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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
4.7
Barracuda Email Security Gateway reduces threats, saves costs, and offers a 30-50% ROI for companies with multiple domains.
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.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Barracuda Email Security Gateway support is efficient and praised for responsiveness, though time zone differences can pose challenges.
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.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
I would rate technical support from Fortinet an eight out of ten, as I open many cases and receive good response from support.
Consultant for the Chairman at Financial Literacy Knowledge Hub
I didn't receive a root cause analysis, not even a single time, for any issues.
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
The customer service and technical support from Fortinet could improve.
Owner at wct it-solutions GmbH
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is scalable and flexible, popular among various users, with cloud options enhancing capabilities.
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.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Barracuda Email Security Gateway is stable and reliable, with excellent support, crucial configuration, and high user satisfaction 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.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs improvements in backup, DoS handling, integration, spam filtering, UI, scalability, and threat intelligence.
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.
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
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.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
Owner at wct it-solutions GmbH
 

Setup Cost

Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers competitive, cost-effective pricing, adaptable to business size, often cheaper than alternatives like Cisco IronPort.
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.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value.
Owner at wct it-solutions GmbH
The price is relatively expensive.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Cost-wise, it's a bit expensive, but it's totally worth it.
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda Email Security Gateway offers robust spam and threat protection with user-friendly interface and seamless integration, enhancing email security.
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.
Graduate Student at ain shams
The main benefit from Barracuda Email Security Gateway is better security for the email flow.
Head of cloud service. at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
FortiMail's integration with other Fortinet solutions enhances the security part of the organization.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud has had a positive effect on our organization since we can classify each email coming to our organization.
Consultant for the Chairman at Financial Literacy Knowledge Hub
One of the most beautiful benefits is its integration, as it can seamlessly integrate with any third-party email servers.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Email Security Ga...
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (3rd)
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Ranking in Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Secure Email Gateway (SEG) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Security Gateway is 9.0%, up from 6.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is 3.9%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Barracuda Email Security Gateway9.0%
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud3.9%
Other87.1%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

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.
HR
Senior Network Security Engineer at Vibs
Provides solid functionality and allows room for enhancing content management and support services
They can improve their CDR content profile and some anti-spam features. They don't have any direct script to run to add personalization, and we have to do it manually one by one. There are many tasks which we have to complete individually. We can't import files into the Fortinet FortiMail Cloud sensors. That's a drawback, as they need to provide a feature to import files. We can make the format, but we cannot import the file into Fortinet FortiMail Cloud. Additionally, 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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Non Profit
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 Business16
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise2
 

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 cost, and licensing.
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 enhance Barracuda support. Customer support for Barracuda Email Security Gateway need...
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 business from most of the sophisticated attacks like phishing attacks and spam. We ...
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.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
I have experience working with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud as a mail gateway, not a firewall, and we have been using it for about three or four years. I have worked with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud for t...
 

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: February 2026.
884,076 professionals have used our research since 2012.