We tested 11 Barracuda alternatives—Here’s our top pick for IT management

As IT professionals, we’re always on the lookout for tools that can streamline our workflows and enhance our security measures. Barracuda has been a go-to solution for many, but what if there were options that could take your IT management to the next level? 

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll introduce you to 11 impressive Barracuda alternatives that are reshaping the industry. From AI-powered platforms to cost-effective solutions, these alternatives offer a range of features that might just be the perfect fit for your organization.

What is Barracuda?

Barracuda offers remote monitoring and management (RMM), help desk and ticketing, and security solutions. Most of their offerings (such as the BarracudaMSP) are tailored towards MSPs. Barracuda is also known for its security and protection solutions, such as their Barracuda Backup product.

Why look for a Barracuda alternative?

After getting familiar with Barracuda and looking into customer reviews, we noticed that the main limitations of the platform are its steep learning curve, small issues that appear on a daily basis, and user interface that needs an update.

Here’s a closer look at each of the limitations according to user reviews.

1. Steep learning curve

A common customer complaint on Capterra was that Barracuda has a steep learning curve and that the system should be simplified. Especially for those new to RMM platforms or with limited resources, this can be a deal-breaker.

2. Small issues that appear frequently

Barracuda customers on Capterra report experiencing small bugs on a daily basis, such as issues adding and removing admin users, difficulty navigating the platform, and test credentials that are not always working.

3. User interface needs to be updated

Barracuda customers on G2 mention that the user interface looks old and needs to be updated. IT management solutions like Atera offer a modern user interface, so Barracuda’s outdated interface may stands out to some users, for the wrong reasons.

What are Barracuda’s strengths?

Barracuda’s two strong points for MSPs are its strong customer support and the ability to manage clients’ devices from one unified interface.

Let’s look into each of these in more detail.

1. Strong customer support

Similarly to alternatives like Atera, Barracuda has 24/7 live chat support. Customers appreciated this on G2, particularly since Barracuda provides security products, and in the event of an error, customers can quickly contact the company.

2. Unified view of all devices

Barracuda gives MSPs a unified view of all client devices, endpoints, and servers. While the top alternatives like Atera offer the same feature set, this functionality was appreciated by Barracuda customers on G2.

Barracuda pros and cons: Takeaways

To conclude the two previous sections, here are the pros and cons of Barracuda that are mentioned in many customer reviews.

The pros:

• A 24/7 live chat support for all Barracuda customers.
• Gives you a unified view of all client devices, servers, and endpoints.

The cons:

• A steep learning curve, which is especially challenging for those with limited resources and experience.
• Customers experience small issues with things like creating and removing admin users.
• Barracuda’s user interface needs to be updated to compete with more modern solutions.

11 best Barracuda alternatives for IT management in 2024

Next, let’s go over the 11 best Barracuda alternatives for 2024, according to our own research and based on real customer reviews.

1. Atera

Atera vs. Barracuda: Key differences

Both Atera and Barracuda offer a remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution, allowing users to monitor and control network assets and endpoints remotely. While Barracuda only offers this capability to MSPs, Atera offers it to both MSPs and IT departments respectively, with specialized products for each.

Atera’s dashboards and user interfaces are built with accessibility and ease of use in mind, making onboarding and daily usage quick and easy. Barracuda’s users have noted that the platform has a steep learning curve, and the user interface would need an update. 

Atera and Barracuda both offer world-class, 24/7 live chat support for customers. Both platforms also have self-help resources, such as knowledge bases and tutorials. Atera stands out with its IT community, where customers can troubleshoot problems and share best practices with others.

1. Features and capabilities

In addition to RMM capabilities, Atera offers help desk and ticketing, remote access, patch management, and network discovery capabilities. Barracuda is mostly focused on security and network protection capabilities, whereas Atera offers a wider selection of AI-powered features.

At Atera, we similarly hold cybersecurity and network protection in high regard. Further to this, we provide a number of other important IT management features that make our platform a true all-in-one solution.

2. User interface and overall usability

Using G2 to compare Atera and Barracuda MSP, Atera excels in every category. This includes aspects like the software’s ease of use, the ease of set-up, and whether it meets the requirements for IT departments in addition to just MSPs.

