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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs MetaDefender Email Security Solutions 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 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 MetaDefender Email Security Solutions is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Email Protection is 21.6%, up from 18.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

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.
Aaron Alornyenu - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps us stay compliant, has excellent malware detection, and is stable
The solution helped our organization stay 100 percent compliant with industry standards. MetaDefender Email Security can be set to be very aggressive for identifying attacks. This can be done based on how we want it. If we set it to this level, most of our emails will be blocked because the system will block anything that looks suspicious. We will also need to set the spam severity. This is the severity of everything, including phishing, spoofing, and other types of attacks. I would give the solution's ability to identify attacks a nine out of ten. MetaDefender helps us improve our spam catch rate. Any spam we receive is usually due to user subscriptions. We can specify rules of exclusion to meet our requirements as well. It also detects and blocks the links with suspicious codes. MetaDefender Email Security's multi-scanning capabilities for malware detection work based on how we set the parameters. The solution perfectly detects malware. MetaDefender can identify and disarm emails in zero-day attacks.
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is scalable."
"It is an excellent, intelligent solution that provides maximum security from email attacks."
"The product safeguards user mail for gateway defense, data protection, business continuity, AI-based inbox defense, and automated threat detection and incident response."
"I like Barracuda's cloud sandbox feature."
"Great at blocking spam."
"The most important features of Barracuda Email Security Gateway are the simple and quick configuration, interactive console, and easy-to-understand logs."
"All features it provides on the cloud environment are very, very useful, including the antivirus that is enabled on it."
"The most valuable feature of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway is the ATP."
"The most valuable feature is called summary reconstruction which is used to deliver encrypted files to users."
"The sanitization is very good."
"The most valuable feature of MetaDefender Email Security is the CDR. Customers purchase this solution specifically for data communication, as the other features can be obtained through other technologies that most customers already possess. Therefore, data communication serves as the foundation for the platform."
"Its main defense is to stop malicious emails from coming through. There is a sandbox environment where you can open malicious or suspicious emails to make sure that they're not malicious, instead of taking the risk of having your employees do it. This is definitely something that everybody needs nowadays, especially with the rise in cyber attacks."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is the best solution from the perspective of email security."
"They have customized security rules, mature rules, anti-virus protection, as well as email authentication similar to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC."
"The solution blocks malicious emails containing viruses and malware and reduces them out of spam."
"The solution is very user-friendly."
"A one-stop shop for email protection"
"The most valuable feature of Proofpoint Email Protection is the dashboards and their visibility, easy configuration, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the reports are very important and helpful."
"Proofpoint Email Protection is stable enough and does its job of virus, malware, and email scam detection. Setting it up is not too complicated."
 

Cons

"The pricing is a little bit high, and it is causing the company to rethink renewal. If they could lower the pricing, that would be ideal."
"The downsides of the solution stem from the fact that it is an expensive product, and one may see too many false positives when using it, making them both areas where improvements are required."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway should include ATP in the next release."
"Artificial intelligence improvement could be used to help block spam and phishing mail that is directly delivered to users."
"The reporting can be improved."
"We are using the tool’s 400 model which does not offer accurate spam detection. We have also had performance issues with the tool."
"The scalability needs improvement, it's the only feature that is required."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway should add auto-remediation to improve the solution. Additionally, there are times when we have false positives and our general emails get locked, we have mentioned this to Barracuda."
"The DLP should be upgraded and has room for improvement."
"They offer a feature called SmartLink neutralization. I have tried it before. It seemed to work most of the time; however, I had a few users for whom it just wouldn't work. Whenever they click on a link, it stays on the MetaDefender page, saying that it's scanning it and never moves forward."
"Although the number of AV engines is good, it could be better."
"The accessibility of Proofpoint Email Protection, particularly access to product trials, could be improved. It's hard to get a trial for Proofpoint Email Protection, and many customers prefer not just to do the POC or demo but try the product out."
"Unfortunately, the whole product is going downhill right now, ever since they were sold to Thoma Bravo. We're constantly having problems with stability and the product in general."
"Proofpoint should have better integration with complex environments that need more than one instance of Proofpoint, as there are issues with nested instances."
"The initial setup is complex."
"The stability and UI are the two areas of the solution with certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"The solution should add post-sales training."
"Pricing for the platform could still be cheaper."
"Proofpoint Email Protection has a new approach to email security with its API feature. Currently, it only works with Office 365. In the future, it would be beneficial if it also works with Gmail, as Check Point is currently the only brand that has API email security for Gmail. It would be beneficial if Proofpoint Email Protection could add this integration, they would be more competitive with other vendors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution should be reduced. The price in the USA is less than where we are. Our local distributor of the solution is manipulating the market."
"Barracuda Email Security Gateway is an affordable solution that caters to small, midsize, and high-end businesses with great revenue."
"It is an expensive solution and I would rate it 5 out of 10."
"For overall value and cost, Barracuda came in as most appropriate, price as well as services provided. In terms of price, it's average . It's not the most expensive, it's not the least expensive but it works well."
"The licensing fees are part of a bundled support package that we pay for."
"This is one of the major points for integrating this solution in any organization. Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs to make it a bit more tolerable for customers because it is increasing every year. They should create a plan for reducing the cost."
"We are using the trial version right now, and before purchasing the license, we need to solve some of the issues that we are facing. We need a proper solution for our email, and then we will look into pricing. We have a vendor for licensing."
"The pricing for the product is fine."
"According to our customers, the price of MetaDefender is high and it continues to increase by almost 15 percent each year."
"Proofpoint is fairly expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"Annually, it costs us about $92,000. This is pretty much what it costs us. There is no additional cost."
"The tool's pricing depends on the customer's preference, offering options for an annual license or a monthly subscription. The cost varies based on factors such as the number of users and specific requirements. Overall, the pricing is competitive."
"The solution charges per user per month to use it. There are not any additional fees in addition to the standard living fees."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"The end customer is buying our solution, which can be for monthly or annual usage depending on our payment and business model."
"I rate the price of Proofpoint Email Protection a four out of five."
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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%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 MetaDefender Email Security Solutions?
We paid for a three-year agreement. The cost is kind of high. For smaller companies, it may be outside of their budge...
What needs improvement with MetaDefender Email Security Solutions?
They offer a feature called SmartLink neutralization. I have tried it before. It seemed to work most of the time; how...
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
OPSWAT MetaDefender Email Security, MetaDefender Email Gateway Security, MetaDefender Email Security
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
Information Not Available
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: July 2025.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.