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Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Proofpoint Email Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.9
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall provides network protection with minimal upkeep, proactive threat blocking, centralized management, and cost-effective upgrades.
Sentiment score
6.5
Proofpoint Email Protection effectively reduced threats and costs, excelling in phishing defense, leading to significant efficiency improvements.
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
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's support is praised for availability but criticized for inconsistency and complex interfaces needing frequent help.
Sentiment score
7.1
Proofpoint Email Protection's customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some report slow responses or portal issues.
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
The technical support from Barracuda is very good.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
I am familiar with the granular policy control feature of Proofpoint Email Protection, and I find their support excellent for modifying those policies.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall efficiently scales for various deployments, offering flexibility and cloud features, though may lack some advanced features.
Sentiment score
7.5
Proofpoint Email Protection excels in adaptability and scalability, serving both small and large enterprises with ease and flexibility.
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
When positioning into customers, some larger enterprise customers tend to move towards one of the top three: either Cisco, Fortinet, or Palo Alto.
Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is praised for reliability, stability, minimal downtime, and effective technical support despite occasional bugs.
Sentiment score
8.2
Users rate Proofpoint Email Protection highly for reliability and performance, with minor UI challenges and rare stability issues.
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
Version 8.0 had issues, but the newer version 9.0 seems to have improved performance regarding these issues.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall needs improvements in GUI, VPN reliability, analytics, email categorization, support, and user-friendliness for better usability.
Proofpoint Email Protection struggles with setup complexity, feature enhancements, pricing issues, and requires improved support and interface design.
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.
Having more step-by-step tutorials or video guidance could help new users set up and optimize.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
More security could be implemented.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
I believe they still need to improve by consolidating some portals, as currently, you have to log in separately to a few of them.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers reasonable pricing with a flexible, competitive model, plus perks like free hardware upgrades and easy purchasing.
Proofpoint Email Protection is considered costly, with pricing starting at $8 per user and varying by features.
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
It is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive option available.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
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
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Products and solutions director at ITVikings
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall provides robust security, user-friendly management, and enhanced performance with features like VPN, TINA tunnels, and threat protection.
Proofpoint Email Protection offers advanced threat defense, user-friendly interface, and seamless Office 365 integration for comprehensive email security.
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
The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are its next-generation capabilities such as URL filtering and application control.
System Engineer for Network & Security at Projekt IP d.o.o.
The most beneficial feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is mostly spam filtering; it was very efficient, and we were very happy with the functionality as only relevant emails were allowed for mailboxes.
Manager, IT Director at Cakmak Avukatlik Ortakligi
I appreciate that it's the industry leader, and its firewalling is very easy to manage and implement.
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
Logistics Manager at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
24th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (34th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (14th), IoT Security (7th), WAN Edge (13th)
Proofpoint Email Protection
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (3rd), Digital Risk Protection (3rd), Office 365 Protection (2nd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 1.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 7.1%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Proofpoint Email Protection7.1%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall1.6%
Other91.3%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Talha Bashir - PeerSpot reviewer
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Centralized security management has protected our hybrid network and supports secure remote work
Overall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very effective, but there is always room for improvement. One area that could be enhanced is the user interface, making it slightly more intuitive for new users. Additionally, advanced reporting and analytics could be more customized to provide deeper insights. Despite this, the firewall performs reliably and meets most of our organizational needs. One additional improvement that could enhance the experience is faster troubleshooting support or more detailed guided documentation for complex configurations. While the firewall is reliable, having more step-by-step tutorials or video guidance could help new users set up and optimize. Overall, the enhancement would make the platform even more user-friendly without affecting its current strong performance.
reviewer2500410 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Has provided reliable threat detection and simplified policy management
I do not have experience with Microsoft Purview products, but I know some Proofpoint products. I apologize, I do not have experience with the Purview one, but I do know the Proofpoint products. I'm not sure about the features of the Purview one. Compared to other products, Proofpoint's real-time threat intelligence makes it less noisy. They collect and share threat information effectively, which benefits all customers. I have seen a lot of improvements in Proofpoint's reporting and analytics compared to earlier days. As a leader in the market, I find the pricing for Proofpoint Email Protection is a little high. Their licensing models vary, and even the premium model adequately supports awareness campaigning, so I find it acceptable. Normally, they sell their products through resellers, not directly through AWS Marketplace. For us, we are clients of Proofpoint. I rate Proofpoint Email Protection a nine out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
Our experience with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pricing and licensing has been reasonable and transparent. The setup cost was aligned with the features and security it provided. The licensing is fl...
What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
Overall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is very effective, but there is always room for improvement. One area that could be enhanced is the user interface, making it slightly more intuitive for new us...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is for our network security and network traffic management. I rely on it most often for protecting the networks from threats and ensuring secure con...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of pricing, it is okay compared to others. I would say it is normal. Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
I believe they still need to improve by consolidating some portals, as currently, you have to log in separately to a few of them.
 

Also Known As

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

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
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Proofpoint Email Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.