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Barracuda SecureEdge vs Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

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
7.1
Barracuda SecureEdge enhances user experience and saves costs by reducing overhead with centralized management and a straightforward licensing model.
Sentiment score
6.2
Zscaler Private Access improves cloud migration flexibility and reduces costs, with enterprises seeing up to 289% ROI over three years.
Considering the security features and centralized management capability it provides, we feel it offers good value for the investment.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
It has enhanced visibility into user activity and helped enforce consistent security policies across different locations.
Senior Technical Support Executive at digital track
I estimate that routing network administration and policy management activities require roughly 30 to 40% less effort than before, allowing our team to focus on higher priority projects rather than day-to-day maintenance.
Network engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The ROI is often cited around 289% over the three years of typical enterprises.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
I have found Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) to be very effective at providing operational flexibility during my organization's transition to cloud environments.
DevOps at My Heritage
Since we have a very small team, the ROI is around 20% to 30%.
Senior IT Specialist Network and Security at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Barracuda SecureEdge's support team is responsive and knowledgeable, providing efficient, timely assistance and effective problem resolution.
Sentiment score
6.5
Zscaler Private Access support varies in quality, with mixed reviews on availability, response times, and communication challenges.
The support team for Barracuda SecureEdge is responsive, knowledgeable, and helpful when troubleshooting issues.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The engineers have been able to provide useful guidance during troubleshooting and implementation activities.
Network engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The ticketing system is very efficient, and they provide support promptly.
OT Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 10,001+ employees
The technical support for ZPA is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
We had regular calls, and the team was open and willing to assist us whenever required.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
We lack specific root causes, and it's tough to relay information to users, considering multiple contributors such as phone numbers and internet service providers.
Senior IT Specialist Network and Security at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.0
Barracuda SecureEdge offers scalable, cloud-managed expansion, simplifying administration and supporting user and branch growth effectively.
Sentiment score
6.6
Zscaler Private Access offers scalability and efficiency via cloud-based capabilities, benefiting organizations with rapid onboarding and no hardware upgrades.
The centralized management platform makes it easy to manage growth without significantly increasing administrative effort.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The centralized cloud management makes it easy to support additional users, locations and security requirements.
Network engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
Barracuda SecureEdge has good scalability because it is a cloud-based solution.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler ZPA has excellent scalability.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
I rate the scalability of ZPA as ten out of ten because it's a cloud service and can scale as needed.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
We need to deploy it and ensure it will be available in two different Availability Zones, but it's not something that can be done with automation, such as auto-scaling.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Barracuda SecureEdge is stable and reliable, offering consistent performance in security connectivity with no major reliability issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Private Access is praised for stability and resilience, though minor bugs and post-rollout issues are noted by users.
The platform has provided consistent performance for both security management and remote connectivity.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
It has improved consistent performance for security connectivity and remote access.
Network engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
Even during peak usage or mass remote access events, performance remains consistent, which is critical for an enterprise environment handling business-critical applications.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
The architecture uses a global mesh of service edges with built-in fault tolerance and redundancy, providing an always-on experience.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
We implemented a resilient solution with load balance to ensure stability, which has proven effective thus far.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
 

