Proofpoint Email Protection vs. Zscaler Internet Access

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Proofpoint Email Protection
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Proofpoint Email Protection is available as an on-premise or cloud based solution and blocks unwanted, malicious and impostor emails with granular search capabilities and visibility into all messages. Outbound controls include encryption and data loss prevention, while continuity capabilities ensure business communications can continue as normal in the event of an email outage. With Proofpoint's Email Protection, you can protect your people, data, and brand from today’s threats…N/A
Zscaler Internet Access
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Zscaler Internet Access™ (ZIA) is a secure web gateway (SWG), delivering cloud native cyberthreat protection and zero trust access to the internet and SaaS apps.N/A
Pricing
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Considered Both Products
Proofpoint Email Protection
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
More flexibility to create rules and custom rules; in the on-premises version, these options grow up due to the possibility of access to the command line.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Proofpoint Email Protection allows configuration and granularity that far exceeds those features we'd been able to use with the Barracuda Email Security Gateway product. In addition, the robust Proofpoint reporting features give us and our decision makers much improved detail …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Microsoft Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection needs to improve a lot to catch up to Proofpoint's abilities and features. We used ATP for a year but malicious emails were slipping through. Proofpoint was much more efficient in catching malicious emails. With ATP the …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
As a previous Exchange administrator, ProofPoint allowed us to move many security-based mail flow rules into the system. This simplified our Exchange mail flow and allowed for more detailed and concise rules.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We use Symantec DLP for our on-premise protection of endpoints and network traffic. We used to use it for email, but switched to Proofpoint due to the entire business deciding to move to it. We are just one of multiple teams using Proofpoint. I believe Proofpoint was decided …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
It was only possible to select "Ironport Web Security Appliance" but this has nothing to do with emailing. Actually, we are using Cisco Ironport Email Security in another environment. The administration and management of Proofpoint Email Protection is way more straightforward …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I was not involved in the side by side with other products.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I have used MessageLabs. Instead of relying on signatures and heuristics for spam detection effectiveness, Proofpoint's spam detection is based on machine learning technology and that is really helpful for overall protection.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Works very well - probably much better in terms of feature set and customisability. The quality of message filtering is fantastic. But from an administrative perspective it is more difficult to manage than the others.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
At the time we selected Proofpoint, Mimecast did not offer comparable features. We are planning to evaluate Mimecast in the first quarter of 2020.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We currently have Microsoft ATP turned on behind Proofpoint and Proofpoint's TAP. ATP almost never alerts us to any issues due to the filtering by Proofpoint.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We had been using Proofpoint for a number of years but there were a few things PP was not doing so well. So we looked at Mimecast and was seriously considering moving to it, however, Mimecast has 1 fatal flaw they were not able to resolve to our satisfaction so we stuck with …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I thought that Proofpoint immediately showed improvements over these products and allowed us to become more "granular" than the mentioned products.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Proofpoint is the leader of the pack when it comes to email security services. I have used a range of other providers in the space and Proofpoint is the best. It's ability to identify and block malicious email and threats sets it above all other competitors.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I belong to a few tech user boards, and compared to Mimecast, Proofpoint's uptime over the past year has been much better.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We evaluated a few other products and found Proofpoint to be the best fit for our organization.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We used Barracuda at one point but the price was going up and the performance and features went down or went away all together. Proofpoint has definitely proven to be an amazing product.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Proofpoint meets all the security requirements stipulated in the company's policies, has a good platform administration, is easy to implement, has very robust research tools, the reports help our security operations center, good support, flexibility of working in the cloud, and …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I would recommend Proofpoint over any other product in this space thanks to Proofpoint's amazing customer service and true-to-their-word email security spam and malware detection systems.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
We have used EOP (Exchange Online Protection) in the past and we also had a POC with Proofpoint which we were excited to use and the results were positive.

