Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Cisco Meraki MX

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls provides a wide range of security and connectivity features, including web filtering, NAC and SSL VPN and other features for remote access, as well as protection as edge devices and IoT security.N/A
Cisco Meraki MX
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Meraki MX Firewalls is a combined UTM and Software-Defined WAN solution. Meraki is managed via the cloud, and provides core firewall services, including site-to-site VPN, plus network monitoring.
$595
per appliance
Pricing
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
MX64
$595
per appliance
MX67
$695
per appliance
MX68
$995
per appliance
MX84
$1,995
per appliance
MX100
$4,995
per appliance
MX250
$9,995
per appliance
MX450
$19,995
per appliance
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsBarracuda offers prospective buyers a build and quote tool on their website.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Considered Both Products
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

No answer on this topic

Cisco Meraki MX
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
We have deployed several firewalls over the years and found Cisco Meraki MX to be a great contender. Datto has high recurring monthly fees for devices with limited configuration options. Ubiquiti works great for our entry-level clients that need a starting point but have a …
Features
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
9.5
11 Ratings
10% above category average
Cisco Meraki MX
7.9
131 Ratings
9% below category average
Identification Technologies9.710 Ratings8.0126 Ratings
Visualization Tools8.510 Ratings8.4123 Ratings
Content Inspection9.49 Ratings8.1121 Ratings
Policy-based Controls9.810 Ratings7.9121 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP9.611 Ratings7.5105 Ratings
Firewall Management Console9.611 Ratings7.4123 Ratings
Reporting and Logging9.411 Ratings7.4128 Ratings
VPN9.710 Ratings8.8122 Ratings
High Availability9.99 Ratings8.7124 Ratings
Stateful Inspection9.88 Ratings7.6117 Ratings
Proxy Server9.04 Ratings6.670 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.4 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.4 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 9.5 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(15 ratings)
9.1
(174 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(14 ratings)
Usability
5.5
(1 ratings)
8.4
(10 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(4 ratings)
8.3
(19 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(141 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Barracuda CloudGen FirewallCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
I would say a small business with a basic firewall and security needs would be a perfect fit for the Barracuda CloudGen firewall. I know that they soon end up leaving the NG models and are moving forward with the F series firewall. I think the F series is a much more difficult to manage device and doesn’t offer simplistic configuration or use and lacks cloud control so I don’t understand the move on Barracuda’s part to nix a great easy to manage the firewall. I do think that the NG line is maybe too simple for bigger businesses and would lack some main features that they would require.
Read full review
Cisco
It's very well suited for retail locations where you have a small footprint and it's a collapsed core design and it's connecting to a larger hub. We don't necessarily use them in our data centers just because they don't have the full capability we have. We use FTDs in our data centers, so we use a different Cisco product for that. So I would say they're really good at setting up sites quickly, getting them connected, protecting the traffic, and then they're a little weak in a data center right now.
Read full review
Pros
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • The management software is excellent. It make it much easier to manage the firewalls than some of the other vendors.
  • Watching real-time traffic is easy to do when trying to troubleshoot a users issues getting to a particular service.
  • Support from Barracuda has been excellent. We rate their phone and online remote support as being the best in the business.
  • We like the QoS and Traffic shaping of the NG Firewalls. They help is manage our limited bandwidth, so that business critical resources are available over lesser critical resources.
  • Integration with Active Directory makes it easy to identify users activities in logs.
Read full review
Cisco
  • The Cisco Meraki MX series is phenomenal at allowing us to remotely manage networks. So the devices usually act as the brain behind our client's networks, which makes it really, really easy for our team to take a look at what's going on in those client network environments, resolve any issues, and make sure that our client's networks are staying secure.
Read full review
Cons
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • Very complex and steep learning curve to get up to speed.
  • Multiple ways to configure for the same service or feature. Takes time to determine "your" customized build.
  • Interface can sometimes be clunky when trying to determine how it's organized or arranged. Again, steep learning curve.
Read full review
Cisco
  • Inbuilt wireless does not support tunnel SSID mode. This has meant not all SSID in our organisation can be deployed at a MX site.
  • Whilst Inbuilt switch ports support dot1x, they do not report as well on our NAC server as on a MS switch or catalyst switch.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The simplicity and ease of use for the Meraki Dashboard make it an easy choice for our organization to renew our Meraki Enterprise Agreement. We will likely continue using the Meraki MC67-C, MX450, and other MX models in their catalog until we shift away from Meraki completely
Read full review
Usability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Easy enough to use and configure using the management UI. Reporting from the web filter is a little clunky, and not very user friendly. To be perfectly honest, once it's set up and running, there isn't a lot to do from the day-to-day side of things, which is not a bad thing.
Read full review