Atera was built from the ground up with ease of use and accessibility in mind, which is one of the reasons our customers rate the platform so highly. Atera users can be up and running within minutes of signing up!

Atera’s dashboard view (via Atera)

Reviews related to Barracuda’s user interface are more varied since many customers report a steep learning curve and an outdated user interface. Some IT professionals, particularly those with limited resources or new to IT management platforms, might find Barracuda difficult to use.

3. Pricing and value for money

Like many other RMM pricing plans, Barracuda doesn’t show their prices publicly, and you need to request a quote from their team to get the pricing. For this reason, it is difficult to compare the cost of their software with Atera’s.

Atera provides transparent pricing for both MSPs and IT departments. The standard pricing plans range from $99 to $169 per month for MSPs and $149 to $199 per month for IT departments.

At Atera, we have adopted a disruptive pricing model that makes it easier to grow and scale without incurring huge expenses. With our pay-per-technician pricing model, you pay a fixed cost no matter how many endpoints or devices you can add.

All new customers get a 30-day free trial to Atera so they can see how it fits into their workflow.

Atera’s G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (500+ reviews)

Barracuda’s G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars (40+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

Atera users on G2 mention that Atera is simple to use, regardless of your previous experience with IT management platforms. The setup process for technicians is simple, so they are ready to use the system very quickly after joining.

Atera’s Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (300+ reviews)

Barracuda’s Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (20+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

Atera provides IT departments with an all-in-one solution. Capterra users appreciate that they have everything in one place Customers can easily monitor and manage remote machines’ desktops, scripts, and commands.

Atera Pricing:

For IT departments: 

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $169 per month, per technician
• Master: $199 per month, per technician

For MSPs:

• Pro: $99 per month, per technician
• Growth: $129 per month, per technician
• Power: $169 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

2. ManageEngine Endpoint Central

ManageEngine Endpoint Central allows you to manage and secure desktops, laptops, servers, mobile devices, and tablets from a single interface. Unlike Barracuda, ManageEngine Endpoint Central provides solutions for both MSPs and IT departments. 

And, if you want to expand the functionality, ManageEngine’s different products can be integrated together.

G2 users report that ManageEngine has a similar drawback as Barracuda, which is a steep learning curve. IT departments that want easy-to-use IT management software might want to consider another alternative, like Atera.

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (600+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 (750+ reviews)

ManageEngine Endpoint Central Pricing:

• Professional: Starting at $104 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Starting at $124 per month, per technician
• UEM: Starting at $139 per month, per technician
• Security: Starting at $205 per month, per technician

3. Kaseya

Kaseya VSA, one of Kaseya’s main products, provides remote access, patch management, and RMM capabilities. Like Barracuda, Kaseya is known for its security and network protection features despite receiving some complaints in recent years about those.

Kaseya may be the right IT management solution for some teams, but there are drawbacks, including its pricing model. Similarly to Barracuda, Kaseya does not publish its pricing online, so you will need to request a custom quote from them. G2 users mention that the cost can increase quickly, and it is prohibitive for smaller businesses.

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 (250+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (200+ reviews)

Kaseya Pricing:

• Custom pricing system in place. Visit Kaseya’s website to learn more.

4. Domotz

Domotz provides remote network monitoring and management solutions for IT professionals and MSPs. With Domotz, you can troubleshoot network and device issues in real time, and its alerting system ensures that all your networks stay secure.

For network monitoring, Domotz is a suitable alternative to Barracuda. It can then be integrated with the all-in-one solution Atera for more capabilities, including help desk and ticketing, patch management, remote access, reporting, and billing. Domotz has what some users may consider a drawback, though, which is their pay-per-endpoint pricing, which can get pricey quickly.

5. Syncro

Syncro provides managed service providers (MSPs) with an all-in-one IT management platform. The platform includes RMM, PSA capabilities, help desk and ticketing functionality, and patch management capabilities.

Similarly to Atera, Syncro offers a comprehensive solution. The difference is that Syncro only provides this to MSPs, while Atera offers dedicated products for both MSPs and IT departments respectively. Syncro’s users also mention on G2 that the software’s capabilities are limited, which can be a deal breaker for many IT teams.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (120+ reviews)

Syncro’s Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (70+ reviews)

Syncro Pricing:

• Basic: $139 per month, per user

6. N-able

N-able offers essential features for IT professionals, including RMM, remote access, IT ticketing, and patch management. The features are divided into different products N-able has, such as the N-central RMM and N-able MSP Manager.

