Barracuda Email Protection vs Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection comparison

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection

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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

Microsoft Defender for Offi...

Featured Reviews

Tolu Omolaja

Head of Department of Network Communications at Eko electricity

Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis

The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

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LeeMiles

Director, Information Technology at St Albans High School For Girls

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.

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Asif Usmani

Regional Sales Manager at S2

A stable product that provides security and control over spam and phishing emails

I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails. I can monitor and manage it from Hornetsecurity’s console. The live tracking system is valuable. We can track every incoming and outgoing email live. We can decide whether to block, release, or quarantine emails. We can also review the emails before releasing them. The product provides 99.9% coverage for email security.

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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

"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."

"The basic features are okay and I'm satisfied with the Defender."

"The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."

"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."

"The most valuable feature is protection against malicious links, fishing, and impersonation. You can train people to be aware of these threats, but they're not always careful. When they're using their phones between meetings, they click on a link, and it's game over."

"One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."

"The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros

"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."

"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."

"When we got the service, it included the email archiver with unlimited storage."

"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."

"The most valuable features are security and ease of use."

"The archiving and search features are very good."

"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."

"The best feature of Barracuda Email Protection is that it provides protection for Microsoft 365."

More Barracuda Email Protection pros

"I have a lot of control over spam and phishing emails."

"Backup and restore are precious features."

"Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution."

"The best part is, I rarely have to access the portal as everything is set up and tweaked the way I wanted it. But the feature set is incredibly granular and allows for deep levels of customization."

Cons

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could improve by giving customers information on techniques to prevent threats. For example, information about best practices on how to protect their own devices against hackers and scammers, such as educational information or training. This would help others have a better understanding of cyber security. Additionally, there can be more security features added."

"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."

"I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's Mac functionality requires improvement to deliver the same level of protection found on Windows devices."

"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."

"Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published."

"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."

"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 cons

"The solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."

"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."

"Two to three months back, we got fraudulent emails in which someone in the organization was being blamed."

"Barracuda Essentials can improve by continually adding more features."

"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 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."

"The platform's pricing needs improvement."

"The policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."

More Barracuda Email Protection cons

"A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement."

"I guess I would say maybe quick access to training material for end-users. I know partners have access to this but I as an end-user do not have immediate access to new update information."

"The pricing is a little high compared to other products."

"The solution’s pricing is not reasonable."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a user-base subscription."

"While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment."

"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."

"The pricing has become expensive."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."

"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."

"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing and cost advice

"Barracuda licensing model is good."

"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."

"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."

"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."

"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."

"We didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume."

"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."

More Barracuda Email Protection pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

18%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

24%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 ( /products/office-365-reviews ) suite, making it slightly more expensive ...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?

The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process. There are many conditions to be ...

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 t...

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 ...

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 defa...

What do you like most about Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection is an easy-to-use solution.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

The pricing is acceptable and falls into the medium range, neither cheap nor overly expensive.

What needs improvement with Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection?

A reduction of 10% in pricing can be an improvement.

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

Download Microsoft Defender for Office 365 product report

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 report

Barracuda Email Protection

Download Barracuda Email Protection product report

Download Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection product report

Office 365 Protection

March 2025

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection report

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365

Barracuda Essentials

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

Microsoft

The popularity of Microsoft 365 means criminals test and design their attacks to bypass its native security features. And that means you need additional layers of defense. With Advanced Threat Protection enabled, Barracuda uses multiple layers of detection, including signature, static, and behavioral analysis, along with CPU-emulation sandboxing to accurately detect and block zero-hour targeted attacks and ransomware.

Traditional email gateways use static rules and policies—reputation analysis, block lists, and malicious payloads—to determine if an email is malicious.

Barracuda protects your Microsoft 365 inbox against evasive threats with a powerful AI engine that learns the unique communication patterns within your organization through access to internal and historical emails. Once it understands what legitimate emails looks like for each user, it can detect anomalies that signal malicious intent. This context-based detection is more effective at blocking targeted attacks, which are designed to bypass traditional rule-based email security.

Barracuda Networks

365 Total Protection from Hornetsecurity offers comprehensive protection for Microsoft cloud services – specially developed for Microsoft 365 and seamlessly integrated to provide comprehensive protection for Microsoft cloud services. Easy to set up and extremely intuitive to use, 365 Total Protection simplifies your IT Security management from the very start.

With 365 Total Protection, we offer you two comprehensive packages for your Company Security Management in connection with Microsoft 365. Find the right security version to suit the individual needs of your company with our detailed overview. 365 Total Protection Business offers you a comprehensive security solution with a variety of features that ensure the protection of your email and complete data security for Microsoft 365.

Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection fits any M365 plan. Secure your email communication now.

Hornetsecurity

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.

ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems

concordia, fraunhofer, mazars

Barracuda Email Protection vs. Hornetsecurity 365 Total Protection