Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Meraki SD-WAN comparison

The compared Barracuda Networks and Cisco solutions aren't in the same category. Barracuda Networks is ranked #27 in Firewalls , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 0.5% mindshare in the category. Cisco is ranked #1 in SDN , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 23.2% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Barracuda Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Barracuda CloudGen Firewall and Meraki SD-WAN based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls.

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Firewalls

April 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

Firewalls

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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RobertSmith15

Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami

Ensures data security with advanced intrusion prevention and 24/7 monitoring

I rate the initial setup as ten out of ten. It is straightforward to set up a CloudGen file, taking a couple of hours. Once we have the configuration agreed with the customer, the setup and onboarding are completed within a few hours. We receive the box from Barracuda or from our stores, pre-stage it into our network for initial configuration and Soak testing to ensure functionality. The customer can install it at their location, or we do it on their behalf. We run the firewall in simulation mode to observe traffic and ensure service transition is effective. After confirming functionality with the customer, we transition to a live service.

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Martyn Walker

Business development manager at Virgin Media

Enables productivity in terms of users and has ease of management

Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.

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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 main reason why I purchased the particular unit was that it had good reviews and what other people were saying as far as its completeness and its leading capabilities in terms of endpoint security was very good."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."

"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."

"It is easy to use and performs very well."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization, offering ease of management with no network disruptions; it works seamlessly."

"The features I find most useful in Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity of utilization, which is very important, and its provision of interfaces to see the alerts and other things."

"The Fortinet FortiGate local partners were good. I did not have direct contact with Fortinet support."

"This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Scalability is good; the company wants to be able to handle large customers."

"The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall include antivirus protection, anti-DDoS, and IPS."

"Its central management, especially when it comes to distributed environments, is great. I can generate and save a setting and then apply that setting across the network with just one click."

"It can now integrate with Barracuda's XDR."

"When you are sending information to an external email address, Barracuda can warn you when you are trying to access a private or personal email, or trying to upload information and not allow you to do that."

"I would most definitely recommend this solution to other people."

"They have a very responsive customer service and support team."

"Good identity fire walling, malware protection and application control features."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pros

"We have found the product to be quite scalable."

"The solution has many features available."

"What I found most valuable in Meraki SD-WAN is its simplicity. I also like its manageability."

"If there are multiple network connectivities in an organization, Meraki creates an AutoVPN. It creates a channel automatically."

"The solution is very stable."

"SD-WAN is a complete enterprise solution for securing traffic."

"Meraki SD-WAN is a very stable and scalable solution with good technical support."

"I'm not directly involved in SD-WAN monitoring and maintenance, but based on what I've heard from our infrastructure team, it's working well."

More Meraki SD-WAN pros

Cons

"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."

"One issue that I have had is that sometimes I need to monitor the traffic, so I need to filter it according to the user and which user is using it the most. I experience a bottleneck most of the time, particularly at the peak time when the number of contracts and users are at maximum."

"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."

"I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."

"With FortiGate, the main complaint that I have heard is about the technical support."

"The solution is very expensive."

"The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Sometimes we have a need for detailed reports. Barracuda NG Firewall does not have a reports module and uses a satellite application."

"The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others. It is a bit complicated and could be improved."

"When you do any commit, it locks your next access. If you are making a change to the device, from the security standpoint it's fine, but from the admin side it's not good. When you make changes, after each and every one it becomes locked."

"The technical manuals, at times, have images that don't match the actual screens and are not always as clear as they could be on the configuration."

"There could be improvements in licensing."

"Its interface could be better."

"If you have another brand of VPN where you have to put an SSL VPN between two devices, Barracuda doesn't support that at a certain point. You can't actually build the VPN between Barracuda and a different device of a different brand."

"We would like to see a solution that is focused on container deployment, which is very important right now."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall cons

"I would not recommend this tool to very large-scale organizations."

"Meraki SD-WAN could improve on the lead time, but this is not a problem only with Cisco. there's a global shortage of chipsets. Additionally, the solution has limited features. It's quite a standard product and not very easily upgradeable or stackable."

"The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more."

"The only area for improvement in Meraki SD-WAN is its licensing model, as well as its cost structure."

"The blocklist on the Cisco Meraki side isn't complete or very large. We'd like to see them update and expand this."

"From the vice perspective, they just are not as robust as some of the other vendors. They have limitations in throughput and the number of circuits that they can support on a wide area network. Their higher-end security is all cloud-based. They have some capability with the premise-based solutions, but the higher ends are all cloud-based, and that's via Cisco Umbrella."

