Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

Barracuda Networks and Sophos are both solutions in the Email Security category. Barracuda Networks is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.6, while Sophos is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Barracuda Networks holds a 2.6% mindshare in Email Security, compared to Sophos’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Barracuda Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Barracuda Email Protection and Sophos Email based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Email Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

October 2024

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Helped 816,406 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 15.9%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 2.6%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Security

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown

IT Director at a energy/utilities company with 11-50 employees

Allows for easy reporting of problems, valuable anti-phishing, and anti-malware support

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 lacks proactivity in assisting us with preparing for potential threats before they occur. While they employ a substantial amount of threat intelligence to preemptively prevent incidents, their effectiveness diminishes when it comes to delivering proactive threat intelligence alerts from Microsoft. Their focus primarily revolves around managing the internal environment. On the other hand, my other vendor, Check Point, along with my membership in MS-ISAC, supplements me with this type of information. The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement. It is adequate, but it doesn't match the quality of Proofpoint or Mimecast. However, it comes close in effectiveness. Plus, if we're obtaining it for free, investing in the other products seems impractical.

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Alex Clerici

System Integrator IT Manager at Tecnimex S.r.l.

Efficient and easier to manage than other products, especially Microsoft products

Regarding Barracuda Email Protection specifically, I'm quite satisfied. I think there's room for improvement in their other products, especially their cloud firewall protection and ZTNA offerings. Moreover, prices could be more granular, especially for the small business area. Typically, in Italy, the majority of our customers are small businesses. It would be better if the prices could be adjusted for small businesses.

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NaveedAli

Senior manager IT infrastructure at Machine Learning 1 Limited ·

Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved

Sophos gives you a feature set to manage your on-premises firewall on the cloud. I just integrated my on-premises firewall into the cloud, and I can manage the tool through the cloud as well if needed. I recommend using Sophos Email as a proxy. For email gateways, I advise choosing mature products with rich feature sets, like Trend Micro or CrowdStrike. The solution's integration with other tools is very simple. I easily integrated Sophos Email with my Active Directory. My organization needs a WAF with a limited feature set, which we use through Sophos. Purchasing additional WAF will be costly, but I get sandboxing and WAF features free of cost with Sophos, which is included in the license. Overall, I rate the solution a seven 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

"The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning."

"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."

"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."

"The solution is very easy to use. All you have to do is to assign the license to the end-user and it's done. The customer will only have the feature activated, and the solution will monitor the emails to determine if they are a threat or not."

"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable feature is its performance."

"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."

"The product's scalability is good."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros

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

"The solution is straightforward to set up."

"The most valuable features are security and ease of use."

"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."

"The solution's most valuable feature is impersonation detection."

"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."

"Barracuda email protection is stable. I would give it a nine because of its strong cybersecurity features."

"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 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 feature of Sophos Email that we find most effective for detecting suspicious emails is primarily based on their signatures."

"Our client recently received many emails, and their employees didn't realize these emails were phishing attempts. Consequently, they clicked on them and fell victim to the attack. Therefore, it is important to secure their system with Sophos Email Security."

"The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable."

"The platform is scalable when installed on server-based systems."

"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."

"Sophos Email provides both inbound and outbound filtering."

"The speed and stability were fine."

More Sophos Email pros

Cons

"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication."

"Microsoft sometimes has downtime, and we'll get several incidents coming in back to back. We have a huge backlog of notifications, many of which may be false positives. However, there might be serious alerts, so we can't risk dismissing all of them at once."

"We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend."

"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."

"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."

"The product must provide better malware detection."

"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."

"You should be able to deploy Defender for every subscription without the need to add servers."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 cons

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

"The product must enable bulk user management."

"Sometimes it is somewhat laggy, especially on the Archiver side. It should have improved performance on their Message Archiver."

"There is room for improvement, particularly in reaching out to technical support during deployment."

"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."

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

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

More Barracuda Email Protection cons

"Sophos Email could improve DLP features."

"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."

"Sophos Email needs to increase the number of promos."

"The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak."

"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."

"Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings."

"The tool has some performance issues and bugs, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The tool’s stability should be improved."

More Sophos Email cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."

"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."

"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."

"The pricing has become expensive."

"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."

"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."

"The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."

"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing and cost advice

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

"The price is similar to that of Microsoft 365."

"The product is expensive."

"Barracuda licensing model is good."

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

"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."

"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."

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

More Barracuda Email Protection pricing and cost advice

"The tool's pricing is medium."

"Licensing is paid on a yearly basis."

"The solution is expensive."

"The pricing is affordable, so I’d rate it around a four out of ten on the pricing scale. We pay about fifty pounds a month, including hardware so that costs may differ without it."

"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."

"The pricing is fair."

"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."

"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."

More Sophos Email pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.

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816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Construction Company

Healthcare Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

The pricing is reasonable since it comes integrated with our Office 365 license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detec...

See all answers

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Protection?

I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Email Protection?

We didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume. We would h...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Protection?

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

See all answers

What do you like most about Sophos Email?

The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?

The pricing is affordable, so I’d rate it around a four out of ten on the pricing scale. We pay about fifty pounds a ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos Email?

However, the setup was tricky, particularly with the DNS routing between Microsoft Exchange Online and Sophos cloud s...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proofpoint Email Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 7% of the time

Mimecast Email Security vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Business vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Competitors

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 27% of the time

Abnormal Security vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 6% of the time

Perception Point Advanced Email Security vs Barracuda Email Protection

Compared 3% of the time

More Barracuda Email Protection Competitors

Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Sophos Email

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiMail vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection vs Sophos Email

Compared 7% of the time

Perception Point Advanced Email Security vs Sophos Email

Compared 5% of the time

Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Sophos Email

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos Email Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

November 2024

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report

Download Microsoft Defender for Office 365 product report

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection

November 2024

Download Barracuda Email Protection product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Email

October 2024

Download Sophos Email product report

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365

Barracuda Essentials

Sophos Email Security

Learn More

Microsoft

Barracuda Networks

Video not available

Sophos

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

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.

Sophos Email is a comprehensive email security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats and data loss. It offers robust protection against malware, phishing attacks, and spam, ensuring that only legitimate emails reach users' inboxes.

With advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks in real-time. Additionally, it provides encryption and data loss prevention capabilities to safeguard sensitive information.

The solution is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized control. Sophos Email offers seamless integration with popular email platforms, ensuring uninterrupted communication while maintaining security.

With its comprehensive features and proactive approach, Sophos Email is a reliable choice for organizations looking to enhance their email security.

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.

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

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

October 2024

Free Report: Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email

Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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