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Symantec Data Loss Prevention vs Varonis Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

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
Varonis Platform
Ranking in Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (4th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Compliance Management (7th), Ransomware Protection (11th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) category, the mindshare of Symantec Data Loss Prevention is 6.3%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Varonis Platform is 6.2%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Frederic  Delos - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers the ability to identify sensitive areas, allowing you to drill down into the sensitive data
The most effective feature for me is its ability to identify sensitive areas, allowing you to drill down into the sensitive data, provided you have access, to determine whether it's a false positive or a true positive. That's the best thing for me, out of all of it. It's got everything, like other ones, but I like to be able to look at something if I'm doing forensics on the alert and say, "Okay, do I really need to do something with this?" For example, we don't want sensitive data in our OneDrive. So it identifies the sensitive data that's possibly in the OneDrive. And what I can do is look at it and identify whether it's actually sensitive data in Datalert or whether it looks like sensitive data, but I know it's a false positive. If it is a false positive, I can basically say ignore this pattern based on X, Y, and Z, you know, whether it's Redjax or keyword proximity. So I like that. With other tools, I gotta go through a whole process because it's a little bit more complex. Here, I can tag it and bag it in one shot. And the next good time I scan, it slips over it. So it helps in that.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's deployment phase was easy."
"There's only one policy needed to implement for all channels."
"Symantec Data Loss Prevention has proprietary metadata and is well-suited for endpoint-level security."
"The dashboard, management section, and reporting are good."
"It can prevent copying and encoding of HTTP data to various sites like Google, and Webex."
"The data-at-rest features are the most valuable because they let us identify data infected with ransomware and prevent employees from being exploited through phishing attacks. If an employee is compromised, the attacker can access servers and deposit ransomware. This enables the attacker to exfiltrate data remotely using employees' credentials. It might be valuable data that could cause a business reputational and financial damage if stolen and publicized. It could also be credit card data or personal health information stored on critical servers."
"We are able to contain our confidential data in our environment."
"We can integrate with some other tools such as Splunk, which is very useful."
"There's also a 90-day policy where if a user is not using the warehouse, it will automatically delete that username."
"The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient."
"Varonis Platform is transparent and captures everything in the environment without impacting the performance. The tool helps us unify data feeds into a single reporting system."
"The most important feature is remediation. In remediation support, there is no group permission. We'll go ahead and remediate the access from the Dell folder to the parent folder."
"The solution ensures that users have not accidentally shared sensitive information with the wrong people or too many people."
"The analytics would have to be our most valuable feature."
"Technical support from Varonis is rated as nine out of ten."
"The 24/7 support is the most valuable feature. They have been able to answer support questions pretty quickly."
 

Cons

"I would like to see an improved interface, with better documentation and integration with other products."
"There are some features that are not available which are required by every data loss prevention solution."
"DLP could be improved by implementing a cloud-based console."
"The solution could offer improved more informative documentation."
"Symantec Data Loss Prevention's AI technology has certain shortcomings where improvements can be made."
"Symantec DLP doesn't provide complete cloud coverage. We need another DLP solution to monitor our cloud applications."
"Sometimes setting up the solution can get a little tricky because it would depend on your internal infrastructure. For example, you have to connect the Symantec Data Loss Prevention platform and you need to integrate it, so that could make the process somewhat difficult."
"Symantec Data Loss Prevention's setup needs to be easier and support needs to be improved."
"The product is very complicated."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"It is significantly complex."
"The remediation process can be improved. There will be no existing permission group for the McAfee channel domains. We can create a new permissions group for the required folder."
"One area for improvement is the calculation engine. When applying rules in Varonis, especially for large datasets (terabytes of data), the calculations can be slow and require time to process. Speeding up this process would be beneficial."
"I'd like to see automatic updates for this solution. Currently, it's a manual process to update all the keywords"
"I would like it to have cloud integration."
"For unstructured data monitoring, it's one of the top ones, if not the top one, due to its usability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, Symantec DLP works with Oracle Database. Oracle Database licensing is much more expensive than other databases. That might be a drawback for customers. The pricing is on a yearly subscription basis."
"From what I know the pricing is good, it's not too expensive. If you negotiate you can get a good price."
"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."
"The product is high-priced."
"The pricing is competitive and not pricey. We also receive corporate discounts."
"Pricing is above average."
"If you are a small firm with less than 150 users, Symantec can be too pricey."
"The solution should be less expensive to allow more people the opportunity to use it. Some of their competitors are less expensive. There is a license required to use the solution and we purchased an annual license."
"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
"You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."
"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
"Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about Varonis Platform?
The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...
What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
Varonis started as an on-premises solution and is transitioning to cloud. It hasn't fully moved yet, which is an area for improvement. Varonis requires more access permissions for its core function...
What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
The primary use case for Varonis Platform is data discovery, specifically for discovering sensitive data in our organization to protect it. We are looking for a solution that can scan our repositor...
 

Also Known As

Symantec DLP
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Nottingham Building Society
Find out what your peers are saying about Symantec Data Loss Prevention vs. Varonis Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.