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Barracuda Email Protection vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

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 Protection
Ranking in Email Security
13th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (2nd), Office 365 Protection (5th)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Protection is 3.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 5.5%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)5.5%
Barracuda Email Protection3.0%
Other91.5%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

LeeMiles - PeerSpot reviewer
Very good threat protection, spam filtering, and cloud backups
Considering it integrates with Azure, I would like to be able to effectively set up policies where people are by default included in certain settings. For instance, for email quarantine, I can't set up a global setting. Users must go through an induction session where I guide them in configuring quarantine alerts rather than having default settings based on group membership. This seems like an oversight since they already use Active Directory details. They should assign policies based on group membership, which configures these settings by default.
Amber Worth - PeerSpot reviewer
Retrieves data from quarantines and easy to read logs with robust security features
Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious. Although eventually the information is located, it can be difficult if detailed information is lacking. Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous. Simplifying interfaces would also be appreciated.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The beauty of Barracuda Email Protection is that it is easy to manage and simple to deploy."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda Email Protection are flexibility and customization."
"The most valuable aspect includes attempts to spoof or compromise domains from external sources."
"The solution is straightforward to set up."
"The most valuable features are security and ease of use."
"The best feature of Barracuda Email Protection is that it provides protection for Microsoft 365."
"Barracuda email protection is stable. I would give it a nine because of its strong cybersecurity features."
"The most helpful aspect for me is the out-of-the-box configuration, which is fairly good."
"We use the solution in all our environments. We use it for remedy tickets and give them updates. It was our main communication point."
"It provides security to both on-premises and Azure infrastructures."
"We like the holding facility that is available for potentially suspicious URL's. This allows a real-time review to be performed before the email reaches a users inbox."
"The product's most valuable feature is third-party integrations."
"It has a really nice web-based administration console."
"It is scalable."
"The security features provided by Microsoft are robust."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is the accidental release of information protection capabilities. Additionally, the solution is easy to use."
 

Cons

"Barracuda Email Protection needs better reporting and more robust integration with security awareness training platforms and third-party solutions."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"The technology works on a supervised engine, but it would be better if it ran on an unsupervised engine."
"The policies are set up in Barracuda by default; we don't have any control over them."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
"The solution's reporting mechanism is a little poor and could be improved."
"I would like to see some additional functionality in terms of employee monitoring, as part of a work-from-home security solution."
"The solution's graphical user interface (GUI) could be improved visually."
"The biggest issue that I experience is that Microsoft keeps moving things around, and it's very inconsistent as to where you find the information when you're trying to work on different pieces."
"We would like the solution to have more in-built intelligence in the way that it reviews potential security risks, rather than our team constantly having to update the policies."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined."
"The licensing can be on the expensive side, especially in the cloud space."
"When the product is being updated, it changes some of the setups. The support team is also not good."
"Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious."
"Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Barracuda licensing model is good."
"The price is similar to that of Microsoft 365."
"The solution's pricing is moderate, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"The product is expensive."
"We didn't have to pay a lot for the solution because we got it from a good vendor with a good user volume."
"We pay annually. They never charged us for anything else. And they were quite a bit under that $20,000 mark. It was $19,074. And they've been pretty good about not skyrocketing the price or anything like that. It has gone up. It's gone up to $24,000 in 2020."
"Price-wise, this product is middle-of-the-road."
"The price of Barracuda Essentials is better than some of the competing products."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
"It is a low-price solution."
"The solution's pricing is subscription-based rather than a yearly licensing cost. Pricing is based on the size of the environment and company and can be expensive."
"The solution should reduce the cost."
"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"It's a high price."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Protection?
Barracuda Email Protection is easy to deploy and maintain. It doesn't require a specialized resource to manage this tool.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Email Protection?
Their list price is too high, but in India, the selling price is affordable at around $10 per user per year. Despite a list price possibly around $40 per user, their market price allows customers t...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Protection?
Considering it integrates with Azure, I would like to be able to effectively set up policies where people are by default included in certain settings. For instance, for email quarantine, I can't se...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
Besides price, the main room for improvement includes the sandbox or something similar; the usability that solutions are focused on. I have not really utilized its anti-phishing features because th...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
I'm reviewing different solutions because I work for a consulting company, and we are dealing with a review. We use Peer review for that to find some information, which is very useful. I am certifi...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Essentials
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACT Government, Acumen Group, AGIP, Delta Dental Plans Association, Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, Inc., Equinox Information Systems
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Protection vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.