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Barracuda Email Protection vs Sophos Email comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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

Barracuda Email Protection
Ranking in Email Security
14th
Ranking in Office 365 Protection
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd)
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
10th
Ranking in Office 365 Protection
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sophos Email2.2%
Barracuda Email Protection3.1%
Other94.7%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

LeeMiles - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
BhanuPrakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Achieving Seamless Email Security and Encryption while Managing Temporary Email Storage Limits
We continue to use Sophos products and remain with the company. For firewall protection, we use XGS systems. We have provided Sophos Email Gateway for one of our clients. We have integrated Sophos Email with our internal email server, using it for both outbound and inbound traffic. Integration with Office 365 protection for Sophos Email Security works smoothly without any challenges. The solution is totally cloud-based. I recommend Sophos Email for mid-sized companies as it is a good option, though it may not be ideal for large-scale or small businesses. I have not tried incorporating AI technology with Sophos Email yet. I am Bhanu Prakash, Technical Head for Systek Services, and can be reached at b.hanu@teamsistek.com. I am a partner with Sophos. Overall rating for Sophos Email: 10/10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are security and ease of use."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Essentials are it's a trusted name and is rated very high on review sites. It blocks high percentages of spam and junk email and it's in the cloud. They have hardware appliances, but this is in the cloud. The solution is very effective at blocking malware and blocking spam and this is what we are looking for. There's not a whole lot of complexity, you want a solution that is very good at blocking out all of the unwanted emails."
"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."
"We check the reports sometimes to see that frequent attacks and malicious emails are being blocked by the solution."
"The best feature of Barracuda Email Protection is that it provides protection for Microsoft 365."
"The archiving and search features are very good."
"I would rate the solution nine out of ten."
"The anti-spam functionality of Sophos Email is good."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos Email is the sandbox. We're able to scan the file, isolate it, and look at it before it is delivered. It is highly effective."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
"Endpoint and server protection are very effective."
"I found the user interface friendly."
"When you say email security, it's about everything, incoming email, outgoing email, spam, phishing emails, unwanted marketing emails. You can set rules, but the main feature of Sophos Email is to make sure you don't get hacked. 95% of people who are hacked do not get hacked by typing the router password. They are hacked from the inside out, which means they send you a document that is a zero-day attack, you open it, nothing happens, but technically the attack is running in the background of your computer. This is how they gain access to your PC."
"Sophos Email is a stable solution."
"The solution protects users from phishing links and spam."
 

Cons

"I would like to see some additional functionality in terms of employee monitoring, as part of a work-from-home security solution."
"The policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."
"Two to three months back, we got fraudulent emails in which someone in the organization was being blamed."
"Barracuda Email Protection needs better reporting and more robust integration with security awareness training platforms and third-party solutions."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in reaching out to technical support during deployment."
"The product must enable bulk user management."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
"The solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."
"The product could include all the essential features and capabilities, similar to the on-premise, server-based version."
"It was sometimes hard to find the settings in the solution's interface."
"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."
"The solution's sandboxing and spam control features could be improved."
"The tool has some performance issues and bugs, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak."
"The security of the solution could improve."
"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Barracuda licensing model is good."
"Price-wise, this product is middle-of-the-road."
"The product is expensive."
"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."
"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."
"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."
"The pricing is fair."
"It is an expensive solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing a seven."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."
"Most of our clients are on a perpetual license. If there is a budget issue, they can choose a subscription. However, most of the clients choose the perpetual license."
"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."
"The pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

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 tool.
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 a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers t...
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 default included in certain settings. For instance, for email quarantine, I can't se...
What do you like most about Sophos Email?
The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?
Regarding Sophos Email pricing, I would rate it between six or seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
While Sophos Email is generally sufficient, one challenge we face is the 24-hour email storage limitation. This presents an issue when internal systems are down for more than 24 hours. The solution...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials
Sophos Email Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Protection vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
866,218 professionals have used our research since 2012.