Our customers use this solution for screening.
The solution has excellent customer support though it needs to improve its integration
Pros and Cons
- "Customer support is the solution's strongest point."
- "Some customers experience issues with integration."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Customer support is the solution's strongest point.
What needs improvement?
Some customers experience issues with integration.
For how long have I used the solution?
Our organization has integrated this solution for the last six years.
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 12 customers using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I used the support ticket and the response was perfect.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What about the implementation team?
Our engineer manages the implementation and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's pricing is exceedingly high, and it continues to increase. Many-a-time, customers do not renew the solution due to the high price. I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:

Head of Engineering at Fentons Limited
Useful zero-day protection, effective reporting, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the cloud ATP functionality not available on the on-premise version. Most of the zero-day attacks can be mitigated with ATP. Additionally, the reporting functionality is good."
- "My customers were sending OPT bulk emails and Barracuda Email Security Gateway was not able to handle it. We have to go with another different solution, such FortiMail for the task. We are implementing these combinations of the Barracuda and FortiGate, for email security. The FortiGate FortiMail security gateway we use to send only the bulk email, not for receiving emails."
What is our primary use case?
We are Barracuda Email Security Gateway for protecting our user's emails.
How has it helped my organization?
We use Barracuda Email Security Gateway for receiving an email from the corporate.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the cloud ATP functionality not available on the on-premise version. Most of the zero-day attacks can be mitigated with ATP. Additionally, the reporting functionality is good.
What needs improvement?
My customers were sending OPT bulk emails and Barracuda Email Security Gateway was not able to handle it. We have to go with another different solution, such FortiMail for the task. We are implementing these combinations of the Barracuda and FortiGate, for email security. The FortiGate FortiMail security gateway we use to send only the bulk email, not for receiving emails.
In a future release, they should provide machine learning capabilities on the on-premise version. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto and Check Point are coming out with machine learning and artificial intelligence features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used Barracuda Email Security Gateway within the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We had an issue with the solution but the vendor immediately fixed it. The solution is stable.
I rate the stability of Barracuda Email Security Gateway a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 5,000 users using this solution.
I rate the scalability of Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The support from the vendor is very good.
I rate the technical support of Barracuda Email Security Gateway a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with a number of other similar solutions to Barracuda Email Security Gateway, such as Symantec. The features have been similar to one another, but Barracuda Email Security Gateway is better.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment of the solution took approximately three months. We had to test the solution thoroughly before we started using it. Overall, the deployment was simple.
I rate the initial setup of Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
We do the consulting and implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is priced low. We have received a good price discount here in Sri Lanka. There are additional licenses we have to purchase a license for the ATP.
I rate the price of Barracuda Email Security Gateway a ten out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Buyer's Guide
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Information Technology Specialist at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Great message tracking and messaging logs but has a complex setup
Pros and Cons
- "It can scale."
- "The initial setup can be a little bit complex."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for email security.
What is most valuable?
The solution is largely stable.
It can scale.
Overall, it has been working fine without issue.
The message tracking and messaging logs have proven to be quite useful.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup can be a little bit complex.
When we implemented Barracuda three years back, although the deployment went smoothly, we also needed to implement some changes regarding the configuration, which were affecting the stamp control rate. Some options were not so easy to remember and we had to search for directions.
For example, if I want to change the mail flow settings, there are two different options available in Barracuda. If I apply a change on one option and didn't change the configuration on the other option, the mail flow doesn't work. Yet the second option is always hidden. I always need to search for it when I need to change some mail flow settings.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. Sometimes some spamming issues occur, however, we manage to control those after making some changes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have a model that supports 5,000 users. We currently have 3,500 users. We have room to scale.
The solution does work fine with a large number of users.
How are customer service and support?
I administer the solution and provide troubleshooting and issue resolution as required. The support from Barracuda is pretty good overall when I reach out.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have an experience with Barracuda Email Security, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Defender.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and implementation process is complex. It is not exactly easy.