Before Proofpoint, we had many issues with imposters and TAP issues with EOP, which have been improved with Proofpoint. We …
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
Proofpoint stacks up well against competitors, but I'm choosing not to disclose who the platform replaced.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I am not sure what else is out there so I can't really speak to how well it stacks up against others. I can say that it seems to be pretty good for us. It's robust and has good customization. It also has other systems within the Proofpoint family that it works with fairly well.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
It's definitely better and more robust and reliable than our previous solution (McAfee Email Gateway), but when compared to Mimecast they are pretty much on par. Both solutions offer a very good solution to email security.
Chose Proofpoint Email Protection
I have used Symantec Brightmail, Cisco Ironport, and Trend Micro Email Security.
We selected Trend's product due to the price, but it failed miserably at clustering and overall email delivery. Proofpoint came in second as it checked off a lot of the boxes that we required in …
Zscaler Internet Access
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Supports zero trust access and real time SSL inspection offers better visibility into encrypted threats.
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Netskope was good however did not have all the features Zscaler had. Zscaler provides the same type of protection as Netskope but more. We also found the netskope agent used a lot of resoures on devices. ZCC was very light-weight and did not consume a lot of resources on laptops.
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Palo support has been a large enough negative experience on multiple occasions that we have been looking to move away from the platform and Zscaler Internet Access looks to be a suitable replacement
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access is most akin to ZPA - we bought both at the same time to handle all traffic internally and externally. In terms of quality - I would make the statement that Zscaler Internet Access is a simpler product but that's also cause there are no App Connectors …
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Deception
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access is much more user friendly to troubleshoot an issue or customer access.
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Private Access and Zscaler Data Protection
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Private Access, Zscaler Digital Experience and Zscaler Deception
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
It is useful for firewall control.
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access is leading all other vendors
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Easy to impllement
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering, Fortinet FortiGate, Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services, iboss Zero Trust Edge and CheckPoint
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access has significantly more configurability and capability in the platform, and can scale much better with large organizations. It is also much more affordable for our environment and gives us greater flexibility to grow into the Zscaler Platform.
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Avast Secure Private Access (SPA) and Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
similar in nature -- seems to be easier to integrate
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
It will take us into full Zero Trust with out deploying another client, is efficient.
Features
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Secure Email Gateway
Comparison of Secure Email Gateway features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Email Protection
8.0
Ratings
5% below category average
Zscaler Internet Access
-
Ratings
Anti-malware10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Loss Protection6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Detection8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Sandboxing7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Tools8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Identity Management
Comparison of Identity Management features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Email Protection
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
5.0
Ratings
56% below category average
Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Email Protection
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
10.0
Ratings
6% above category average
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Threat Intelligence
Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Email Protection
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
9.5
Ratings
7% above category average
Network Analytics00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Threat Recognition00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Threat Analysis00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Zero Trust Security
Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Product A and Product B
Proofpoint Email Protection
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
9.7
Ratings
4% above category average
Continuous Verification00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Network Flow Control00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Admin Access Control00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Network Data Encryption00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Small Businesses
Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail
Score 9.3 out of 10
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Avanan
Avanan
Score 9.4 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Avanan
Avanan
Score 9.4 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Proofpoint Email ProtectionZscaler Internet Access
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited: Proofpoint does a pretty good job at protecting us from spam emails. I was able to block a lot of emails coming from SendGrid by blocking SendGrid emails with a custom spam filter. However, SendGrid has a lot of legit emails too so I was able to create another rule to allow those emails from certain people, then block the rest. That way business need was met but spam emails are blocked. Less Appropriate If you are trying to monitor internal to internal emails Proofpoint is probably a little over featured for that.
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Zscaler Internet Access has extremely powerful category selection and it is very easy to create your own destinations for inspection and policy exceptions (SSL exception specifically). It is also very affordable and just as powerful (if not more) than some of the other solutions I have used in the past to achieve internet security.
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Pros
  • Spam - catches these emails before hitting the inbox.
  • Daily digest - provides users with a list of the emails that were blocked and allows them to choose to release them if they are legitimate emails.
  • Ensures that emails coming into our organization is safe for our users and verifies the email is coming from stated senders email server.
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  • The depth that Cloud App control policies can go into. Being able to control individual actions within an application, more than just all or nothing access.
  • The UX/UI design makes it really easy to navigate the portal.
