Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

Barracuda Networks and Sophos are both solutions in the Email Security category. Barracuda Networks is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5, while Sophos is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5. Barracuda Networks holds a 3.3% mindshare in Email Security, compared to Sophos’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Barracuda Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Barracuda Email Protection

Read 19 Barracuda Email Protection reviews

2,722 Views
2,286 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Sophos Email

Read 34 Sophos Email reviews

2,303 Views
2,050 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Barracuda Email Protection

Sophos Email

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

Barracuda Email Protection and Sophos Email compete in the email security market. Sophos Email often has the upper hand due to its advanced feature set and value, despite higher costs.

Features: Barracuda Email Protection is recognized for its advanced dictionary protection, spam blocking, and centralized management console. Its email archiving and user-friendly management interface are central to its appeal. Sophos Email distinguishes itself with its sandbox threat protection, email encryption, and comprehensive spam filter, making it ideal for organizations requiring robust security measures.

Room for Improvement: Barracuda Email Protection could benefit from enhanced reporting capabilities, better integration with third-party security awareness platforms, and more flexibility in policy creation. Sophos Email would improve from increasing its reporting comprehensiveness, reducing false positives in its threat detection, and simplifying deployment configurations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Barracuda Email Protection is praised for its easy deployment and excellent customer support, often preferred by small to medium enterprises. Sophos Email offers more advanced deployment options suited for larger enterprises but may require more resources for effective implementation.

Pricing and ROI: Barracuda Email Protection offers a lower upfront cost, making it attractive for those with limited budgets seeking immediate ROI. Sophos Email, despite higher costs, is a valuable investment for those prioritizing long-term security and scalability benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

January 2026

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Email Protection

Ranking in Email Security

13th

Ranking in Office 365 Protection

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Archiving (2nd), Security Incident Response (7th)

Sophos Email

Ranking in Email Security

10th

Ranking in Office 365 Protection

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.0%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Sophos Email	2.0%
Barracuda Email Protection	3.3%
Other	94.7%

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Sherif Fouad

Group ICT Manager at a mining and metals company with 501-1,000 employees

Have raised concerns about scanning engines and automation while continuing to rely on layered protection strategies

Incident response is something that requires more development from Barracuda's side. Regarding room for improvement for Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response, for the product, developing or improving the scanning engine is important, but it's a bit tricky. I know that they are working on it heavily. The difference between Barracuda and Sophos is Sophos focused heavily on cybersecurity while Barracuda tried to increase their product portfolio. Sometimes, in some cases, this might end up with their teams being unfocused or a bit thin and stretched and super busy. However, there is room for improvement. The product is great. The teams that are supporting are great. But there is always room for improvement. Even if you have a product that you would give a rating of 10 out of 10, there is always room for improvement. The day we stop improving is the day we die. Regarding the scanning engine, Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response has a very good feature where you can create automated flows for how to handle specific emails that are detected as incidents. This needs a bit of an improvement. That's the only component of Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response that I believe requires improvement.

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Kalyan Chowdhury

Founder at Computech infosysetm

Stronger email and mobile security has protected users from ransomware and simplified management

Price is obviously a challenging part, and I think it is the biggest problem we have suffered from over the last two or three years due to a 7 to 8% hike per year, twice a year, which is why we have some renewals on Sophos Email, Sophos XDR, EDR, and the firewall, but due to price hike, they are unable to renew it. The price is going to be very high. It would be better if Sophos can provide a more flexible pricing model for different types of businesses. Price could be lower. The main competitor for Sophos in the market is Palo Alto, which has reduced their price by more than 35 to 40%, making it a very challenging part to sell this product. Palo Alto provides the same functionality for email security, which adds to the challenge because the price is going very high.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"At the moment, I am working with Sophos Cloud, Sophos Intercept X; when they introduced the XDR, we used it, and then when they introduced the Optix, we used it, and then we upgraded our subscription with them to MDR, so we are now utilizing Sophos Cloud Central MDR."

"The most valuable aspect includes attempts to spoof or compromise domains from external sources."

"The beauty of Barracuda Email Protection is that it is easy to manage and simple to deploy."

"We now have a secondary backup of Office 365 that's much easier to retrieve compared to Microsoft. If someone deletes something in Office 365, we can get it back within Office 365, but it's difficult. Barracuda is much easier. There is a lot less management needed using Barracuda. The management becomes much easier for Office 365 and it's no longer on-prem, so there are fewer hours managing on-prem devices, servers, and things of that nature. We don't have network appliances anymore for the backup of our information."

"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."

"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."

"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."

"The most valuable features of Barracuda Essentials are it's a trusted name and is rated very high on review sites. It blocks high percentages of spam and junk email and it's in the cloud. They have hardware appliances, but this is in the cloud. The solution is very effective at blocking malware and blocking spam and this is what we are looking for. There's not a whole lot of complexity, you want a solution that is very good at blocking out all of the unwanted emails."

