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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.7
Barracuda Email Security Gateway prioritizes email safety, providing fewer disruptions despite potential ROI concerns for businesses and service providers.
Sentiment score
5.9
Proofpoint Email Protection enhances security by reducing spam and threats, though its interface may impact operational efficiency.
Training is not required because you do not need to have training on Barracuda Email Security Gateway due to the usability of the product.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
The ideal situation would be to have all these portals combined into one unified dashboard.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Barracuda Email Security Gateway customer support is praised for responsiveness and efficiency, though limited by time zones and language.
Sentiment score
6.9
Proofpoint Email Protection's support is often praised for expertise and responsiveness but criticized for inconsistencies and sluggish communication.
From the vendor, I would give the technical support an eight out of ten.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
I am familiar with the granular policy control feature of Proofpoint Email Protection, and I find their support excellent for modifying those policies.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
I rate customer support a three out of ten mainly because of the phishing attacks that are getting through.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
Sometimes I get some really great responses and analysts, but sometimes when their cloud services have a failure, they are slow to respond and tell me about it, though they have been improving.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is scalable for SMBs but may not suit very large enterprises, with varied user opinions.
Sentiment score
7.6
Proofpoint Email Protection offers scalable, adaptable cloud-based architecture, efficiently supporting expansions for businesses of all sizes, despite minor licensing concerns.
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Proofpoint Email Protection is a scalable solution that very much fits our capacity requirements.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is reliable and stable, with quick resolutions for minor issues and high user ratings.
Sentiment score
8.1
Proofpoint Email Protection offers consistent stability and reliability, with minor interface issues and infrequent outages reported by users.
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a great platform and a stable platform.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
When evaluating the stability of Proofpoint Email Protection in regards to downtime, bugs, and glitches, it comes and goes in waves.
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs upgrades in usability, integration, scalability, support, spam filtering accuracy, and anti-phishing measures.
Proofpoint Email Protection's high cost and integration challenges hinder its usability, flexibility, and effectiveness in phishing and spam detection.
When we add mails to email secure Sender Policy Authentication with extended options, all mails must pass this Mail Security Gateway.
Graduate Student at ain shams
Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
If it's considered a phishing email, it should be blocked for all users, not just some.
IT Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
More security could be implemented.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Proofpoint Email Protection can improve in how it analyzes alerts by using more AI within its product suite to eliminate repeat alerts, such as filtering down the same attack to generate only one alert.
Information Security Architect at Loews Hotels
 

Setup Cost

The Barracuda Email Security Gateway is competitively priced, scalable, with varied user opinions and crucial regional market considerations.
Proofpoint Email Protection is costly but valued for its robust features despite higher pricing than competitors like Mimecast and Barracuda.
Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is cheaper.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Compared to the features and stability, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is affordable in terms of pricing, setup cost, and licensing.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers robust spam filtering, advanced threat protection, and user-friendly features for comprehensive email security management.
Proofpoint Email Protection offers robust security, AI-driven threat detection, user-friendly management, and strong support for email threat visibility.
The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails.
Graduate Student at ain shams
The usability is the most important feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway, along with the great threat intelligence from Barracuda to help you understand who is communicating with you.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway that I have found is advanced threat protection.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The most beneficial feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is mostly spam filtering; it was very efficient, and we were very happy with the functionality as only relevant emails were allowed for mailboxes.
Manager, IT Director at Cakmak Avukatlik Ortakligi
I appreciate that it's the industry leader, and its firewalling is very easy to manage and implement.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Email Security Ga...
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (4th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is 7.3%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 20.3%, up from 20.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection20.3%
Barracuda Email Security Gateway7.3%
Other72.4%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

MM
Graduate Student at ain shams
Secures email by identifying threats and managing email policies effectively
The intuitive management interface feature makes email security policies very easy to implement as it's all about features that need to be enabled or disabled. Our investigation in any incident or mail is very useful as it provides all details about incoming mails, enabling thorough review and detection. The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails. The Impersonation license utilizes AI tools. Sometimes some phishing mails are reported as phishing, but they are not actually phishing mails. They are detected due to certain words and languages that appear suspicious but were generated by AI tools. Everyone or an advisor may use it for their own purpose or learning, even though it indicates that the mail detected is phishing when it's not.
Steve Bradbury - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Exelixis Inc
Email defenses have blocked advanced threats and provide deep visibility into risky users
The areas that have room for improvement in Proofpoint Email Protection include their cost of ownership, which is fairly high. To manage and run all their products, I have to list and manage administrators in seven or eight different places. That is too many places to keep track of since for this tool I have to go to one location, and for another tool I have to go to a different location. They need to simplify the administration management of administrators and consolidate that into one place for all their products. Access to all the different products is very scattered. For some products I go to one URL, and for different products I go to a different URL. They have a threat URL that has most of their products in it, but not all. They need to simplify the interface to show all the products I have access to in one location.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Sentinel?
I would suggest that pricing for Barracuda Email Security Gateway rates around seven. It is not too expensive, but it is a considerable cost. Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway ...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Sentinel?
Regarding real-time intelligent features of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway, some spam emails are still being released by the ESG to the end users, so the functionality is not working appropri...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Sentinel?
My use case for the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is to protect our emails from phishing and spam emails to get them blocked by the ESG.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of pricing, it is okay compared to others. I would say it is normal. Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
I believe they still need to improve by consolidating some portals, as currently, you have to log in separately to a few of them.
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital 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
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Proofpoint Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.