Barracuda Networks vs Northwave
Barracuda Networks is a MSP-channel that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Barracuda Networks targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Barracuda Networks includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
Buyer brief
Barracuda Networks is a MSP-channel that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Barracuda Networks targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Barracuda Networks includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
Barracuda Networks (MSP-channel) and Northwave (Services firm) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize Barracuda Networks's purpose-built for the msp channel with multi-tenant management, sentinelone-powered endpoint secu... or Northwave's northwave mdr fits european buyers that want a soc service connected to incident response, red te....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | MSPs needing white-label managed XDR for SMB clients with multi-tenant management | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC |
| Price | Reseller 3-year SKU: ~$14.50/endpoint/yr | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 6/6 actions · Configurable | 1/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Own agent required | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Warranty | Available | None listed |
- Best fit
- MSPs needing white-label managed XDR for SMB clients with multi-tenant management
- Price
- Reseller 3-year SKU: ~$14.50/endpoint/yr
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Own agent required
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- Available
- Best fit
- Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | Barracuda NetworksTECH-AGNOSTIC | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | SMB, Mid-market | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | SentinelOneMicrosoft Defender for EndpointCrowdStrikeCisco Secure EndpointSophos CentralESET PROTECTTrend MicroBroadcom Endpoint SecurityBitdefenderBlackBerry Cylance ProtectTanium | Customer endpoint telemetry |
| SIEM integrations | Barracuda XDR Platform | Customer log sources |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | ✓ Included | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Third-party/reseller-reported ~$14.50/endpoint/year (3-year commitment). Minimum 25 licenses. Competitive upgrade offers up to 50% off annual contract value. | Not published |
| Minimum seats | 25 | None |
| Breach warranty | ✓ | – |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | Yes | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | ✓ Included | Not offered |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Per-endpoint annually with volume discounts and multi-year commitment discounts (1-year and 3-year options). Minimum 25 licenses. | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Security logs not available for download, which limits forensic independence and makes switching providers harder. Automatic subscription renewal with 30-day notice required for non-renewal. MSP-focused pricing may differ from direct enterprise pricing | Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.. Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR.. Cloud, SaaS and identity coverage are not named as clearly as endpoint, log and network telemetry.. Detection tuning depends on onboarding log sources and threat-based use cases, which may affect deployment effort. |
| Data portability | Limited | Partial |
| Contract terms | 1 year, 3 year | Custom |
| Channels | EmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific | Europe |
| Onboarding | 30 days or less | Northwave says implementation starts with a plan covering service elements, phases, planning and threat-based use cases, then onboarding log sources and processes. No standard public onboarding duration was found. |
| Industry focus | Managed Service ProvidersSMB (all industries)HealthcareEducationRetail | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure |
| MTTD | Vendor claims seconds (not independently validated, no MITRE ATT&CK participation) | Not published |
| MTTR | Vendor claims malware resolution reduced from 3-4 weeks to under 1 hour. Not independently validated. | Not published |
| Community view | Won multiple 2025 industry awards (CyberSecurity Breakthrough XDR Solution of the Year, Cybersecurity Excellence Best XDR). Very few independent reviews on Gartner Peer Insights or G2. No PeerSpot listing for Managed XDR. Broader Barracuda product line gets mixed MSP feedback, particularly around support quality deterioration and forced bundling. | Northwave has limited MDR-specific public review volume. The public buyer case rests on European delivery, Utrecht SOC operations and the connection between MDR, CERT, red team and threat research. Buyers should validate response authority, cloud and identity coverage, pricing and escalation rules before signing. |
| Compliance | ISO 27001SOC 2 Type IIGDPRHIPAA | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX |
| Certifications | ISO 27001SOC 2 Type II | – |
| Founded | 2003 | 2006 |
| Data retention | 12-month rolling period (logs maintained solely for service delivery, not available for customer download). Extended retention available as add-on (~$9.40/month per data source). Barracuda retains security alerts for 15 months after subscription expires. | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Barracuda Networks and Northwave?
Barracuda Networks is a MSP-channel that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Barracuda Networks covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Northwave.
How do Barracuda Networks and Northwave differ in response capabilities?
Barracuda Networks supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with Barracuda Networks and not included with Northwave.
How does Barracuda Networks pricing compare to Northwave?
Barracuda Networks pricing: Third-party/reseller-reported ~$14.50/endpoint/year (3-year commitment). Minimum 25 licenses. Competitive upgrade offers up to 50% off annual contract value. (25-seat minimum). Northwave pricing: Not published. Watch for with Barracuda Networks: Security logs not available for download, which limits forensic independence and makes switching providers harder; Automatic subscription renewal with 30-day notice required for non-renewal. Watch for with Northwave: Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.; Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR..
Should I choose Barracuda Networks or Northwave?
Choose Barracuda Networks if: mSPs needing white-label managed XDR for SMB clients with multi-tenant management. Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Barracuda Networks is not ideal for enterprises wanting full data access and log export capabilities (logs not downloadable). Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales.
Daylight Security
AI-native MDR for buyers comparing active remediation across endpoint, cloud, identity, and SaaS. Daylight works with existing EDR/SIEM stacks and uses ChatOps-native collaboration, so it can be a useful third reference point in this comparison.