I'd rate it 2.5 out of five in terms of ease of setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is moderate. It was neither cheap nor expensive.
I'd rate the cost 3.5 out of five in terms of affordability.
What other advice do I have?
We're a Barracuda customer.
We are using virtual appliances, not the cloud version of the solution. That said, we do plan to move to the cloud.
While we are not planning to change Barracuda, we are planning to improve Barracuda after purchasing the cloud solution. Our plan is to enhance our email security when we integrate our appliance with the Barracuda Cloud solution.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. Some of the exposed emails were not blocked by our Barracuda clients. Although we have engaged the principal, and they helped troubleshoot and tweak some configurations, it's still an issue. We still face some exposed emails delivered to our management level.
I'd advise potential new users that if they plan to implement Barracuda, they should find someone knowledgeable in implementations. They need someone who will follow best practices and understand procedures laid out in the documentation. After configuration and implementation, there may still be some fine-tuning required.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at BUTEC s.a.l.
Effective ATP, high availability, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the ATP."
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve reporting and anti-spam. The anti-spam engine is not working well. We are seeing a lot of problems where spam is going through the gateway. Additionally, access privilege should be given to the IT support, because they don't have a lot of privileges. We are forced to give our IT support administrative access in order to clear and deliver emails and this should not be happening."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for ATP, anti-spam, antivirus, and everything related to enabling flow.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the ATP.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve reporting and anti-spam. The anti-spam engine is not working well. We are seeing a lot of problems where spam is going through the gateway. Additionally, access privilege should be given to the IT support, because they don't have a lot of privileges. We are forced to give our IT support administrative access in order to clear and deliver emails and this should not be happening.
In the future, having a schedule reporting for quarantine for all users or for selected users, without reading the content of the message would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is stable. We had issues with the on-premise version where they used to freeze from time to time, but with the cloud version, we have not had any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a scalable solution.
We have approximately 500 people using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have used the support from Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
I rate the support from Barracuda Email Security Gateway a three out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Barracuda Email Security Gateway took approximately two months to complete here in Lebanon. It was not an easy implementation.
What about the implementation team?
We used Barracuda Email Security Gateway partners to complete the implementation of the solutions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is approximately $17 per user annually.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate another solution prior to selecting Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
What other advice do I have?
We chose the solution because it was high on the rating sites and some of my friends from other companies recommend it.
My advice to others is to make sure that their business use case is well optimized, to allow the solution to be set up in the right way.
We are a construction company and we make sure that the emails related to construction pass through the solution. Other companies, such as in marketing, will want to make sure that the marketing campaign passes through. We don't want any marketing campaigns to pass through. You need to see your business use case and your business needs, and you will have to adapt the solution.
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Manager at Havells
Highly stable, straightforward initial setup, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is that it blocks almost 99 percent of threats from users' email inboxes."
- "Barracuda Email Security Gateway should add auto-remediation to improve the solution. Additionally, there are times when we have false positives and our general emails get locked, we have mentioned this to Barracuda."
What is our primary use case?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is used to protect users' email inboxes from malicious threats coming from outside of the network. For example, it can be a malicious link or some malware as an attachment. If these threats are sent to our users, then it blocks and deletes the email.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is that it blocks almost 99 percent of threats from users' email inboxes.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway should add auto-remediation to improve the solution. Additionally, there are times when we have false positives and our general emails get locked, we have mentioned this to Barracuda.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Barracuda Email Security Gateway for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a cloud solution, therefore it is highly scalable.
Everyone in our company is using this solution. It is protecting 10,000 users' inboxes. We do not plan to increase users.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good, we did not find any issues with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using another security tool previously. We were looking for an advanced tool that helps us to log more threats and incident management. This is why we chose Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is straightforward. The process can take approximately 15 to 20 days.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of the solution ourselves without a partner.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a long agreement with Barracuda Email Security Gateway. We're very pleased with the cost and the solution. The cost is in the average range for this type of solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Barracuda Email Security Gateway an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of Cyber Defense & Offensive Security at Habib Bank Limited
We have evaluated more than eight products of known vendors, and out of eight, we decided on this one.