  • Understanding how cloud app/url control policy gets evaluated and creating/editing existing policy is extremely straightforward.
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Cons
  • The pricing is high and there are many licenses for things I feel should be part of other products.
  • The UI is slightly dated and has a lot of room for improvement.
  • The separate products should have one pane of glass for administration. Currently, if you own several of the products it feels quite disjointed when using them.
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  • Easier interface on the menus so they don't disappear.
  • Help, I'm contacting support only through the ZIA portal, but I'm unable to use the link easily.
  • Mobile interface changes.
  • The searching function for the logs is tricky and challenging to use, and the menu always pops down when trying to find the proper function.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
While Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) delivers critical value in cloud security and RBI compliance, I rate renewal likelihood 7/10 due to evolving needs versus platform limitations. Below is my rationale:
Key Gaps:
1. Advanced Threat Costs:
ZIA’s add-ons (e.g., Advanced DLP, Sandboxing) incur 35%+ cost premiums – straining budgets as transaction volumes (UPI/iMobile) grow 50% YoY.
2. API Banking Scalability:
ZIA’s API rate limits throttle real-time policy sync during UPI peaks (10K+ TPS), forcing workarounds for finacle integrations.
3. RBI Future-Proofing:
Limited native support for upcoming digital rupee (CBDC) security rules requires custom development, increasing compliance overhead.
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Usability
Very robust and solid product in protecting our emails. The engineers who assisted with our implementation was very knowledgable and great to work with. Easy to use by end-users. Administration and management are also easy for IT. Great dashboard and reporting tools for business reviews.
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The application is easy to install and configure on all Windows devices. To troubleshoot any internet issue, we can easily collect all the relevant logs from Zscaler and check the exact issue. The only problem is with the uninstall, as a dedicated crew needs to provide the password.
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Reliability and Availability
There were no appliance errors or unplanned outages during five years of operation.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Most important thing is the performance of processing mails. Even in a complex environment the system keeps performing on a very high Level.
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There are often performance issues reported
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Support Rating
We use ProofPoint support quite often to fix issues and assist with setting up features and rules. Each time we have created a ticket, they have been very helpful and respectful. Each ticket has been treated with the appropriate SLA time and attention. We also enjoy the regular check-ins from the engineers when tickets are open but we get busy with other tasks.
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Zscaler's ZIA support is quick and knowledgable. They respond within 1-2 hours of you submitting your ticket. They are very thorough and are typically ready to jump on a live troubleshooting session. Our ZIA platform and how we use is it unique so at times tickets can be open for weeks but we alway get quality support compared to other unrelated product support in our enterprise
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Alternatives Considered
Proofpoint Email Protection allows configuration and granularity that far exceeds those features we'd been able to use with the Barracuda Email Security Gateway product. In addition, the robust Proofpoint reporting features give us and our decision makers much improved detail to make informed decisions about our security posture.
Read full review
Zscaler Internet Access is most akin to ZPA - we bought both at the same time to handle all traffic internally and externally. In terms of quality - I would make the statement that Zscaler Internet Access is a simpler product but that's also cause there are no App Connectors involved in that process.
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Scalability
You can add a lot of agents to your environment if you need them. And you can operate hardware appliances and virtual appliances in the same cluster.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Having easy-to-reach backups of all employee emails has made Proofpoint worth it by itself. That plus the countless times that spam/malicious emails did not make it through to the intended person that could have potentially cost the organization a lot of money.
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  • Has allowed us to remove other products that were suboptimal
  • Saved us money overall by stacking it with other Zscaler products
  • Created a more secure work environment for our users through intelligent internet policies that are not needlessly restrictive while still maintaining security best practices
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ScreenShots

Zscaler Internet Access Screenshots

Screenshot of an overview of Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), a cloud native security service edge (SSE) solution that builds on a decade of secure web gateway leadership. Offered as a scalable SaaS platform through Zscaler's security cloud, it replaces legacy network security solutions, preventing advanced attacks and data loss with a comprehensive zero trust approach. ZIA is integrated into the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ to provide superior defense-in-depth, secure connectivity, end user experience, and administrative visibility and control.