Proofpoint Essentials is Proofpoint’s email security service for small and mid-sized organisations. Its End User License Agreement (EULA) describes “an email filtering, management, and compliance service offering inbound and outbound email traffic management at the internet level, email continuity, email archiving, and other related security awareness and training services”.[1] The EULA also covers Proofpoint Essentials - Security Awareness. It binds end users and the Channel Partners who provision the service for them. The contracting entity is Proofpoint, Inc., Proofpoint NI Limited or another Proofpoint subsidiary.[1] The Product Terms for the enterprise products send Essentials customers to this EULA, and Proofpoint’s License Terms page lists it with the Essentials SLA.[3][7] Catalog proof: Proofpoint Essentials End User License Agreement.
The current EULA is dated 2020-10-09. Proofpoint may revise it by posting changes on the provisioning interface, and continued use after posting counts as acceptance.[1] Licence managers should check the provisioning console for the version in force rather than rely only on the PDF.
Editions
The EULA lists the possible service elements: spam and phishing detection, virus and malware detection, content control, Emergency Inbox continuity, Transport Level Security, journal-based archiving and security awareness training.[1] It does not name packages or prices. Package contents and prices come from the Channel Partner or Proofpoint’s invoice; without them, “Proofpoint’s then current standard list price rates” apply to direct purchases.[1]
Since 2026 Proofpoint has a second small-business line. Its MSP Platform business unit was “established through Proofpoint’s acquisition of Hornetsecurity in December 2025”, and it launched 365 Total Protection in North America in May 2026 as a multitenant Microsoft 365 security platform for managed service providers.[4] The 365 Total Protection site lists four plans: Plan 1 Business, Plan 2 Enterprise, Plan 3 Enterprise Backup and Plan 4 Compliance & Awareness. The plans build up from email filtering and encryption, through advanced threat protection, continuity and archiving, and Microsoft 365 backup with unlimited storage, to an all-in-one package that adds security awareness, access and permission control and domain fraud protection.[5] Proofpoint’s small business page now points buyers to 365 Total Protection, 365 Total Backup and the Security Awareness Service.[6] Catalog proof: 365 Total Protection is a separate MSP platform line.
Metrics
The Essentials EULA defines three counting terms.
| Term | Definition | Catalog row |
|---|---|---|
| Active Users | “the number of users provisioned on the Service for purposes of email filtering, receive security awareness training or interface access and as counted by the Service”[1] | Essentials Active User |
| Billed Users | “the number of Active Users shown on the account on the 19th of each month”[1] | Essentials Billed User |
| Mailbox | “a separate account on End User’s e-mail server for sending or receiving messages or data within End User’s e-mail system or network”[1] | Essentials Mailbox |
The licence grant is “a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited term right to use the Service for the permitted number of Active Users for the term”.[1] Charges relate to “the number of provisioned users that are invoiced”, called Licensed Usage, and the initial invoice may be based on Billed Users.[1] Catalog proof: Essentials is licensed for a permitted number of Active Users; Essentials Billed Users are counted on the 19th of each month.
Counting / floors
Aliases and functional accounts. “Aliases, distribution groups and other functional accounts are not counted so long as they are properly configured as such in the Service.”[1] Likewise, aliases and distribution lists are not separate Mailboxes if each person who uses them has their own mailbox account.[1] Configuring shared and functional addresses correctly is therefore the main way to keep the count accurate. Catalog proof: Essentials does not count properly configured aliases and functional accounts.
The mailbox floor. Aliases may not be used to merge users: the End User or Channel Partner “shall not use the Service’s alias functionality to consolidate multiple Mailboxes under a single Active User”, and “At no time should the number of Active Users be less than the number of Mailboxes being actively scanned by the Service”.[1] Catalog proof: Essentials aliases may not consolidate mailboxes.
Automatic increases. Proofpoint monitors usage. If the Active Users being scanned exceed Licensed Usage, “Proofpoint may increase the Licensed Usage accordingly” and invoice the increase “on a pro-rata basis for the remaining part of the current agreed period”.[1] Unlike the enterprise Customer Agreement, there is no reporting threshold; the service count drives billing directly. Catalog proof: Proofpoint may raise Essentials Licensed Usage to the scanned count.
Whole domains. The service “is supplied for an entire domain and can only be used by a full internet domain”, and all required email addresses must be registered on the platform.[1] A domain cannot be partly protected to save licences.
Restrictions. The End User may not resell, sublicense, time-share or otherwise make the service available to third parties, or use it for published benchmarking without consent.[1] Bulk email, open relays and machine-generated mail from accounts not assigned to an individual are prohibited and can lead to suspension.[1]
Virtualization & partitioning
Not applicable. Essentials is a hosted service counted on provisioned users and mailboxes, not on servers or processors.[1]
Cloud / BYOL
Essentials runs in Proofpoint data centers. Customers in the United States are generally served from US data centers, and customers in the United Kingdom or the European Union from data centers in the EU, including for failover.[1] Bring-your-own-licence does not apply. For 365 Total Protection, Proofpoint announced US data centers in Georgia for North American MSP customers.[4]
Programs
- Monthly and annual billing. For direct purchases, monthly-term End Users are invoiced “monthly, in arrears”. End Users “who meet the user minimums and are on an annual subscription term” are invoiced for the entire annual term in advance.[1] The EULA does not state the user minimums. At each minimum contract period less 30 days, later invoices follow current Licensed Usage unless the End User says otherwise. Proofpoint may raise charges with 30 days notice, but not during the minimum period. No refunds or set-off are allowed.[1] Catalog proof: Essentials monthly terms bill in arrears, annual terms in advance.
- Evaluation. Evaluation use is “only permitted on a limited user deployment basis and for the period of time limited by the authorized evaluation period”, as-is and without support.[1] Catalog proof: Essentials evaluation is limited in users and time.
- Service level agreement. The Essentials SLA warrants at least 99.999% filtering system availability. Service credits are a percentage of the monthly fee, capped at 100%, and are applied to the next subscription period.[2] Claims go through the Channel Partner: “All SLA Claims must be made to Proofpoint by authorized Proofpoint Channel Partners”, within five business days of the incident, and the Channel Partner provides the credit.[2] Catalog proof: Essentials SLA claims run through the Channel Partner.
Termination and change of control
Either party may terminate for a material breach not cured within 30 days, or for insolvency. Proofpoint may also “terminate this Agreement with immediate effect if there is a change of control of the End User”, and the End User may not assign the agreement without consent.[1] An acquirer should confirm the Essentials subscription will continue before closing. On suspension or termination, Proofpoint reverses its configuration changes and the End User must reroute its mail.[1] The governing law follows the country where the licence was bought, for example New South Wales, Ontario, England or California.[1] Catalog proof: Essentials may be terminated on change of control.
MSPs
Channel Partners that provision Essentials for end users are themselves bound by the EULA when they access the service.[1] The partner and MSP program agreements behind Essentials and 365 Total Protection are not published. Proofpoint describes 365 Total Protection as a single multitenant solution, sold through MSPs and through a Pax8 Marketplace partnership.[4]
Out of scope
- Prices for Essentials and 365 Total Protection, which come from partners and are not published in the documents above.
- The licence terms for 365 Total Protection, 365 Total Backup and the Security Awareness Service, which come from the Hornetsecurity platform and were not found on proofpoint.com’s License Terms page.[7]
- The enterprise Customer Agreement, covered in Proofpoint Customer Agreement and true-up.