What users are saying about
Avanan
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Top Rated
171 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 9 out of 100
Based on 171 reviews and ratings
39 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.7 out of 100
Based on 39 reviews and ratings
Feature Set Ratings
- Barracuda Essentials ranks higher in 1 feature set: Secure Email Gateway
Secure Email Gateway
8.7
Avanan
87%
8.8
Barracuda Essentials
88%
Barracuda Essentials ranks higher in 4/7 features
Barracuda Essentials ranks higher in 4/7 features
Anti-malware
9.1
91%
104 Ratings
9.3
93%
15 Ratings
Cusomizability
8.8
88%
105 Ratings
8.4
84%
14 Ratings
Data Loss Protection
8.7
87%
92 Ratings
9.0
90%
12 Ratings
Threat Detection
9.5
95%
105 Ratings
9.3
93%
15 Ratings
Sandboxing
8.2
82%
92 Ratings
8.4
84%
11 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption
8.1
81%
75 Ratings
8.8
88%
12 Ratings
Management Tools
8.9
89%
105 Ratings
8.2
82%
15 Ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Avanan is rated higher in 2 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Support Rating
- Barracuda Essentials is rated higher in 2 areas: Likelihood to Renew, Usability
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
Avanan
92%
111 Ratings
8.9
Barracuda Essentials
89%
15 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
Avanan
90%
5 Ratings
9.1
Barracuda Essentials
91%
1 Rating
Usability
8.8
Avanan
88%
33 Ratings
8.9
Barracuda Essentials
89%
8 Ratings
Availability
9.1
Avanan
91%
1 Rating
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance
6.4
Avanan
64%
1 Rating
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Support Rating
9.3
Avanan
93%
34 Ratings
8.2
Barracuda Essentials
82%
9 Ratings
In-Person Training
1.0
Avanan
10%
1 Rating
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Online Training
8.2
Avanan
82%
1 Rating
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Implementation Rating
8.7
Avanan
87%
2 Ratings
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Product Scalability
9.1
Avanan
91%
1 Rating
Barracuda Essentials
N/A
0 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Avanan
This software is well-suited for a company that is looking to protect its data from common security breaches. It is very user-friendly and easy to implement, which is why these few things make it easily usable on a daily basis. This software also allows for much faster cloud performance and provides regular reports which provide security analytics.
Accounting Manager
Diamond Communications LLCTelecommunications, 51-200 employees
Barracuda Essentials
The Barracuda Essentials solution is definitely a great alternative to network security and especially corporate email to prevent employees from clicking on malicious links, spam, phishing, trojans and ransonware. The solution today is implemented in almost all sectors of the company and we have control of everything and good protection guaranteeing principles of compliance and security.
Analista de sistema
NaturaChemicals, 201-500 employees
Pros
Avanan
- The dashboard for Avanan makes all of the most important information easy to digest.
- Alerting - specifically, the Geo-Location alerts allow us to see if a user has possibly been compromised.
- The End-User Email Quarantine experience gives users the ability to request emails be released, which trains them to better spot legitimate emails.
Information Technology Administrator
AA Metals IncLogistics & Supply Chain, 51-200 employees
Barracuda Essentials
- Barracuda Essentials Spam Filtering works and it is very easy to add or remove senders from the Spam filter lists.
- Barracuda Essentials provides excellent protection from Phishing and other Malware.
- Barracuda Essentials email encryption is so easy to use and easy to setup. Our users love it.

Verified User
Director in Information Technology
Medical Practice Company, 51-200 employeesCons
Avanan
- Sometimes, it's not easy to find why the email has been moved to spam or blocked
- Tuning takes time, sometime query just don't work even everything is right.
- UI can be made more user friendly, so that it will be easier to operate

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Computer Software Company, 10,001+ employeesBarracuda Essentials
- Encryption is always on. There's NO way to turn it off so false encryption leads to real issues. Many banks and other companies cannot read/accept encrypted email. There should be a "Do Not Encrypt" type of keyword to prevent encryption (competing products have this).
- There's no indication an email was encrypted (like with Proofpoint or ZIX mail).
- MSP management interface needs work. You have to request licenses by email and wait. Pretty archaic today. Most competing product sites let MSP's increase/decrease licensing as needed, immediately.
President/CIO
Innovative Systems DirectInformation Technology & Services, 1-10 employees
Pricing Details
Avanan
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
$4 per user per month
Avanan Editions & Modules
Edition
Advanced Anti-Phishing | $4.001 |
---|---|
Complete Malware Protection | $5.001 |
Full-Suite Protection | $8.001 |
- per user per month
Additional Pricing Details
Prices for fewer than 500 users.Barracuda Essentials
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Barracuda Essentials Editions & Modules
—
Additional Pricing Details
—Likelihood to Renew
Avanan
Avanan 9.0
Based on 5 answers
Cost, need to make sure the cost is competitive for how many users are using email protection as we move users to MS Teams and don't rely so much on full access to email accounts (both sending and receiving internal and external).

