Proofpoint DSPM vs Sentra: DSPM coverage, deployment and remediation compared
Proofpoint DSPM and Sentra both discover, classify, and remediate sensitive data. Compare the stores each vendor names, where the scan runs, and which remediation actions are in the product.
A DSPM shortlist fails when the first inventory misses the store that actually holds the rows, or when the finding has no action the team can run. Proofpoint’s supported data stores table names AWS, GCP, Azure, SaaS, and on-premises engines one by one. Sentra’s platform pages and its 15 Oct 2025 on-premises scanner post name a different set, including stores that table does not.
Both products classify in place and both publish remediation, so the split is not “human data versus AI data.” Proofpoint’s product page pairs classification with admin and content-owner workflows, automated controls, and more than 200 prebuilt risk findings. Sentra’s Microsoft and warehouse pages pair classification with labels, masking, privilege changes, and warehouse-side encryption or secure sharing. Residency differs: Sentra’s pages say content stays in the customer environment. Proofpoint’s scan docs describe in-place classification from the DSPM service.
| Job | Discover, classify, and govern sensitive data across the stores on the supported-stores table, then run a remediation action | Discover and classify in the customer environment, then label, mask, change access, or hand off to a warehouse control |
|---|---|---|
| How a bad day closes | A matching automation ignores or accepts the risk, emails someone, or opens a Jira or ServiceNow ticket or a Slack message when that integration is enabled | The Microsoft page names alerting, labeling, a recommendation, masking, and revoking privileges. The warehouse page names tagging plus masking, encryption, or secure sharing |
| Day-to-day workflow | Risks with impact and sensitivity, access context, and an automation rule keyed by tag, impact, risk, account, and resource | Findings on cloud, SaaS, warehouse, and on-premises stores, plus DDR alerts for exfiltration or a weaker posture |
| Deploy | Account onboarding for AWS, Azure, and GCP, then a data scan. Incremental data scan is documented for S3, SharePoint, and OneDrive | Agentless scanning in the customer environment. The 15 Oct 2025 post adds on-premises scanners for file shares and databases |
| License/pricing | Sales quote for Proofpoint DSPM. No current public list price with currency, unit, period, and commitment was verified on 3 Oct 2026 | Demo or sales quote. No public dollar rate card was verified on sentra.io the same day |
| Who operates it | Security and data owners who will run the automation actions and any Proofpoint DLP policy that uses the same classifiers | Cloud and data owners who will run labels, masking, and access changes inside their own environment |
We reviewed Proofpoint’s DSPM product page, supported-stores table, automations guide, and AWS onboarding page, plus Sentra’s AWS, GCP, Microsoft, and warehouse pages and the 15 Oct 2025 on-premises scanner post, on 3 Oct 2026. We did not run either product in a paid tenant, so this is not a hands-on benchmark.
Proofpoint DSPM
Sentra
Editions and pricing
Neither vendor published a complete self-serve price, on the pages opened 3 Oct 2026, that states currency, unit, period, commitment, and the product included. Older marketplace bands for the previous brand are omitted. The period and included scope on those bands were not confirmed, so they are not a budget.
| How you buy it now | Proofpoint sales quote for DSPM | Sentra demo or sales quote for DSPM scope |
|---|---|---|
| Public price (3 Oct 2026) | No public list price verified for the current product | No public dollar SKU verified on the platform pages opened the same day |
| What the invoice covers | DSPM discovery and classification, the stores in scope, and any Proofpoint DLP or adjacent modules on the quote | Data volume in scope, and any DDR or AI-readiness modules the quote names |
| Self-serve start | No public self-serve dollar for the current product was verified | No public self-serve dollar was verified |
Price the quote from the stores you must cover and the remediation actions you will run. A figure that lacks a period or a named product does not belong in that comparison.
