Barracuda Message Archiver vs Proxmox Mail Gateway

Barracuda Message Archiver9.4Visit Proxmox Mail Gateway7.9Visit

Higher score Barracuda Message Archiver #1 in Email Anti-Spam Software 9.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Barracuda

vs

Proxmox Mail Gateway #8 in Email Anti-Spam Software 7.9/10 Open source ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Proxmox

• Barracuda Message Archiver fits best

  Organizations needing email archiving, not filtering

• Proxmox Mail Gateway fits best

  Self-hosted teams wanting a full mail gateway

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Side by side

Feature	Barracuda Message Archiver 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Proxmox Mail Gateway 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	7.9
Ranking	#1 in Email Anti-Spam Software	#8 in Email Anti-Spam Software
Best for	Organizations needing email archiving, not filtering	Self-hosted teams wanting a full mail gateway
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Pricing on request	€190/yr
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Desktop	Cloud, Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS	Web, Linux
Integrations	13 integrations	5 integrations
Features Barracuda Message Archiver 0/3 · Proxmox Mail Gateway 0/3
Phishing detection	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Malware scanning	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Attachment scanning	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Quarantine access	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Supported mail platforms	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Quarantine retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment type	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Legal holds, eDiscovery workflows, audit trails, and configurable retention Boolean and full-text search across messages, attachments, and metadata Physical, virtual, cloud, and hybrid deployment with broad integrations	Scans inbound and outbound mail with SpamAssassin and ClamAV Extensive SMTP filtering, policy rules, quarantine, and mail actions Includes tracking, unified logs, clustering, web, CLI, and API administration
Cons	Focused on archiving rather than primary anti-spam protection Pricing requires a customized quote from sales No AI features or free plan	Requires gateway deployment between the firewall and internal mail server Annual subscriptions are priced per host, starting at €190 Support depth varies substantially by subscription tier
Our verdict	Barracuda Message Archiver is built to capture, retain, search, and export email for organizations with compliance, litigation, and records-management requirements. SMTP journal capture records messages as they are sent or received, while… Read the review →	Proxmox Mail Gateway is an open-source mail proxy for organizations that need to inspect and control inbound and outbound email. It sits between a firewall and an internal mail server, analyzing traffic for spam, viruses, Trojans,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Barracuda Message Archiver — where it wins

  • Legal holds, eDiscovery workflows, audit trails, and configurable retention
  • Boolean and full-text search across messages, attachments, and metadata
  • Physical, virtual, cloud, and hybrid deployment with broad integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Focused on archiving rather than primary anti-spam protection
  • Pricing requires a customized quote from sales
  • No AI features or free plan

• Proxmox Mail Gateway — where it wins

  • Scans inbound and outbound mail with SpamAssassin and ClamAV
  • Extensive SMTP filtering, policy rules, quarantine, and mail actions
  • Includes tracking, unified logs, clustering, web, CLI, and API administration

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires gateway deployment between the firewall and internal mail server
  • Annual subscriptions are priced per host, starting at €190
  • Support depth varies substantially by subscription tier

• Barracuda Message Archiver9.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A strong email archive for compliance workflows, but not a primary anti-spam filter.

  Visit BarracudaFull verdict →
• Proxmox Mail Gateway7.9/10 · Open source

  A full mail gateway for teams that want self-hosted scanning, rules, quarantine, and logs.

  Visit ProxmoxFull verdict →