Verified User
Strategist in Information Technology
Retail Company, 1001-5000 employeesBarracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials 9.1
Based on 1 answer
Its the best email security gateway product I have used.
Technical Consultant
36-400 IT SolutionsInformation Technology & Services, 1-10 employees
Usability
Avanan
Avanan 8.8
Based on 33 answers
The end-users love not having their inboxes fill up with extra useless emails. As an administrator, it is simple to implement and maintain. The ability to put something into test mode before going live makes our life a lot easier and less stressful. Avanan has many different components to make your life easier.
Systems Engineer
Tax AnalystsNon-profit Organization Management, 51-200 employees
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials 8.9
Based on 8 answers
Barracuda Essentials is simple to use. It has a user dashboard that is simple to navigate even for those who have few computer skills. One can barely realize that the program is even running in the background heading off those emails that can cause damage to my computer or our overall system.
Marketing Administrative Assistant
Alvin Community CollegeHigher Education, 501-1000 employees
Reliability and Availability
Avanan
Avanan 9.1
Based on 1 answer
Always been available as needed.
Network System Administrator
Concordance Healthcare SolutionsMedical Devices, 501-1000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Avanan
Avanan 6.4
Based on 1 answer
It's not all the time, on occasion the platform can delay email by seven to ten minutes.
Network System Administrator
Concordance Healthcare SolutionsMedical Devices, 501-1000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Avanan
Avanan 9.3
Based on 34 answers
Support has always been there for me, they take on suggestions and product improvements quite seriously. I've spoken to techs and you can tell that they care about the product and the service in which they deliver. Avanan support is always responsive in everything I throw them and in most cases they don't tell me how to build out a widget or custom query, they actually do it for me and send it to me.
Technical Director
National IT SolutionsComputer Networking, 1001-5000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials 8.2
Based on 9 answers
This is the best tool in the industry. It provides the best support on top of the product. If one has any trouble configuring things or troubleshooting things, Barracuda's support is renowned for resolving bugs and issues as well as assisting troubleshooting and fixing issues. I would highly recommend it as it covers all email security bases.
Service Manager
Kloud9Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
In-Person Training
Avanan
Avanan 1.0
Based on 1 answer
There was no in person training.
Network System Administrator
Concordance Healthcare SolutionsMedical Devices, 501-1000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Avanan
Avanan 8.2
Based on 1 answer
Takes a lot to get a 10 out of 10.
Network System Administrator
Concordance Healthcare SolutionsMedical Devices, 501-1000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Avanan
Avanan 8.7
Based on 2 answers
Ensure system administration and exchange admin are up to speed on Avanan

Verified User
Director in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 1001-5000 employeesBarracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Avanan
Avanan has a one-click solution, which subscribers or clients use to deploy a new security update. Further, Avanan has the protection of any cloud application, which means, it bypasses any security threat and maintain the set safety processes. Finally, data leakage is a shield that Avanan has deployed, a very smooth process in the firm.
Digital Specialist
Frost BankBanking, 1001-5000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
Essentials is far more user-friendly - far more customizable and seems to perform better than ATP. We used ATP for a while and found it a bit clunky and the user interface not as easy to use as Barracuda's. The easy to use GUI interface of Barracuda was one of the factors (in many) that swayed us to use Essentials.
IT Manager
Worthing High SchoolEducation Management, 1001-5000 employees
Scalability
Avanan
Avanan 9.1
Based on 1 answer
It does what they claim and then some.
Network System Administrator
Concordance Healthcare SolutionsMedical Devices, 501-1000 employees
Barracuda Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Avanan
- Improved risk mitigation by providing additional layer protection for M365.
- Easy to setup and configure. No expert knowledge required and no downtime required.
- Customizable license count. No need to buy the same number of mailbox users if you really don't want to protect some unused mailboxes.
Senior Systems Engineer
Cell Information TechnologyInformation Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
Barracuda Essentials
- Barracuda Essentials has had a very positive impact especially since the Pandemic with many remote workers. Our IT objective is 99.9% uptime with many redundancy fail safes in place. Barracuda Essentials helps meet that objective by protecting the vast amount of email we receive daily.

Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Furniture Company, 51-200 employees