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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Fortinet FortiMail Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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
7.0
ROI from Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is hard to quantify, though enhanced security and decreased incidents indicate value satisfaction.
Return on investment in the time is difficult to quantify, however, the return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment.
 

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
6.8
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud support is generally praised for its responsiveness and knowledge, despite some concerns about occasional delays.
From the vendor, I would give the technical support an eight out of ten.
I would rate technical support from Fortinet an eight out of ten, as I open many cases and receive good response from support.
I didn't receive a root cause analysis, not even a single time, for any issues.
The customer service and technical support from Fortinet could improve.
 

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
7.6
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers scalable user expansion, though experiences vary due to subscription and deployment choices impacting flexibility.
It is highly scalable, so I can give it a ten out of ten on that.
 

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
7.0
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is highly stable with minimal downtime, consistently reliable performance, and high user satisfaction ratings.
I would give it a high stability rating of nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs upgrades in usability, integration, scalability, support, spam filtering accuracy, and anti-phishing measures.
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud requires improved filtering, encryption, UI simplicity, and competitive pricing, while lacking sorting, archiving, and AI features.
If it's considered a phishing email, it should be blocked for all users, not just some.
Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques.
When we add mails to email secure Sender Policy Authentication with extended options, all mails must pass this Mail Security Gateway.
If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint.
In Fortinet FortiMail Cloud, not in FortiSandbox, they need to improve the block and allow list functionality to block URLs and allow specific types of URLs or regex.
It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
 

Setup Cost

The Barracuda Email Security Gateway is competitively priced, scalable, with varied user opinions and crucial regional market considerations.
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers competitive subscription pricing, with annual licenses around $4,000, varying by organizational needs.
Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is cheaper.
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value.
The price is relatively expensive.
Cost-wise, it's a bit expensive, but it's totally worth it.
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers robust spam filtering, advanced threat protection, and user-friendly features for comprehensive email security management.
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud offers robust email protection with advanced threat detection, seamless integration, and comprehensive management features.
The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails.
The main benefit from Barracuda Email Security Gateway is better security for the email flow.
FortiMail's integration with other Fortinet solutions enhances the security part of the organization.
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud has had a positive effect on our organization since we can classify each email coming to our organization.
One of the most beautiful benefits is its integration, as it can seamlessly integrate with any third-party email servers.
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Email Security Ga...
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (4th)
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is 6.2%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 4.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

WalidChowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust email protection with advanced features such as effective spam filtering, virus and malware defense, phishing protection and high scalability
Our customer faced a significant challenge with spam, leading to increased expenses. The complexity of their email infrastructure added to the issue, with some clients using Microsoft Exchange, others relying on different systems, and some operating on Linux platforms. To address this, we…
Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enhanced email security with potential agent compatibility issues
There are definitely features that Fortinet should work on. I'm not the right person to implement those features. For a portable cloud solution, a customer has more affinity towards a solution where endpoint security is already in place. In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor. If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint. From that perspective, Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint. Maybe other solutions have an advantage when it comes to Fortinet.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Email Gateway (SEG) solutions are best for your needs.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
7%
Non Profit
6%
Hospitality Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Sentinel?
It not only tackles spam effectively but also incorporates advanced features like ATP and active features which ensures a comprehensive and adaptable email security solution tailored to their hete...
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?
The Sender Policy Authentication needs improvement. When we add some customers related to our work, all mails should be delivered, not blocked. When we add mails to email secure Sender Policy Authe...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud in Egypt is very competitive against other products, including the setup cost and licensing of this solution.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The improvement in Fortinet FortiMail Cloud can be made regarding the classification process itself because it has some false positives.
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Fortinet FortiMail Cloud and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.