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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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 Security Ga...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (4th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (5th)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (6th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Barracuda Email Security Gateway is designed for Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and holds a mindshare of 6.2%, down 8.6% compared to last year.
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), on the other hand, focuses on Anti-Malware Tools, holds 1.3% mindshare, down 2.1% since last year.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RobertSmith15 - PeerSpot reviewer
Email security offers superior protection with good personalization
I have experienced the Barracuda team as very cooperative, and they are readily available for calls with technical support via email. I have had no issues with ongoing support throughout the product's lifecycle. Assistance was provided to me when transferring archived information from a legacy email service. They also recommended an additional service to streamline the process, making it as easy as possible.
Amber Worth - PeerSpot reviewer
Retrieves data from quarantines and easy to read logs with robust security features
Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious. Although eventually the information is located, it can be difficult if detailed information is lacking. Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous. Simplifying interfaces would also be appreciated.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most important features of Barracuda Email Security Gateway are the simple and quick configuration, interactive console, and easy-to-understand logs."
"The performance is good."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway has a good feature of email spooling, which acts as a first line of security."
"This product is powerful and quite simple to use."
"The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the complete capabilities it provides. Additionally, the phishing security and sandbox features are effective."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway is very simple to use."
"It can scale."
"The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do."
"We use the solution to receive emails. We do not use the calendar function as our clients are slow adaptors to the latest features."
"It's all running in the backend, so it doesn't affect the app functionality."
"The security features provided by Microsoft are robust."
"It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection are the EOP, ATP, safe links, fishing, and antispam."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is used essentially for email filtering, acting as an anti-spam and security product for email."
"The security features provided by Microsoft are robust."
 

Cons

"I am not aware of the licensing costs."
"We would like to have a local support center in India so that they are operating in the same time zone and speak the same language."
"We are using the tool’s 400 model which does not offer accurate spam detection. We have also had performance issues with the tool."
"The spam filtering is a little too aggressive. You can not get granular enough to back off on what is considered spam and what is not."
"The downsides of the solution stem from the fact that it is an expensive product, and one may see too many false positives when using it, making them both areas where improvements are required."
"Spam is not always detected, and it should be more automated. We have seen that some emails are allowed by these emails, which are then stopped by Microsoft."
"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."
"We had an incident where we didn't want to receive any emails or spam from a certain site and email address. We selected the mail ID, and we send it to Barracuda for analysis to see if it's spam or something like that. As of now, we haven't gotten any update or notification as to what happened with it."
"We would like the solution to have more in-built intelligence in the way that it reviews potential security risks, rather than our team constantly having to update the policies."
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
"It would be helpful for customers if Plan 1 features were included with EOP."
"Microsoft has some training portals, but more could be developed."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could be reduced to make it more competitive."
"The tool is not 100% stable."
"The reporting needs a little bit of improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We paid for an annual license."
"The licensing fees are part of a bundled support package that we pay for."
"We typically purchase a one or three-year license for Barracuda Email Security Gateway."
"It is an expensive solution and I would rate it 5 out of 10."
"The price of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is approximately $17 per user annually."
"This is one of the major points for integrating this solution in any organization. Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs to make it a bit more tolerable for customers because it is increasing every year. They should create a plan for reducing the cost."
"I rate the price of Barracuda Email Security Gateway a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"Compared to other products, this solution is quite affordable."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's pricing is a little bit more because its price has recently increased."
"Online Protection is fairly expensive."
"The product is bundled with Microsoft 365."
"It's a high price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
29%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is very simple to use.
What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release.
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
I would like to improve the setting of rules in Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) as it is currently working fine but has room for enhancements.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
I am using Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) ( /products/microsoft-exchange-online-protection-eop-reviews ) for word processing, spreadsheet management, Power BI, checking my meetings, usi...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Evolution Recruitment Solutions, Evans Delivery Company, Osoyoos Credit Union, Synovis Life Technologies, Camden County Technical Schools, DEK, Evans Delivery Company, Colgate Rochester Crozer, Hemmera, South Carolina Heart Center, Ferma Corporation, Major League Baseball (MLB), Healy Brothers Automotive Group
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Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.