Barracuda ESG (discontinued) vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Score 6.5 out of 10
N/A
Barracuda ESG were physical or virtual appliances designed to protect email servers from spam, virus, spoofing, phishing and spyware attacks. The product line is discontinued.N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP) is a holistic, cloud delivered endpoint security solution that includes risk-based vulnerability management and assessment, attack surface reduction, behavioral based and cloud-powered next generation protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automatic investigation and remediation, managed hunting services, rich APIs, and unified security management.
$2.50
per user/per month
Pricing
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Free Trial
YesYes
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 ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Considered Both Products
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Because we are a small nonprofit a large portion of our decisions come down to cost. Barracuda was the lowest cost option for us during our evaluation of email gateway products. That one factor alone was the deciding factor, because Barracuda indicated that their product would …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Barracuda was selected purely on a need and cost basis during the course our selection for an SEG. We needed a tool that could be set up fairly quickly and block and detect against spam and malicious emails. It did not compare in efficacy or ease of use to Mimecast, however it …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Barracuda integrates well with Office 365 and mail flow is great. It was the first solution we found that was part of a greater suite to fit all the requirements we had. With the Email Security gateway being in the cloud, it required no extra hardware but also nothing new …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
The Barracuda [Email Security Gateway] is cost comparative to the Sonicwall Email Security appliance but outperforms it in every scenario we tested. The Mimecast Security Email Gateway was not a good fit, had far too many "beta" quality features. The Cisco Email Security …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
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 …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
I did not make the selection, I support the service. It was simple to support, patching was easy.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Forcepoint email security, formerly Websense, had poor intent analysis and learning. I spent a large portion of my time tagging spam emails that were not blocked. Barracuda consistently improves their offering and stays current with trend of malicious messages.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
We switched from an IronPort appliance to ESS in the cloud after evaluating several others, and have evaluated competitors at each renewal since then. The only services that come close are MimeCast and Proofpoint; if I were making the decision again today, it would …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Office 365, while having a robust spam filter, is not as customizable or easy to use as Barracuda Email Security Service in my opinion. It is easier to recover email using Barracuda Email Security Service as well as finding messages that have been blocked. Support is much …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
We have been so happy with this service for so long that we have not looked at alternatives in several years. It's very cost competitive and does a good job.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
We previously had Trend Micro scanning our email before we moved to Barracuda. Again [it's better] cost wise and is easier to use.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
SonicWall servers kept failing after a year or two. Nothing worse than having to replace an entire server due to catastrophic failure. Trend Micro failed to meet expectations. It failed to block phishing campaigns and would let emails with suspicious links through. …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
We compared both Barracuda and Mimecast, we discovered that there wasn't much between the two systems, there were pros and cons for both. In the end it came down to functionality and cost and Barracuda is more cost effective whilst still achieving the objectives we needed. …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
I inherited Barracuda Email Security Gateway when I started this job 1.5 years ago. My predecessors made a good choice with this product. I've been nothing but happy with it. The most I use of it is the message log to find emails for people. I don't have to dig into the …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Mimecast is an excellent, versatile and full-featured product. However, it was significantly more costly than Barracuda ESS. If you need some of the advanced features from Mimecast and are able to justify the cost based upon those, you will not be disappointed. Microsoft offers …
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
COST, SERVICE LEVEL, FUNCTIONALITY, cohesion with our other Barracuda services all were the contributing factors that mase Barracuda stand out.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Barracuda's product is superior in features as well as scanning technology to both alternatives.
Chose Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
Sophos Email
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
It's very convenient and very well integrated with our environment.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Majorly because our suite is Microsoft, so make totally sense to have this in the company and the price. It is Microsoft is better than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Sophos. Because of the integration with Microsoft ecosystem, we selected Defender.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We have not used anything else other than Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Maybe we've used other antivirus software like Sophos and things like that. They're just not all encompassing and that's why we moved to use this product.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I have been working with customers that they are transitioning from Sentinel One, CrowdStrike to Defender for Endpoint, right? So I think it's because they see the value in the product and also they see how much they can save in terms of the cost for companies because they …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We previously used CrowdStrike on our servers. However, the seamless integration of Microsoft Defender (MD) with XDR and the entire Microsoft ecosystem led us to choose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE).
