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Barracuda Web Security and Filtering vs SonicWall CFS 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Web Security and ...
Ranking in Web Content Filtering
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (27th)
SonicWall CFS
Ranking in Web Content Filtering
9th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Web Content Filtering category, the mindshare of Barracuda Web Security and Filtering is 8.0%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall CFS is 4.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Content Filtering Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Barracuda Web Security and Filtering8.0%
SonicWall CFS4.5%
Other87.5%
Web Content Filtering
 

Featured Reviews

SC
Assistant Product Manager at Mentholatum (Asia Pacific) Limited
Efficient email blocking safeguards our communication, though advanced features remain needed
They need to provide a Sandbox to safely examine phishing links within emails without infecting our network. Also, I would like more end-to-end email tracing for a clearer understanding of why an email was blocked or not blocked. The current version is somewhat outdated, and I am looking for advanced features in the premium version.
DS
Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Reliable content filtering but need more traffic control
To deploy it as a proxy, we use this solution for content filtering, URL filtering, and solution filtering on the user end. When the user is connecting to the internet and should not access some social media website or malware sites, we can block it through SonicWall CFS. CFS is our content…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ease of use. It's pretty easy to use and navigate the UI... to either block or whitelist a web address."
"I like that it does a lot of malicious content and is easy to manage. There are a lot of checkboxes, and you can add your own URLs or get it preconfigured."
"The most valuable features are Barracuda's policies for filtering various websites according to the organization's policies and blocking traffic for any P2P application like torrents."
"The solution is very simple to use and implement."
"Barracuda Web Security and Filtering efficiently blocks phishing emails and provides flexible policy settings."
"I have found the most valuable the ability to have insight into our web traffic and control its flow."
"It is straightforward to deploy and manage."
"The support is fantastic."
"It is very stable."
 

Cons

"The AD agent is an issue which my customers and I have encountered. Sometimes it refuses to start and, only as time goes by, does it become apparent that things are not working the way they should."
"This solution is substantially more expensive than the competitors out there, including Titan HQ or Limecast."
"It doesn't allow adding DNS filtering for off-site clients."
"Barracuda products are cheap."
"Our problem is that it's a virtual appliance and we're moving to a new platform and, for whatever reason, we can't move it as it is... When we were migrating our virtual machines from the old to the new system, we determined rather quickly that it wouldn't migrate over."
"Considering other tier-one applications, like Next-Generation Firewall, they also have web security in-built within their appliances or applications. Barracuda is still lagging behind in features like that, so they need to update if they want to be in the top spot."
"The solution’s customer support should be improved."
"The price could be better."
"Malware, scanning, capture, and integration should be included with the content filtering."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be better. Barracuda started adding more features at the end of 2022. There was no price increase if you bought the maintenance package before the end of 2022. If you signed a three-year contract, you are lucky because there won't be a price increase on those features. Their pricing has increased if you wanted to install all of their features. But they are segmenting. You can buy the whole group, or you can get pieces. But it's tedious. The cost is getting higher than it should."
"Barracuda products are cheap."
"The pricing and licensing are comparatively reasonable."
"The solution's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"Licensing is on a yearly basis and the pricing is very reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
12%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise1
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Barracuda Web Security Gateway?
They need to provide a Sandbox to safely examine phishing links within emails without infecting our network. Also, I would like more end-to-end email tracing for a clearer understanding of why an e...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Web Security Gateway?
Mainly, I use it for blocking suspicious emails, such as malware or phishing emails, so they don't pass through our email gateway and reach my colleagues' mailboxes.
What advice do you have for others considering Barracuda Web Security Gateway?
Those who want to use Barracuda Web Security and Filtering should look for more up-to-date and advanced functionality to compete with other vendors. I rate the overall solution six out of ten.
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Also Known As

Barracuda Web Security Gateway, Barracuda Web Filter
SonicWall Content Filtering Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Citizen Farmers Finance, Osoyoos Credit Union, Supreme Services, Camden County Technical Schools, Frederick County Schools, Pine Belt Mental Healthcare, Paulsboro Public Schools, Dysart Unified School District, St. Michael's Grammar School, Southfield Schools District, Total Threat Protection - Wade Ford, Alain Pinel Realtors, Southfield Public Schools, Major League Baseball (MLB)
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Find out what your peers are saying about iboss, Forcepoint, DNSFilter and others in Web Content Filtering. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.