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Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Netgate pfSense comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall boosts security and efficiency with automation, free upgrades, centralized management, and improved connectivity.
Sentiment score
5.9
Netgate pfSense provides significant ROI with cost-effectiveness, eliminating license fees, ideal for small to mid-sized companies replacing costly systems.
The centralized management and automation features have reduced manual monitoring efforts, saving our IT team several hours per week.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
It has drastically reduced the amount of infections from cybersecurity threats and makes managing close to 50 clients or more for our engineers much easier, hence saving a lot of time and cost.
Dotnet Developer at Kohl's
Since using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, the security incidents have decreased significantly by approximately 25 to 35 percent across our global network.
Security Lead at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's very favorable to have the inclusion of firewall, VPN, and router functionalities.
Owner at SimpleIT
The total cost of ownership is extremely low when you compare it to a lot of the other devices or other gateway appliances that are available on the market.
Operations Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
There's a significant return on investment.
IT Manager at a marketing services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall support is generally satisfactory, with varying quality and responsiveness, particularly between different support tiers.
Sentiment score
7.8
Netgate pfSense receives praise for effective support, though some users experience slow responses; forums often suffice for troubleshooting.
The support team is responsive and knowledgeable, assisting us promptly whenever we have faced configuration questions or technical issues.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Barracuda's partner support is better than the majority, and it stands out as one of their strengths.
Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami
Whenever I faced any issues and searched the knowledge base, I found many solutions in place.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The support is knowledgeable and responds quickly, so the questions are addressed professionally and accurately.
Senior Project Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1-10 employees
Snort requires you to pay extra for that help. It's a third-party plugin for pfSense.
Owner at Studio JB
When we're down, that's $8000 an hour on a $1500 firewall.
Chief information security officer at Center for Information Management, Inc.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers scalable solutions for businesses, supporting seamless growth and flexible deployment across various environments.
Sentiment score
6.6
Netgate pfSense is highly scalable for SMBs, supporting high user counts and complex configurations depending on hardware choices.
Its flexible licensing and hybrid deployment options allow it to adapt to evolving network requirements, ensuring continuous security and reliable operations.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Regarding scalability and the ability to scale and expand with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there is no issue, so I would rate it a ten.
IT Director at a retailer with 51-200 employees
I can handle growth and larger workloads easily with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Even with a jump from a 50 megabit to a 500 megabit internet connection and approximately 65 active VPN clients, our firewall operates smoothly without any strain.
IT Manager at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
pfSense is almost infinitely scalable.
Owner at Xcelitek, LLC
The next step up now is to the 4100, which gives you an additional preconfigured WAN port that allows you to easily separate networks.
CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is praised for stability, reliability in critical environments, and improved connectivity with newer versions.
Sentiment score
7.1
Netgate pfSense is highly stable, with users attributing minimal issues to hardware rather than the firewall, ensuring reliable performance.
Its robust infrastructure and real-time monitoring give us the confidence that our network remains secure and operational at all times.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
We have very few issues with Barracuda Firewall, even in the case of zero-day vulnerabilities.
Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami
In my experience, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has been reliable and very high performing.
Software Engineer at Ernst & Young
I've noticed a substantial improvement in stability and ease of use for upgrades and patching over the past year or two.
Technical Sales Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
When I replace consumer routers with pfSense for small businesses with two or three employees, they are often amazed to discover the router can run for a year without a reboot.
Partner and Owner at Free Range Geeks
Netgate pfSense rates a 10 for stability, and I have experienced no issues there.
Workday Reporting & Analytics Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall requires interface improvements, better integration, performance enhancements, pricing refinement, and enhanced training resources for users.
Netgate pfSense requires better centralized management, an updated user interface, improved security integrations, and enhanced documentation for ease of use.
Integration with AI would be helpful as modern attacks often utilize AI.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
It would be beneficial to merge the existing application policy with the main policy into a single unified policy to improve manageability.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
AI can help us enhance our cybersecurity posture, but at the same time, it can be a nightmare that brings attackers. We need to use caution while enabling any AI-driven features.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Netgate pfSense is extremely feature-rich for our specific use scenarios.
Systems Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Having a reseller portal of some kind that allows us to easily remotely access all the different pfSense gateways that we have out there (like Meraki does with their equipment) would be ideal.
Operations Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I need to speak to someone immediately.
Owner at GroupGates, LLC
 

Setup Cost

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers competitive pricing with flexible subscriptions, free upgrades, and cost-effective features appealing to enterprises.
Netgate pfSense is affordable, offering open-source and paid versions with robust features and competitive hardware pricing.
Our experience with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pricing and licensing has been reasonable and transparent.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
The license price of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is lower than others, and maintenance or support is included.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
It is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive option available.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
It also offers a free community version that can't be beaten.
Owner at Shaffer Consulting
The cost of the 3500 was closer to $4,000.
CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.
The total cost of ownership is so low because the license and the hardware are remarkably good.
Senior Project Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers centralized control, SD-WAN, advanced protection, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and user-friendly design for efficient security.
Netgate pfSense offers reliable VPN and firewall features, user-friendly management, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and strong community support.
This integration helps secure our data and applications from attackers trying to gain access and detect malicious activity.
Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami
The real-time monitoring helps us quickly identify unusual traffic patterns and potential threats, allowing us to respond immediately and maintain secure and uninterrupted network operations.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has positively impacted my organization by increasing the level of network protection against threats from twenty percent to forty-five percent.
Software Engineer at Ernst & Young
pfSense's flexibility is great. If you don't have the money to buy the NetGate hardware, anything works with it. You can toss it on any low-end piece of hardware or virtualize it if you choose to virtualize it.
Senior Network Administrator at Elite Computers
In contrast, pfSense has a graphical user interface, which makes it all very straightforward and easy to use to set up some pretty sophisticated routing scenarios.
Owner at Studio JB
Netgate pfSense provides 100 percent visibility, enabling my organization to make data-driven decisions.
Systems Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (7th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (14th), IoT Security (6th), WAN Edge (6th)
Netgate pfSense
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
221
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 7.7%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netgate pfSense7.7%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall1.0%
Other91.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Jennifer  Bernice - PeerSpot reviewer
Dotnet Developer at Kohl's
Centralized firewall management has saved time and improved network security across locations
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall could be improved as it has a very high learning curve. It is definitely not a one and done firewall, as a one and done firewall requires a lot of dedicated time to get the machine running the way you want. To improve Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there should be a lot of tutorials and videos online to help new users. Multiple ways to configure for the same service or feature takes time to determine your customized build. In addition to previous points, the interface can sometimes be clunky when trying to determine how it is organized or arranged.
JA
Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control
What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business171
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
Although I am not directly involved in that particular segment, from what I understood from the pricing information, it is a very cost-effective solution compared with other well-known firewall ven...
What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
When I consider what I dislike about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there are a lot of competitors in the market. Next-gen firewalls offer a lot of capabilities. From a capability standpoint, competi...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
I use Barracuda CloudGen Firewall for multiple functionalities. One function is an email security gateway. It also acts for network security protection, network security and threat protection, whic...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I recommend PFSense. This software solutions can be installed on youf own hardware or ...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigate both cost-effective and efficient. One of the features we like most is that Fo...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and client, Open VPN and client, and PPTP client. Both also have intrusion detection a...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Netgate pfSense and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
904,146 professionals have used our research since 2012.