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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Cisco Secure Email vs IceWarp comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Barracuda Email Security Gateway9.0%
Proofpoint Email Protection21.1%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36519.9%
Other50.0%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
Email Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Email5.2%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3658.8%
Proofpoint Email Protection8.1%
Other77.9%
Email Security
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IceWarp4.9%
Google Workspace14.7%
Microsoft Exchange Online10.6%
Other69.8%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

MM
Graduate Student at ain shams
Secures email by identifying threats and managing email policies effectively
The intuitive management interface feature makes email security policies very easy to implement as it's all about features that need to be enabled or disabled. Our investigation in any incident or mail is very useful as it provides all details about incoming mails, enabling thorough review and detection. The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails. The Impersonation license utilizes AI tools. Sometimes some phishing mails are reported as phishing, but they are not actually phishing mails. They are detected due to certain words and languages that appear suspicious but were generated by AI tools. Everyone or an advisor may use it for their own purpose or learning, even though it indicates that the mail detected is phishing when it's not.
KS
Technical Associate Network Security at Valuepoint Systems
Email security has protected financial data and provides clear tracking for every branch message
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it was a database error or something, but we feel some slowness in configuring DLP and other content filters compared to other consoles. It may have been due to on-premises, but it was much noisy at some times while configuring DLP. When we tried to configure a DLP policy, the console became much slower. In that case, we cannot see what had happened in the mail which was blocked at that time. It may take nearly an hour to get back to normal while configuring policies. That is the major issue in the product.
AvinashLotke - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivery Head at Team Computers
Useful for collaboration and storage but improvement is needed in API integration
The solution has traditional SSL integration, SAML, and Federation Services. In its latest version, it added SAML integration. However, it needs to work on API integration, especially for dashboards or integration with SAP for log and data system management. It doesn't yet have the kind of API that Google and Microsoft provide for synchronizing users with Active Directory. I think IceWarp needs to improve in a few areas. They have two types of admin consoles - a web-based one and a remote one. I'd like to see these combined into a single web-based admin console. The log reading and information system also needs improvement. The current way of showing incoming and outgoing logs isn't very clear. For new users, it's hard to understand these logs, especially compared to Office 365 and other systems with easier-to-read logs. They should also add an export option to get all logs with a single click whenever we need them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Barracuda is robust and I would say it is pretty stable."
"We have found some of the valuable features to be how easy the solution is to configure, the graphic support, and the intuitive dashboard."
"For the moment the solution is good."
"This solution has helped to significantly reduce the amount of junk email that we receive."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway has features like identify the spam source, rules to avoid some specific spams and then reschedule. And there are some other features like the email continuity, the email server and gateway site, which can relay the mail kit. The solution is user-friendly.These kind of features are the most valuable."
"The link protection and anti-phishing features are great."
"It's easy to use. The configuration and web interface are user-friendly."
"My current company had no product before Barracuda, and we get a lot of added value from the various things it does, ranging from advanced threat protection and spam filtering to protection from viruses and email spoofing, plus cloud-to-cloud backup."
"I love the Advanced Malware Protection feature. It works very well... The appliance has more security such as SDF, DKIM, DMARC, and encryption."
"At one point, there was a zero-day attack. The Cisco appliance detected it and stopped it, helping us out. We avoided the attack and potential damage."
"Users were able to do a check by themselves on quarantined emails. They could check if a valid email had been stopped, if it matched up with the SPF certification."
"Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution."
"We chose Cisco Iron Port as it delivers strong email security protection and our company needed it to protect the company's email systems from spam, email viruses, .exe files, unwanted email from unwanted sender etc."
"This solution provides some benefits, like comfortable access to TAC support. You get prompt support when working directly with Cisco."
"It has the IMS engine, Intelligent Multi-Scan engine, and it does a good job, right out-of-the-box, of blocking the vast majority of things that should be blocked."
"Compared with other mail security things, Cisco Secure Email was much better and easy to deploy also."
"The groupware module is the most valuable feature."
"It's scalable and stable."
"The most valuable feature of IceWarp is the chat rooms and file-sharing, they are useful. It is convenient that everything is in one place. You can easily share and collaborate documents, making the program's unity a significant advantage."
"It has great communication capabilities for team chatting and web conferences."
"IceWarp offers very extended cross-platform communication solutions."
"IceWarp has multiple applications that are easy to use for many people."
"The solution is easy to manage and includes features such as smart documents and the archiving of user data."
"Its price is the most valuable. It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
 

