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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Proofpoint Email Protection 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:
 

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.
Sentiment score
7.0
Proofpoint Email Protection effectively reduced threats and costs, excelling in phishing defense, leading to significant efficiency improvements.
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.
Sentiment score
7.3
Proofpoint Email Protection's customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some report slow responses or portal issues.
From the vendor, I would give the technical support an eight out of ten.
As far as Fortinet secure support, I will rate them nine out of ten.
I would rate the technical support from Fortinet as ten out of ten.
Fortinet's support is really good.
 

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.
Sentiment score
7.6
Proofpoint Email Protection excels in adaptability and scalability, serving both small and large enterprises with ease and flexibility.
It is highly scalable, so I can give it a ten out of ten on that.
Proofpoint is scalable for multi-site organizations with thousands of users.
 

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.
Sentiment score
8.2
Users rate Proofpoint Email Protection highly for reliability and performance, with minor UI challenges and rare stability issues.
 

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.
Proofpoint Email Protection struggles with setup complexity, feature enhancements, pricing issues, and requires improved support and interface design.
When we add mails to email secure Sender Policy Authentication with extended options, all mails must pass this Mail Security Gateway.
Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques.
If it's considered a phishing email, it should be blocked for all users, not just some.
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.
It would be beneficial to enhance flexibility for better adaptation to various customer environments.
We can't import files into the Fortinet FortiMail Cloud sensors.
Proofpoint could expand its phishing detection capabilities to improve its efficiency.
More security could be implemented.
I may advise Proofpoint to adjust marketing solutions based on each country.
 

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.
Proofpoint Email Protection is considered costly, with pricing starting at $8 per user and varying by features.
Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway is cheaper.
The price is relatively expensive.
The pricing for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud seems a bit high, although it is considered acceptable for the product's value.
Cost-wise, it's a bit expensive, but it's totally worth it.
Customers pay around $90,000 yearly for a 1,000-user organization, with the subscription license being the main expense, apart from implementation fees.
Additional costs do come in, but it enhances security.
 

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.
Proofpoint Email Protection offers advanced threat defense, user-friendly interface, and seamless Office 365 integration for comprehensive email security.
The real-time threat intelligence feature is particularly useful as it detects all kinds of threats identified by incoming mails.
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Email Security Gateway that I have found is advanced threat protection.
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.
The return on investment for us was achieved since we did not have similar incidents again in our environment.
The main feature I find most effective is that Proofpoint Email Protection scans emails and quarantines the doubtful ones.
The most beneficial feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is mostly spam filtering; it was very efficient, and we were very happy with the functionality as only relevant emails were allowed for mailboxes.
 

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. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 21.5%, up from 18.5% 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.
AhmedRamadan - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimize email security with effective sandboxing and auto Pull for quarantine
Proofpoint is used as an email security gateway for big enterprises, primarily for their on-premises servers. Many customers also use it alongside Office 365 Proofpoint offers a complete solution for email security with features like DLP, email archiving, and encryption. The most valuable…
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865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
7%
Non Profit
6%
Hospitality Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
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 ensu...
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...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Sentinel?
The Sender Policy Authentication needs improvement. When we add some customers related to our work, all mails should ...
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 a...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The improvement in Fortinet FortiMail Cloud can be made regarding the classification process itself because it has so...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Proofpoint Email Protection?
In terms of pricing, it is okay compared to others. I would say it is normal. Additional costs do come in, but it enh...
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Email Protection?
It became very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances, and I may advise Proofpoint to adjust marketing so...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
No data available
Proofpoint Enterprise Protection, Cofense PhishMe, Proofpoint Digital Protection
 

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
Blocket, University of Waterloo, Lincoln Memorial University, WellSpan Health, U-Haul, Carestream Health, Westinghouse
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Abnormal Security, Proofpoint and others in Secure Email Gateway (SEG). Updated: August 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.