
"The tool's pricing depends on the customer's preference, offering options for an annual license or a monthly subscription. The cost varies based on factors such as the number of users and specific requirements. Overall, the pricing is competitive."
"In general, the pricing is competitive."
"The licensing model for Proofpoint Email Protection is simple. It's based on the number of users. Price-wise, Proofpoint Email Protection is a five out of ten because it's a pretty expensive solution."
"Clients pay for an annual subscription of Proofpoint Email Protection. Every client always finds it expensive."
"We sell annual licenses for this solution."
"The pricing is fair."
"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."
"Licensing is paid on a yearly basis."
"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."
"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."
"The solution is expensive."
"We use exchange licenses, for which we get immediate support from Sophos."
"The product is cheaper compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise46
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access provides secure access to internal applications for employees, external members of the organization...
What advice do you have for others considering Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access is one of the best integrations available. While about two hundred vendors offer similar services, ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
This is not something that I deal with regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing.
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
I would like to see improvements in the transition from Proofpoint Protection Server to Proofpoint on Demand because ...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In my environment, I am using Proofpoint Email Protection for advanced email threat protection. For malware, spam, an...
What do you like most about Sophos Email?
The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?
Regarding Sophos Email pricing, I would rate it between six or seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
Price is obviously a challenging part, and I think it is the biggest problem we have suffered from over the last two ...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

23andMe
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
887,041 professionals have used our research since 2012.