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Sophos Email vs Symantec Messaging Gateway comparison

The compared Sophos and Broadcom solutions aren't in the same category. Sophos is ranked #10 in Email Security , with an average rating of 8.2, and holds a 2.2% mindshare in the category. Broadcom is ranked #6 in SEG , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Sophos users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Sophos Email

Read 33 Sophos Email reviews

2,235 Views
2,012 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Symantec Messaging Gateway

Read 20 Symantec Messaging Gateway reviews

1,372 Views
412 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Sophos Email

Symantec Messaging Gateway

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Sophos Email and Symantec Messaging Gateway based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Email Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway Report (Updated: January 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway

January 2024

Download the complete report

Helped 865,649 peers since 2012

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

Sophos Email

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Security (10th), Office 365 Protection (1st)

Symantec Messaging Gateway

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (6th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Sophos Email is designed for Email Security and holds a mindshare of 2.2%, down 2.6% compared to last year.
Symantec Messaging Gateway, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Email Gateway (SEG), holds 2.6% mindshare, up 2.1% since last year.

Email Security

Secure Email Gateway (SEG)

Featured Reviews

BhanuPrakash

Technical Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Achieving Seamless Email Security and Encryption while Managing Temporary Email Storage Limits

We continue to use Sophos products and remain with the company. For firewall protection, we use XGS systems. We have provided Sophos Email Gateway for one of our clients. We have integrated Sophos Email with our internal email server, using it for both outbound and inbound traffic. Integration with Office 365 protection for Sophos Email Security works smoothly without any challenges. The solution is totally cloud-based. I recommend Sophos Email for mid-sized companies as it is a good option, though it may not be ideal for large-scale or small businesses. I have not tried incorporating AI technology with Sophos Email yet. I am Bhanu Prakash, Technical Head for Systek Services, and can be reached at b.hanu@teamsistek.com. I am a partner with Sophos. Overall rating for Sophos Email: 10/10.

Read full review

Girish Vijay

Deputy Manager IT at Carl Bechem Lubricants India Pvt. Ltd.

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are many features that are important, but among those, the spam protection feature is very valuable. It help us to safeguard the email against phishing and ensures that there is maximum security enabled for our communication processes. It has a huge role in protecting our emails from potential threats."

"I rate Sophos Email nine point five."

"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."

"Our client recently received many emails, and their employees didn't realize these emails were phishing attempts. Consequently, they clicked on them and fell victim to the attack. Therefore, it is important to secure their system with Sophos Email Security."

"When you say email security, it's about everything, incoming email, outgoing email, spam, phishing emails, unwanted marketing emails. You can set rules, but the main feature of Sophos Email is to make sure you don't get hacked. 95% of people who are hacked do not get hacked by typing the router password. They are hacked from the inside out, which means they send you a document that is a zero-day attack, you open it, nothing happens, but technically the attack is running in the background of your computer. This is how they gain access to your PC."

"Sophos Email offers encryption and malware protection, provides visibility into emails, has 99% accuracy in catching spam, enhances organizational safety, integrates with various vendors like Microsoft, is deployable with any email service, prevents data loss, features authentication rules, synchronizes with Active Directory and Azure, and includes a self-service portal. The product is very flexible."

"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."

"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."

More Sophos Email pros

"The most valuable features of Symantec Messaging Gateway are advanced content filtering, malware, and antivirus defense."

"The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept."

"It has very good capabilities for managing malware."

"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a good GUI, and it is very powerful in detecting viruses and spam."

"The setup is pretty simple."

"The anti-malware and spam features are valuable."

"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a huge knowledge base about phishing, spamming, spoofing, etc."

"The cloud-based interface is very user-friendly."

More Symantec Messaging Gateway pros

Cons

"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."

"Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner."

"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."

"Sophos Email can improve mail security."

"The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak."

"The solution should be able to support the cloud environment."

"Their technical support is slow to respond."

"Servicing and support are areas with shortcomings where the solution needs to improve."

More Sophos Email cons

"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."

"The documentation could have more detailed examples of how to use the product in various situations. As more companies shift to the cloud, they could better integrate the on-prem and cloud versions through an on-prem client."

"They really need to create a good package that competes with Microsoft."

"Messaging Gateway's advanced malware detection could be improved."

"Sometimes the solution picks up false positive for viruses during scans."

"This product would benefit from better integration with Symantec Endpoint Protection."

"They have updated the version of the Messaging Gateway and the new features they are adding the need to be re-evaluated. They have done some changes on the policy."

"Symantec Messaging Gateway should include better exclusions and exceptions for better administration."

More Symantec Messaging Gateway cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."

"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."

"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."

"The pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."

"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."

"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."

"Sophos Email is neither cheap nor expensive."

"I would rate the pricing of Sophos Email as a six. It is considered affordable as a standalone product, and there are no additional costs besides licensing. The pricing is fixed."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."

"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."

"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."

"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."

"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Sophos Email?

The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

While Sophos Email is generally sufficient, one challenge we face is the 24-hour email storage limitation. This presents an issue when internal systems are down for more than 24 hours. The solution...

See all answers

What do you like most about Symantec Messaging Gateway?

Symantec is a secure product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Messaging Gateway?

The solution takes up a lot of memory. The system becomes slow. The performance must be improved.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Messaging Gateway?

We use the solution to secure our data and emails.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Sophos Email

Compared 23% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 10% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 8% of the time

Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Symantec Messaging Gateway

Compared 26% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Symantec Messaging Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Cisco Secure Email vs Symantec Messaging Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Symantec Messaging Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Symantec Messaging Gateway

Compared 4% of the time

More Symantec Messaging Gateway Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email

August 2025

Download Sophos Email product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Messaging Gateway

August 2025

Download Symantec Messaging Gateway product report

Also Known As

Sophos Email Security

Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud

Overview

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sophos

Symantec Messaging Gateway is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and spam. It combines multiple layers of protection, including anti-malware, anti-spam, and data loss prevention, to safeguard sensitive information and ensure email continuity.

With its advanced threat intelligence and machine learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks, such as ransomware and spear-phishing. The solution also offers robust encryption and authentication features to secure email communications.

Its intuitive management console provides administrators with granular control and real-time visibility into email traffic. Symantec Messaging Gateway is a reliable and scalable solution that helps organizations mitigate email-borne threats and maintain a secure messaging environment.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School

Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway

January 2024

Free Report: Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway

Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.

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See our Sophos Email vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway report.

We monitor all Email Security 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.