Barracuda Web Security Gateway vs. Cisco Meraki MX

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Barracuda Web Security Gateway
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Barracuda Web Security Gateways now available in the 200 through 1000 series provide web content filtering as well as access and advanced threat protection, and are available as physical appliances, virtual appliances, or as a SaaS.N/A
Cisco Meraki MX
Score 8.8 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 Web Security GatewayCisco 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 Web Security GatewayCisco Meraki MX
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
Features
Barracuda Web Security GatewayCisco Meraki MX
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Barracuda Web Security Gateway
-
Ratings
Cisco Meraki MX
7.7
85 Ratings
10% below category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.081 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.482 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings7.381 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings7.379 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings7.071 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings7.783 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.285 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings8.181 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings8.481 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings8.076 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings7.044 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Barracuda Web Security GatewayCisco Meraki MX
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.1 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway
Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway
Score 6.7 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Barracuda Web Security GatewayCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(9 ratings)
8.1
(114 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.2
(7 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(3 ratings)
8.0
(15 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(81 ratings)
User Testimonials
Barracuda Web Security GatewayCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
For a larger organization, this is a must. It provides insight into what the users are doing online and most malicious sites will no longer be accessible if access is denied. This can also give access to non-work related sites, but in a limited capacity, based on user or time of day. Though a smaller company would benefit from the features, it may be cost prohibitive.
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Cisco
Small office, small business, medium business even larger enterprise can work on Cisco Meraki MX if they can sacrifice some of the functionality that Cisco Meraki MX can not provide. To enhance security, I would advise combining with cloud delivered firewall.
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Pros
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • Integrates with other Barracuda products, including the Barracuda Web Application Firewall and the Barracuda Email Security Gateway.
  • Helps manage bandwidth to improve network performance.
  • Easy to use.
  • Allows you to perform SSL inspections to view content on social networks.
  • Help prevent data loss.
  • Protect our privacy.
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Cisco
  • The management is the best. I'm an old-fashioned networking guy, so I'm used to going to the site itself and connecting. For example, a console cable and start and start configuring. Now since the management is so easy on Meraki I can configure everything from the headquarters from where I sit in Israel and then just go to the site and connect and basically, it's plug and play. After I configure everything from my office in Israel, I can just go to the site for a few hours, and connect everything. Just the magic happens.
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Cons
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • I don't think I have anything to mention here. The Barracuda Web Security Gateway does everything we need it to do.
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Cisco
  • Map and floor plan area is clunky.
  • The way you need to segment devices by network causes you to need to go to different dropdowns to see everything at a single site. They have improved this and now allow you to add firewall, switches and wireless to create a single site, but still a bit clunky.
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Likelihood to Renew
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
As we have it in place now, we will continue to keep it at our remote sites. Future expansion is something we are reviewing, and may well start with some of the larger switches as they seem to offer good performance and management at a reasonable price. Wireless is also something we're investing in and their devices are great for that.
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Usability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
There are a lot of settings you can adjust. The web log is easy to use. If a user is having issues accessing a website, you can go in and see what's being blocked and why. After that, you can make adjustments fairly easy. The GUI is easy to navigate and updating the software is a simple click of a button.
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Cisco
The Cisco Meraki MX series is very easy to use. Setting up user VPN access, site to site VPN to tie multiple locations together and managing all your devices. You can even download the latest firmware and install without ever leaving the dashboard. Meraki is the very definition of easy to use
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Support Rating
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
Barracuda support have also been excellent when we have had to contact them. The only time we had a hardware issue on a device (and that device was about 8 years old) it was replaced within about 24 hours of reporting it. Generally there has not been much need to contact their support, as once the device is in and set up, it just works.
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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
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Implementation Rating
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Good product and simple to use.
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Alternatives Considered
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
SonicWall, Barracuda NG Firewall, and WatchGuard provides Content Filtering, but are primarily firewalls with Content Filtering features. The Web Filter is a dedicated appliance with more storage space and better reporting of users.
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Cisco
Overall, for a new network admin or a non-IT person, the Cisco Meraki MX is much easier to configure for a single site than the Cisco ASA Firewalls. ASA can be quicker for those with a background in Cisco command line OS.
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Scalability
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The Cisco Meraki MX is basically a good product, but not perfect. If you compare the Cisco Meraki MX with a Fortigate or Cisco Firepower, you quickly realize that this system can do less than the reference product. The Cisco Meraki MX can be used in small environments, but in large environments you have to check carefully whether it really makes sense to use it.
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Return on Investment
Barracuda Networks, Inc.
  • I came into the company with Barracuda already implemented so it worked well for a number of years.
  • Their support contract was a bit pricey.
  • For what the company paid for the system, Barracuda was worth the money over the 10 years it was implemented.
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Cisco
  • VPN tunnel between locations has been up 99% of the time in the 7 years that I have used the Cisco Meraki MXs in my current position. That does not include ISP issues because, in my mind, that shouldn't dictate the performance of the Cisco Meraki MXs.
  • Sometimes we get phishing emails with malicious links in them. We are able to block the URLs on our network using the Cisco Meraki MXs, and the appliance configuration sets in less than a minute. Blocking that link for anyone over VPN or on the LAN.
  • The interface is really simple and configuration is a breeze, which makes deploying a new Cisco Meraki MX really fast and easy. Replacing an Cisco Meraki MX is even easier, Just remove the old and add the new and all the configuration stays for the new appliance to use. Saves so much time and money.
  • The biggest thing is we have not had really any issues with any of our Cisco Meraki MXs going down in the past 7 years. The reliability with these devices are amazing.
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ScreenShots

Barracuda Web Security Gateway Screenshots

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