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Azure Bastion vs Azure Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Bastion
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (28th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (7th)
Azure Firewall
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
12th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (19th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Bastion is 1.6%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 4.7%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Aladin Steiner - PeerSpot reviewer
Has good scalability and provides secure access to the virtual machines
The product improved the security posture of our organization. We don’t have open ports and connect them to servers using it. We can carry out two-factor authentication to protect the devices with conditional access features. It would be nice to have a feature to copy and paste the files into servers. I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Charan Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and configure but could be more robust
The cost of the solution has increased. The robustness of the software could be better. It should be able to cover host-to-host traffic or HTTP traffic. Configurations can be better. The workloads need to still have free access. The encryption and decryption process is not that seamless. It's a little heavy compared to a FortiGate or other firewalls.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The interface is available in the edit portal."
"The connection to virtual machines is very useful."
"As an Azure consultant, for me, it is the best way to give the administrator access as you can manage the permission - including who can access Bastion."
"The product's setup is easy."
"It provides all the security to us. Without getting on the internet, we can access our servers. We can access our desktop through our web browser. We don't need to run the mstsc command and login to the VM. All those things are not required."
"The ability to operate the product with scripting is excellent."
"The most significant advantage lies in its runbook features, particularly beneficial for our infrastructure team."
"Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers."
"The solution should be capable of self-scaling, which is one of the features we like about it."
"Azure Firewall integrates well with multiple platforms."
"It's helped us improve our security posture."
"It is easy for me to protect certain ports or even the IP addresses, as well as do whitelisting, blacklisting, and the FQDN when we want virtual machines connected and to protect certain websites."
"One of the notable advantages of Azure Firewall is its user-friendly interface, which closely resembles or shares similarities with other Azure components."
"The product's value to my company stems from its ability to secure my organization."
"One of the best features is that it natively integrates with Azure Services and tools. When you have a third-party offering, that is not the case. But Azure Firewall provides a comprehensive and seamless security solution for your Azure resources."
"I find the solution to be very stable, and would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of stability."
 

Cons

"When you have a boot issue on Windows, you cannot use Azure Bastion to fix it. You have to use the Azure console or the VM console, and it is very limited."
"We are not able to copy and paste files directly into the server over the patch host. We have to transfer files over to Azure Storage."
"The solution breaks down sometimes."
"While general support is valuable, having a detailed breakdown of the specific issues would contribute to a more streamlined and efficient resolution process."
"There are some challenges because Bastion is more compatible with Edge but not with the other browsers. As an organization, it doesn't make sense that we have to use only Edge. We should be able to access Bastion over Chrome, Mozilla, or Opera. It should be our choice."
"You are charged for retrieving your own data."
"Speaking of AI, having Microsoft Copilot in Azure Bastion would be good."
"The protocol speed could be faster."
"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."
"It's a little heavy compared to a FortiGate or other firewalls."
"It needs a lot of improvement, especially on intruder detection. They are working hard on that."
"We find it's different implementing it region-to-region. It might help if it was universal across all regions."
"The solution lacks artificial intelligence and machine learning. It might be in the roadmap. However, currently, it's not available."
"Azure Firewall has limited visibility for IDPS, no TLS inspection, no app ID, no user ID, no content ID, no device ID. There is no antivirus or anti-spyware. Azure Firewall doesn't scan traffic for malware unless it triggers an IDPS signature. There is no sandbox or machine learning functionality, meaning we are not protected from Zero-day threats. There is no DNS security and limited web categories."
"For larger enterprises, they need to adjust the scalability."
"The product could be made more customizable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Bastion's pricing is good."
"The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use."
"It does not save money for us."
"The pricing is a lower decision point than high-quality security for our organization. Better security comes at a cost, but it's worth it, and that's what we tell our customers."
"The solution is cheaper than other brands. My company has an enterprise contract and we finally got a good price with Azure."
"Before choosing this solution, we evaluated others, and we found this to be the most cost-effective."
"It is pay-as-you-go. So, you pay based on the usage. If I remember it well, there is a basic fee, and there is a traffic fee. It is not per month. It is per hour or something like that. It is not so expensive."
"Azure Firewall is more expensive. If Microsoft can make Azure Firewall cheaper, I can see that all clients will think of using it. One client used FortiGate because it is much cheaper. Some clients ask me for Cisco, but in the cloud estimate, I found its cost is the same as Azure Firewall."
"Azure Firewall comes with Azure native services. We did not buy any kind of license for it. Whether you have a free subscription or a pay-as-you-go model, you can deploy the Azure Firewall service... The amount that you use will determine how much you pay."
"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."
"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"The licensing module is good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Bastion?
Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Bastion?
The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use.
What needs improvement with Azure Bastion?
I think the tool is pretty good. It is like having a tool that just works. If there are better tools that Azure comes up with, then that is a separate thing. In the current scenario, Azure Bastion ...
What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigate VM integrates well and has excellent centralized reporting. It is very easy to...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Bastion vs. Azure Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,095 professionals have used our research since 2012.