What is most valuable?
The Anomaly-based spam detection is a very good feature of Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall, since it not only keeps track of the Anomalies, but also protects and notifies any illegitimate attachments, content, as well as the suspicious source from which an email is arriving/contained in the email.
Another important feature that organizations are looking for is the Integration with LDAP and Active Directory. This Device has a capability to easily integrate with the AD connected with the Exchange environment.
How has it helped my organization?
Based on a true case, we had been receiving emails from different countries on a bulk scale containing malware.
Before the installation of Barracuda, we were only able to identify the threat on the Endpoint level, but after installing the Spam Filter, it keeps track of each and every activity done in an email.
What needs improvement?
Two things:
1) The backup and recovery of the rule set stored in the device.
2) In denial of service condition, the events-per-second flow creates little jerk in term of delay.
When we are considering the enterprise security, we are interested in adding the additional controls in the environment. Barracuda device has a weak distinction in its backup and recovery
Let me share a practical example: We have a Barracuda installed in a primary and backup location, it's difficult to include the exact configuration of a primary device to backup device, it has a time constraint and effort based work. This area should be considered, as Barracuda has established their good appearance in the market.
Another area that should be considered for improvement is the constant DoS attacks and bulk messages in the form of spam appearance on the device.
In a case of denial, condition on a ratio of 1200 to 1800 events per second would downgrade the performance of the device.
This was my practical role in testing the capability of this device, apart from the above two areas of improvement, this device has marvelous results in term of capacity, content, sources, and attachments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Not yet.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Not yet.
How are customer service and technical support?
Best.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Lack of technical support and very delayed responses in the case of an incident.
How was the initial setup?
Straightforward, even easy to install.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing options should be considered by the Barracuda management, as per country market research. They should consider the economy and the country-technology ratio.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have evaluated more than eight products of known vendors, and out of eight, we decided on this one.
What other advice do I have?
I would suggest implementing Barracuda Spam, because this solution has a multi-factor threat analysis engine, which other products don't have.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at Investment FIji
Great features with good threat management and antivirus capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "All features it provides on the cloud environment are very, very useful, including the antivirus that is enabled on it."
- "There are some times when legit emails are trapped on Barracuda and we are unable to get that information unless we actually log on to the network to find out."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily for email security. For example, if an email comes through, we need to know what sort of email it is. We have enabled the SPF and the DMARC on it. We've also enabled those security elements so that it has some threat prevention before any unsolicited email comes to our gateway. This basically does all the filtering, before we actually receive an email. There are a number of undeliverable emails we get in our inboxes. In that event, if we are not able to see these emails, we can always log onto the Barracuda Gateway to actually see the emails to say whether they're valid or not. If the authenticity of the email is revealed, we are able to release them.
What is most valuable?
All of it has been quite useful. All features it provides on the cloud environment are very, very useful, including the antivirus that is enabled on it.
It also has a threat management tool on it. It does a self-scanning so that it actually does zero-day tolerance. It's able to look at other Barracuda databases and is able to find the latest data and protect the network. There are a number of features that it has that we actually use to protect our network from email.
The setup is straightforward.
What needs improvement?
Barracuda itself should be actually working on their DMARC setup. There is a little bit of downtime in terms of that. There are some times when legit emails are trapped on Barracuda and we are unable to get that information unless we actually log on to the network to find out. The good thing is that we get logs now and you can schedule the logs and you'll be able to see the logs in the event. The user gets to see the logs. In the event you don't receive the email, so you can schedule it for every hour or whatever schedule is important for the organization.
We set ours at one hour and in the event, if there's an email that didn't reach you, you'll get a notification after an hour to say, okay, this email was trapped and you are able to self-release it with the user's login, or IT can release it.
