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Atera and Barracuda MSP are both leading IT management platforms dominating today’s market. With diverse features and capabilities that are optimized for the needs of modern IT providers, you are probably considering both of these top-tier products for your organization. 

As a managed service provider (MSP) or as a member of an IT department, it is crucial to choose a product that aligns with your IT needs and goals — and provides your clients with the best possible results. You’ll want to evaluate factors like price, usability, features, performance, and more, in order to find the product that best fits your use cases. 

In this blog, we’ll offer you an in-depth comparison of capabilities, value, support, user interface, and so much more — so that you can make an informed decision about the platform that best matches all that you need.

Why should you trust our reviews? 💡

Our reviews are based on the experience and detailed analysis of users who have actually tried our products and services. We collect feedback from various sources and take into account the opinions of professionals and end users. Our aim is to provide you with an objective and transparent view of the pros and cons of our solutions so that you can make an informed decision.

User interface and usability

Atera and Barracuda RMM both offer top-tier remote monitoring and management (RMM) software to managed service providers. These tools allow MSPs to monitor, analyze, and access their clients’ computers, devices, IT infrastructure, and systems — all from anywhere in the world. 

However, Atera is the only one of the two that also has a product designed for IT Departments in addition to MSPs. 

While the platforms do have some similarities, the user interface (or UI) is one of the biggest differences that users have shared their opinions about. 

Some of Barracuda’s users have noted that there is a rather steep learning curve when it comes to getting acquainted with Barracuda’s dashboards. Others have also commented that Barracuda’s interfaces feel more dated, while Atera’s are modern and intuitive. 

Screenshot of Barracuda MSP’s dashboard – SourceForge

When we built Atera’s dashboards and user interfaces, accessibility was our top priority. We have created intuitive dashboards that are clean and easy to navigate — meaning that it takes less time to get up and running effectively. 

Users can be onboarded and ready to go on Atera in just a few minutes!

Screenshot of Atera Dashboard – Atera

Features and capabilities

Both Atera and Barracuda have received heaps of praise for their highly successful RMM solutions, which allow users full visibility and control into endpoints and network assets, promoting proactive (rather than reactive) IT management. Both platforms offer innovative, comprehensive suites of features that are tailored toward the needs of MSPs. 

The two platforms both provide offerings like Help Desk features, RMM capabilities, and security solutions. That said, Barracuda has a specific focus on security and protection (such as Barracuda backup) whereas Atera offers a larger selection selection of capabilities, and also includes AI-powered features as well. 

Once again, it’s important to note that Barracuda MSP is tailored to MSPs, while Atera has a product dedicated to MSPs, and another product tailored to IT Departments. 

For instance, Atera is the only IT management platform on the market that offers built-in AI integrations through a partnership with Microsoft

With Atera’s AI features, your IT team just got a heck of a lot smarter. With smart automations and intelligent workflows that can take care of menial tasks and speed up endless busy work, you will be able to provide your clients with service that is better (and faster) than ever. 

Atera’s AI-powered IT platform enables 10X efficiency, and all aspects of an IT professional’s day-to-day operations can be enhanced with AI-powered IT (AIT), including automated ticket summaries, automated responses to users, AI-suggested solutions, intelligent insights, and scripts for automating tasks.

It’s not just IT professionals who benefit from these AIT. In addition to AI-driven innovations, end users are also reaping the benefits. IT solutions like these put the power of resolving issues directly in users’ hands. The goal isn’t just to eliminate mundane tasks for technicians, but to equip end users with the resources to solve problems on their own, guided by AI. Using Atera’s AIT, approximately 50% of IT tasks can be resolved autonomously by AI, without the need for technician involvement.

Atera Microsoft
Screenshot via Atera

Performance and reliability

In the IT field, reliability is the name of the game. And as an MSP in a crowded marketplace, it is an especially important concern. Customers expect minimal downtime — because as we know all too well, excessive downtime can lead to security risks and other problems. With that in mind, it’s crucial to choose a platform that will set you up for success, both now and in the future as your business continues to grow. 

Atera and Barracuda both offer scalable solutions, but in terms of support should something go wrong, we genuinely believe that Atera offers greater support options around the clock. In addition to Atera’s 24/7 support, our resource library is a veritable hub of learning that is sure to provide you with all of the resources you need — at the click of a button.

Users on trusted feedback platforms like G2 and Capterra have reported minimal downtime while using the Atera platform. And if problems do occur, our live support agents are available to help – and we have live support options in several different languages! Atera’s online community is another integral piece of our commitment to performance and reliability. 

Nicknamed “The Ateraverse,” our online forum is a great place to chat and troubleshoot with other Atera users. In fact, some of our clients have mentioned that they often turn to the Ateraverse to look through previous forums and conversations and frequently discover helpful gems that allow them to address questions without needing to reach out to our support staff.