More Barracuda Email Protection pros

"The most significant aspect is the response filtering concerning attachments and links."

"The most valuable feature of Sophos Email is the sandbox. We're able to scan the file, isolate it, and look at it before it is delivered. It is highly effective."

"I found the user interface friendly."

"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."

"The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

"The feature of Sophos Email that we find most effective for detecting suspicious emails is primarily based on their signatures."

"The filtering capabilities are precious and far superior to others I've used. It's intuitive in what it pushes to quarantine, and users can quickly review, free, or delete items without needing an administrator, making it ideal for a multi-user environment."

More Sophos Email pros

Cons

"The platform's pricing needs improvement."

"They could simplify the licensing and the pricing."

"Sometimes, in some cases, this might end up with their teams being unfocused or a bit thin and stretched and super busy."

"I would like to see better integration with other products."

"Sometimes it is somewhat laggy, especially on the Archiver side. It should have improved performance on their Message Archiver."

"The technology works on a supervised engine, but it would be better if it ran on an unsupervised engine."

"Barracuda Email Protection needs better reporting and more robust integration with security awareness training platforms and third-party solutions."

"I would like to see some additional functionality in terms of employee monitoring, as part of a work-from-home security solution."

More Barracuda Email Protection cons

"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."

"The product could include all the essential features and capabilities, similar to the on-premise, server-based version."

"Their technical support is slow to respond."

"Sophos Email can improve mail security."

"The main drawback is regarding the technical support."

"It was sometimes hard to find the settings in the solution's interface."

"Lacks visibility into spam emails."

"The solution has not found a way to block certain kinds of phishing emails."

More Sophos Email cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume."

"The product is expensive."

"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."

"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."

"Barracuda licensing model is good."

"We pay annually. They never charged us for anything else. And they were quite a bit under that $20,000 mark. It was $19,074. And they've been pretty good about not skyrocketing the price or anything like that. It has gone up. It's gone up to $24,000 in 2020."

More Barracuda Email Protection pricing and cost advice

"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."

"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."

"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."

"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."

"Most of our clients are on a perpetual license. If there is a budget issue, they can choose a subscription. However, most of the clients choose the perpetual license."

"The tool's pricing is medium."

"The product is cheaper compared to other solutions."

"We use exchange licenses, for which we get immediate support from Sophos."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Protection?

Barracuda Email Protection is easy to deploy and maintain. It doesn't require a specialized resource to manage this tool.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Email Protection?

Their list price is too high, but in India, the selling price is affordable at around $10 per user per year. Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers t...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Protection?

Considering it integrates with Azure, I would like to be able to effectively set up policies where people are by default included in certain settings. For instance, for email quarantine, I can't se...

See all answers

What do you like most about Sophos Email?

The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?

Regarding Sophos Email pricing, I would rate it between six or seven out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

See all answers

Comparisons

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 23% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 20% of the time

Mimecast Email Security vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 11% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 8% of the time

TitanHQ SpamTitan vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 3% of the time

More Barracuda Email Protection Competitors

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Sophos Email

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 8% of the time

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Sophos Email

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection

January 2026

Download Barracuda Email Protection product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email

January 2026

Download Sophos Email product report

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials, Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response

Sophos Email Security

Overview

Barracuda Email Protection provides advanced security with features like AI protection and cloud-based spam blocking, making it essential for managing email risks effectively.

Barracuda Email Protection stands out with its robust malware detection, ease of use, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365, serving enterprises by simplifying email threat management. Despite its efficient spam filtering and straightforward setup, users seek improvements in email encryption, third-party vendor integration, report details, and more streamlined performance. Organizations leverage its AI capabilities for phishing detection and employee training, allowing for automated operations and comprehensive threat protection. Its archiving, search, and hands-off management are crucial for companies lacking extensive security resources, ensuring persistent email access and secure practices.

What are the key features of Barracuda Email Protection?

Cloud-Based Spam Blocking: Reduces unwanted emails effectively.
Impersonation Detection: Identifies phishing attempts seamlessly.
Malware Detection: Protects against malicious threats.
AI Protection: Enhances security with intelligent analysis.
Microsoft 365 Integration: Ensures smooth operation within existing systems.
Customizable Rules: Allows tailored security protocols.

What are the main benefits and ROI of Barracuda Email Protection?

Time Savings: Automates and streamlines email management processes.
Email Security: Maintains domain reputation by reducing spam and threats.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides a unified approach to email threats.
Central Management: Simplifies oversight with a unified console.
Reliable Support: Offers technical assistance and guidance.

In finance, healthcare, and large enterprises, Barracuda Email Protection is deployed for its reliable email archiving and retrieval, supporting compliance and data integrity. Industries benefit from its AI-powered phishing detection and employee training tools, enhancing operational security and reducing risk exposure.

Barracuda Networks

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sophos

Sample Customers

ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems

Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

January 2026

Free Report: Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

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