What users are saying about
Top Rated
47 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.1 out of 100
Based on 47 reviews and ratings
2 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 10 out of 100
Based on 2 reviews and ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
The Barracuda Email Security Gateway is a robust and feature rich platform, does the job it's supposed to do and integrates into existing networks easily. It is not cheap, but valuable performance never is. It is one of the truly "set it and forget it" appliances in my tool set.
Network Systems Engineer
Whitesell GroupMechanical or Industrial Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
I would definitely recommend it for fast and easy deployment with no need of constant managing solution. It is a solid solution that will do all what you need for the email security. Especially when you have a small IT team or even do not have enough experienced specialists to handle email security questions - Proofpoint is what I would recommend to use. I gave it 9 of 10 points only because of the price, you can find find more cheap solutions on the market.
IT Department Manager
Acceptance Solutions GroupFinancial Services, 51-200 employees
Feature Rating Comparison
Secure Email Gateway
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.0
Proofpoint Essentials
8.6
Anti-malware
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.3
Proofpoint Essentials
8.0
Cusomizability
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
6.7
Proofpoint Essentials
8.0
Data Loss Protection
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
7.9
Proofpoint Essentials
—
Threat Detection
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.3
Proofpoint Essentials
8.0
Sandboxing
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.2
Proofpoint Essentials
—
End-to-End Encryption
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.7
Proofpoint Essentials
9.0
Management Tools
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
8.2
Proofpoint Essentials
10.0
Pros
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
- ESS has a simple interface for both users and administrators.
- The "Manage Quarantine" button in each email is a direct sign-on link, so users don't have to remember their password to manage their quarantine (this is GOLD, Jerry!).
- The baseline functionality (catching spam/malware/phishing/malware attachments/malformed PDFs etc) is super-solid, with few false positives and few false negatives.
IT Operations Manager / IT Service Manager
Nashville WrapsWholesale, 51-200 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
- Easy to use
- Automated user account creation
- Automated user account deletion
- Lots of options to make it work for your specific environment
IT Support
Cypress HealthcareHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees
Cons
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
- You need to take time in adding your contacts to a whitelist so that you don't miss an email.
- I recommend changing the time interval; Barracuda notifies you that you have quarantined emails as we were only getting 1 per day and we missed some urgent emails.
- The quarantine folder is web based, we'd prefer it to have been an add-in for Outlook.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Marketing and Advertising Company, 51-200 employeesProofpoint Essentials
- Add encryption (secure emails) of outbound email to Business license.
- Real-time user creations. Now it applies changes only in the beginning of the next hour.
- More appearance customization for portal.
- Sometimes it is blocking the same domain or sender again and again even if it was release and approved.
IT Department Manager
Acceptance Solutions GroupFinancial Services, 51-200 employees
Usability
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Barracuda Email Security Gateway 8.0
Based on 1 answer
The WebUI leaves a bit to be desired, it is utilitarian in nature. Operationally it just works. Install. Setup, wall away knowing your protected.
Network Systems Engineer
Whitesell GroupMechanical or Industrial Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Barracuda Email Security Gateway 10.0
Based on 1 answer
Availability is robust and flawless. This is a non-issue, its always up & running and fail-over protection is available for restarts or upgrades.
Network Systems Engineer
Whitesell GroupMechanical or Industrial Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Barracuda Email Security Gateway 6.0
Based on 1 answer
The WebUI is the only piece I find lacking on the Barracuda ESK. Its is not the fastest and is fairly utilitarian in its approach. The Outlook plug-in, while not in wide use here, causes zero slowdown in Outlook or the Barracuda ESG.
Network Systems Engineer
Whitesell GroupMechanical or Industrial Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Barracuda Email Security Gateway 8.9
Based on 7 answers
Barracuda customer support is great. Most of the time when I can an actual tech support representative answers, not some person that will just take a message. If one is not available I will receive a call back in a very short time.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 201-500 employeesProofpoint Essentials
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Through this application, I can keep my computer and system safe during its time of use and it is very helpful when detecting any threat as it has done in my system since its installation, I no longer have any problem due to the damage to my software since Barracuda protects my computer without any problem. In addition to everything with its functionalities, our company has been able to benefit successfully since our teams are in their most optimal operation, giving them better benefit and long duration and not worrying about any type of hacking, thanks to Barracuda we can be calm whenever we navigate in the network without being infected by malware.

Verified User
Technician in Product Management
Machinery Company, 5001-10,000 employeesProofpoint Essentials
I think Proofpoint is a lot easier to use and has a simpler design. I also really like the automated user creation and deletion which I'm not sure if Symantec had. We had use Symantec through an old MSP so it wasn't a decision we made to change but I would have changed if it was our [decision.]
IT Support
Cypress HealthcareHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees
Return on Investment
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
- Allows us to set it and forget it. We don't have to worry about patch or upgrade to a newer version. Barracuda does it all for us.
- DLP has been great. That's a risk which is hard to monitor but Barracuda does it effortlessly.
AVP of IT
Rio Grande Credit UnionFinancial Services, 51-200 employees
Proofpoint Essentials
- We are a financial company that requires a lot of regulations on the information security side, so Proofpoint is one of the key tools that closes lots of potential security breaches.
- Decreased almost to zero the number of SPAM, Fraud and Phishing attacks.
- Using that solution doesn't require to have a dedicated specialist for email security.
IT Department Manager
Acceptance Solutions GroupFinancial Services, 51-200 employees
Pricing Details
Barracuda Email Security Gateway
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Proofpoint Essentials
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No