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Barracuda Message Archiver vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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 Message Archiver
Ranking in Email Archiving
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Archiving
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (10th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Email Archiving category, the mindshare of Barracuda Message Archiver is 3.4%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 31.9%, up from 15.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Archiving
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2153010 - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and doesn't require any maintenance
It's just a backup for email so that if people delete and/or try to remove stuff they shouldn't, we can find it It's easy to use. It's a little bit more expensive than the others.  It's like anything. You got to log in when you want stuff nowadays. Other than that, it's pretty good. I didn't…
Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's easy to use."
"Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution."
"At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us."
"The basic features are okay and I'm satisfied with the Defender."
"The product's scalability is good."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"Does a thorough job of examining email and URLs for malicious content."
"Defender is a SaaS platform, so it offers more flexibility. Managing the permissions is easier. The solution's automated detection and response features are scalable."
 

Cons

"It's a little bit more expensive than the others."
"The user mailbox management is poor."
"There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console."
"I think that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could be improved if it could use VirusTotal to compare the programs or anything that I download."
"The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"The UI needs to be more user-friendly."
"Configuration requires going to a lot of places rather than just accessing one tab."
"The visibility into threats is not up to the mark, as I do not have control. I rate my experience with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as six out of ten due to troubleshooting and pricing concerns."
"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They're a little bit more expensive than the others."
"We are satisfied with the pricing and the service is bundled so there are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"The product is very expensive."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
"Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Barracuda Message Archiver?
We use Barracuda Message Archiver to keep a copy of our users' emails, both inbound or outbound. Our goal in using it is that from a compliance perspective, we can provide access to our auditors. I...
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published. It's essential to enhan...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alfa Romeo, Texas A&M University, Time Warner, Nintendo, Boeing 
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Message Archiver vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.