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Cybersecurity · head to head

Proofpoint vs Resolver

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
Resolver logo

Resolver

Cybersecurity

Risk, incident and investigations platform for corporate security and operational risk teams, owned by Kroll

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Resolver kroll ownership since 2022 means the product is sold alongside risk consulting services, so buyers who want software with no services attach should expect that conversation and should price the licence separately in negotiation.
  • They diverge on capability: Proofpoint covers Inline secure email gateway, Resolver covers Incident management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Proofpoint and Resolver actually diverge.

Attributes where Proofpoint and Resolver differ
AttributeProofpointResolver
Starting price$6/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsEmail, Cloud, WebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2002Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 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

Only in Resolver

  • Incident management
  • Investigations
  • Enterprise risk management
  • Internal audit
  • Compliance and obligations
  • Business continuity
  • Risk Event Management
  • Configurable dashboards

What people use each for

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

Proofpoint

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

Resolver

  • A national retailer consolidating store incident reporting, loss prevention cases and investigations into one system with defensible evidence handlingnot Proofpoint
  • A bank that needs operational risk events captured against a risk and control register rather than in spreadsheets and emailnot Proofpoint
  • A university security operations centre running dispatch, case management and clery-style reporting from a single recordnot Proofpoint
  • An organisation that already retains Kroll for investigations and wants case intake and vendor handoff in the same platformnot Proofpoint

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Resolver

  • Kroll ownership since 2022 means the product is sold alongside risk consulting services, so buyers who want software with no services attach should expect that conversation and should price the licence separately in negotiation.
  • Configuration flexibility comes at the cost of implementation time, with deployments commonly running several months and typically requiring vendor or partner services, so the first-year cost is well above the annual licence.
  • Module-based pricing means the platform gets expensive quickly once you add audit, compliance and continuity to a security-led purchase, and modules bought later rarely carry the discount of the original deal.
  • The IT and cyber compliance side is thinner than dedicated tools, so organisations chasing SOC 2 or ISO 27001 evidence automation will find it does not replace a Drata or Vanta.
  • Reporting is capable but the drag and drop builder has a real learning curve, and organisations that do not train an internal administrator end up raising support tickets for changes that should be self-service.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Resolver

On request
  • Resolver Core$undefined/year
    • Priced by modules selected and number of users
    • Annual or multi-year enterprise agreement
    • Implementation and configuration quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Proofpoint if

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

Choose Resolver if

  • You need incident management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want investigations.
Resolver review

Questions people ask

Is Proofpoint or Resolver better?
Neither clearly leads. Proofpoint starts at $6/month and Resolver at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Proofpoint or Resolver?
Proofpoint starts at $6/month and Resolver at On request.
Does Proofpoint or Resolver run on more platforms?
Proofpoint runs on Email, Cloud, Web. Resolver runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Proofpoint best used for?
Proofpoint is most often used for a regulated organisation that needs a filtering layer, dmarc enforcement and archiving with an auditable trail across all three, an organisation that suffered a business email compromise and must show its board a control that stops delivery rather than remediating afterwards, concentrating stronger controls and training on the specific individuals who actually receive targeted attacks rather than applying uniform policy, retracting a phishing message from thousands of mailboxes after the verdict changes, including copies that were forwarded internally. Of those, a regulated organisation that needs a filtering layer, dmarc enforcement and archiving with an auditable trail across all three and an organisation that suffered a business email compromise and must show its board a control that stops delivery rather than remediating afterwards are not what Resolver is typically brought in for.
What can Proofpoint do that Resolver cannot?
Proofpoint covers Inline secure email gateway, Attachment sandboxing, URL rewriting and click-time analysis, Threat Response Auto-Pull. Resolver covers Incident management, Investigations, Enterprise risk management, Internal audit.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Resolver: Who owns Resolver?

Kroll, which acquired it in 2022. It is marketed as a Kroll business and sold alongside Kroll risk and investigations services.

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.

Resolver: What does Resolver cost?

Pricing is not published. It is quoted by module and user count on an annual or multi-year enterprise agreement, with implementation charged separately.

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.

Resolver: Is Resolver a SOC 2 compliance tool?

No. It is a risk, incident and investigations platform. Automated evidence collection for security certifications is not its strength.

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.

Resolver: How long does implementation take?

Months rather than weeks for a multi-module deployment, and most customers use vendor or partner services to configure it.

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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