Mimecast vs Barracuda Email Security

Barracuda Email Security and Mimecast are both enterprise email gateway solutions. Barracuda Email Security email threat protection platform available as gateway appliance or cloud service, while Mimecast cloud email security platform with threat protection, archiving, and continuity. The best choice depends on your organization's size, technical requirements, and budget.

Updated Feb 2026
How we compare:This comparison is based on official documentation, public pricing, community discussions, and aggregated user feedback, not hands-on testing by our team. We organize what real users and practitioners are saying across the web.

The Bottom Line

Choose Barracuda Email Security if significantly lower pricing than Proofpoint and Mimecast is your priority and small-to-mid-market organizations wanting effective email security at a lower price point than Proofpoint or Mimecast. Choose Mimecast if email continuity keeps mail flowing during outages — unique differentiator matters most and mid-to-large enterprises wanting a unified email security, archiving, and continuity platform with strong API integrations.

Choose Mimecast if:

  • You value significantly lower pricing than Proofpoint and Mimecast
  • You value available as both appliance and cloud service for deployment flexibility
  • You value straightforward administration with less complexity
  • You want to avoid detection efficacy slightly behind Proofpoint for advanced threats
  • You want to avoid email archiving search performance can be slow on large datasets

Choose Barracuda Email Security if:

  • You value email continuity keeps mail flowing during outages — unique differentiator
  • You value strong impersonation and brand protection capabilities
  • You value unified platform covering security, archiving, and continuity
  • You want to avoid detection efficacy below Proofpoint for advanced targeted threats
  • You want to avoid cloud-native API protection less mature than gateway product

Feature Comparison

FeatureMimecastBarracuda Email Security
PricingFrom $3.60/user/month / appliance pricing variesCustom pricing / per-user licensing
Pricing ModelPer-user subscription or appliance licensePer-user subscription
Open SourceNoNo
DeploymentCloud, Self-HostedCloud
Best ForSmall-to-mid-market organizations wanting effective email security at a lower price point than Proofpoint or MimecastMid-to-large enterprises wanting a unified email security, archiving, and continuity platform with strong API integrations
Multi-layer email threat scanningSupportedNot available
Link and attachment sandboxingSupportedNot available
Anti-spam and anti-malware filteringSupportedNot available

Sources

Related

Mimecast AlternativesBarracuda Email Security AlternativesMimecast OverviewBarracuda Email Security Overview