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Barracuda Review

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Should I use Barracuda?

New! Barracuda® AI Data Security: Accelerate AI Adoption Safely - barracuda.com

· 1 day ago

Reasonable pick for SMBs and MSP-managed mid-market wanting email, network, backup, and AI security from one vendor. Avoid it if you need transparent pricing or are uneasy about its appliance patch history.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~40 public sources; some search results were unrelated products sharing the Barracuda name and were excluded.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNo usability evidence in sources
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Total Email Protection

$14.99/user (CDW advertised, subscription)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

Best for

  • MSPs consolidating client security
  • Mid-market Microsoft 365 shops
  • Orgs wanting email + network + backup in one suite

Not for

  • Small teams wanting cheap, simple spam filtering
  • Buyers needing public, transparent pricing
  • Anyone unwilling to manage appliance patch risk
  • Backup buyers burned by renewal increases

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Renewal hikes are the top complaint: email security reportedly doubled; backup rates rose

high

ESG appliance buyers: 2023 zero-day forced full hardware replacement, not just patching

medium

Most SKUs lack public pricing; budget via reseller quotes before committing

medium

Backup lock-in is real: rising renewal costs pushed some users toward Veeam migrations

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Broad portfolio: email security, firewalls, backup, XDR, and AI data security
  • Named Gartner Challenger (2021) and Strong Performer (2023) in email security
  • Large installed base: ~39,351 companies detected using it
  • Proven MSP fit: multiple case studies of MSPs consolidating security silos
  • KKR-backed established vendor, acquired from Thoma Bravo in 2022

Cons

  • Email security price reportedly more than doubled at renewal (2022)
  • 2023 ESG zero-day exploited by Chinese hackers; appliances required replacement
  • Backup rate increases pushed sysadmins to evaluate Veeam
  • Pricing largely quote-based; MSPs report unpredictable renewal costs
  • Recurring CVEs across lines: Service Center (2025), RMM (2026)

Sources & method

- 12 sources - Check your exposure: exploited 2023 ESG zero-day plus newer CVEs across Service Center and RMM lines.

official x3review x3security x4news x2
  • CVE-2023-2868: total compromise of physical ESG appliances, Remote command execution via improper input validation; exploited in the wild, leading Barracuda to replace affected appliances.
  • CVE-2025-34392: Barracuda Service Center path traversal, Absolute path traversal vulnerability disclosed for Barracuda Service Center.
  • CVE-2026-22676: Barracuda RMM vulnerability, Affects RMM versions prior to 2025.2.2.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • $14.99/user (CDW advertised, subscription)

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Renewal hikes reported; quote-based pricing
  • Ease of use. No usability evidence in sources
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Email, firewall, backup, XDR, AI security breadth
  • Support quality. No support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture: 2/5. Multiple CVEs; 2023 exploited ESG zero-day
  • 39,351 Companies using Detected in independent scan
  • $14.99/user Entry price Total Email Protection, CDW advertised
  • Strong Performer Analyst standing Enterprise email security, 2023
  • KKR Ownership Acquired from Thoma Bravo, 2022

Pricing

Total Email Protection

$14.99/user (CDW advertised, subscription)

  • Per-user email security subscription
  • Tiered plans offered from Basic to Total Email Protection
  • Volume/contract pricing via resellers

Security

Check your exposure: exploited 2023 ESG zero-day plus newer CVEs across Service Center and RMM lines.

  • CVE-2023-2868: total compromise of physical ESG appliancesRemote command execution via improper input validation; exploited in the wild, leading Barracuda to replace affected appliances.⁴
  • CVE-2025-34392: Barracuda Service Center path traversalAbsolute path traversal vulnerability disclosed for Barracuda Service Center.⁶
  • CVE-2026-22676: Barracuda RMM vulnerabilityAffects RMM versions prior to 2025.2.2.⁷

What users say

Sysadmins on Reddit and Spiceworks acknowledge the breadth but repeatedly complain about renewal price hikes, with some migrating backup to Veeam.

Alternatives

Compare Barracuda with each alternative.

  • SpamTitan (TitanHQ)

    Email security with published pricing; direct Barracuda competitor

  • Veeam

    Backup alternative users cite after Barracuda rate increases

  • Virtru

    Email encryption alternative to Barracuda ESG

    Barracuda vs Virtru

Companies that use it

  • CTN Solutions
  • Mendocino Family of Companies
  • CMIT Solutions
  • MJ Flood Technology
  • Hospital Jan Palfijn
Full analysis

Based on ~40 public sources; some search results were unrelated products sharing the Barracuda name and were excluded.

Broad, MSP-friendly security suite, but repeated price hikes and a 2023 appliance breach make comparing rivals worthwhile first.

Methodology

Based on ~40 public sources; some search results were unrelated products sharing the Barracuda name and were excluded.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Barracuda pricing discussion (r/msp)reddit.com
    review
  2. Barracuda Email Security more than doubles in price (Spiceworks)community.spiceworks.com
    review
  3. Barracuda Backup rate increases, move to Veeam? (r/sysadmin)reddit.com
    review
  4. CVE-2023-2868: total compromise of physical Barracuda ESG appliances (Rapid7)rapid7.com
    security
  5. Chinese hackers deliver malware to Barracuda ESG via zero-day (SecurityWeek)securityweek.com
    security
  6. CVE-2025-34392 Barracuda Service Center path traversal (Broadcom)broadcom.com
    security
  7. CVE-2026-22676 Barracuda RMM (Strix)strix.ai
    security
  8. Barracuda named Strong Performer in Enterprise Email Security (PR Newswire)prnewswire.com
    news
  9. KKR completes acquisition of Barracudabarracuda.com
    news
  10. Companies that use Barracuda (Bloomberry)bloomberry.com
    official
  11. Barracuda Total Email Protection (CDW listing)cdw.com
    official
  12. Barracuda Email Protection plansbarracuda.com
    official

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