Stormshield Network Security vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

Stormshield and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category. Stormshield is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.6. Stormshield holds a 3.7% mindshare in UTMU, compared to WatchGuard’s 10.9% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Stormshield users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 5, 2025

Stormshield Network Security and WatchGuard Firebox are network security solutions. WatchGuard appears to have the upper hand due to its customizable policy management and advanced reporting capabilities in highly customizable environments.

Features: Stormshield Network Security stands out with its integrated VPN, flexible firewall settings, and advanced threat detection capabilities. WatchGuard Firebox distinguishes itself with its granular policy management, advanced reporting options, and robust cloud integration support.

Room for Improvement: Stormshield could enhance its user interface for more streamlined management and reduce the complexity of its deployment process. The adaptability of its solutions to various network environments may also need refinement. WatchGuard could improve by enhancing its technical support responsiveness and simplifying some of its advanced features to make them more approachable for new users. Additionally, updating its user documentation could lead to an even better user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Firebox provides a smooth deployment process and offers robust customer service, including comprehensive documentation and reliable technical support. Stormshield, while offering supportive customer service, may pose challenges during deployment for users unfamiliar with its configuration, resulting in a steeper learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Stormshield Network Security provides a cost-effective solution with a strong return on investment due to its comprehensive baseline security features. WatchGuard Firebox, while potentially more expensive at the outset, promises a significant return on investment by aligning with evolving security demands, particularly for businesses with complex security needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Stormshield Network Security vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Stormshield Network Security vs. WatchGuard Firebox

September 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 35.1%, down from 39.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Stormshield Network Security is 3.7%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 10.9%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	35.1%
WatchGuard Firebox	10.9%
Stormshield Network Security	3.7%
Other	50.3%

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Benjamin

Network Engineer at ACS2I

The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats

The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

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ScottEastman

Project Consultant at SEVERN HOSPICE LIMITED

Reduces the risks of sending data where it shouldn't be going

We use the solution to ensure that no data breach, such as credit card details and national insurance numbers, leaves the company. However, we have to allow some information to go through because we send a lot of information to the National Healthcare Service If we don't want specific data sent…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."

"The UTM feature is quite good. FortiAP is easy to deploy because both Fortigate and FortiAP are under the same brand. Otherwise, you need to do more work on the configuration."

"Whenever we raise a complaint with FortiGate, their response and resolution times are minimal."

"Its user interface is good, and it is always working fine."

"I love the interface."

"The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."

"Good performance, stability, and virtual domain ability."

"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"A very robust product."

"The scalability of the solution is good."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."

"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed."

"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."

"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."

"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."

More Stormshield Network Security pros

"The policy monitoring and allowing different traffic flows are the most useful features for us; regulating which traffic comes in and out."

"All of the features have been valuable. There's nothing on my M270 that I'm not using. If you have remote access, you can see how many users are coming from the outside world to be connected to the systems, through the virus systems that we have behind the firewall, in order to gain access to their files and do their work. We can also see how long they stay online and whether these connections are closed forcefully or for any other reasons, such as a glitch or some kind of misbehavior, to see if internet traffic is optimized and if that particular traffic is under company policies, concerning which websites were visited."

"Efficient to setup, run, and maintain. Saving man hours and cost in the process."

"We have received a good return on investment."

"It works right out of the box. You just have to enable it and you can start working."

"It's pretty simple to use. It's pretty simple to understand, and there's plenty of documentation. It does a pretty good job of what it is meant to do."

"Some of the most valuable features of the Firebox include web blocking, application control, protection against brute force attacks, load balancing, SD-WAN, and VPN support. These features help us manage and secure our network efficiently."

"The most valuable feature of WatchGuard Firebox is the VPN. It's easy to connect to the VPN."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"I prefer Palo Alto over Fortinet FortiGate. Its IPS engine is not better than the Palo Alto version. The monitoring tool needs improvement, and the syslog configuration needs enhancement."

"I would like to be able to generate reports about the protections that we have. I would like a report feature."

"The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."

"As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."

"Reporting is limited to providing an external appliance for improving the reporting capabilities of the FortiAnalyzer. It does not offer a central management and is also sold separably as an appliance."

