Sentaro is the better choice than Proofpoint for EU teams on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and each reason can be checked: it connects over API in four minutes with no MX change; its BEC and vendor-fraud verdicts show their reasoning in the console, so you can audit them on your own mail; its App vector, live since Q3 2026, includes OAuth and shadow-AI discovery; its price, $6 per protected account per month with every feature in one tier, is published on sentaro.com/en/pricing, while proofpoint.com lists core protection plus add-ons without prices; and it is hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure, with subprocessors listed in its public DPA.
- Choose Sentaro if…
- you are a lean EU team on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, want no MX change, and want to know the price up front.
- Why Sentaro wins
- a four-minute setup you can undo by disconnecting, the first account free so you can test it yourself, historical mail visible within 15 minutes, app risk in the same seat, and monthly plans you can cancel anytime.
- Consider Proofpoint only if…
- you need email archiving, outbound DLP, DMARC services or encryption alongside threat protection, or run hybrid mail flows that need a gateway.
- Price
- Proofpoint does not publish current pricing on proofpoint.com (October 2026). Sentaro is $6 per protected account per month, first account free. Prices in USD.
At a glance
- Deployment
- Proofpoint: “Deploy via API or inline”; its product page says “Deploy via API in 48 hours”. Sentaro: API only; connects in four minutes, no MX changes, no agents; historical visibility within 15 minutes.
- Platforms
- Proofpoint: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Sentaro: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, with Slack and Teams listed as channels.
- Pricing
- Proofpoint: current packages not publicly priced. Sentaro: $6 per protected account per month, or $68 per account per year; the first account is free. Prices in USD.
- Hosting
- Proofpoint: its Core Email Protection API data sheet (updated 24 July 2026) says tenants are assigned to an EU or US data centre, and that some email data and threat indicators may be processed and stored in the US; its subprocessor list names German and Dutch data centres for Email Protection. Sentaro: hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure; subprocessors in the DPA.
- Company
- Proofpoint: US, owned by Thoma Bravo since August 2021; acquired Tessian (2023) and Hornetsecurity (completed December 2025). Sentaro: Sentaro AB, founded in 2025 in Stockholm.
- Best for
- Proofpoint: large enterprises, and SMBs through Proofpoint Essentials and MSPs. Sentaro: regulated EU SMEs and mid-market firms with lean IT.
Proofpoint vs Sentaro, feature by feature
We make Sentaro. Public information as of 18 October 2026. Proofpoint rows use Proofpoint’s product pages. Many capabilities are add-ons; we mark those as such.
| Capability | Proofpoint | Sentaro |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment and commercial | ||
| Inline gateway (MX)MX records point to the vendor, which filters mail before it reaches the tenant. | Yes | NoAPI only, by design |
| API deployment, no MX change | Yes“Deploy via API in 48 hours” | YesFour minutes |
| Published priceA list price anyone can see without a sales call. | NoNot publicly listed | Yes$6 per account per month |
| Everything in one tier | NoCore plus add-ons | YesEvery feature in every paid account |
| MSP channel | YesEssentials and Hornetsecurity | YesReseller and referral tiers |
| Threat protection | ||
| BEC and supplier threats | YesBehavioral AI and Nexus threat intelligence | YesIntent, relationship and thread context |
| URL and attachment sandboxing | Yes | Not publicly documentedNot documented as sandboxing |
| QR-code phishing | Not publicly documentedNot named on the product page | YesDecoded and destination scored |
| Lookalike domains | Paid add-onEmail Fraud Defense, incl. takedown | YesDetected at first contact in mail |
| OAuth app and shadow-AI discoveryWhich apps and AI tools users have connected, and what they can access. | Not publicly documentedNot publicly documented for email products | YesApp vector, every plan |
| Email governance | ||
| DMARC management | Paid add-onEmail Fraud Defense, Secure Email Relay | NoChecks DMARC posture; no DMARC service |
| Outbound DLP | Paid add-onAdaptive Email DLP | No |
| Archiving | Paid add-onDigital Communications Governance | No |
| Awareness training | Paid add-onZenGuide | No |
| Backup | Paid add-onSeparate product line: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection | No |
Sentaro cells show live capabilities only (Message and App vectors); its roadmap is stated once, in the note below the table.
