Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Barracuda SSL VPN vs Fortinet FortiClient comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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 SSL VPN
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
30th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (14th)
Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (12th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Barracuda SSL VPN is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 8.1%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiClient8.1%
Barracuda SSL VPN1.1%
Other90.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Ikh-Erdene Namsrai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at Mongolian Mining Corporation
Provides good scalability and has a simple setup process
We use Barracuda SSL VPN for network connection The product is easy to connect. There could be more security features included in the product. We are the latest version of Barracuda SSL VPN. I rate Barracuda SSL VPN's stability an eight or nine out of ten. We have 30-40 Barracuda SSL VPN…
KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature would be that you can actually narrow down your session to one application on one server, which is really nice."
"The setup is straightforward and hassle-free."
"It's a stand alone system that functions well."
"The product is easy to connect."
"This is a solid and stable solution."
"The solution has inexpensive scalability, works very well and can communicate with other Fortinet devices."
"For our clients with remote sites and deployed firewalls, the filtering and authentication features are very helpful."
"The ability to reroute traffic from the user, connecting you to the internet rather than passing through our network area, is very useful."
"Secure and easy connect is the most valuable feature. It is a reliable solution, and it works."
"It has a very easy-to-use interface. It has ease of management, and all the modules are there. SKUs are also easily identifiable. Whatever is required in the firewall is already there in it. It's very advanced, and analytics reporting is very good. They also have cloud reporting. You get all the services that are available for your device in the cloud. You just have to subscribe. It's very easy. There's a lot of demand for this solution because it's an all-in-one solution. The throughput is very high."
"The solution is very scalable. It just depends on the number of licenses an organization has. The enterprise management console is related to the number of clients, and the client interface itself is free to download."
"When the user gets authenticated, I can assign a different VPN or network to each user."
 

Cons

"Since it's not going to be getting any more software updates as per the end of this year, we have to move off to a different product.."
"Barracuda should find other ways to stir up interest about this product."
"Reporting could be improved."
"There could be more security features included in the product."
"The features of Fortinet FortiClient could be improved."
"The solution could be more secure. I would like to see more safety features."
"The software inventory part is not yet up-to-date. It doesn't have a great interface, which is a disadvantage. I wish we could leverage it, but we don't use it at all because it's not that reliable."
"The endpoint side of FortiClient needs improvement, specifically the agent-based endpoint, which requires enhancements in detection and additional features to reduce bugs."
"There is lagging in some of the authentication tools to support the newer versions, this is happening because they are not supported."
"There isn't much to improve in terms of features and comparison with other vendors. It just needs to stay more up to date in catching the malware. The user interface may be improved, which would be a minor enhancement. Unlike central management, in endpoint security, the end users don't need to keep looking at the endpoint user interface. The technology is the most important thing in endpoint security."
"Fortinet needs to cover more areas where threats can come from."
"Fortinet frequently releases updates without thorough testing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is affordable and reasonably priced so it would make a lot of sense for people to use it long-term."
"Barracuda SSL VPN is inexpensive."
"We are using the free version of this product."
"The product's licensing is yearly and expensive."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Licensing was free up to ten users and after that, it was pretty reasonable."
"Its pricing is good. One thing that has always attracted us to the Fortinet range of products is that their pricing is very competitive. Our particular licensing is on a yearly basis. However, as part of this project, we did pre-purchase three years of maintenance and support at a fairly significant discount."
"It is not that expensive. It was within the range. A dollar per user per month is nothing."
"Fortinet requires you to buy a lot of product in order for you to have proper protection."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Performing Arts
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiClient
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda SSL VPN vs. Fortinet FortiClient and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.