Cisco
Some features simply aren't there, but the ones that are there are pretty easy to use. Sometimes it is easy to get lost when trying to find the specific device you want to work on, but that's mostly due to how rarely we have to go into the interface.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Meraki MX devices support high availability (HA) configurations, which ensures minimal downtime if one device goes offline. This feature has helped us maintain a stable and reliable network, even in cases of hardware failures. ince Meraki is cloud-managed, we've noticed that the cloud infrastructure is generally highly reliable, with minimal service interruptions or downtime. This makes it easier to manage the network remotely without significant availability concerns. Meraki automatically pushes firmware updates and patches, which helps maintain system stability without requiring manual intervention. These updates are rolled out in a manner that ensures minimal disruption to service.
Read full review
Performance
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The interface is pretty responsive. The lower end devices are easy to overwhelm if you have a lot of throughput. Be sure the model you get is rated for the amount of traffic you will have. Overbuild if possible, otherwise you won't be fully leveraging the connection from your ISP.
Read full review
Support Rating
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
I could go on and on about how good Barracuda's support really is. I have yet to have a problem they didn't help me fix and I always learn something when talking with them. The story that best describes my overall experience with Barracuda's support is this: When I first put in the xSeries they had a problem with a policy route. There was a bug in the code and in the one situation I was it, it just would not work. I went up the levels of support and they couldn't fix it. Well, next thing I know I am on the phone with 2 of the guys that programmed the thing and they work out the solution in no time and get me going. That is support. That is what I have come to expect from Barracuda. If the tech on the phone doesn't know the answer, they do not stop until they find it. Grant it, I also have to admit I do not call support with every problem, I try to work it out on my own first as that is how I learn best, so when I do call support it is going to be complicated.
Read full review
Cisco
I haven't ever had a bad experience with Meraki support. On the few occasions where I wasn't understanding the UI or needed some clarification about what a setting actually would do, I contacted them and they were very quickly able to provide help. Returns are simple and fast, too. We had to return a defective device one time and they shipped the replacement before we had even un-racked the one that was faulty. Unlike many other vendors, they didn't ask use to a do long list of scripted diagnostics, they just took my word for it that the device was broken and sent out a replacement immediately
Read full review
In-Person Training
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
great when they offered it, really tested your knowledge with hands on and see what your peers from other orgs know. glad to see that we were ahead of the curve of what our peers knew
Read full review
Online Training
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
it was okay as it was moderated but still better than nothing and done via semi self paced webex meeting
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Implementing Meraki MX devices in phases—starting with a pilot group or select branch offices—was invaluable. This allowed us to identify potential configuration issues, troubleshoot problems, and refine our setup before rolling it out company-wide. It also helped to get feedback from early users and adjust the deployment strategy accordingly. The SD-WAN capabilities in Meraki MX were essential for optimizing our WAN traffic and ensuring better application performance across various locations.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Our Cisco firewall was always difficult to make any changes against. It had no user-friendly GUI interface. We were calling technical support most of the time whenever we needed to make any changes. The Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has a GUI interface which we are looking forward to getting better acquainted with as we move off of our old Cisco. Of course, Barracuda's technical support is always there and is top notch!
Read full review
Cisco
The Meraki Dashboard has been a lot more intuitive than CradlePoint NetCloud. We switched from CradlePoint to Cisco Meraki MX because we were already familiar with the interface which allowed us to be familiar with a single dashboard.
Read full review
Scalability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
When I first started with my company we had various infrastructure and a mix of tech. Since going to Cisco Meraki MX we have noticed better network performance and our new sites are much easier to bring online. Users have noticed an improvement in VPN connection and getting into all our systems.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • We saved multiple thousands of dollars the first year out with the firewall in maintenance fees. We paid for the firewall and 3 years of service and still saved money.
  • The ease of management allows me to do my job more efficiently. I save a lot of time when doing my day to day job because I can get to my firewall virtually anywhere.
  • I feel a lot safer and my business more secure knowing that I have configured things the way they need to be and it was simple and not overly complicated.
Read full review
Cisco
  • From a positive impact? Basically it allows us to set up shop very quickly. It allowed us to add sites to our network very quickly. From a negative perspective, I think the only thing is that I can see from a negative perspective is I have a preference to working with ACLI in terms of how I engage with the youth tool At the moment, the only way to actually engage with a tool is on a gui and sometimes what I'd actually like is more detailed information in terms of actual configuration that you'll actually get out of ACLI.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of