I can't think of any other features that are needed.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution from 20016 or 2017 onwards.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very reliable and stable at the same time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have between 45 and 50 users.
It is pretty easy to scale. In the event that you want to increase the number of users, you can always do so. All you have to do is buy additional licenses.
How are customer service and support?
In the event that you need technical support, the support team is always available and they'll probably respond to you in an interval of an hour or two.
If there is a need for escalation, they normally do that. They do give you a call. Once you log a ticket, they give you a call and if they are unable to resolve it at a particular time, they'll give you a timeline as to when it's going to be fixed.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up the solution is simple and straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult.
The only thing to do is set up some protocols. You set up some protocols, you go and get some policies enabled, and you can choose whatever policy you want and you enable it on your exchange and that should kick you off. All you do is point your gateway to Barracuda instead of your exchange, and you'll be able to get your email through.
Deployment doesn't take long. It probably takes a day or two, depending on how you want to configure it. You don't really have to do much. It is just that the protocols are already out there. All you do is tick whatever you want and it gets deployed. You set your parameters.
Maintenance is done by the support team. It's cloud-based; we don't really have to do maintenance on our end unless we have a device on our end. We don't have a device on our end. In the event that we have user changes, we do it in-house. For example, if a newbie has joined the organization or somebody is leaving, we make administrative changes.
What about the implementation team?
We did an in-house setup. We buy it from the retailer and the retailer gives us access to the vendor there, the actual supplier. Then we have that privilege too, in the event that if we get caught out for some reason, we are able to liaise with the vendors directly, the suppliers, and we are able to log calls, et cetera, and they're able to sort out issues. We have that kind of support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's pay-per-user licenses. We pay around 5,000 Fijian dollars for probably 50 users. The pricing is pretty good for the type of support they give us. We are not looking at anything more expensive than what we're currently paying.
Globally, it's used pretty extensively and it's regarded as one of the top three packages.
What other advice do I have?
We are end-users.
I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. We are happy with the product.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Administrator at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport
The solution did a great job of blocking EXEs and phishing emails
Pros and Cons
- "Its backups are valuable."
- "The dashboard's UI could be improved to make changes to the blocklist."
What is our primary use case?
All our Office 365 emails will first go through Barracuda. It checks for any EXEs and the like, checking the email contents to allow or stop those. We also use the solution for archiving and backups.
How has it helped my organization?
From a security point of view, Barracuda Email Security improved our mail environment. Other than that, its backups are valuable.
What needs improvement?
The dashboard's UI could be improved to make changes to the blocklist. We currently have to go into the mail and check the list and the dashboard, and it would be better if we could directly block particular domains or emails instead.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for almost four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Barracuda has been stable till now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 100 users using Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
How are customer service and support?
Barracuda's technical support is fine.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to have FortiMail, and we migrated to Barracuda. Barracuda is much more effective than FortiMail. Barracuda handles spam better.
What about the implementation team?
An integrator handled the initial setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We find the solution's pricing okay.
What other advice do I have?
Our management wants to migrate to E5 from E3 and says we don't need Barracuda Email Security. However, we are unsure if E5 will have the same features as Barracuda.
I recommend Barracuda, and from a security point of view, I would rate it a nine out of ten. It didn't let any EXEs or phishing emails through.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Barracuda Email Security Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Popular Comparisons
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Proofpoint Email Protection
Mimecast Email Security
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Trellix Collaboration Security
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Kaspersky Security for Mail Server
Webroot Advanced Email Encryption powered by Zix
MetaDefender Email Security Solutions
Mimecast DMARC Analyzer
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Barracuda Email Security Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Which Email Security enterprise solution would you choose: Cisco Secure Email vs Forcepoint Email Security vs Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
- When evaluating SEG (Secure Email Gateways), what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- Why is SEG (Secure Email Gateways) important for companies?