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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
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
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Bastion is 1.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 4.8%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Aladin Steiner - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
Has good scalability and provides secure access to the virtual machines
Our customers use the product to connect to Azure virtual machines. It is a perfect solution that they can easily connect to the browser and experience the VM services Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers. We don’t have to build complex SSL VPN…
Charan Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 1, 2023
Easy to use and configure but could be more robust
I use the solution as a firewall. We use it for segmentation and zero-trust security.  It's helped us improve our security posture.  It's integrated with Azure. You don't have an additional licensing cost and no additional maintenance. The configurations are also comparatively easy. The cost of…

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 ability to operate the product with scripting is excellent."
"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 solution's most valuable feature is that it is easy to use...It is modernized, so I can create complex infrastructures."
"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 most valuable feature is threat intelligence. It is based on filtering and can identify multiple threats."
"I like its order management feature. It doesn't have the kind of threat intelligence that Palo Alto has, but the order management makes it much simpler to know the difference."
"One of the notable advantages of Azure Firewall is its user-friendly interface, which closely resembles or shares similarities with other Azure components."
"Microsoft's technical support is very good. They're quite knowledgable and responsive."
"Azure Firewall integrates well with multiple platforms."
"Azure Firewall's feature that I have found most valuable is its scalability."
"The solution is stable."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is the control over the network permissions and the network."
 

Cons

"You are charged for retrieving your own data."
"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."
"The solution breaks down sometimes."
"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."
"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."
"While general support is valuable, having a detailed breakdown of the specific issues would contribute to a more streamlined and efficient resolution process."
"The protocol speed could be faster."
"Speaking of AI, having Microsoft Copilot in Azure Bastion would be good."
"They can improve the pricing of Azure Firewall."
"For large organizations, a third-party firewall would be an added advantage, because it would have more advanced features, things that are not in Azure Firewall."
"For larger enterprises, they need to adjust the scalability."
"Azure should be able to work better as a balancer also, instead of just being a firewall. It should have a wider mandate."
"The threat intelligence part could be better. I don't see why our customers have to get an additional solution with Azure Firewall. It would be great if they made it on par with Palo Alto."
"It is a cloud service, but the lending speed for each region is not always the same. For example, in China, the speed is slow. They need to think about how to make sure that the service pace or speed is always the same in all regions. It would be a great improvement if they can provide the same pace worldwide."
"The threat intelligence aspect of this particular firewall is not at par with other providers."
"The solution doesn't offer the same capabilities of Fortinet. It should offer intrusion prevention and advance filtering. These are two very useful features offered on Fortinet that Azure lacks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Bastion's pricing is good."
"It does not save money for us."
"The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use."
"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."
"I rate the product pricing a five out of ten."
"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."
"It is expensive, especially with the premium functions. For one of the clients, it was very expensive. You have to use it more at an enterprise level, and there, it was not at an enterprise level. So, it was very costly, but security-wise, it was a very wise decision to use it that way."
"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"The licensing module is good."
"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
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: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.