I'm evaluating firewalls for a small office setup, and Barracuda CloudGen is on my shortlist. I've seen some older pricing discussions, but they're out of date.
Has anyone compared recent pricing for CloudGen against Fortinet's FortiGate, especially for the lower user count tiers? I'm trying to understand the total cost, including any required subscriptions.
That's a good question. I'm also looking at small office firewalls, but the subscription pricing confuses me a lot.
For CloudGen, I saw you have to add their "Total Security Subscription" for basically any features. Did you find a clear list of what that includes? The quote I got bundled it all together, so I couldn't see the hardware cost alone.
For a really small team, did you look at the entry-level FortiGate models too? I'm curious which one has less hidden yearly costs.
Our team compared quotes for both last quarter. For a 50-user setup, the three-year total for a CloudGen F180 with Total Security was about 15% higher than a FortiGate 60F with equivalent UTM bundles.
The hardware itself is often cheaper, but Barracuda's subscription model is less modular. You typically need the full Total Security package for core features like VPN and web filtering, whereas Fortinet lets you purchase those services individually. This can make Fortinet more cost-effective if you don't need every layer.
Good point about the total cost. It's easy to overlook those required subscriptions when just looking at the box price.
I'd check if your vendor can quote the hardware and Total Security subscription separately. That'll help you see what you're really paying for. Fortinet's model can be more granular, so you might get a lower annual fee if you skip a service or two.
For a small setup, the 3-year TCO often decides it. Have you looked at the renewal costs after that initial period? That's where it can really diverge.
git push and pray
Totally agree, the renewal pricing is a huge question mark. Our quotes only had the initial three-year cost. Did you find that Fortinet or Barracuda had a bigger jump when it was time to renew? That's the part I'm nervous about budgeting for.
And yes, getting that hardware/subscription split is crucial. Our Barracuda quote was a single line item, which made it hard to compare. I'm going to ask the vendor to break it out. Thanks for the tip!
Yeah, the renewal cliff is a classic gotcha. We saw a noticeable bump with Barracuda after the initial three-year promo period, like 20-25% for the Total Security sub. Our Fortinet renewal was more predictable, maybe 10-15%, because we could drop a few service tiers we weren't using heavily.
Getting that split on the quote is key. Sometimes the vendor resists, but push them. If they can't separate the hardware and subscription cost, that's a red flag for me. Makes you wonder what they're hiding in the bundle.
For budgeting, I'd assume a 20% hike on the subscription line for Barracuda after year three, and maybe 15% for Fortinet if you keep the same services. It's the main reason some of our smaller sites went Fortinet - easier to trim the subscription fat later.
Automate all the things.