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Barracuda SSL VPN[EOL] vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

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 SSL VPN[EOL]
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall Netextender
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (11th)
 

Featured Reviews

Ikh-Erdene Namsrai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at Mongolian Mining Corporation
Provides good scalability and has a simple setup process
We use Barracuda SSL VPN for network connection The product is easy to connect. There could be more security features included in the product. We are the latest version of Barracuda SSL VPN. I rate Barracuda SSL VPN's stability an eight or nine out of ten. We have 30-40 Barracuda SSL VPN…
Rich Darress - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech
Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance
When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The setup is straightforward and hassle-free."
"The most valuable feature would be that you can actually narrow down your session to one application on one server, which is really nice."
"What I find most valuable is the total cost of ownership."
"The most valuable feature would be that you can actually narrow down your session to one application on one server, which is really nice."
"It's a stand alone system that functions well."
"The product is easy to connect."
"This solution is valuable because it's a stand alone system and doesn't disconnect, it functions well, it's a good software and good system, and I believe it's a better product than Cisco."
"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."
"It's a stable tool that does what it is supposed to do."
"The solution provides high availability."
"The best features of the SonicWall Netextender were its ease of use."
"When we started to change from IPsec-type clients that were predominantly built right into the firewalls to this approach or deployment style for SSL VPN, the amount of time that our techs spent helping people with VPN issues was probably cut by more than half."
"Productivity for my remote workers went up dramatically once we switched providers."
"Overall, it's a really good product."
"NetExtender works very well; I have never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me."
 

Cons

"Barracuda should find other ways to stir up interest about this product."
"There could be more security features included in the product."
"Barracuda should find other ways to stir up interest about this product."
"Since it's not going to be getting any more software updates as per the end of this year, we have to move off to a different product.."
"Reporting could be improved."
"They are good, but sometimes it can take weeks to solve an issue."
"Since it's not going to be getting any more software updates as per the end of this year, we have to move off to a different product."
"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."
"The Netextender application itself doesn't really look pretty, however, we can still use it. We don't care what it looks like. That said, if they did a cosmetic update, that would be fine."
"I am rolling out the new Netextender because I am having some issues with the older version."
"The only concern I do have is with the zero trust, and the solution is not coping with the newer technologies as much as it needs to do on that particular factor."
"The solution takes more bandwidth these days and it would be helpful if that was reduced."
"The product does not work well."
"Right now, you have to load each license on to an appliance. You can't pool across multiple appliances. So, you end up having to do a lot of administrative work to recover if an internet provider goes down, and you cannot leverage it as easily into a DR solution."
"Sometimes you can get bounced around through the departments until you find the right one. Sometimes if you don't have the most current support contract or your license is out of date, they won't even talk to you."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Barracuda SSL VPN is inexpensive."
"The product is affordable and reasonably priced so it would make a lot of sense for people to use it long-term."
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."
"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Performing Arts
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?
The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?
SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?
Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...
 

Overview

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