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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Fortinet FortiMail comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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 Security Ga...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (4th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (5th)
Fortinet FortiMail
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (7th)
 

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 6.2%, down 8.6% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiMail, on the other hand, focuses on Email Security, holds 4.6% mindshare, down 6.0% since last year.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

RobertSmith15 - PeerSpot reviewer
Email security offers superior protection with good personalization
I have experienced the Barracuda team as very cooperative, and they are readily available for calls with technical support via email. I have had no issues with ongoing support throughout the product's lifecycle. Assistance was provided to me when transferring archived information from a legacy email service. They also recommended an additional service to streamline the process, making it as easy as possible.
MOHAN SUKUMAR - PeerSpot reviewer
Secure email management improves through advanced filtering and dynamic virus scanning
Fortinet FortiMail offers capabilities like settings for mail delivery, mail filtering, spam controls, and email bursting prevention. It also allows for email forwarding, dynamic filtering, and scanning based on virus signatures. I can set varying levels of security. The tool is flexible and provides essential features for mail security and management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The performance is good."
"We find the email security to be valuable."
"It catches a lot of things and has the ability to add domains as well as add senders and update their things."
"Customer support is the solution's strongest point."
"The client has the option to blacklist or whitelist any email address or domain based on the sender and recipient filters. If they want, they can restrict any IP addresses so email won't be received from those IP addresses."
"The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the ATP."
"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."
"It can effectively combat phishing attacks, block spam, provide confirmation, and ensure operational manageability with a strong focus on product stability."
"The integration with FortiSandbox is good, and something that we utilize often."
"Its performance is very good and it is stable."
"Technical support is great. They are able to look at their patches and offer quick responses. We even have an account manager in the Middle East. They are very good."
"FortiMail is a stable product."
"Fortinet FortiMail's most valuable features are antispam, antivirus, database, and data loss prevention (DLP)."
"I am satisfied with both the scalability and the stability of this solution."
"The antiphishing capabilities are very good."
"It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"There is room for further integration with the wider platform."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve reporting and anti-spam. The anti-spam engine is not working well. We are seeing a lot of problems where spam is going through the gateway. Additionally, access privilege should be given to the IT support, because they don't have a lot of privileges. We are forced to give our IT support administrative access in order to clear and deliver emails and this should not be happening."
"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."
"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 DMARC security is somewhat weak and could be strengthened."
"We still have critical threats coming into our environment and delivered to our users. When we compare it with other solutions, these other solutions can already detect those threats."
"The deep scanning feature needs to be improved."
"We detect some failures in some mails; not all mails pass through consistently. Some mails pass while others are dropped without any apparent logic, despite having the policy set for specific recipients or senders."
"It can be easier to configure or connect to the cloud to report on the attachments."
"Sometimes it takes a little bit too long to determine if an email is good or not. If they could shorten that time span, it'd be so much better. It does delay our email, which does not make users happy. That said, I would have to say we have not been blacklisted for quite a while now."
"Limited ability to upgrade hardware may lead to some performance issues that might otherwise be improved."
"It is not easy to install."
"The infrastructure could be improved."
"The solution's pricing is flexible and can be adjusted for African utility companies. Microsoft often offers special pricing formulas for African governments and organizations and it is similar to Fortinet FortiMail. In my country, government institutions receive discounted pricing from Fortinet FortiMail."
"Header inspection and containerization, like on-prem premises sandboxing, need enhancement."
"The product's price is an area with shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As far as advanced email security systems, this product is mid-range on the pricing scale."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $4,000 per year, and this includes updates for the antivirus and spam signatures."
"We pay between $8 and $10 USD per user per month."
"It is an expensive solution and I would rate it 5 out of 10."
"I rate the price of Barracuda Email Security Gateway a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"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."
"Barracuda has the best price. Every year we need to renew our license, and every year I need to compare Barracuda to two or three other players in the market. Barracuda always has a price that is 30 to 40 percent less than the other players' prices."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
"In the future I would like it if there's a possibility to lower the price of the bandwidth and UTM. It is quite expensive."
"I find Fortinet FortiMail pricing reasonable. There's no additional cost apart from its standard licensing fees."
"It's not as that expensive with the competitive different brands. The products sell a lot."
"FortiMail is not cheap."
"Fortinet Fortimail has reasonable pricing."
"9,000 Euro per annum for Fortinet Mail and sandbox."
"Price-wise, the solution is not far from Microsoft ATP. So, it is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is very simple to use.
What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Security Gateway?
Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail?
Fortinet FortiMail is considered overpriced by Indian rupee standards. My organization is not profit-making, and academic pricing is required, but it may not be available for security products like...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail?
Fortinet FortiMail should keep pace with features offered by cloud-based services like Google and Microsoft Outlook. Additionally, the transition from on-premises devices to virtual appliances may ...
 

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.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.