Private and open-source alternatives to Proofpoint Email Protection
15 spam and virus filtering rated against the same public privacy criteria as Proofpoint Email Protection (Proofpoint), with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The website uses third-party analytics and a DoubleClick advertising tag, and the privacy policy describes behavioral retargeting by an ad partner.
- No ads or data sales: partial. Paid business service with no ads, but a third-party partner uses website cookies to retarget visitors with Proofpoint ads on other sites.
- Independent audit: partial. Proofpoint holds ISO 27001 certification for in-scope products, but no audit report is public.
- Transparency report: partial. A law enforcement statement describes legal review of each request and challenges to overbroad ones, but no request counts are published.
- Security headers: partial. Grade B (75/100+)
See the full Proofpoint Email Protection rating.
The alternatives
SpamScanner Grade B Our pick
Spam, phishing and malware scanner for email written in Node.js by the Forward Email team, used as a library or a command-line tool on your own server.
Why it is our pick: Self-hosted spam, phishing and malware scanning for Node.js with no telemetry, built by the Forward Email team and used to filter Forward Email's mail.
SpamScanner scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Amavis Grade B
Self-hosted content filter written in Perl that sits between a mail server and scanners such as SpamAssassin and ClamAV, passing each message to them and acting on the results.
Amavis scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Apache SpamAssassin Grade B
Self-hosted spam filter from the Apache Software Foundation that scores mail with rules, DNS blocklists and Bayesian filtering, used alongside mail servers such as Postfix.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Apache SpamAssassin scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
MailScanner Grade B
Self-hosted email security system written in Perl that scans mail for spam, viruses and phishing using SpamAssassin and antivirus engines, with Postfix, Sendmail and Exim.
MailScanner scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Rspamd Grade B
Self-hosted spam filtering system written in C and Lua that checks mail with rules, statistics, fuzzy hashes and DNS lists, and integrates with Postfix, Exim and other mail servers.
Rspamd scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Proxmox Mail Gateway Grade C
Self-hosted email gateway distribution from Proxmox that filters inbound and outbound mail for spam, viruses and phishing, managed through a web interface.
Based in Austria. Proxmox Mail Gateway scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
DuoCircle Grade F
Email services company whose products include cloud spam and phishing filtering, backup MX, email forwarding, outbound SMTP relay, and SPF and DMARC management.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). DuoCircle scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: tells users about requests and TLS configuration.
Check Point Email Security Grade F
Cloud email security service from Check Point, formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration and Avanan. It connects to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace by API to filter phishing, malware and spam before messages reach the inbox.
Based in Israel. Check Point Email Security scores 28 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
N-able Mail Assure Grade F
Cloud email security service sold to managed service providers that filters inbound and outbound mail for spam, phishing and malware, with email continuity and encrypted archiving. It works with Microsoft 365 and other mail servers.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). N-able Mail Assure scores 25 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
Vade Grade F
AI-based email filtering for Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, internet service providers and mail servers that blocks spam, phishing and malware. Vade merged with Hornetsecurity and is being folded into the Hornetsecurity brand.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). Vade scores 25 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
SpamHero Grade F
Hosted spam and virus filtering service for organizations with their own domain, set up by pointing MX records at it. It also offers outbound SMTP relay, quarantine, delivery logs and reseller controls for managed service providers.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). SpamHero scores 22 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
Trustifi Grade F
Cloud email security service that filters inbound phishing, impersonation and malware, and adds outbound encryption, data loss prevention and archiving for Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and other mail servers.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Trustifi scores 22 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
Libraesva Grade F
Email security gateway from an Italian vendor, deployed on premises or in a private cloud, that filters spam, phishing and malware with local sandboxing and AI models. The company also sells email archiving, DMARC management and phishing training.
Based in Italy (Fourteen Eyes). Libraesva scores 20 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 4 criteria: no ads or data sales.
Heimdal Email Security Grade F
Cloud email filtering from Heimdal, a Danish security company, that blocks spam, phishing, malware and business email compromise, managed from the Heimdal dashboard alongside its endpoint security products.
Based in Denmark (Nine Eyes). Heimdal Email Security scores 19 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.
Mailinblack Grade F
French cloud email security service that filters spam, phishing, ransomware and malicious links for business mailboxes, sold with a password manager and security awareness training.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). Mailinblack scores 19 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.