Stores, scan location, and remediation
| Stores named | AWS: S3, RDS with the PostgreSQL engine, DocumentDB, MemoryDB and Redis, Redshift, EBS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache for Redis and Memcached, Keyspaces, EC2 and databases. GCP: buckets, Cloud SQL, Memorystore for Redis and Memcache, Bigtable, BigQuery. Azure: Blob, file shares, NetApp Files, Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, Cache, Cosmos DB for Mongo, PostgreSQL, and Cassandra, Synapse. SaaS: Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Salesforce, Snowflake, Databricks. Also MongoDB and Cassandra. On-premises: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, Oracle, Windows file share, SMB | Named on the platform pages opened the same day: AWS S3 and DynamoDB (the AWS page says more Amazon services without a closed list), Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift, MongoDB Atlas, Google Cloud Storage, Bigtable, Cloud SQL, Spanner, Dataflow, Google Workspace and Drive, Azure, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, SharePoint, Office Online, and Teams. The 15 Oct 2025 post names on-premises SMB, NFS, CIFS, NTFS, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL (spelled PostgreSDL there), MongoDB, MariaDB, IBM DB2, and Teradata |
|---|---|---|
| Where the bytes are read | In-place data scan after the account is onboarded. Incremental scan, on the data-scan page, is for S3 (with CloudTrail data events) and for SharePoint and OneDrive after a full scan | In the customer environment. Platform pages say sensitive content is not copied to Sentra. The on-premises post says the scanner can stay on premises |
| Remediation actions | Automations: Ignore, Accept, email, Jira, ServiceNow, Slack. Jira, ServiceNow, and Slack appear only after that integration is enabled. The product page adds admin and content-owner workflows. A Q4 2025 Proofpoint post says classifiers can map to Snowflake tags and Microsoft Information Protection labels and match Proofpoint DLP detectors | Microsoft page: alert, label, recommend, mask, revoke privileges. Warehouse page: tag data, then masking, encryption, or secure sharing through the warehouse, and sharing-permission checks. DDR alerts for exfiltration and weaker posture are on the AWS and warehouse pages. The on-premises post names Purview labels |
| What was not named | IBM DB2, Teradata, NFS, CIFS, and NTFS were not rows on the supported-stores table opened 3 Oct 2026 | Salesforce, Keyspaces, ElastiCache, EBS, DocumentDB, and RDS-by-engine were not named on the Sentra pages opened the same day. That is not a claim that the product lacks them |
The comment is the shadow-copy problem both products are sold to catch. Proofpoint’s table names file shares and SaaS drives. Sentra’s on-premises post names SMB, NFS, CIFS, and NTFS. A spreadsheet on a share still has to be one of those named stores before either console can classify it.
What risk and remediation produce
| Artifact | Classified stores, a monetary value on the product page, access and misconfiguration context, and a risk the automation can match | Classification, an access or sharing finding, a label, and a DDR alert when movement or posture changes |
|---|---|---|
| Remediation shape | Ignore, accept, notify, or ticket. Owner workflows on the product page. Labels and DLP detectors in the Q4 2025 post. The AWS onboarding checkbox “Enable auto remediation” turns on Activity Events. It is not the same list as the automation actions | Masking and privilege revocation on the Microsoft page. Warehouse masking, encryption, and secure sharing on the warehouse page. Ticket creation in Jira or ServiceNow was not on those pages |
| AI exposure | The product page includes exposure to AI applications among the risks to reduce. It does not replace the store list | The platform is also sold for AI access and, on a 4 Aug 2026 post, Shadow AI DLP. That post does not remove the store and remediation comparison |
| Main buying consideration | Are the stores on the supported-stores table the ones you must scan, and will Ignore, Accept, email, Jira, ServiceNow, or Slack close the finding? | Do you need the scan to stay in your environment, and will labels, masking, privilege revocation, or warehouse controls close the finding? |
If the stores and the remediation action match Proofpoint’s list, that is the fit. If they match Sentra’s list, that is the fit. Both still classify, and both still remediate. AI exposure shows up on both product stories, so it does not decide the pair by itself.
Where they overlap
Both sell agentless DSPM across cloud and hybrid data, both name on-premises databases including Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and MongoDB, and both name Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, and Redshift. Both talk about access risk and about AI reach. An RFP that only says “DSPM” will get two credible responses. The remaining split is the store rows each vendor actually names, whether classification stays in the customer environment, and whether the next action is a Proofpoint automation and DLP-aligned label or a Sentra mask, privilege change, or warehouse control.
Cyera against Sentra is Cyera vs Sentra. Sentra against Concentric is Sentra vs Concentric.
When to use both
Two DSPM consoles on the same stores produce two inventories and two remediation queues. Use a second product only for a store family the first quote does not cover. If one team owns the queue, pick the vendor whose named stores and named remediation actions match the program you will staff.
Choose Proofpoint DSPM when the supported-stores table covers the stores you run and the remediation you will run is an admin or owner workflow, Ignore or Accept, email, Jira, ServiceNow, Slack, or a DLP-aligned label. Choose Sentra when the scan has to stay in the customer environment and the remediation you will run is a label, a mask, a privilege change, or warehouse masking, encryption, or secure sharing. Both classify and both remediate.
FAQs
Is Normalyze still a standalone company?
No. Proofpoint announced a definitive agreement to acquire Normalyze on 29 Oct 2024. The live product name is Proofpoint DSPM.
Does Sentra replace an existing DLP product?
The pages opened 3 Oct 2026 do not say it replaces Proofpoint DLP or any other DLP suite. They name labels, masking, privilege changes, warehouse controls, and Shadow AI DLP. Whether that sits beside a current DLP program is a quote question, not a gap in the store list.
Where does Cyera fit?
Cyera vs Sentra is the broader data-security platform against Sentra. The comparison is Proofpoint DSPM against Sentra on named stores, scan location, and remediation actions.
Do either publish full list prices?
No public list price with currency, unit, period, commitment, and included product was verified for either current product on 3 Oct 2026. Older marketplace amounts are not repeated here.
