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AppRiver Email Security vs Barracuda Email Protection 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

AppRiver Email Security
Ranking in Email Security
23rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Barracuda Email Protection
Ranking in Email Security
14th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd), Office 365 Protection (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of AppRiver Email Security is 1.0%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

John Zupancic - PeerSpot reviewer
Pricing that is competitive, excellent technical support, and email security
They do a better job of distinguishing between what's real and what's not than most of the other solutions we've tried. They are very easy to use. We don't have as many problems with email security. They have some areas that could be improved. For example, we also use Zix email Encryption for email encryption, which was clunky and could be improved, but the email security itself has been excellent.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They are very easy to use."
"It's easy to use and user-friendly. Users can also easily release spam emails."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."
"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."
"We check the reports sometimes to see that frequent attacks and malicious emails are being blocked by the solution."
"The solution's most valuable feature is impersonation detection."
"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."
"The solution is straightforward to set up."
"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."
"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."
 

Cons

"It needs to make sure that the application is up to date with new attacks. They should also send us the demo or introductions for their new incoming features."
"Email security checks contain a small number of false positives."
"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."
"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 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 policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."
"Barracuda Email Protection needs better reporting and more robust integration with security awareness training platforms and third-party solutions."
"The solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They're fairly inexpensive, but they're right in the ballpark of most of the other online products like that."
"I can rate it five out of ten because there are different platforms that also offer the same services for lower prices. But AppRiver is more flexible."
"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."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."
"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."
"The product is expensive."
"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."
"Price-wise, this product is middle-of-the-road."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Retailer
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AppRiver Email Security?
It's easy to use and user-friendly. Users can also easily release spam emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AppRiver Email Security?
I can rate it five out of ten because there are different platforms that also offer the same services for lower prices. But AppRiver is more flexible.
What needs improvement with AppRiver Email Security?
It needs to make sure that the application is up to date with new attacks. They should also send us the demo or introductions for their new incoming features.
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...
 

Also Known As

AppRiver Advanced Email Security
Barracuda Essentials
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

IHMC
ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about AppRiver Email Security vs. Barracuda Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.