Cons

"Barracuda should add an option where it can add multiple domains, such as abc.com, bbc.com, and cbc.com. Therefore, this domains' emails will be allowed and other domains' emails will not be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. Whereas, if you allow the IP address, then any of the domain's emails will be relayed through Barracuda Email Security Gateway. That is the drawback that I have observed. So, Barracuda should work on this."
"The deep scanning feature needs to be improved."
"Artificial intelligence improvement could be used to help block spam and phishing mail that is directly delivered to users."
"There are some times when legit emails are trapped on Barracuda and we are unable to get that information unless we actually log on to the network to find out."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release."
"There's a bit of configuration work that's needed with the DNS service provider, but other than that, everything else should be very smooth."
"We would like to have a local support center in India so that they are operating in the same time zone and speak the same language."
"The solution should include an improvised anti-phishing feature, since it blocks certain genuine emails."
"One of the things that Cisco could improve on with IronPort is the support. Cisco doesn't really have enough engineers who have full, hands-on knowledge of IronPort. Knowledge of it is not something you can find easily compared to other security appliances."
"The pricing needs to be reconsidered or enhanced."
"It is not user-friendly, and it is quite complicated. So, it should be more user-friendly."
"We use the CLI for management, but it's not very good. It's based on Java and it's very difficult to use."
"We have occasionally had hardware problems because we are using an appliance-based solution, but that might change."
"One of the things that Cisco could improve on with IronPort is the support."
"The product's GUI for the dashboard needs improvement."
"Better dashboards and more interactive overviews would be nice, but the current functionality is sufficient."
"The Exchange compatibility mode is rather limited."
"Customer service is not always helpful."
"There are some feature improvements possible the way we use it as a hosting provider, but for most we currently have workarounds."
"The tool's configuration capabilities are not straightforward. Apart from that, if I want to archive emails into a vault so that they can be retrieved again later, the integration doesn't work, and IceWarp crashes."
"The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management."
"The exchange compatibility mode is rather limited. Their technical support can also be better. They only provide online support, and there should be some option for escalating."
"Although it is not a tool, video conferencing should be scalable and operate in a professional and efficient way."
"Our customers sometimes have problems receiving mail."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Barracuda Email Security Gateway is an affordable solution that caters to small, midsize, and high-end businesses with great revenue."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a cost-effective solution."
"The price of the solution should be reduced. The price in the USA is less than where we are. Our local distributor of the solution is manipulating the market."
"It is a cost-effective and relatively cheap solution as compared to others. Our customers have a yearly subscription. We do have a few customers with monthly subscriptions, but they have cloud-based Email protection, which is a different type of solution. Both solutions are very good."
"There is an annual license required for this solution."
"The price of this solution is very high, but it's working fine."
"The solution is priced low. We have received a good price discount here in Sri Lanka. There are additional licenses we have to purchase a license for the ATP."
"We typically purchase a one or three-year license for Barracuda Email Security Gateway."
"Pricing depends on your environment and which model you want to buy."
"I don't have the insights into it, but compared to different products, it seems to have a medium level of pricing."
"As per market availability, this solution is more expensive than other vendors."
"I rate the pricing a ten out of ten on a scale where one means it is less cost-effective, and ten means it is the most cost-effective solution."
"You're going to get what you pay for. If you're not willing to pay the price of Cisco, you're not going to get a product that's as good as Cisco. I don't think Cisco is overpriced, because for the last two years I've been comparing it to Microsoft and Cisco has been cheaper and given us more features."
"In addition to the standard licensing, there is a cost for SMARTnet as well."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is not that costly. We pay for the solution through a contractor and pay an annual fee."
"The solution is priced well."
"There are various licensing plans available based on geographic zone."
"Costs far less than other solutions."
"It is definitely one of the lowest price solutions."
"The solution is inexpensive which is its main benefit."
"Price-wise, it's a cheaper solution, without a doubt. Price is the reason we are still using the tool."
"I would rate the pricing and eight out of ten."
"Our licensing is on a yearly basis. There were no additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Sentinel?
Compared to the features and stability, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is affordable in terms of pricing, setup cos...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Sentinel?
On technical aspects, I think Barracuda needs to provide a fast response to any vulnerability on the system and enhan...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Sentinel?
My main use case for Barracuda Email Security Gateway is to protect our email and our email users, protecting our bus...
What do you like most about Cisco Secure Email?
Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
The areas of Cisco Secure Email that could be improved or enhanced are the slowness in the console. I don't think it ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IceWarp?
IceWarp was very cost-effective, offering services at a significantly lower cost than Google, which was appealing for...
What needs improvement with IceWarp?
The solution needs improvements in security, particularly regarding document management. Users currently have the rig...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Evolution Recruitment Solutions, Evans Delivery Company, Osoyoos Credit Union, Synovis Life Technologies, Camden County Technical Schools, DEK, Evans Delivery Company, Colgate Rochester Crozer, Hemmera, South Carolina Heart Center, Ferma Corporation, Major League Baseball (MLB), Healy Brothers Automotive Group
SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
Marriott, Toyota, Sony, Wendy's, Canon
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Proofpoint, Mimecast and others in Secure Email Gateway (SEG). Updated: April 2026.
885,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.