Barracuda Essentials vs. WatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Barracuda Essentials is an email security platform designed to protect users and businesses from volumetric threats like malware and spam, as well advanced threats like targeted spear phishing and ransomware, and provides email archiving and data protection from corruption and deletion with cloud backup and recovery of emails and files, data leak prevention and encryption.N/A
WatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
WatchGuard XCS reached End of Life (EOL) reached end of life December 2018. WatchGuard proffers they offer multiple solutions, including migration to a WatchGuard Firebox UTM.N/A
Pricing
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Secure Email Gateway
Comparison of Secure Email Gateway features of Product A and Product B
Barracuda Essentials
6.6
16 Ratings
25% below category average
WatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
-
Ratings
Anti-malware10.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability5.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Loss Protection2.113 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Detection9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Sandboxing3.012 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption8.013 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Tools9.016 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Small Businesses
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paubox Email Suite
Paubox Email Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Score 9.0 out of 10
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Score 7.7 out of 10
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Webroot Email Security Powered by Zix
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(16 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Barracuda EssentialsWatchGuard XCS (Discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
I like it because it tends to block out some of the things that shouldn't get in our inboxes, but they somehow end up in our mailboxes sometimes, not a big deal. The main thing that needs to be blocked out is any phishing and it keeps those emails out!
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Pros
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • 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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • Very Secure!
  • Easy to use and set up.
  • Great to keep things safe for employees and employer.
Read full review
Cons
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • 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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • I would like to see why the multi WAN doesn't work at times!
  • Can be a little slow.
  • Some things are blocked for no reason.
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Likelihood to Renew
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Its the best email security gateway product I have used.
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WatchGuard Technologies
No answers on this topic
Usability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Barracuda Essentials has a far easier admin pannel than is provided by mimecast along with far more filtering options such as dkim. Much easier to do the initial setup along with much better support provided. Barracuda Essentials has Advanced threat protection that uses AI to spot patterns and gives you the option to remove a suspect email from all inboxs
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WatchGuard Technologies
I suggest WatchGuard because they offer so much. They offer the way to keep email and websites blocked that don't belong and they also help us connect to the server whenever we remote in from work. Everything is done with so much ease and there is not any hassle.
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Return on Investment
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • 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.
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • It helps our computers be safe.
  • Less worrying about IT fixing bugs on computers.
  • Their beliefs are inline with ours.
Read full review
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