"We have had some problems doing the implementation."

"Some systems use some applications with the wrong data application. It bypasses the network, and you need to block that application on Meraki. We first try to put in passwords to do it and the network is not really safe. It's not 100%, the network can be bypassed."

More Meraki SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I had to pay for the license for the firewall, but it is guaranteed to have updates. I expect a good service for it. It was about €1000 for a year, and there was no additional cost."

"The price is fine."

"While Fortinet FortiGate has a higher price point compared to Sophos XG, its user-friendly interface justifies the cost."

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."

"Easy to understand licensing requirements."

"The pricing is fair."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The 600 series is about USD $10,000 a year and the 80 is USD $400 a year."

"We pay around 150 to 200 Euros per year and there are no additional costs."

"It would be nice if the pricing and licensing offered for less."

"The solution costs more than 800 Euros to purchase an F18, which is an entry model, and then another 500 Euros for instant replacement, and 500 Euros for energized updates. The total package would be around 1,900 Euros for five years license and all updates for an entry model."

"It is a product with a very transparent model of licensing. In the sense of hidden expenses, they do not exist with this model. "

"The pricing is very cheap compared to Cisco ASA, which we used before, and compared to Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. Barracuda has different solutions for different people. So for my SMB-level infrastructure, Barracuda has given me a proper solution that is half of the price of Palo Alto or Fortinet."

"It's not the most expensive, but it's certainly not cheap."

"Pricing and licensing are fine. It's worth the value because every four years, if I buy any other product, I have to replace my hardware. But with Barracuda I get a free hardware upgrade. Today I'm using Xbox. After four years I can take another Xbox or a Ybox."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pricing and cost advice

"From the perspective of the customer, the price is not terribly cost-effective."

"If you purchase a Meeraki box, you have to purchase a license, and it's already the basic license, you will have you SD-WAN included."

"Any license you buy until January 2021 gets you an extra year for that purchase."

"The solution offers yearly licenses and product lines or prices are readily available on their website."

"Meraki solutions come with a choice of several different subscription options including one year, three years, five years, seven years, and ten years."

"The price of this solution is good, it is not expensive."

"I am not aware of the licensing fees."

"There are no licensing costs for the product subscription."

More Meraki SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

19%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

See all answers

What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The encryption and the security standards are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The license price of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is lower than others, and maintenance or support is included.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others. It is a bit complicated and could be ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Meraki SD-WAN?

The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with se...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki SD-WAN?

The price is a little bit higher than local vendors, for example, Huawei ZTE or H3C. However, some customers require ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki SD-WAN?

They have to ask us many questions about configurations. It could be improved with some automation to trigger, for ex...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

OPNsense vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall Competitors

Omada Cloud SDN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 21% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 21% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 15% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 14% of the time

Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

More Meraki SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

May 2025

Download Barracuda CloudGen Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki SD-WAN

May 2025

Download Meraki SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is a comprehensive network security solution that provides advanced protection for organizations of all sizes. It offers next-generation firewall capabilities, including application control, intrusion prevention, and web filtering.

With its integrated VPN functionality, it ensures secure remote access for employees. CloudGen Firewall also includes advanced threat intelligence, leveraging real-time updates to detect and block emerging threats. Its centralized management console simplifies administration and provides visibility into network traffic.

CloudGen Firewall can easily adapt to changing business needs based on its scalable architecture.

Barracuda Networks

Software-defined WAN is a new approach to network connectivity that lowers operational costs and improves resource usage for multi-site deployments, allowing network administrators to use bandwidth more efficiently and ensure the highest possible level of performance for critical applications without sacrificing security or data privacy. For more information on deploying and configuring SD-WAN on the Meraki MX Security Appliance, see the Meraki SD-WAN Deployment Guide.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

ARZ, Bauer, CBCX Technologies, Diamant-groep, Eissmann Group Automotive, European Youth Olympics, Exalo Drilling, FineLine Technologies, Geocell, Grimaldi, Infront Sports & Media, Odlo, Schenker Deutschland AG, Tilak, Verbandsgeneinde Zell, Conservas El Cidacos S.A., Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medicine Management, Erwin Muller GmbH, Info-Tech: NGF is Champion, Schoellerbank, IZB Informatik-Zentrum, RHI AG, Berglandmilch, Antenne Bayern, Sanochemia

École Jeannine Manuel

Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: April 2025.

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