- Yes
- Partial
- No
- On roadmap
- Paid add-on
- Not publicly documented
Proofpoint gateway vs API-based email security: what changes?
A secure email gateway sits in front of your mailboxes: MX records point to the gateway, it filters, then forwards mail to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. That gives strong control over mail in transit, which is why gateways also host archiving, encryption and outbound DLP. Proofpoint now offers both models, inline and API.
An API-based layer such as Sentaro connects inside the tenant instead. Mail routing is untouched; Microsoft’s or Google’s native filtering does the bulk work; Sentaro scores every inbound and internal message before interaction and blocks, quarantines or tags it in the mailbox. Because it sits inside the tenant, it also sees internal mail, historical mail and the OAuth grants users create.
| Proofpoint inline gateway | Sentaro (API) | |
|---|---|---|
| Mail routing | MX points to Proofpoint | Unchanged |
| Bulk spam and malware | Proofpoint filters | Microsoft or Google native filtering |
| Outbound controls (DLP, encryption) | Available as add-ons | Not in Sentaro’s published scope |
| Time to deploy | API: 48 hours, per Proofpoint; inline not stated | Four minutes |
| Removal | MX and connector changes | Disconnect the API |
Where Sentaro wins
- Setup: four minutes over API, no MX change, no agents, and you can undo it by disconnecting. Proofpoint’s product page says “Deploy via API in 48 hours”.
- Targeted fraud: BEC, vendor fraud, QR lures and lookalike domains at first contact are scored in the Message vector, in every plan.
- App risk included: OAuth, shadow IT and shadow-AI discovery through the App vector. We found no such discovery documented for Proofpoint’s email products on proofpoint.com (October 2026).
- One price, one tier: $6 per protected account per month with every feature included. Proofpoint does not publish pricing and sells core plus add-ons.
- A vendor founded and hosted in Sweden, built for the controls regulated EU firms are asked to evidence.
Where Proofpoint may still fit
- Governance breadth: DMARC services and domain takedown, outbound DLP, compliance archiving and awareness training from one vendor. Sentaro offers none of the governance products.
- Inline filtering or on-premises mail: Proofpoint offers an inline gateway. Sentaro is API only and documents Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
- Sandboxing of URLs and attachments, and account-takeover protection today. Sentaro does not document sandboxing and has no live account-takeover detection yet (see the roadmap note).
- Large-enterprise track record: Proofpoint states that over 80 of the Fortune 100 are customers (December 2025), with years of public reviews.
Sentaro security and data handling
- Hosting
- Hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure. The DPA at /en/legal/dpa lists every subprocessor and its location.
- Engine
- Verdicts come from Vord, Sentaro’s proprietary engine.
- Access to mail
- Analysis is automated: nobody at Sentaro reads your mail in the course of providing the service.
- Incident notice
- Within 24 hours of confirming a security incident, per the DPA.
- Regulation
- Built for the controls regulated EU firms are asked to evidence under NIS2 and DORA. No product makes you compliant on its own.
Moving from a Proofpoint gateway to Sentaro
Sentaro states that it connects alongside whatever you run today and that most customers retire the gateway later. A typical sequence:
- 01
Connect Sentaro alongside Proofpoint
An admin connects Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace over API in about four minutes. Proofpoint keeps filtering; nothing in routing changes.
- 02
Compare on live mail
Historical visibility follows within 15 minutes. Tag inline first and review what Sentaro flags that was delivered past the gateway.
- 03
Decide what replaces the add-ons
List what the gateway does besides threat filtering: archiving, encryption, outbound DLP, DMARC reporting. Map each to Microsoft Purview or Google Workspace features, or keep a dedicated tool. Sentaro does not replace these.
- 04
Turn on native protection
Before cutover, enable Microsoft’s Standard or Strict preset policies, or Gmail’s advanced Safety settings, so native filtering takes over bulk mail.
- 05
Cut over MX and clean up
Point MX back to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, remove gateway connectors and any allow-list entries for gateway IP addresses, and keep or export the archive under your retention rules.