N-able offers a flexible solution, but to achieve this, you might have to use several N-able products. This has its downside, which is increased subscription costs. Depending on your budget, the increased cost can be a deal-breaker.

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (170+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 3.9 out of 5.0 stars (40+ reviews)

N-able Pricing:

• Pricing is based on custom quotation. To get the pricing, request a quote from N-able’s website.

7. ConnectWise Automate

ConnectWise Automate assists IT teams in automating manual processes and improving their efficiency. Some main features of it include remote monitoring and management (RMM) capabilities, automated patching, and asset discovery.

ConnectWise is a known Barracuda alternative for larger teams due to its capability to handle complex workflows. However, this comes at a cost since many ConnectWise users complain that the number of features is almost overwhelming, making the software difficult to use.

G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (120+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (125+ reviews)

ConnectWise Automate Pricing:

• Custom quotation: To know ConnectWise Automate pricing, you need to request a quotation from their team

8. Datto

Datto‘s product offerings include remote monitoring and management, IT automation, scripting, patch management, and remote access. Datto has a dedicated product called Autotask PSA for PSA capabilities.

Datto’s advantage over Barracuda is its third-party integrations, which have increased significantly since Kaseya acquired it. The acquisition had positive aspects, but it also had drawbacks, including a decrease in the platform’s quality and a new clunky user interface – once again, as reported by many users and user reviews.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (70+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (20+ reviews)

Datto Pricing:

• Custom pricing available. Contact Datto’s sales team to get the pricing.

9. HaloPSA

HaloPSA offers features such as time tracking, billing, reporting, remote access, project and contract management, and integrations with RMM software. While Barracuda mostly focuses on RMM and cybersecurity capabilities, HaloPSA offers a full PSA solution for MSPs.

If you’re looking solely for PSA capabilities, HaloPSA can be a suitable solution. HaloPSA offers RMM integrations, but does not include built-in capabilities for it, which is a deal-breaker for most IT departments. For built-in RMM, consider another alternative, like Atera.

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars (20+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 stars (20+ reviews)

HaloPSA Pricing:

• Starting at $109 per month, per user

10. Ivanti Endpoint Manager

Ivanti Endpoint Manager lets you monitor and manage client devices on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, UNIX, and Linux systems. The software also includes remote control, dashboards and reporting, and patch management.

From our alternative list, Ivanti is the closest alternative to ManageEngine, as it has a similar feature set and a customer base that is primarily enterprise companies. The software also has the same downside as ManageEngine in that many of the features are not suitable for smaller businesses.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (130+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars (1 review)

Ivanti Endpoint Manager Pricing:

• Custom pricing. To get the pricing, fill out your details on Ivanti’s website.

11. GoTo Resolve

GoTo Resolve is a cloud-based RMM, ticketing, remote access, and support system for MSPs. Similarly to Barracuda MSP, MSPs can remotely monitor and manage their network infrastructure with GoTo Resolve.

GoTo Resolve is specifically aimed at small businesses, as seen in its fairly limited features. The simplistic features also make the software relatively easy to use, which can be advantageous for teams that want that.

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (400+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (190+ reviews)

GoTo Resolve Pricing:

• Free: Free to use, up to 3 technicians
• Standard: Starting at $57 per month, billed annually
• Premium: Custom pricing. Visit their website to get the pricing

Future-proof your IT with Atera’s AI-powered IT platform

Out of all the alternatives listed in this article, Atera is the only solution offering AI-powered IT management in partnership with Microsoft.

AI-powered IT (AIT) helps IT teams drastically reduce their workload. With the help of AI, 50% of user tickets are resolved before they even reach a technician. The goal isn’t just to eliminate mundane tasks for technicians so they can focus on more strategic projects, but to empower end users with the tools to cope with common problems guided by AI.

This is the power of AI-powered IT, where technology is used as a tool rather than a barrier.
To learn more about Atera, you can get in touch with our sales team today. We also offer a 30-day free trial with no credit card required!