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Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

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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
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers high ROI with cost savings, enhanced security, and increased productivity, driving widespread user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.5
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall boosts security and efficiency, reducing incidents and costs while enhancing monitoring and intrusion prevention.
Sentiment score
1.0
Users experienced cost reductions, improved security, enhanced performance, easier scalability, better threat protection, simplified management, and efficient resource utilization.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn 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
I have seen a return on investment as it helps to prevent cyber attacks and optimize network and user management.
Senior Data Engineer at Foodics
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
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate support is generally well-rated for responsiveness and expertise, though experiences vary by region and complexity.
Sentiment score
7.4
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's customer service is praised for responsiveness but criticized for varying response times and expertise.
Sentiment score
5.0
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers responsive and knowledgeable support, though occasional escalations might cause delays, with room for improvement.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
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 overall security has been satisfactory, with no breaches.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The technical support from Zscaler was excellent.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate effectively scales for diverse enterprises, despite occasional hardware limitations and complexities in adding new devices.
Sentiment score
7.7
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers scalable solutions for businesses, supporting diverse environments with flexible deployment and positive user feedback.
Sentiment score
5.3
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is scalable and easy to manage, praised for performance and user satisfaction across various regions.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
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
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
In this case, Twingate will be very easy compared to Zscaler.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is stable, with minor issues mostly resolved by updates, and users rate its stability highly.
Sentiment score
8.3
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is stable and reliable, with efficient issue resolution, praised for performance and integration ease.
Sentiment score
6.4
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is stable, reliable, and well-rated, with minor performance issues and redundancy minimizing outages.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
There were some stability issues due to occasional latency and lags, particularly with the GUI and report generation.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users face stability issues, high costs, complex interfaces, and desire improvements in support, integration, and features.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall requires improved UI, ease of use, support, reporting, security, performance, documentation, training, and pricing.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs improved features, better integration, enhanced support, wider coverage, affordable pricing, and a modernized interface.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
One area that could be enhanced is the user interface, making it slightly more intuitive for new users.
Offensive Security Analyst at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
For now, there is no dashboard or network management system available for Twingate.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
The reverse proxy feature for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is missing.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
I believe the integration of AI could improve the dashboard by making it more agile and effective in monitoring and predicting threats.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate is cost-effective and flexible compared to competitors, but may be expensive for small businesses.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers flexible, reasonably priced solutions with transparent licensing, hardware replacement, and easy purchase via AWS Marketplace.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is flexible yet expensive, valued for tiered packages, with prices affected by user count and features.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
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.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust security features, user-friendly interface, scalability, affordability, and centralized management, ideal for diverse applications.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers robust security, threat protection, and network optimization with features like TINA VPN and centralized management.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers advanced threat protection, simplified management, and seamless integration, enhancing security with flexible policy customization and traffic control.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
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
It is really customized, a security policy that can be applied to the users so they can access only the resources I enable them.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The biggest advantage of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is its consolidation of products.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
589
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
25th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (9th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (19th), IoT Security (6th), WAN Edge (10th)
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
37th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall0.7%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall0.8%
Other80.2%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
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.
Carlos Snel - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management
The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business364
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise190
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise12
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
My experience with pricing is that while the licensing cost can be reduced and is somewhat costly, the price is good ...
What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
There is room for improvement in terms of response time and first-level support quality. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall ...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that we purchased it to replace our current Cisco firewall tool. ...
Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?
Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
In terms of improvements for Zscaler Cloud Firewall, I think every product has needed enhancements over time, and cur...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.