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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Fortinet FortiMail comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
Barracuda Email Security Gateway prioritizes email safety, providing fewer disruptions despite potential ROI concerns for businesses and service providers.
Sentiment score
6.7
Fortinet FortiMail boosts email security, reduces costs, and saves time, enhancing operational efficiency through seamless integration and advanced features.
It offers cost savings compared to Cisco, which was very expensive.
System admin at Environment Fund
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.5
Barracuda Email Security Gateway customer support is praised for responsiveness and efficiency, though limited by time zones and language.
Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiMail's customer service is generally praised for efficiency, especially elite support, despite occasional standard support delays.
From the vendor, I would give the technical support an eight out of ten.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Mainly, they are focusing on Fortinet FortiMail and FortiAnalyzer, where the support engineers are very good.
Head of the IT Security Division at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have direct communication with Kenyan system engineers and local support in Ethiopia, enabling good support.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
Fortinet's technical support offers high-quality support.
System admin at Environment Fund
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is scalable for SMBs but may not suit very large enterprises, with varied user opinions.
Sentiment score
7.2
Fortinet FortiMail is scalable and flexible, efficiently adapting to varying organizational sizes, though some hardware limitations exist.
The scalability of Fortinet FortiMail depends on whether you are buying a virtualized license, which allows for a scalable pay-as-you-go model, or if you are buying a box.
Head of the IT Security Division at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Fortinet FortiMail is scalable and can be expanded in large environments.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is reliable and stable, with quick resolutions for minor issues and high user ratings.
Sentiment score
8.3
Fortinet FortiMail is highly stable and reliable, with rare issues quickly resolved and seamless integration with other Fortinet tools.
This stability is consistent across Fortinet products, including FortiGate firewall.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs upgrades in usability, integration, scalability, support, spam filtering accuracy, and anti-phishing measures.
Fortinet FortiMail needs a more intuitive interface, better integration, enhanced security, simpler encryption, and improved spam filtering.
If it's considered a phishing email, it should be blocked for all users, not just some.
IT Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
When we add mails to email secure Sender Policy Authentication with extended options, all mails must pass this Mail Security Gateway.
Graduate Student at ain shams
The transition from on-premises devices to virtual appliances may be necessary as more organizations migrate email services to the cloud.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
There are also false positives issues, especially with signed PDF attachments.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Providing comprehensive documentation on how to deploy and configure would improve the solution.
Network & Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
 

Setup Cost

The Barracuda Email Security Gateway is competitively priced, scalable, with varied user opinions and crucial regional market considerations.
Fortinet FortiMail offers competitive, scalable pricing with flexible licensing, valued for performance and security despite some expense concerns.
Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is cheaper.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Fortinet FortiMail is considered overpriced by Indian rupee standards.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
The setup cost is a little bit costly.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers robust spam filtering, advanced threat protection, and user-friendly features for comprehensive email security management.
Fortinet FortiMail excels in email security with user-friendly features, advanced threat protection, and seamless integration with Fortinet products.
The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails.
Graduate Student at ain shams
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway that I have found is advanced threat protection.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Its threat detection capabilities have been beneficial.
System admin at Environment Fund
Fortinet FortiMail has valuable features such as on-premises deployment and click protection, and it is working properly.
Head of the IT Security Division at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Fortinet FortiMail positively impacts my organization by reducing mail activities such as spam and phishing.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Email Security Ga...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (4th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (7th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Barracuda Email Security Gateway is designed for Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and holds a mindshare of 7.3%, up 7.1% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiMail, on the other hand, focuses on Email Security, holds 3.5% mindshare, down 5.5% since last year.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Barracuda Email Security Gateway7.3%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36524.2%
Proofpoint Email Protection20.3%
Other48.2%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiMail3.5%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3659.6%
Proofpoint Email Protection7.9%
Other79.0%
Email Security
 

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.
Abhimanyu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Targeted email filtering has reduced spam and phishing and now saves significant investigation time
The best features of Fortinet FortiMail include its techniques and tactics, which are highly effective compared to other solutions such as Microsoft 365. Although Fortinet FortiMail may not be as advanced in some aspects, it is well recognized for its strong performance in handling spam and phishing. It performs thorough mail scanning and also offers a sandboxing feature that enhances protection. Fortinet FortiMail has had a positive impact on my organization by significantly reducing unwanted email activities such as spam and phishing. It provides accurate detection and generates results that often exceed what can be achieved through manual analysis. Since deploying Fortinet FortiMail, I have observed a reduction in investigation time by at least 20 to 30 percent.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Email Gateway (SEG) solutions are best for your needs.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Sentinel?
I would suggest that pricing for Barracuda Email Security Gateway rates around seven. It is not too expensive, but it is a considerable cost. Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway ...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Sentinel?
Regarding real-time intelligent features of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway, some spam emails are still being released by the ESG to the end users, so the functionality is not working appropri...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Sentinel?
My use case for the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is to protect our emails from phishing and spam emails to get them blocked by the ESG.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
In my opinion, points for improvement for Fortinet FortiMail include sometimes the speed and fine-tuning the false positive problems, especially with the signed PDF attachments and the whitelist an...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
FortiMail
 

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
Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Fortinet FortiMail and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.