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Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Proofpoint

Authelia logo

Authelia

Cybersecurity

Open-source authentication and two-factor portal for reverse proxies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Proofpoint logo

Proofpoint

Cybersecurity

Email security and data protection suite from a private company owned by Thoma Bravo, licensed per user with modules sold separately.

From
$6/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Authelia has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Authelia depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider; Proofpoint licensing is per user per year with each capability as a separate stock item, so the platform shown in a proof of concept is normally several products, and adding awareness training, data loss prevention or insider threat monitoring later is a fresh negotiation rather than enabling a feature.
  • They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Proofpoint covers Inline secure email gateway.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Proofpoint actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Proofpoint differ
AttributeAutheliaProofpoint
Starting priceFree$6/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedEmail, Cloud, Web
FoundedUnknown2002

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Authelia

  • Reverse proxy integration
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Access control rules
  • Lightweight backends

Only in Proofpoint

  • Inline secure email gateway
  • Attachment sandboxing
  • URL rewriting and click-time analysis
  • Threat Response Auto-Pull
  • Email Fraud Defense
  • Security awareness training
  • Insider Threat Management
  • Enterprise DLP

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Authelia

  • Putting a login and 2FA in front of self-hosted services that have nonenot Proofpoint
  • Adding SSO across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platformnot Proofpoint
  • Home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxynot Proofpoint

Proofpoint

  • A regulated organisation that needs a filtering layer, DMARC enforcement and archiving with an auditable trail across all threenot Authelia
  • An organisation that suffered a business email compromise and must show its board a control that stops delivery rather than remediating afterwardsnot Authelia
  • Concentrating stronger controls and training on the specific individuals who actually receive targeted attacks rather than applying uniform policynot Authelia
  • Retracting a phishing message from thousands of mailboxes after the verdict changes, including copies that were forwarded internallynot Authelia

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Authelia

  • Depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider
  • Configuration is YAML-first with no administrative interface, so changes mean editing files
  • Not a full IAM: user management, provisioning and federation are limited compared with Keycloak
  • Scales poorly as an organisation-wide identity solution, which is not its target

Proofpoint

  • Licensing is per user per year with each capability as a separate stock item, so the platform shown in a proof of concept is normally several products, and adding awareness training, data loss prevention or insider threat monitoring later is a fresh negotiation rather than enabling a feature.
  • It sits inline with MX records pointed at it, so any service degradation is a mail outage for the entire organisation, and both migrating on and migrating off are cutovers with queueing, rollback planning and a real risk of message loss.
  • Most customers on Microsoft 365 E5 or Google Workspace Enterprise are already paying for native filtering, so Proofpoint is a second licence layered over a capability the organisation owns, and that comparison is raised by finance at every single renewal.
  • The administration console carries a decade of acquisitions: the classic gateway policy routes and filters do not share a model with the newer module interfaces, rule evaluation is order-sensitive in ways that surprise untrained administrators, and mistakes there silently change what is delivered.
  • Quarantine management is a standing helpdesk workload because legitimate bulk mail, invoices and supplier notifications are held, and unless end-user digests are configured and users are taught to use them, the security team becomes the mail release desk.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Free
  • AutheliaFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Proofpoint

$6/month
  • Email Protection$6/month
    • Per user
    • Advanced threat detection
    • Data loss prevention
  • Compliance$8/month
    • All Email Protection
    • Archive & search
    • eDiscovery
  • Advanced Threat$10/month
    • All Compliance features
    • Targeted attack detection
    • Behavior analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Authelia if

  • You need reverse proxy integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want two-factor authentication.
Authelia review

Choose Proofpoint if

  • You need inline secure email gateway.
  • You work on Email, Cloud, Web.
  • You also want attachment sandboxing.
Proofpoint review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Proofpoint better?
Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Proofpoint at $6/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Proofpoint?
Authelia has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Authelia and $6/month for Proofpoint.
Does Authelia or Proofpoint run on more platforms?
Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Proofpoint runs on Email, Cloud, Web.
Can I use Authelia for free?
Yes. Authelia has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Proofpoint starts at $6/month.
What is Authelia best used for?
Authelia is most often used for putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none, adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform, home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxy. Of those, putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none and adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform are not what Proofpoint is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Proofpoint cannot?
Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Proofpoint covers Inline secure email gateway, Attachment sandboxing, URL rewriting and click-time analysis, Threat Response Auto-Pull.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Proofpoint: Does it replace Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Functionally it overlaps heavily, and running both means paying twice for filtering. Most Proofpoint customers on Microsoft 365 keep Defender licensed because it is bundled in E5 and use Proofpoint as the inline gateway. Expect to justify that duplication annually.

Authelia: Does Authelia need a reverse proxy?

Yes. It integrates through forward authentication with Nginx, Traefik, Caddy or HAProxy rather than sitting in front of traffic itself.

Proofpoint: Who owns Proofpoint?

Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm, which took the company private in 2021. It has continued to acquire since, including Tessian, Normalyze and Hornetsecurity, which is why the portfolio spans so many adjacent categories.

Authelia: Authelia or Keycloak?

Authelia is far lighter and aimed at protecting self-hosted services behind a proxy. Keycloak is a full identity and access management platform, and much more to run.

Proofpoint: Do I have to change my MX records?

For the gateway, yes. That is what makes it inline and able to block before delivery. Some newer capabilities integrate through the mailbox API instead, but the core protection model is MX-level.

Proofpoint: Is security awareness training included?

No, it is a separate subscription. It integrates well with the threat data, so training can target the users actually being attacked, but it is a distinct line item on the quote.

Proofpoint: What does Threat Response Auto-Pull actually do?

It removes messages from mailboxes after delivery when the verdict changes, including copies that users forwarded internally. It is the answer to the case where a link was clean at delivery and weaponised an hour later.

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