# Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Riverbed SteelHead Comparison

| | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.5 out of 5 | 4.5 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 51 | 13 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Mid-Market (57.1% of reviews) | Enterprise (80.0% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | No pricing available | No pricing available | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Pros:
- Centralized Management (2 reviews)
- Features (2 reviews)

Cons:
- Complex Configuration (2 reviews)
- Compatibility Issues (1 reviews)

### Riverbed SteelHead

**Not enough data**

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 9.2 (43 reviews) | 9.0 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 8.4 (44 reviews) | 8.6 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.8 (32 reviews) | 8.6 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 8.9 (28 reviews) | 8.6 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 9.1 (37 reviews) | 8.3 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 9.4 (27 reviews) | 8.8 (7 reviews) | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 9.0 (45 reviews) | 5.3 (5 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

No information available

### Riverbed SteelHead

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

No information available

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### WAN Optimization

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Barracuda CloudGen Firewall** | 7.9/10 | 7 |
| **Riverbed SteelHead** | 8.4/10 | 6 |

#### Network

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Traffic Overview** | 8.8 (7 reviews) | 8.7 (5 reviews) | 
| **Cost** | 8.3 (6 reviews) | 8.7 (5 reviews) | 
| **ROI** | 8.0 (5 reviews) | 8.3 (5 reviews) | 
| **Bandwidth** | 8.9 (6 reviews) | 8.0 (5 reviews) | 

#### Application Performance

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Response Times** | 7.7 (5 reviews) | 9.0 (5 reviews) | 
| **Traffic Optimization** | 8.3 (6 reviews) | 9.0 (5 reviews) | 
| **Application Issues** | 6.7 (5 reviews) | 6.7 (5 reviews) | 
| **Increase Productivity** | 6.7 (5 reviews) | 8.7 (5 reviews) | 
| **Improved Performance** | 7.7 (5 reviews) | 8.7 (5 reviews) | 

### Unified Threat Management (UTM)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Barracuda CloudGen Firewall** | 8.0/10 | 8 |
| **Riverbed SteelHead** | N/A | N/A |

#### Security - Unified Threat Management

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Antivirus** | 7.7 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Whitelists** | 7.9 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Antispam Filtering** | 7.1 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Content Filtering** | 7.7 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Web Filtering** | 8.3 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Firewall** | 9.0 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Administration

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Reports & Analytics** | 8.1 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Dashboard** | 8.5 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 

### Firewall Software

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Barracuda CloudGen Firewall** | 8.7/10 | 16 |
| **Riverbed SteelHead** | N/A | N/A |

#### Administration

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Policy Management** | 9.0 (13 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Logging and Reporting** | 8.3 (13 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Application Gateway** | 7.9 (11 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Concurrent Sessions** | 9.4 (12 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Agentic AI - Firewall Software

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Autonomous Task Execution** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Adaptive Learning** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 

#### Functionality

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Virtual Private Network (VPN)** | 8.7 (14 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Antivirus** | 8.3 (13 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **URL Filtering** | 8.9 (12 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Availability** | 9.2 (12 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Monitoring

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Load Balancing** | 9.4 (12 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Continuous Analysis** | 8.5 (13 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Intrusion Prevention** | 8.6 (15 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Intrusion Detection** | 7.8 (13 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Generative AI

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Text Summarization** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 

#### Artificial Intelligence - Firewall

| Feature | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Firewall** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 

---
## Categories
**Shared Categories (1):** [WAN Optimization Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/wan-optimization)

**Unique to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall (3):** [Unified Threat Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/unified-threat-management-utm), [SD-WAN Solutions](https://www.g2.com/categories/sd-wan), [Firewall Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/firewall-software)



---
## Reviewer Demographics

### By Company Size

| Segment | Barracuda CloudGen Firewall | Riverbed SteelHead | 
|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 22.4% | 10.0% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 57.1% | 10.0% | 
| **Enterprise** | 20.4% | 80.0% | 

### By Industry

#### Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

- **Information Technology and Services:** 14.3%
- **Financial Services:** 8.2%
- **Consulting:** 6.1%
- **Telecommunications:** 6.1%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 6.1%
- **Transportation/Trucking/Railroad:** 4.1%
- **Food Production:** 4.1%
- **Mechanical or Industrial Engineering:** 4.1%
- **Computer Software:** 4.1%
- **Insurance:** 4.1%
- **Other:** 38.8%

#### Riverbed SteelHead

- **Pharmaceuticals:** 20.0%
- **Retail:** 10.0%
- **Information Technology and Services:** 10.0%
- **Government Administration:** 10.0%
- **Financial Services:** 10.0%
- **Consumer Goods:** 10.0%
- **Computer Networking:** 10.0%
- **Commercial Real Estate:** 10.0%
- **Banking:** 10.0%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

- [Check Point Next Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)](https://www.g2.com/products/check-point-next-generation-firewalls-ngfws/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (590 reviews)
- [WatchGuard Network Security](https://www.g2.com/products/watchguard-network-security/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (267 reviews)
- [FortiGate-VM NGFW](https://www.g2.com/products/fortigate-vm-ngfw/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (230 reviews)
- [SonicWall Next Generation Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/sonicwall-next-generation-firewall/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (153 reviews)
- [Sophos Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/sophos-firewall/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (771 reviews)
- [Cisco Meraki](https://www.g2.com/products/cisco-meraki/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (217 reviews)
- [Netgate pfSense](https://www.g2.com/products/netgate-pfsense/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (326 reviews)
- [Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.g2.com/products/palo-alto-networks-next-generation-firewalls/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (167 reviews)
- [Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual (formerly NGFWv)](https://www.g2.com/products/cisco-secure-firewall-threat-defense-virtual-formerly-ngfwv/reviews) — 4.2/5 stars (93 reviews)
- [Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)](https://www.g2.com/products/check-point-cloud-firewall-formerly-cloudguard-network-security/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (288 reviews)

### Alternatives to Riverbed SteelHead

- [WAN Optimization](https://www.g2.com/products/wan-optimization/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (12 reviews)
- [Windstream OfficeSuite UC](https://www.g2.com/products/windstream-officesuite-uc/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (30 reviews)
- [Lumen SD-WAN](https://www.g2.com/products/lumen-sd-wan/reviews) — 3.3/5 stars (10 reviews)
- [Akamai Ion](https://www.g2.com/products/akamai-ion/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (19 reviews)
- [Fatpipe WAN Optimization](https://www.g2.com/products/fatpipe-wan-optimization/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (6 reviews)
- [HorizonIQ Network](https://www.g2.com/products/horizoniq-network/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (11 reviews)
- [WAN Optimization](https://www.g2.com/products/wanos-wan-optimization/reviews) — 3.9/5 stars (4 reviews)
- [Ipanema SD-WAN](https://www.g2.com/products/ipanema-sd-wan/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (5 reviews)
- [Sangfor WANO](https://www.g2.com/products/sangfor-wano/reviews) — 4.8/5 stars (3 reviews)
- [Exinda Network Orchestrator](https://www.g2.com/products/exinda-network-orchestrator/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (3 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

No discussions available for this product.

### Riverbed SteelHead

- Title: [What does Riverbed Technology do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-does-riverbed-technology-do) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "-Check and remove the  duplicate package 
- Cache data
- Application Streaming
- Compressing data"
- Title: [What is SteelHead CX?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-steelhead-cx) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "SteelHead CX is a wan optimize solution provided by Riverbed. 
CX is a new model that works very well and almost issues with hardware and software."

---
**Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/barracuda-cloudgen-firewall-vs-riverbed-steelhead)