Room For Improvement

Users request better analytics, simpler GUI, deeper integration, and improved automation in Barracuda SecureEdge to enhance operations.
Zscaler Private Access needs scalability, flexible rules, better pricing, ease of configuration, vendor integration, and intuitive troubleshooting.
If Barracuda's security team could provide some use cases on how to secure the remote access of contractors and remote users who are facilitating utilities like energy sectors and water treatment plants, it would give a very good edge to Barracuda's security team.
OT Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 10,001+ employees
Compared to leading SASE vendors, Barracuda SecureEdge is still evolving and lacks some advanced features and integration depth that may require evaluating for large and global enterprises.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
One area where I believe the product could be enhanced is in reporting and analytics, with more customizable dashboards and deeper insight for security and performance monitoring.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
It complicates whitelisting, as we cannot determine which IP will be used, posing a challenge when needing to integrate with third parties.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
I would appreciate seeing dynamic scaling implemented because it would be beneficial if an instance goes down to automatically start another one.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
While Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) wants users to utilize their infrastructure for scale benefits, regulated environments such as government and investment banks need on-premises processing for regulations and low latency requirements.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Zscaler Private Access offers premium, per-user pricing, justified by security features and cost-effectiveness within an 11-month payback period.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is acceptable.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is expensive.
architect at Tata Consultancy
Although the solution is costly, its features justify the price for securing the organization from various access types.
Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
While it is a premium investment, the short payback period of about 11 months and consolidation of multiple point products make it very cost-effective in the long run.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda SecureEdge offers centralized management, enhances security with Zero Trust, secure SD-WAN, and intuitive interfaces, improving efficiency.
Zscaler Private Access offers secure, scalable app access with Zero Trust, enhancing security and flexibility, especially in cloud environments.
The best features that Barracuda SecureEdge offers, in my experience, start with a Secure Web Gateway for internet traffic protection, Zero Trust Network Access, SD-WAN integration, Firewall as a Service, centralized policy and management, remote user security, work-from-home capabilities, branch connectivities plus cloud security, and application-level access control.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It simplified policy management, reduced the time spent on administration and gave us better visibility across all locations.
Network engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The best features Barracuda SecureEdge offers are its centralized cloud-based management, secure remote access capabilities, and ease of deployment.
network security engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler pre-tests websites and authorizes safe access, giving us a layer of security that we rely on.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is much more secure than VPN because users are only allowed to access specific applications rather than the whole network.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Zscaler has allowed an easy, secure way for us to access our internal resources from outside.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda SecureEdge
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA as a Service (14th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (12th)
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
9th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category, the mindshare of Barracuda SecureEdge is 1.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)2.0%
Barracuda SecureEdge1.6%
Other96.4%
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2875869 - PeerSpot reviewer
OT Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 10,001+ employees
Unified zero-trust platform has secured remote branches and improved daily threat protection
The product has almost covered everything on my side, and no additional things are needed. However, one thing I would add is that because I was in the IT industry before, we are using this product, but I want to get more features in respect to the ICS and OT environment because this ICS environment is a critical environment. OT security is a critical one. Does Barracuda have some use cases in the ICS industry? Because in the ICS industry, remote VPN is very essential. Contractors and legitimate users who are taking remote access from outside the world into the ICS environment are a concern, so I want to know how Barracuda helps us in the ICS environment. I am familiar with the IT side, but I want to know how Barracuda SecureEdge facilitates in an OT environment and whether it supports the ICS security protocol or not. I know about many use cases for Barracuda SecureEdge in the IT industry, but if Barracuda's security could move towards OT cybersecurity, it would be very beneficial. In the ICS industries, remote access is one of the weakest links in the organization, so if Barracuda's security team could provide some use cases on how to secure the remote access of contractors and remote users who are facilitating utilities like energy sectors and water treatment plants, it would give a very good edge to Barracuda's security team. The main focus is on OT and ICS support. Apart from this, it would be beneficial to go more in-depth into the OT and ICS environment and also update the documentation that supports the ICS environment, as ICS has different types of protocols and mechanisms.
BasilJiji - PeerSpot reviewer
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Zero trust access has secured hybrid work and now provides seamless app connectivity
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) has significantly reduced our attack surface by making our internal apps invisible to the internet. It effectively eliminates lateral movement as users are only connected to the specific application they are authorized to use rather than the entire network segment. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is highly stable. The architecture uses a global mesh of service edges with built-in fault tolerance and redundancy, providing an always-on experience that is far more reliable than our old hardware-based VPN concentrator. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is elastically scalable because it is a software-defined perimeter and not an appliance-based solution. I can instantly scale to support thousands of additional users without needing to upgrade any physical hardware.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
19%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda SecureEdge?
I'm not directly involved in the purchasing decision, so I cannot comment on exact pricing figures. However, from an operational standpoint, Barracuda SecureEdge has provided good value for the fun...
What needs improvement with Barracuda SecureEdge?
The product has almost covered everything on my side, and no additional things are needed. However, one thing I would add is that because I was in the IT industry before, we are using this product,...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda SecureEdge?
My main use case for Barracuda SecureEdge is a scenario in which we have a head office and some branches that need it. From the offices and from remote users who want to access some applications, w...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), while it is not the cheapest solution, when you factor in the reduced VPN infrastructure, hardware maintenance, and o...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
After deploying Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), I notice a reduction in VPN-related support tickets, particularly during peak hours, and audits become smoother because access is clearly defined per a...
What is your primary use case for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
My primary use case for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is securing application-level access to internal applications without exposing the network to the public network. Previously, VPN gave users bro...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda CloudGen Access
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda SecureEdge vs. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.