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
What we love more about this product is the way this pro gets integrated into the other family of solutions, especially Defender for Identity or the XDR solutions. We think that the market, the customers are full of unattended consults coming out from different vendors and that …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
The technical features, usability and the support was nice as compared to the other products.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is more advantageous in our windows heavy infrastructure and it was unparalled in the ease of integration with windows endpoints. Security breaches, system crashes and outages with other competitors like Crowdstrike made it easier for us to go …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Norton is much much more expensive and difficult to use. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to use and can be operated by a new joiner as well.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon is also a good solution for endpoint protection which offer EDR Soultion, threat hunting and AI driven threat protection. Sophos Intercept X combines next-gen antivirus with advanced EDR capabilities with its deep learning technology, exploit prevention, and …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is unique for its effortless deployment into the Microsoft ecosystem, where it taps the broadest set of threat intelligence from more than 1.5 billion endpoints. Its state-of-the-art AI-powered automated investigation and remediation minimize …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We started onboarding macOS devices on jamf and started managing it. Because Defender for Endpoint is not working as expected for and compared to price and functionality we are switching from it.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike and SentinelOne. CrowdStrike, you have to deploy it, but it's the defender, it's already baked into the operating system. Same thing with SentinelOne.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Easier to integrate, less hidden fees, easier to maintain, and easier to update. Support is much better on the Microsoft side than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I don't think, it's not really something that we were just using Microsoft and it was just an easy thing to do.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I'm not familiar. It's just been one year plus that I started using, so I've just started using Defender, so I really don't know how to compare it with others.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say at the end all they are doing the same, but with the benefit that we don't need to install anything. So it's just kind of enabling and then the functionality is available, so other products need to be installed, which is not necessary with the defend
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We use Defender in the cloud. We are currently using Defender in the cloud and also evaluating the XDR solution for programmatic. It's just arguments, the defense in depth. You have Defender Endpoint and then you have what you have in the cloud as well, so it's just augmenting …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Before using Defender for Endpoint, we basically had the starter version of the Microsoft product, which comes prebuilt into the system. We had them using in the initial run, but then what usually happened was the employees started disabling it, and that usually made, we guys …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I am a big fan of Tanium actually, so I think it is good. Tanium seemed like it was maybe a little bit easier, but maybe the capability was lacking. Maybe that's the reason why it seems like Defender for Endpoint might be a little harder to understand. There might just be more …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon, and Sentinel One are other big ones that we use a bit. Cisco Secure Endpoint we've evaluated as well. Cisco Secure endpoint capability-wise doesn't match up to Defender, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike both do, but the cost profiles are a bit higher. So most of …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say not to name specific company names, because I'm a partner with one of them and that's the account that I work with. But I use some competing solutions that I would say are pretty heavy from an overhead perspective with the agent that has to be installed in the …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Because this product is easier to use and has a lot of development and Microsoft's behind it.
Features
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Secure Email Gateway
Comparison of Secure Email Gateway features of Product A and Product B
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
7.3
Ratings
13% below category average
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
-
Ratings
Anti-malware8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability4.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Loss Protection9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Detection7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Sandboxing9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Tools6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.3
Ratings
3% below category average
Anti-Exploit Technology00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Centralized Management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Infection Remediation00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Vulnerability Management00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Malware Detection00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Small Businesses
Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail
Score 9.3 out of 10
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Avanan
Avanan
Score 9.4 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Avanan
Avanan
Score 9.4 out of 10
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Barracuda ESG (discontinued)Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
Good combination when using their other products like an incident response. When using automated workflows, this makes creating sender policies a breeze. Unfortunately, this can also be done too well as it may filter out valid emails and to resend or place them back into users' mailbox isn't an easy thing to do even if you attempt to resend through the Email Security Gateway.
Read full review
Because of its integration with Windows, it is very easy to deploy and manage. Any IT department should be able to leverage the software and interface. The admin portal provides weighted recommendations that comprise the Secure Store, offering admins, security teams, and business owners valuable insights into their security footprint without requiring a strong security background. The software would be ideal for small and mid-sized businesses that cannot dedicate resources to security. Larger enterprises would also benefit, but may require the enhanced license.
Read full review
Pros
  • Stops unwanted emails coming through to your inbox, it does this by holding them in a 'quarantine' folder for you to then check and allow or deny.
  • Protects against phishing and ransomware attacks.
  • Stops employees clicking on dangerous links in emails by putting them in a secure place.
Read full review
  • One, it's crazy lightweight, so compared to some of the competitors that we also have used with our security services, it's really lightweight and so I don't have a lot of overhead on the system that it's running on.
  • It does really fantastic PowerShell integration.
Read full review
Cons
  • The appliance has a feature to block all office macros. This is a great feature but only has an on/off setting. I would like to see the additional of allowing exclusions for users who need to receive office macros.
