Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs NetScaler comparison

Barracuda Load Balancer ADC

Read 107 NetScaler reviews

7,835 Views
6,425 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Barracuda Load Balancer ADC and NetScaler compete in the load balancing market. NetScaler has the upper hand with its extensive features, making it preferable for those prioritizing functionality.

Features: Barracuda Load Balancer ADC provides an intuitive management interface, application security, and server load balancing, offering straightforward functionality. NetScaler comes with advanced traffic management, application acceleration, and integrated analytics, making it a stronger option for those looking for enhanced performance capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Barracuda Load Balancer ADC is recognized for its straightforward deployment and efficient customer service, aiding in quick setup and troubleshooting. NetScaler, with potentially more complexity in its initial setup due to its extensive features, is backed by robust customer service, ensuring smooth transition and management.

Pricing and ROI: Barracuda Load Balancer ADC often has lower initial setup costs, offering a cost-effective solution with respectable ROI, appealing to budget-conscious buyers. NetScaler requires a higher upfront investment but provides significant ROI through its capabilities and long-term benefits, justifying its expense for feature-rich needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: July 2025).

Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs. NetScaler

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 860,825 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 Load Balancer ADC

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetScaler

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (5th), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Load Balancer ADC is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 14.6%, down from 16.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Featured Reviews

Roni Wijaya

Vice President of It Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

A simple and powerful solution with WAF feature

The solution is simple and powerful. I find the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC's load balancing function most valuable. It balances the traffic well. The security features, like the Web Application Firewall, are also very helpful. I use the SSL offloading feature too. It's very helpful because it prevents overload. Our application runs on HTTP, but we upload HTTPS on the load balancer. This means there are no performance issues. I think it's very helpful.

Read full review

DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is simple and powerful. I find the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC's load balancing function most valuable. It balances the traffic well. The security features, like the Web Application Firewall, are also very helpful."

"Barracuda's technical support is good - whenever we have an issue, they immediately connect and resolve it."

"The most useful features in Barracuda Load Balancer are its security capabilities, load balancing efficiency, and scalability."

"I would rate the stability of Barracuda Load Balancer as a ten out of ten; it has high stability."

"The price is very good, and it's not very expensive."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is its load balancing."

"Provides resiliency for applications that reside on servers, as well as connectivity to remote applications."

"Citrix Netscaler makes it easy to provide services to end users, offering better visibility into user sessions compared to VMware. However, instability in network or machine can cause headaches as it's hard to pinpoint issues. SSL offload feature enhances security posture by providing secure connectivity between end users and backend systems. We use additional Azure remote security solutions for comprehensive protection."

"One of its most valuable features is fundamental load balancing, supporting both basic load balancing and database teams."

"High availability, performance, and security are the main pillars. It enhances the security for accessing the applications."

"It is the best product out there."

"The solution is very stable."

"The web application firewall is one feature I found valuable in the solution."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"Load Balancer ADC is competitively priced, but it's not feature-rich, and its technology is not that advanced."

"There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic."

"The Barracuda Load Balancer ADC could be improved with more customization features. For example, F5 uses iRules for custom configurations. I haven't found something similar in Barracuda yet. The load balancer and WAF's basic and common features are enough, but we need more customization options."

"The quality of the solution's performance could be improved."

"There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic."

"Citrix should offer a demo or free-trial version of NetScaler. Several other vendors do, but Citrix does not. Pricing should also be more readily available."

"There are certain features that are very useful and Citrix makes you pay a bit more for them."

"There are some drawbacks, such as using EUG for specific configurations. It could be improved."

"The tool needs to add a feature where we can access the network policy access manager."

"I will try to migrate all the tools to the cloud because there is more lab and more VPN scalability available in the cloud. It is not available on-premises."

"I would like to see them make it easier to do some of the more complex things. For example, a web re-direct requires two pieces to it. You have two ports and when people want to go to a web page, they just type in the webpage that on the backend it will redirect them to a secure link. The initial setup of that is cumbersome because you have to do it twice. There are things that can be replicated. The IP address, for example, is the same. This change would go a long way. Don't make me do it twice and don't make me have to read tons of documentation to figure out how to do it. Ease of configuration for some of the more complex processes would be a good improvement."

"Currently, the support team's responsiveness is lacking, and the technical personnel on calls often seem unfamiliar with the issues or inadequately trained."

"Citrix should improve the documentation. It is not really clear how to set up many features to our advantage. When we setup Citrix NetScaler ADC, we have to figure it out by ourselves without a lot of documentation."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."

"Load Balancer ADC is cost-effective and is about half the price of F5."

"After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive."

"It is an enterprise solution. Thus, its costs are reasonable."

"F5 BIG-IP is much more expensive than Citrix ADC. For example, If we choose two platforms, Citrix ADC, 3000 version, and we choose F5, F4200 version. F5 BIG-IP has connections, timers, and throughput similar to Citrix ADC, but the price is very expensive."

"Licensing is adequate. I wanted to have a more prominent license, but until I do they don't give enough support. The additional cost would be too much."

"There isn't much of a difference between the cost of Citrix and that of other similar solutions."

"The licenses for this product are payable as a yearly subscription, and carry a high price-point. The subscription scheme is quite complicated, and costs will increase with each additional feature that is required, outside of the basic setup."

"The pricing could be lower."

"We are quite happy with price. It's not too high."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Retailer

Educational Organization

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?

Pricing for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC can be a consideration. However, it offers good value with its cost-saving benefits and efficient operation, balancing the initial financial outlay.

What needs improvement with Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?

There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic. Also, more could be done to enhance the initial setup, as it can be c...

What is your primary use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?

The typical use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC involves managing and distributing network traffic efficiently to maintain system performance. Clients use Barracuda Load Balancer ADC for its a...

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Barracuda Load Balancer ADC

Comparisons

Compared 28% of the time

Kemp LoadMaster vs Barracuda Load Balancer ADC

Compared 12% of the time

HAProxy vs Barracuda Load Balancer ADC

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs Barracuda Load Balancer ADC

Compared 9% of the time

More Barracuda Load Balancer ADC Competitors

HAProxy vs NetScaler

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs NetScaler

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

Compared 9% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs NetScaler

Compared 8% of the time

Imperva Web Application Firewall vs NetScaler

Compared 2% of the time

More NetScaler Competitors

Product Reports

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

June 2025

Download Barracuda Load Balancer ADC product report

Download NetScaler product report

June 2025

Also Known As

Barracuda Load Balancer

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

Overview

Barracuda Load Balancer is ideal for organizations looking for a high-performance, yet cost-effective application delivery and security solution. With the broadest range of hardware and virtual models, Barracuda Load Balancer provides maximum flexibility for organizations looking to build highly secure and scalable application infrastructure, whether it's deployed on-premises or in the cloud.

Barracuda Networks

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

Sample Customers

Fenwal Blood Technologies

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk