IRONSCALES vs Proofpoint Essentials

The short answer

IRONSCALES is an integrated cloud email security (ICES) platform. It works inside your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant at mailbox level, after Microsoft's or Google's own filtering, and its strength is catching and cleaning up the targeted phishing and business email compromise that gets past that filtering.

Proofpoint Essentials is a secure email gateway (SEG). Your MX records point at Proofpoint, so every inbound and outbound message passes through it before it reaches, or leaves, your mail service. Its strength is everything a gateway can do because it is in the path: outbound filtering, policy-based encryption, data loss prevention, continuity when your mail service is unavailable and, in the Professional packages, a cloud archive.

Neither is better for everyone. If you are fully on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and your problem is phishing and invoice fraud reaching inboxes, IRONSCALES is usually the closer fit. If you need continuity, a compliance archive, outbound controls or still run some mail on your own Exchange server, Proofpoint Essentials is. Some organisations run both, which we cover below. Our ICES vs SEG guide explains the two architectures in more depth.

IRONSCALES vs Proofpoint Essentials compared

IRONSCALES details are from ironscales.com and the plans we supply; Proofpoint Essentials details are from the package information we work from. Both vendors revise their packaging, so we confirm what each plan or package includes when we quote. We have left out detection-rate and performance claims from both.

How each one handles a phishing email

It helps to follow one malicious message through each product.

With Proofpoint Essentials, the message arrives at Proofpoint first. Its MLX engine looks at headers, structure, content, sender reputation and images; multi-layer anti-virus and zero-hour outbreak protection check attachments; and in the packages that include them, URL Defense and Attachment Defense analyse links and files that are built to slip past ordinary filters. Anything suspicious is held in quarantine, and clean mail is passed on to Microsoft 365 or your own mail server. Microsoft's or Google's own filtering then runs as well.

With IRONSCALES, the message arrives at Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace as normal and passes their built-in filtering. IRONSCALES then looks at it in the context of the mailbox: who normally writes to this person, how they write, whether the sending domain is a lookalike of a trusted one, and what its link and attachment scanning finds. It can warn the user with a banner or remove the message automatically, using remediation thresholds you can tune. If a user reports a message, or the same attack is found elsewhere, IRONSCALES removes every copy from every mailbox that received it.

The practical difference shows up in BEC attacks and invoice fraud. Those messages often carry no link or attachment at all, so a gateway has little to scan. Mailbox-level behavioural analysis is designed for exactly that case. Gateways, in turn, can stop bulk malware and spam before it touches the mail service and give you one choke point for outbound mail.

Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and on-premises Exchange

Platform support differs, which matters if you run Google Workspace, a mix of platforms after a merger, or still have your own Exchange server.

• IRONSCALES connects to Google Workspace by API in the same way as Microsoft 365, and its Report Phishing button works for users on either platform. Some IRONSCALES extras are Microsoft-only today: account takeover protection watches Microsoft user accounts, and IRONSCALES says its Email Encryption currently supports Microsoft 365, with other platforms planned. It does not protect an on-premises Exchange server.
• Proofpoint Essentials is a gateway, so it is not tied to one mail service: it works with Microsoft 365, on-premises Exchange and other mail platforms. That makes it one of the few options here that still suits an on-premises Exchange server. If you run Google Workspace, we confirm the set-up with you at quote; a gateway in front of Gmail also needs Gmail's inbound gateway settings configured so Google sees the true sender.

Whichever you choose, set up Google's or Microsoft's own protection properly first. Our Google Workspace email security and Microsoft 365 phishing protection guides cover the built-in settings.

Encryption, continuity and archiving

For many UK organisations the decision is made by what sits around threat protection rather than by threat protection itself.

Encryption. Proofpoint Essentials encrypts by policy, triggered by a subject-line tag or an Outlook button, from the Advanced package up; external recipients read and reply in Proofpoint's Secure Mail portal. IRONSCALES Email Encryption is added as an outbound control through Microsoft 365 transport rules, with sender-initiated encryption from an Outlook add-in or a subject keyword, policy-based encryption when sensitive data is detected, and a one-time passcode portal for recipients. If you send personal data to clients by email, see our guide on how to send secure email and our email DLP explainer.

Continuity. This is where a gateway has a clear advantage. If your mail service has an outage, Proofpoint Essentials spools incoming mail and opens an Emergency Inbox so users can keep reading and replying, and Instant Replay restores messages deleted by mistake in the last 30 days. An API product works through your mail service, so it does not provide this kind of fallback if that service is down.

Archiving. The Proofpoint Essentials Professional packages include a cloud archive with retention policies and legal holds of up to ten years, search and eDiscovery. IRONSCALES does not list an archive among its plans or add-ons. An archive is not a backup, so you may still want separate Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup.

When to run both

IRONSCALES lists "SEG augmentation" as one of the projects it is used for, and the pattern is simple: Proofpoint Essentials stays in front for filtering, outbound controls, continuity and archiving, and IRONSCALES works behind it at mailbox level to catch what reaches the inbox and to clean up quickly when something does.

Running both makes most sense when:

• You need the gateway for continuity, archiving or outbound encryption, but targeted phishing and supplier impersonation still reach inboxes
• Your IT team spends a lot of time on user-reported phishing and wants it triaged and removed automatically
• You want internal mail inspected, which a gateway does not normally see

If none of those applies, one product is usually enough. If you are fully on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and do not need continuity or an archive, IRONSCALES on its own avoids changing MX records. If your first concern is a compliance archive and outbound controls, Proofpoint Essentials on its own may be the better starting point, with email authentication set up properly alongside it.

Other options from the same vendors

Both vendors sell more than these two products, which can change the comparison:

• IRONSCALES also sells DMARC management per domain, Email Encryption and security awareness training, and its Complete Protect plan bundles email protection, account takeover protection and training in one per-user licence.
• Proofpoint now also owns Vade. If you like the idea of Proofpoint but would rather have an API product with no MX change, look at Vade for M365, now part of Proofpoint, which also has a Google Workspace version.

If you are comparing more widely, our email security platforms hub sets every platform we supply side by side, and IRONSCALES vs Avanan compares IRONSCALES with another API platform.

How we help you choose

Forever Systems supplies both IRONSCALES and Proofpoint Essentials, so we have no reason to push one over the other. We can:

1. Review how your mail flows today, which platform you use and what is getting through
2. Check your continuity, archiving, encryption and retention needs, which often settle the question
3. Arrange an IRONSCALES trial alongside your current filtering, without changing mail flow, so you can see what it finds on your own mail
4. Recommend one product or both, with the plan or package that fits and pricing confirmed at quote
5. Deploy it: tenant consent and banners for IRONSCALES, or domains, user sync, MX changes and the Microsoft 365 lock-down for Proofpoint Essentials

Both are licensed per user (IRONSCALES DMARC is per domain, and Proofpoint archive imports are per gigabyte), with contents and terms confirmed at quote. You can read more about buying each on IRONSCALES Email Protect licensing and Proofpoint Essentials licensing. Contact us to talk it through.