  • The feature for email encryption is great and allows us to not require an additional product or service for this. Unfortunately this is similar to the office macro feature and does not allow exclusions. The setting automatically detects information like credit cards, social security numbers, and other sensitive information. I have a user who works with Japanese companies. Japanese phone numbers apparently trigger the SSN filter. I wish I could put an exclusion in for this recipient or sender.
  • I wish the appliance had an auto firmware update option. Where non major releases would be automatically installed.
Read full review
  • So the fact that Defender for Endpoint still works with signatures is actually, I don't know, a little difficult for us because, I mean, since Microsoft trusts those signatures, you can easily inject code. And we've done it many times. To show that you can inject code through vulnerabilities like CV 2013, 99, and 33 but still keep the signature. So because of the trust of those signatures, the malware just kind of slides into the environment without Defender knowing. That's the first part. The second part is that the behavioral analysis is not precisely its Prime. It's not Defender's best capability for endpoints. So, Defender does not identify all behaviors considered by other EDRs in the market.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Defender is closely catching -up in market with existing competitors they have added DLP endpoint & DLP Network and Cloud DLP solution last year with OCR capabilities. I would say Microsoft Defender is not legacy Vendor in end point security, the need to learn from other vendors in market and focus on new XDR technologies, which is going to be new battle for all vendors
Read full review
Usability
Setting up the Barracuda for use with Microsoft 365 provides issues that Barracuda seems to have no fix for. I mentioned these issues to their support, because I am constantly reminded of them by their system, and I was told that those errors are normal for our setup and to ignore them which is frustrating to me.
Read full review
Because in terms of the usability is easy to understand, it's easy to manage, obviously you need to have specific skills to do that, but I would say that even the console and the product is walking through the flow that you are looking for on this console.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Availability is robust and flawless. This is a non-issue, its always up & running and fail-over protection is available for restarts or upgrades.
Read full review
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint chugs along just fine no matter what we throw at it and what systems it's running on. It doesn't take up a lot of resources either, so that's welcomed.
Read full review
Performance
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.
Read full review
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy on memory and resources on clients.
Read full review
Support Rating
Barracuda Email Security Gateway support is great at responding and escalating cases when needed. Timeliness is key when dealing with email attacks, spoofing or malware. Barracuda also has great resources for end-user training as our end users are our first line of defense in combatting attacks on our company. Training end-users pays off in time spent dealing with any email attacks
Read full review
Overall support is really good for this product. Since it's a Microsoft product, you will get good support from a number of different resources, including knowledgebase articles on the web, support from Microsoft technicians, and documentation (which tends to very thorough). Also, there is a vast user support community for this product, so user support forums would also be another valuable channel to get help if needed. I don't envision too many people will have issues/problems with the product, as it tends to run good overall.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Deployment was handled by our team here and everything went pretty smoothly. We did have a few hiccups in our test group, but that only took a bit to get ironed out.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Barracuda integrates well with Office 365 and mail flow is great. It was the first solution we found that was part of a greater suite to fit all the requirements we had. With the Email Security gateway being in the cloud, it required no extra hardware but also nothing new installed on an endpoint as some solutions require.
Read full review
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers strong integration with Microsoft 365 and Azure services, which provide a unified security experience. While McAfee Trellix is known for solid antivirus, Microsoft Defender excels in integration in the ecosystem.
Read full review
Scalability
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easily scaled from small orgs to giant enterprises.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • The cost of ESS for our organization is tiny compared to the amount of money we would lose if even one virus-laden PDF slipped through
  • Ignoring genuine malware/phishing, the cost of ESS for our organization is tiny compared to the amount of money we save by blocking regular spam (so employees don't ever see it)
  • From an administrator's perspective, putting the reins in the hands of our employees so they can look at their own quarantine (and leave IT out of it) has saved us 💵DOLLA 💸DOLLA💵BILLS 💸Y'ALL💵
Read full review
  • Reduced incidents of security breaches lead to lower remediation costs and avoid potential financial losses and reputational damage.
  • Reduces the need for additional third-party security solutions and training, thereby lowering overall security management costs.
  • Increased efficiency and productivity of IT staff lead to better allocation of resources and cost savings.
  • Reduces the risk of fines and sanctions associated with non-compliance, ensuring business continuity and protecting revenue.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Screenshots

Screenshot of blocked activitiesScreenshot of Detects & respondsScreenshot of discovers vulnerabilityScreenshot of Eliminates blind spotsScreenshot of Risk management