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Barracuda Email Protection vs Varonis Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

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
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd), Security Incident Response (7th), Office 365 Protection (4th)
Varonis Platform
Ranking in Email Security
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (4th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (3rd), Data Governance (4th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd), Compliance Management (7th), Ransomware Protection (7th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (6th), Insider Risk Management (1st), AI Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Varonis Platform is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Barracuda Email Protection3.3%
Varonis Platform0.7%
Other96.0%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Sherif Fouad - PeerSpot reviewer
Group ICT Manager at a mining and metals company with 501-1,000 employees
Have raised concerns about scanning engines and automation while continuing to rely on layered protection strategies
Incident response is something that requires more development from Barracuda's side. Regarding room for improvement for Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response, for the product, developing or improving the scanning engine is important, but it's a bit tricky. I know that they are working on it heavily. The difference between Barracuda and Sophos is Sophos focused heavily on cybersecurity while Barracuda tried to increase their product portfolio. Sometimes, in some cases, this might end up with their teams being unfocused or a bit thin and stretched and super busy. However, there is room for improvement. The product is great. The teams that are supporting are great. But there is always room for improvement. Even if you have a product that you would give a rating of 10 out of 10, there is always room for improvement. The day we stop improving is the day we die. Regarding the scanning engine, Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response has a very good feature where you can create automated flows for how to handle specific emails that are detected as incidents. This needs a bit of an improvement. That's the only component of Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response that I believe requires improvement.
SureshKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at Satcom Infotech Pvt Ltd
Has improved data visibility and protection while enabling automated compliance monitoring
Varonis Platform offers multiple features for data protection, such as data discovery and classification. We can identify, discover, and classify sensitive data effectively, which is crucial given the DPDP law in India and GDPR. The platform also excels in access and exposure tracking, enabling us to monitor users, permissions, and reduce access to sensitive files. Additionally, it includes UEBA for behavior analytics and threat detection, making it valuable for compliance and audit readiness. Varonis Platform has helped our organization primarily for DPDP compliance, although I currently don't have a specific example related to GDPR or HIPAA. A unique feature of Varonis Platform that stands out to me is that, in the current market, it is one of the best data classification solutions available. Compared to others such as Forcepoint, Varonis Platform is agent-based and AI-driven for detection and response, identifying data based on its content and context, and it includes automated remediation and lifecycle automation, making it a leading product in the market.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I'm quite satisfied with the graphical user interface for Barracuda products."
"The solution's most valuable feature is impersonation detection."
"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."
"At the moment, I am working with Sophos Cloud, Sophos Intercept X; when they introduced the XDR, we used it, and then when they introduced the Optix, we used it, and then we upgraded our subscription with them to MDR, so we are now utilizing Sophos Cloud Central MDR."
"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."
"The solution is straightforward to set up."
"The beauty of Barracuda Email Protection is that it is easy to manage and simple to deploy."
"Barracuda email protection is stable. I would give it a nine because of its strong cybersecurity features."
"On the Varonis side, technical support is phenomenal. Their ability to explain is very good, and they seem to be very knowledgeable. When I get an alert that doesn't quite make sense, they dive in there and kind of take me through it. That's very useful and very good. There are some false alerts, but it is better to have a false alert than no alert at all."
"Varonis Platform support has been amazing throughout every step that we have taken with them."
"Technical support from Varonis is rated as nine out of ten."
"In my experience, the best features that Varonis Platform offers are data labeling, data classification, along with all the integrations and its easy-to-use platform."
"I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."
"The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand what's happening in our environment."
"There's also a 90-day policy where if a user is not using the warehouse, it will automatically delete that username."
"Varonis offers robust data access governance, allowing us to understand which sensitive data exists and who has access to it."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, in some cases, this might end up with their teams being unfocused or a bit thin and stretched and super busy."
"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 solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in reaching out to technical support during deployment."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"The policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."
"Barracuda Essentials can improve by continually adding more features."
"The product must enable bulk user management."
"While Varonis Platform is powerful, the initial data scanning and indexing can take significant time in large environments."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"Be prepared that when you implement the product, you will have to tune it as you go."
"The remediation process can be improved. There will be no existing permission group for the McAfee channel domains. We can create a new permissions group for the required folder."
"It would be beneficial if the reporting in Varonis Platform could use PDFs instead of Excel for better graphs, as the dashboards are really good, and it would be nice to have simplified dashboards in PDF for business reporting purposes."
"I would like it to have cloud integration."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"We have Microsoft Office 365. I just saw an article today which says that they're actually getting integrated with Microsoft Office 365, which would be a useful feature. For user-based reports, log on activity, and stuff like that, it doesn't seem to really be present like Log360. That could just be my inexperience with it. I've been dealing with it for only about two and a half months."
 

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 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."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers to easily buy the solution."
"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."
"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
"Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."
"You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise12
 

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 Varonis Platform?
The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...
What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
While Varonis Platform is powerful, the initial data scanning and indexing can take significant time in large environments. However, this is not an issue in mid-level organizations. I suggest enhan...
What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
My main use case for Varonis Platform is for data classification on the user's machine, specifically for data visibility and protection. A quick, specific example of how I use Varonis Platform for ...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials, Barracuda Forensics and Incident Response
SlashNext Complete
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems
Nottingham Building Society
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Protection vs. Varonis Platform and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.