"I feel that the reporting needs to be improved."

"It is quite new for us, and we need to go more in-depth into the monitoring tools. It provides different features that we need to do what we want. So far, it is okay for us. In terms of improvement, in the future, they can provide a faster implementation of features. Some of the features are first available in other solutions. Fortinet sometimes takes a little bit longer than other solutions, such as Check Point, to implement new features."

"In the next release, I would like to see the interface simplified to be more user-friendly."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Not all the fields are activated yet and we were informed that it will take at least one month."

"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."

"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."

"The SD card could be more secure."

"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."

"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."

"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."

"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."

More Stormshield Network Security cons

"They are working on cloud-based options. However, they do not have the options fully functional in their solution at this time."

"There is room for improvement on the education side, regarding what does what, rather than just throwing it at a person and assuming they know everything about it. A lot of times, you have to call WatchGuard support to get the solution that will work, rather than their just having it published so that you can fix the problem on your own."

"I would like to see the devices made more flexible by adding modules to increase the ports that we can use."

"The pricing of WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response could be improved."

"The interface is not the best."

"This solution needs the option to add an external hard drive."

"WatchGuard should offer more visibility into user activity. For example, we should have more details when WatchGuard denies a user access to a port."

"The user interface for WatchGuard Firebox has room for improvement. Right now, it's a bit complex to work with and could be easier."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Each feature costs money, so it is important to study your needs."

"Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."

"The Fortinet FortiGate security features cost approximately $1,500 a year. The firewall itself doesn't have a recurring cost. It's the security features on top of that that you pay for."

"The product is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."

"A year or two years back, its price was competitive and reasonable. That was one of the reasons that people easily switched to Fortinet. Over the last two years, the prices have increased drastically. However, the prices of others have also increased. An advantage is there from the price point but not as much as it was previously."

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."

"The support subscription for the solution is annual. You are paying for support and there are two levels of support, professional and advanced."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."

"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."

"I think the price is good."

"The pricing could be better."

"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."

"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."

"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."

"As per my knowledge, the product is more affordable than alternatives."

"I think the tool is quite competitive compared to the other brands."

"It costs me about $800 a year."

"Each one, for the primary unit, was $8,600 and the High Availability unit was $2,000. That's with three years of subscription and support and the Total Security Suite."

"WatchGuard offers competitive pricing with attractive margins, benefiting both the company and its partners."

"The two larger devices are about $1,000 each and the smaller ones are about $500 or $600 each... It's cheaper and you have more control because it's self-managed."

"They have an annual subscription license. Initially, we had opted for three years. After that, we went for another three years, and after that, we have been doing it yearly. They also have a license for five years."

"It's in the medium range. Its price is pretty good considering the functions and add-ons that are used."

More WatchGuard Firebox pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

18%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	91
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?

The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 14% of the time

OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 4% of the time

More Stormshield Network Security Competitors

OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XGS vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

Zyxel Unified Security Gateway vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 2% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Stormshield Network Security

September 2025

Download Stormshield Network Security product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

September 2025

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

No data available

NETASQ Firewalls

WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

NETASQ's integrated intrusion prevention engine uses protocol conformity analysis, application filtering and antivirus analysis to inspect authorized traffic flows and strengthen application security. NETASQ enables you to establish and configure user-based security policies, giving you greater control over which network resources each user is authorized to access.

Stormshield

WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.

WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.

What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?

Ease of Setup: Quick and straightforward installation process.
GUI: User-friendly graphical interface for simplified navigation.
VPN Features: Secure and efficient virtual private network management.
Web Filtering: Advanced filtering for safer browsing experiences.
Threat Detection: Proactive monitoring and detection of cyber threats.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Centralized Control: Streamlined management from a single point.
High Throughput: Efficient data handling and processing capacity.
Stable Performance: Consistent and reliable operational functionality.
Active Directory Integration: Seamless connection with user directories.
Customer Service: Strong support service for customer inquiries.

WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location

Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence

Buyer's Guide

Stormshield Network Security vs. WatchGuard Firebox

September 2025

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