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Sophos EPP Suite vs Symantec Endpoint Security vs VMware Carbon Black Endpoint 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Sophos EPP Suite boosts ROI in 12-16 months, enhancing productivity, protection, and compliance while ensuring customer satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.5
Symantec Endpoint Security delivers positive ROI by enhancing virus protection, reducing downtime, and improving operational efficiency with minimal disruption.
Sentiment score
7.1
Users reported significant ROI with VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, citing reduced malware and ransomware incidents, and 10% cost savings.
Symantec Endpoint Security filled gaps in our toolset, particularly with the ability to control network firewall on hosts remotely, which was greatly appreciated.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
User reviews of Sophos EPP Suite support highlight responsiveness and expertise, though some experience delays and ineffective resolutions.
Sentiment score
7.2
Symantec Endpoint Security's support is praised but varies post-Broadcom, with delays and regional differences affecting effectiveness.
Sentiment score
6.4
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint support is generally praised as effective and knowledgeable, but some report delays and issues with tiered support.
They have introduced a dedicated role called Technical Account Manager (TAM) for every partner.
The Sophos people here in South Africa are very helpful.
In some cases, it rates as high as ten out of ten, while in others, it can be as low as eight.
There is no support in the German language, which is a problem for many public tenders.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Sophos EPP Suite offers scalable solutions for diverse organizations, accommodating growth and simplifying cloud deployments, despite third-party integration limits.
Sentiment score
7.8
Symantec Endpoint Security is scalable, user-friendly, and ideal for large organizations, effortlessly integrating with existing systems.
Sentiment score
7.5
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is highly scalable and adaptable for various enterprises, praised for ease of adding tenants and managing environments.
Symantec Endpoint Security is quite scalable, and it is very important for large clients.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
9.0
Sophos EPP Suite is generally stable but has minor glitches; some users seek other solutions for better stability.
Sentiment score
7.8
Symantec Endpoint Security is generally reliable, though updates and operating system variations can occasionally disrupt stability and resource usage.
Sentiment score
7.6
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is stable, lightweight, reliable, and highly rated, though minor issues with sensors and updates occasionally occur.
I have encountered issues where I had to uninstall and reinstall the product on end users' computers to view the logs again.
 

Room For Improvement

Sophos EPP Suite needs improvements in migration, resource usage, integration, support, and user interface for better performance and compatibility.
Symantec Endpoint Security faces performance issues, complex management, insufficient threat detection, and compatibility problems affecting usability and support.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint struggles with mobile support, complex UI, performance issues, inadequate reporting, and insufficient third-party integration.
Users have noted that daily upload limits per device, overall data lake storage capacity tied to licenses, and daily API query limits can be restrictive.
I need an on-premises Active Directory that syncs to the cloud to make it work.
It is cumbersome to use, particularly in handling firewall management.
Device management is not very good and I am not enabling it in my organization due to security reasons.
I would like to see improvements in the scanning part of the solution, specifically to enhance the CPU and hard disk usage during scanning and updates to prevent disruption during work hours.
 

Setup Cost

Sophos EPP Suite offers competitive, often affordable pricing, with discounts for longer licenses, despite varying costs by features and users.
Symantec Endpoint Security is valued for its cost-effective pricing, flexible plans, and discounts for long-term or special contracts.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint licensing is seen as expensive and inflexible, with prices ranging from $15 to $7,000 per node.
The cost is reasonable and cheaper than other alternatives.
It seems to be half the cost or more affordable than other solutions.
I rate the pricing, setup cost, and licensing around nine out of ten.
Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise are quite affordable, with Symantec Endpoint Security Complete costing about four times the Endpoint Protection price, still comparable to other EDR products.
 