From gateway to API: a customer case
“We chose Sentaro because it gave us an extra layer of security without creating more work. It was quick to roll out and gave us the visibility we had been missing.”
From quarterly awareness training to zero clicks required.
A 400-seat payments firm under DORA replaced its secure-email gateway and phishing-simulation program with Sentaro. The engine now blocks BEC attempts their gateway never saw, including a live vendor-compromise chain in week two.
- 14
- BEC attempts blocked in the first month
- 4 min
- from contract to full deployment
- $0
- spent on phishing simulations since
Frequently asked questions
Is Sentaro better than Proofpoint?
Yes, for EU teams on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that need protection against phishing, BEC and vendor fraud. Sentaro connects over API in four minutes with no MX change, includes OAuth and shadow-AI discovery, is hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure, and costs $6 per protected account per month with every feature included. Prices in USD. Proofpoint may still fit if you need its archiving, DLP or an inline gateway.
How much does Proofpoint cost?
Proofpoint does not publish current pricing; enterprise packages are quoted, and Proofpoint Essentials is sold through partners and MSPs. Older price sheets circulate online but are out of date. Sentaro publishes its price: $6 per protected account per month, or $68 per account per year, first account free. Prices in USD.
Is Proofpoint a secure email gateway or API-based?
Both. Proofpoint says customers can “Deploy via API or inline”: inline means MX records point to Proofpoint’s gateway; API means it connects to Microsoft 365 through Microsoft Graph without MX changes. Sentaro is API only.
Can Sentaro replace Proofpoint?
It can replace the threat-detection role for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, with native filtering handling bulk mail. It does not replace archiving, outbound DLP, encryption, DMARC services or awareness training. One 400-seat Nordic payments firm under DORA replaced its secure-email gateway and phishing-simulation program with Sentaro.
Who owns Proofpoint?
Thoma Bravo has owned Proofpoint since a take-private completed on 31 August 2021, at about $12.3 billion. Proofpoint acquired Tessian in 2023 and completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of Hornetsecurity on 8 December 2025.
Is Proofpoint hosted in the EU?
Partly. Proofpoint’s Core Email Protection API data sheet (updated 24 July 2026) says each tenant is assigned to a regional data centre, currently in the EU or US, but that some email data and threat indicators may be processed and stored in the US. Its subprocessor list (updated 14 October 2026) names data centres in Germany and the Netherlands, among other countries, for Email Protection, and it hosts its data security products in Frankfurt. Ask Proofpoint which applies to your contract. Sentaro is hosted in Sweden on Microsoft Azure, with subprocessors listed in its DPA.
What is the best Proofpoint alternative for Microsoft 365?
Sentaro is our pick. For phishing and BEC protection on Microsoft 365, it runs as an API layer on top of Defender with no MX change, includes OAuth and shadow-AI discovery, and publishes its price. If you rely on Proofpoint for archiving or outbound DLP, plan for those separately.
What if we are under contract with Proofpoint?
Run Sentaro alongside Proofpoint for the rest of the term. Sentaro connects over API with no MX change, so both can run at once and you can compare verdicts on the same mail. Sentaro’s monthly plans can be cancelled anytime, so you can time the switch to your Proofpoint renewal date.
Sources and method
Comparison based on publicly available information as of 18 October 2026. Product capabilities change; check each vendor’s current documentation. Trademarks belong to their owners. Corrections: contact Sentaro.
- Proofpoint: Email Protection product page (deployment, add-ons, detection)
- Proofpoint: completes acquisition of Hornetsecurity, 8 December 2025 (incl. Fortune 100 and customer figures)
- Thoma Bravo: completes acquisition of Proofpoint (2021)
- Proofpoint: completes acquisition of Tessian
- Proofpoint: expands data security capabilities in Europe (Frankfurt)
- Proofpoint: Data privacy information sheet, Core Email Protection API (updated 24 July 2026; accessed 2026-10-21)
- Proofpoint: Third-party service providers and subprocessors (updated 14 October 2026; accessed 2026-10-21)