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Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
1st
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) (4th)
VMware NSX
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
3rd
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (8th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (9th), Network Automation (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is 25.2%, up from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 13.1%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

KlavsThaarup - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers micro segmentation capabilities and easy to setup
It's micro-segmentation The label-based segmentation is the most valuable feature. There are always areas for improvement. It doesn't support a PAAC solution (Platforma as a service) in the cloud. So that could be improved. In future releases, I would like to see more integration with other…
DanielBass - PeerSpot reviewer
Improves network security with micro-segmentation but setup is complex
I value the ability to dynamically configure our network on the fly using VMware NSX. This flexibility is a huge advantage because it allows us to avoid static configurations that come with traditional hardware setups. Additionally, the micro-segmentation feature is beneficial for adhering to strict security regulations from our security department.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool is a complete package that offers many features like visibility. You can get a graph with real-time workflows and visibility into server-to-server communication. We get visibility into many things happening within our environment."
"The real bonus is the fact that we can secure applications, all the way down to the individual services, on each host. It's actually more granular security than we can get out of a traditional firewall."
"We like the centralized management of the firewalls. Until we installed Guardicore Centra, we managed all our firewalls individually, so making changes was complicated, difficult, and time-consuming."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility of processes and connections."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the maps and ring fencing that help monitor events."
"Application Ring-Fencing and Deception Server, which is basically like a honeypot, are pretty useful features."
"That is primarily because I've seen increased rules. It's kind of caught us a little off guard. With GuardiCore, I have had to deal with their technical support and engineering team in Israel. They are amazing. They are very quick to adapt."
"Its deception features are great, providing a rich telemetry of lured origins, and are a great resource for any active defense strategy."
"Over the last two years, they've enhanced a lot, especially in regard to integration with OpenStack."
"I value the ability to dynamically configure our network on the fly using VMware NSX."
"It has reduced the number of people on the network team along with the system engineer involved in the security process. So, it is valuable."
"It's very important for them to have small footprints and have as much services in their servers, as possible."
"I rate the scalability as ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the high bandwidth."
"I have found the system to be very intuitive, functional, and they have great technology."
"To be able to do the DR and SRM migrations from datacenter to datacenter, we're able to do them with SRM with VXLAN, with the NSX product."
 

Cons

"The maps could go a bit faster. They are useful but slightly slow."
"It doesn't support a PAAC solution (Platforma as a service) in the cloud."
"Kubernetes is not installed in the way we need it."
"I would rate the stability a six out of ten, where one is low and ten is high stability."
"Needs more customization of honeypots and a vaster catalog of systems able to be mimicked."
"Supports become difficult when it's for a big organization. For a small organization, medium organization, it still makes sense, however, for a big organization, it makes life difficult."
"The long-term management of the security policies could be improved with some kind of automation platform, something like Chef or Puppet or Ansible, to help you manage the policies after day-one... to then manage the policies and changes to those policies, going forward, through some type of automation process is not turning out to be really easy."
"The product needs a few features like enhanced user policies and payload-level inspection to improve the offering."
"The vendor should integrate a basic load balancer in future versions"
"Migrating from V to T is very tricky, complicated, and there are a lot of parameters to account for."
"I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow."
"The solution can improve by making it more straightforward, easier to install and maintain in the environment."
"I would rate NSX's stability eight out of ten - there's room for improvement."
"We would like better integration with the standards on the market. For example, with OSPF, their integration in NSX is very low. It's not a full OSPF integration. It is too thin from a protocol perspective."
"A faster resolution time would be beneficial."
"Going through and getting more features sets from the routing protocols is definitely necessary for the future."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is the same as other products in the market. There's no price argument to choose one or the other product, it will cost the customer approximately the same."
"The solution is reasonably priced and I would rate it a six out of ten. The tool's licensing costs are yearly."
"The pricing is too high."
"The customer would complain about the cost."
"This is not a cheap solution but you have to consider the bigger picture, which is what it is giving you."
"Compared to the pricing we were seeing from both Illumio and Edgewise, Guardicore was very competitive."
"Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is expensive."
"GuardiCore has made some new changes to the license now. We've seen monthly and annual licenses based on a subscription. We have a few clients that pay anywhere from $25,000 a year."
"The pricing model for VMware NSX is good."
"The price of VMware NSX is very good compared to other solutions."
"Our customers have definitely complained about its cost. It's expensive. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of pricing where ten represents a high price. There are other products out there that are equally expensive."
"VMware NSX is expensive and everything is licensed. We have to pay for each individual feature."
"The pricing is higher than other options from Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Cisco because it is sold in a bundle."
"It is an expensive product, but cheaper than some competing solutions."
"The solution is free and the price for the support can be expensive."
"The price could be better. We pay for the license every three years. The last time I checked, it cost around three million pesos in the Philipines. Most of the expense will go towards implementation and renovation."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Guardicore Centra?
I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. I know other micro-segmentation tools like Cisco or Illumio, and so I think they are in the middle.
What do you like most about Guardicore Infection Monkey?
Initially, I liked the telemetry part. But later, we used the microsegmentation features that we were able to deploy and found that they really stood out from other vendors. It allows us to see mi...
What needs improvement with Guardicore Infection Monkey?
When we have more than one interface, we can only have one policy for both interfaces. Normally, you have assets with a production interface and a server interface that are only for management. But...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

Guardicore Centra, GuardiCore
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Santander, Frontier Airlines, OpenLink, Intermountain Healthcare, Cellcom, BancoBASE
City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.