Valuable Features

Sophos EPP Suite offers seamless integration, advanced threat detection, centralized management, and user-friendly features for comprehensive security solutions.
Symantec Endpoint Security provides comprehensive protection with device control, intrusion prevention, anti-virus, centralized management, and cross-platform integration.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint offers robust remote security with intuitive real-time detection, AI-driven threat response, and centralized cloud control.
Sophos Central serves as one central management portal for managing firewalls, endpoint, Sophos encryption, and mobile device management solutions.
With the reseller management, I can manage multiple clients without having to log in to each client.
One important feature is the EDR function, necessary for many public customers due to upcoming laws in Germany, which is available through Symantec Endpoint Security Complete.
The incident response capabilities allow me to resolve authentication and support issues promptly, ensuring the system operates without downtime.
A valuable feature of Symantec Endpoint Security is the ability to remotely isolate a computer from the network if it's compromised, either physically or digitally.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Sophos EPP Suite is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Endpoint Security is 4.0%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is 1.6%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience significant threat prevention advancements with user-friendly deployment
The feature is called relay server, and some people refer to it as a cache server. The Sophos EPP Suite is scalable. Some customers in banks typically have 5,000 to 7,000 users. One customer started with 1,000 users and has now extended to 4,000 users. Some customers are using up to 8,000 users without any issues. Regarding AI elements in the Sophos EPP Suite, firewalls have already introduced AI features. They have integrated AI models similar to ChatGPT in firewalls. These AI features should be introduced in endpoint XDR as well. Key features for comprehensive detection and prevention include advanced threat prevention, ransomware protections, exploit prevention, and AI-powered detections. Extended visibility and data analysis include cross-product data correlations. They have a data lake, live discover, and threat graphs. They also offer AI case summary and AI common analysis, accessible from Sophos Central, which is the management portal for Sophos XDR. Sophos Central serves as one central management portal for managing firewalls, endpoint, Sophos encryption, and mobile device management solutions. This centralized management is particularly appealing to customers.
MohammadAlshatreet - PeerSpot reviewer
Resolve support issues promptly while optimizing system resource usage
I use the solution primarily for scanning and identifying threats, which is essential in determining the percentage of resources used, such as CPU and hard disk. It's important to balance resource consumption to maintain operational efficiency. Furthermore, the incident response capabilities allow me to resolve authentication and support issues promptly, ensuring the system operates without downtime.
KarthikR1 - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution has an easy setup but needs to mature on cloud environment security
The maturity of the Kubernetes security is absent in Carbon Black CB Defense. The solution has to mature on container security and a lot of cloud environment security. Security is available only for Windows, while security for Linux and Mac is not very strong. The deadlock issue causes me to put more effort into installing an upgrade. The numerous issues with the environment of the product solution should be addressed. Work orders are taking more than two months to get resolved. There's been one issue open for two months, and the solution they gave is being implemented step by step. Still, it is not meeting the requirements and breaking the system. Hence, our business is completely disturbed.
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Comparison Review

DK
Apr 17, 2019
Symantec opened our eyes to be able to see what's out there, but then we needed Carbon Black to be able to actively fix it
We are a partner in the managed security service provider (MSSP) space. We service hundreds of customers globally. We implement these solutions on behalf of our customers.  With Carbon Black, we've been using them for about six years. We're an MSSP and channel partner with them, as well as an…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Sophos EPP Suite?
Sophos EPP Suite is a powerful antivirus.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos EPP Suite?
For Bangladesh, the price of the Sophos EPP Suite is reasonable. We recently won a deal when compared with CrowdStrik...
What needs improvement with Sophos EPP Suite?
The Sophos EPP Suite should work on key areas, especially in data management, specifically the data retention part. T...
Which is better - Cortex XDR or Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Aqua Security is easy to use and very manageable. Its main focus is on Kubernetes and Docker. Security is a very valu...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior sol...
What do you like most about Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec have everything – documentation, videos, data sheets.
What to choose: an endpoint antivirus, an EDR solution or both?
I can recommend Carbon Black, an award-winning next-gen anti-virus (NGAV) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) s...
What's the difference between Carbon Black CB Response and Carbon Black CB Defense?
Carbon Black offers two different levels of Endpoint Detection and Response. One is the VM Carbon Black Cloud Endpoin...
What do you like most about Carbon Black CB Defense?
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is a highly stable solution.
 

Also Known As

EPP Suite
Symantec EPP, Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP)
Carbon Black CB Defense, Bit9, Confer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

EK Services
Audio Visual Dynamics, Red Deer Advocate, Asia Pacific Telecom Co. Ltd., Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and AMETEK, Inc.
Netflix, Progress Residential, Indeed, Hologic, Gentle Giant, Samsung Research America
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.