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Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd)
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
10th
Ranking in Office 365 Protection
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.0%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sophos Email2.0%
Barracuda Email Protection3.0%
Other95.0%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

LeeMiles - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
BhanuPrakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Achieving Seamless Email Security and Encryption while Managing Temporary Email Storage Limits
We continue to use Sophos products and remain with the company. For firewall protection, we use XGS systems. We have provided Sophos Email Gateway for one of our clients. We have integrated Sophos Email with our internal email server, using it for both outbound and inbound traffic. Integration with Office 365 protection for Sophos Email Security works smoothly without any challenges. The solution is totally cloud-based. I recommend Sophos Email for mid-sized companies as it is a good option, though it may not be ideal for large-scale or small businesses. I have not tried incorporating AI technology with Sophos Email yet. I am Bhanu Prakash, Technical Head for Systek Services, and can be reached at b.hanu@teamsistek.com. I am a partner with Sophos. Overall rating for Sophos Email: 10/10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."
"The most valuable aspect includes attempts to spoof or compromise domains from external sources."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."
"The beauty of Barracuda Email Protection is that it is easy to manage and simple to deploy."
"The archiving and search features are very good."
"The solution's most valuable feature is impersonation detection."
"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."
"The most valuable features are security and ease of use."
"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."
"The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable."
"The most valuable feature is its email security."
"Good VIP protection, time of click protection and the Sandstorm feature."
"The best thing about it is the logs."
"The anti-spam functionality of Sophos Email is good."
"I rate Sophos Email nine point five."
"I found the user interface friendly."
 

Cons

"The solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."
"They could simplify the licensing and the pricing."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"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 product must enable bulk user management."
"Two to three months back, we got fraudulent emails in which someone in the organization was being blamed."
"Barracuda Essentials can improve by continually adding more features."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in reaching out to technical support during deployment."
"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."
"A lot of legit emails get quarantined."
"Sophos Email could improve DLP features."
"Sophos Email can improve security."
"The installation of Sophos Email could be easier. It's a bit difficult because setting up the email virtually requires some bit of technical knowledge."
"Sophos Email needs to increase the number of promos."
"The solution should be able to support the cloud environment."
"There have been some issues with compatibility and effectiveness, particularly when integrating it with our firewall. The main challenge has been email protection, especially due to compatibility issues and difficulties with log access and email relay configuration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."
"Price-wise, this product is middle-of-the-road."
"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."
"We didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume."
"Barracuda licensing model is good."
"The price is similar to that of Microsoft 365."
"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"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 pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."
"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."
"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
"The tool's pricing is medium."
"Sophos Email is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."
"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

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?
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...
What do you like most about Sophos Email?
The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.
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.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
While Sophos Email is generally sufficient, one challenge we face is the 24-hour email storage limitation. This presents an issue when internal systems are down for more than 24 hours. The solution...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.