Barracuda Email Protection vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Proofpoint Email Protection

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Helped 879,422 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

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Archiving (2nd)

Proofpoint Email Protection

Ranking in Email Security

3rd

Ranking in Office 365 Protection

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)

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 Proofpoint Email Protection is 7.9%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection	7.9%
Barracuda Email Protection	3.3%
Other	88.8%

Email Security

Featured Reviews

LeeMiles

Director, Information Technology at St Albans High School For Girls

Very good threat protection, spam filtering, and cloud backups

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 set up a global setting. Users must go through an induction session where I guide them in configuring quarantine alerts rather than having default settings based on group membership. This seems like an oversight since they already use Active Directory details. They should assign policies based on group membership, which configures these settings by default.

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reviewer2500410

Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Has provided reliable threat detection and simplified policy management

I do not have experience with Microsoft Purview products, but I know some Proofpoint products. I apologize, I do not have experience with the Purview one, but I do know the Proofpoint products. I'm not sure about the features of the Purview one. Compared to other products, Proofpoint's real-time threat intelligence makes it less noisy. They collect and share threat information effectively, which benefits all customers. I have seen a lot of improvements in Proofpoint's reporting and analytics compared to earlier days. As a leader in the market, I find the pricing for Proofpoint Email Protection is a little high. Their licensing models vary, and even the premium model adequately supports awareness campaigning, so I find it acceptable. Normally, they sell their products through resellers, not directly through AWS Marketplace. For us, we are clients of Proofpoint. I rate Proofpoint Email Protection a nine out of ten.

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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

"When we got the service, it included the email archiver with unlimited storage."

"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."

"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."

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

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

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

"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."

"We check the reports sometimes to see that frequent attacks and malicious emails are being blocked by the solution."

More Barracuda Email Protection pros

"The stability is very good."

"The solution blocks malicious emails containing viruses and malware and reduces them out of spam."

"The setup was easy."

"It's detection of true positives are great, as it's cloud based it's very scalable and stable."

"It's a mature product. It does a good job in detection."

"The solution is very user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the central location dashboard for viewing all the related information for risk."

"The initial implementation is pretty easy to handle."

More Proofpoint Email Protection pros

Cons

"The policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."

"Two to three months back, we got fraudulent emails in which someone in the organization was being blamed."

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

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

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

"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."

"The customer service and support could be improved if the support were available directly in Europe. Currently, the support is often managed from India, so we sometimes need to wait due to the time zone difference. It would be quicker and better if the support were provided by European staff."

"The product must enable bulk user management."

More Barracuda Email Protection cons

"Some use cases haven't been dealt with yet."

"Proofpoint Email Protection could improve the Mail Trace feature and make navigation easier."

"Integration for reporting needs to be improved, it's too complex."

"The support team was a bit slow."

"The high cost of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"We'd like to have the ability to create more customized reports."

"It has too many screens. It is kind of a conglomeration of products. In other words, they built product A, product B, and product C, and they are yet to integrate them into a single administrative console. I would certainly like to see a more seamless administrative interface. I would also like to see them include more bang for the buck, by including features like email fraud protection, rather than making their product so piecemeal, where you are buying little pieces. I agree with the idea of having multiple tiers or layers, but maybe as small, medium, and large, as opposed to an a la carte menu."

"The setup requires expertise. It needs someone with experience on managing it, and I would rate the implementation as needing someone experienced."

More Proofpoint Email Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Barracuda licensing model is good."

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

"Price-wise, this product is middle-of-the-road."

"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 price is similar to that of Microsoft 365."

"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."

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

"The product is expensive."

More Barracuda Email Protection pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost of Proofpoint Email Protection is a lot higher than other solutions, such as Barracuda."

"Proofpoint Email Protection is a reasonably priced product, which means that it is neither too low nor too high in terms of price."

"The licensing model for Proofpoint Email Protection is simple. It's based on the number of users. Price-wise, Proofpoint Email Protection is a five out of ten because it's a pretty expensive solution."

"Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."

"Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees."

"In general, the pricing is competitive."

"It is on a yearly basis. Their floor for SMB doesn't matter. The user count is 100 users and below at $2,500 a year. Its cost is higher than other solutions. It is probably about 20% to 30% higher than what you would get with Microsoft. There are no additional costs. All costs are factored in. It can be improved pricing-wise so that it is affordable for the SMB market."

"The end customer is buying our solution, which can be for monthly or annual usage depending on our payment and business model."

More Proofpoint Email Protection pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	17

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.

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...

What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Protection?

What do you like most about Proofpoint Email Protection?

It is a very scalable solution.

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.

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Product Reports

Barracuda Email Protection

Download Barracuda Email Protection product report

Proofpoint Email Protection

Download Proofpoint Email Protection product report

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials

Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection

Overview

The popularity of Microsoft 365 means criminals test and design their attacks to bypass its native security features. And that means you need additional layers of defense. With Advanced Threat Protection enabled, Barracuda uses multiple layers of detection, including signature, static, and behavioral analysis, along with CPU-emulation sandboxing to accurately detect and block zero-hour targeted attacks and ransomware.

Traditional email gateways use static rules and policies—reputation analysis, block lists, and malicious payloads—to determine if an email is malicious.

Barracuda protects your Microsoft 365 inbox against evasive threats with a powerful AI engine that learns the unique communication patterns within your organization through access to internal and historical emails. Once it understands what legitimate emails looks like for each user, it can detect anomalies that signal malicious intent. This context-based detection is more effective at blocking targeted attacks, which are designed to bypass traditional rule-based email security.

Barracuda Networks

Proofpoint Email Protection provides powerful filtering against spam, phishing, and malware, leveraging effective threat detection and blocking capabilities. This solution integrates smoothly with platforms like Office 365, offering a user-friendly dashboard for seamless operations.

Proofpoint Email Protection focuses on email security, ensuring protection against phishing, malware, and spam. It includes features like URL scanning, anti-phishing, anti-virus protection, and sandboxing for comprehensive threat analysis. Its advanced analytics through TAP and TRAP, along with strong integration abilities, make it appealing for handling email threats. While scalability and ease of deployment are advantages, challenges such as integration in complex environments, the cost, and limited local support require attention. Enhancements in search functionality, email encryption, and improved phishing detection are also needed.

What are the key features of Proofpoint Email Protection?

Effective Filtering: Blocks spam, phishing, and malware with high accuracy.
URL Scanning: Protects against malicious links.
Advanced Analytics: Provides insights through TAP and TRAP.
Seamless Integration: Compatible with platforms like Office 365.
User-friendly Dashboard: Simplifies email management and monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Adaptable to organizational growth without losing performance.
Strong Threat Protection: Comprehensive defense against email threats.
Easy Deployment: Streamlined setup process for smooth integration.
Advanced Threat Analysis: Identifies and neutralizes threats efficiently.

Industries adopting Proofpoint Email Protection include finance, healthcare, and education sectors, which benefit from its robust email security measures. Educational institutions prioritize safe communication for staff and students, while healthcare organizations focus on protecting sensitive patient data. Financial services benefit from preventing data breaches and fraud through advanced threats management.

Proofpoint

Sample Customers

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

Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Proofpoint Email Protection