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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
15th
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
7.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 2.1%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Ahmed_Fahmy - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a powerful and simple email protection with proven management benefits
Sophos Email is integrated with Office 365 and Google Workspace. It offers anti-spam functionality, which is easy to manage and comes with documentation on how to integrate it with Office 365 and Google Workspace. It provides a defense layer for email protection, scanning every incoming and outbound email for malware and spam. It can also function temporarily as an email solution if my vendor from Office 365 or Google Workspace is out of service.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We now have a secondary backup of Office 365 that's much easier to retrieve compared to Microsoft. If someone deletes something in Office 365, we can get it back within Office 365, but it's difficult. Barracuda is much easier. There is a lot less management needed using Barracuda. The management becomes much easier for Office 365 and it's no longer on-prem, so there are fewer hours managing on-prem devices, servers, and things of that nature. We don't have network appliances anymore for the backup of our information."
"The archiving and search features are very good."
"The most valuable aspect includes attempts to spoof or compromise domains from external sources."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."
"Barracuda email protection is stable. I would give it a nine because of its strong cybersecurity features."
"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."
"The product is easy to deploy and maintain."
"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."
"The speed and stability were fine."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"Sophos Email provides both inbound and outbound filtering."
"The feature of Sophos Email that we find most effective for detecting suspicious emails is primarily based on their signatures."
"I would recommend Sophos Email to both end-users and other entities that want to protect their emails."
"The most significant aspect is the response filtering concerning attachments and links."
"The anti-spam functionality of Sophos Email is good."
"It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface."
 

Cons

"The product must enable bulk user management."
"They could simplify the licensing and the pricing."
"Sometimes it is somewhat laggy, especially on the Archiver side. It should have improved performance on their Message Archiver."
"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 policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"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."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
"Sophos Email can improve mail security."
"Servicing and support are areas with shortcomings where the solution needs to improve."
"I would like to see improvements in the initial setup process, ensuring better compatibility with diverse customer infrastructures."
"Sophos Email needs to increase the number of promos."
"Sophos Email does not work with split delivery. If I have a domain with 100 mailboxes and want to protect only 50, it is not recommended by Sophos or not possible to configure."
"Email installation could be more user-friendly so that it can be done without involving the partner."
"The tool’s stability should be improved."
"The main drawback is regarding the technical support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."
"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."
"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."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"The price is similar to that of Microsoft 365."
"The solution is expensive."
"It falls somewhere in the middle—it's not excessively expensive nor very cheap."
"Sophos Email is a little expensive for us, but it's necessary. We have a subscription and renew it every three years."
"The pricing is quite reasonable, with a fixed cost and no additional charges."
"I would rate the pricing of Sophos Email as a six. It is considered affordable as a standalone product, and there are no additional costs besides licensing. The pricing is fixed."
"We use exchange licenses, for which we get immediate support from Sophos."
"There is an additional fee for their central managed console."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
Sophos Email pricing is a bit high, especially since I purchase through a partner, and they sell it at a higher price since they also seek to make a profit.
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
Sophos Email does not work with split delivery. If I have a domain with 100 mailboxes and want to protect only 50, it is not recommended by Sophos or not possible to configure.
 

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: July 2025.
861,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.