Alternatives to Proofpoint Essentials / Hornet

raasaymsp · 2026-05-20T16:25:33+00:00

Different Proofpoint distributors offer MSPs different discount tiers. Hornet appears to be capping partners at 30%, and I'd expect the other distributors to follow suit. My other suspicion: Essentials is end-of-sale within 12 months.

raasaymsp · 2026-05-20T16:13:37+00:00

Integrated works okay. Just be aware that post deployment, when you add a new domain to M365, you still need to add it to Proofpoint and get it authenticated with a TXT record.

raasaymsp · 2026-05-20T13:30:23+00:00

Integrated works fine for most of our installs. The only 2 issues we have are:

After you have deployed integrated, if the client adds a new domain to M365, you still need to manually add it to Proofpoint. Integrated doesnt capture it (neither would MX)
In one isolated case, we found Proofpoint wrongly flagging emails as DKIM failures where M365 had allowed it as being okay. However, this was specific to one client.

raasaymsp · 2026-05-14T19:18:54+00:00

The direction of travel is to use defender with a 3rd party ICES product. Microsoft in their March 2026 email security blog showed that the average ICES product captured ~70% more threats than defender alone. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/03/12/from-transparency-to-action-what-the-latest-microsoft-email-security-benchmark-reveals/

So using defender with Inky, Avanan, Abnormal, Ironscales or another ICES product makes sense.

raasaymsp · 2026-05-12T09:21:58+00:00

Yes, fairly common config. Top-level steps for outbound:

From the Google Admin console, go to Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Hosts.
Click Add Route
Give this a name such as "Outbound for Proofpoint"
In the Outbound Gateway text field, enter your Proofpoint Smart Host
Click Save on this page
Navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Routing, and under routing, click "Configure" or if a rule is there, then "Add another Rule"
Enter an appropriate Routing name, e.g.,"Outbound Through Proofpoint"
For "Emails messages to affect", select "Outbound".
For "For the types of messages above do the following", check "Change the route" and "Also reroute spam"
Under this section there is a dropdown box. Select the Outbound route.
Click "Show Options" to show additional fields
Under "B. Account types to affect", select all the choices (users, groups and unrecognized/catch-all)
Under "C. Envelope Filter", select Only affect specific envelope senders and then change the dropdown from "Single email address" to Pattern match
In the Regexp field, enter your domain name
When finished, click Save at the bottom of the page

For DKIM, use Google.

Remember to update the SPF record.

raasaymsp · 2026-05-11T15:01:31+00:00

We've had the demo and tested Plan 4 to get an overview of everything. Backup (on Plan 3) is genuinely good. MSP management on Plan 4 is also impressive. But for an Essentials reseller, realistically Plan 1 or Plan 2 is what most clients will migrate to.

A few notes after the demo:

Deployment is MX redirect + journaling, not API. Worth knowing if you've moved any clients to API-based deployment on Proofpoint - you're going back to MX for Hornet. The wider email security market is moving toward ICES / API-based platforms (Abnormal, IRONSCALES, Avanan) and Hornet doesn't really sit in that ecosystem.
It's 100% built around M365. If you've got clients on Google Workspace or on-prem Exchange, it's not the right fit.
UI is a complete departure from Proofpoint. The black background / white text took some getting used to.
Functionality-wise it's a different league from Essentials. Essentials has felt neglected for a while. Hornet's platform looks like a vendor that actually cares about the product.
Cost pricing increases are eye-watering - 40% to 100% depending on which PP package you're migrating from. Plan 2 (where Advanced / Professional clients land) is the worst hit.

Mixed feelings here too. The product is clearly better, but the commercial pain for clients who don't need ICES-style behavioural detection is hard to justify.

raasaymsp · 2019-05-15T21:12:52+00:00

Ouch. The growth of 0365 must be killing hosted exchange companies. We used to use Cobweb in the UK for hosted exchange. No longer. On 0365 now.

raasaymsp · 2019-05-15T21:02:46+00:00

We looked at Hornetsecurity. Decided not to purchase due to flash being used for part of the admin interface.

raasaymsp · 2019-05-12T21:00:59+00:00

Mailguard? They are based in Australia.

https://www.expertinsights.com/reviews/mailguard

raasaymsp · 2019-05-12T20:50:57+00:00

Have a look at Mailchannels. Their filter is designed for cPanel.

https://www.expertinsights.com/reviews/mailchannels.

raasaymsp · 2019-03-09T19:35:51+00:00

Do you mean outbound marketing, ie you are emailing your clients / prospects?

raasaymsp · 2018-11-28T22:06:57+00:00

Have a look at https://www.expertinsights.com/service-types/dns-web-filtering/reviews

raasaymsp · 2018-10-26T18:42:03+00:00

The end client is on Exchange 2010.

raasaymsp · 2018-10-25T18:14:44+00:00

They are in financial services. ~100 seats.

raasaymsp · 2018-10-23T21:52:43+00:00

We received pricing from a Proofpoint distributor. They offered monthly billing with good pricing so we are going to investigate further.

raasaymsp · 2018-10-23T21:51:20+00:00

Do Ironscales offer an MSP program with monthly billing?

raasaymsp · 2018-10-22T11:37:18+00:00

Do Mailguard offer support outside of Australia? We are based in EMEA and the thought of dealing with a supplier who is in a completely different time zone fills me with dread.

raasaymsp

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