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.
What is the best private alternative to Proofpoint Email Protection?
Our pick is SpamScanner. 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. Disclosure. Privacy Ratings is maintained by the team behind Forward Email, which also makes SpamScanner. This entry is scored by the same criteria as every other entry in this category, and changes to it are reviewed under the published conflict-of-interest rules.
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+)
- Modern web standards: no. Score 66%
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.
Disclosure. Privacy Ratings is maintained by the team behind Forward Email, which also makes SpamScanner. This entry is scored by the same criteria as every other entry in this category, and changes to it are reviewed under the published conflict-of-interest rules.
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.
Abnormal Inbound Email Security Grade D
Cloud email security from Abnormal AI that connects to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace through their APIs and uses behavioral AI to detect phishing, business email compromise and account takeover. It does not need MX record changes.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Abnormal Inbound Email Security scores 41 out of 100 (grade D) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 3 of 9 criteria: tells users about requests, TLS configuration and security headers.
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 35 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 9 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 32 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 9 criteria: TLS configuration and modern web standards.
Darktrace / EMAIL Grade F
Email security from Darktrace that analyzes copies of inbound, outbound and internal mail with behavioral AI to detect phishing, business email compromise and account takeover. It works with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Exchange, as a cloud service or on Darktrace hardware.
Based in the United Kingdom (Five Eyes). Darktrace / EMAIL scores 32 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 9 criteria: TLS configuration and security headers.
Barracuda Email Protection Grade F
Email security suite from Barracuda Networks that filters spam, phishing and malware through a cloud gateway or by API for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. It adds account takeover detection, encryption, archiving and backup.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Barracuda Email Protection scores 29 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 9 criteria: tells users about requests.
FortiMail Grade F
Email security gateway from Fortinet that filters spam, phishing, malware and business email compromise. It runs as a hardware appliance, a virtual machine or a cloud service, and can also protect Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace through their APIs.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). FortiMail scores 26 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 9 criteria: TLS configuration.
Mimecast Advanced Email Security Grade F
Cloud email security service that filters inbound and outbound mail for spam, phishing, malware and impersonation. It runs as a gateway in front of the mail server or connects by API to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Based in the United Kingdom (Five Eyes). Mimecast Advanced Email Security scores 24 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 9 criteria: tells users about requests.
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 24 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 1 of 9 criteria: TLS configuration.
SpamTitan Email Security Grade F
Email filtering service from TitanHQ that blocks spam, phishing and malware with two antivirus engines and sandboxing. It runs as a cloud service or as a self-installed gateway, and works with Microsoft 365 and other mail servers.
Based in Ireland. SpamTitan Email Security scores 24 out of 100 (grade F) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 2 of 9 criteria: TLS configuration and security headers.
Compare all 26 spam and virus filtering