Pricing and value for money

It’s difficult to compare RMM pricing when data is not readily available. As we write this article, we’re facing the same struggle that you have likely already encountered: Many RMM software providers (Barracuda MSP included) do not provide clear and upfront pricing details. Why not? Maybe it’s because they know high prices can be a deterrent… 

At Atera, on the other hand, we believe in transparent pricing. We want to empower you to make a fully informed decision. Our enterprise clients may receive a custom quote, but our standard MSP plans range from $129/month to $209/month per technician. 

Atera's MSP pricing

We also offer a 30-day free trial (no credit card needed!) so you can fully experience and test our solution before committing.

But that’s not all. We have also adopted a disruptive pricing model that makes it easier to grow and scale without disrupting services or taking on tons of additional costs. With our per-technician pricing, you will pay a fixed cost regardless of how many end users or devices you’re managing.

Customer support and community

As we touched on earlier, software reliability is crucial for MSPs. And a key part of reliability comes in the form of customer support and community. Barracuda offers a support hotline as well as online resources such as recorded webinars and Barracuda Campus, a selection of free courses and certifications for both technicians and sales reps. 

Where Atera truly shines, however, is in our expansive collection of resources (like the blog you’re reading right now!), tutorials, knowledge bases, and more. We are also incredibly proud of our active online IT community of users, who are constantly supporting one another and sharing tips and tricks. We have an abundance of options for anyone who needs synchronous or asynchronous assistance.  

As we mentioned earlier, our vibrant online community (the “Ateraverse”) is one of the many features that users love about Atera. Whether you want to troubleshoot issues, ask questions, or simply enjoy camaraderie with fellow IT pros, it is an excellent resource. But no matter what, our support agents are also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide assistance in several different languages.

Security and compliance

Barracuda MSP is perhaps best known for its security and compliance capabilities. The platform heralds itself as “security-centric”, and offers managed service providers the ability to provide customers with multi-layer security and data protection services. Security is a priority at Barracuda. 

At Atera, we similarly hold cybersecurity and network protection in high regard. We are committed to providing our clients with best-in-class security offerings. We prioritize adherence to industry standards (e.g. MFA, HIPAA, and SOC 2), and we offer smart logging and reporting. 

We are constantly expanding our offerings and can assure you that security and compliance is of utmost importance to Atera.

Curious about how we are fulfilling our promise of prioritizing your security? We are dedicated to exceeding industry standards when it comes to security best practices. In addition to our logging and reporting prowess, our real-time monitoring and alerts help your team detect and respond to issues before they spiral out of control. 

We are committed to proactive IT rather than reactive IT – and that means equipping you with the tools to keep your IT ecosystem safe and secure at all times. World-class patch management, top security integrations, and industry compliance are at the core of our commitment to cybersecurity. 

In addition to our HIPAA and SOC2 compliances, we are also proud to be GDPR compliant. We have gained numerous ISO certifications (27001, 27017, 27018, and 27032, to be exact) and have also expanded our security-related integration selections so that you can easily use Atera in tandem with your other favorite cybersecurity products. 

Atera has native integrations with security products including Cynet, Keeper, ESET, Emsisoft, Webroot, ThreatDown, Bitdefender, and Ironscales. Further, our product allows you to create an automated patch management schedule that helps keep you secure from any breaches. Atera customers enjoy unmatched peace of mind and do not have to worry about malevolent actors. Why? Because your security is our top priority, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Displaying Atera's integrations
Atera’s security-centered integrations
(Image via Atera)

User feedback and reviews

According to research conducted by G2, reviewers typically found Atera easier to use, set up, and administer. Why? Users felt that Atera better met the needs of their business, as compared to Barracuda MSP. Atera also offered a higher quality of ongoing product support, and users appreciated the forward-looking direction of our updates and features — according to G2 reviews.

Based on these reviews, Atera has earned a higher average rating, based on over 7X the number of reviews for Atera vs. Barracuda MSP.

Here’s why one of our customers opted for Atera:

Screenshot via TrustRadius

And here is what one user said about their experience with Barracuda MSP:

Screenshot from TrustRadius

Overall, according to G2, Atera beats out Barrcuda MSP for virtually every category.

Atera’s AI-powered IT platform: future-fit your IT capabilities

We hope that this side-by-side comparison gives you at least a glimpse into why Atera is a great alternative to Barracuda MSP. While both platforms have seen strong results as market-leading RMM solutions for managed service providers, we truly believe that Atera is the ultimate platform to future-fit your IT ops. 

Atera’s suite of products is cost-effective and robust, with offerings ranging from Help Desk and PSA to patch management and from AI integrations to Network Discovery. Our capabilities boost efficiency, cut down on busy work, and allow you to provide your clients with top-tier services like never before. 

Of course, we encourage you to request demos, explore online resources, or even sign up for free trials. Need a hand? We’re happy to help. Get in touch with our team today to learn more about all that Atera offers!

Atera also offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required! So try it today for free!

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