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Azure DDoS Protection vs Azure Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Azure DDoS Protection
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
21st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (8th)
Azure Firewall
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
10th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure DDoS Protection is 2.2%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 4.4%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Raju Mallipudi - PeerSpot reviewer
Acts as an additional layer of protection, provides endpoint security but not very easy to configure
It's not very easy to configure, in my view. We have to do some work behind the scenes. It's not very simple. We have to do it very carefully, and we need to monitor this enablement as well. But apart from that, I didn't see any kind of challenges. So, in my opinion, configuration is the main trouble for them. It is something that can be done to be better. Not just configuration. You need an expert who knows the ins and outs of these security solutions. In my experience, people struggle with configuration. While configuring, we get this error, we get that error, and then we try to fix those issues. I have seen those. It's not straightforward.
AnvarSadique - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy setup and effective traffic routing enhance security
In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls. However, the functional aspects of Azure Firewall met our needs. While I found the interface not particularly user-friendly, this is a common issue across vendors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AI capabilities are very good. I would rate them an eight out of ten."
"The integration of various tools with Azure Firewall, like DDoS Protection, Web Application Firewall, and Azure Front Door, is quite effective."
"Azure is easy to set up and widely used by our clients."
"The most valuable feature of Azure DDoS Protection is that it performs well."
"The Azure DDoS Protection plan is essential for environments like ours that are highly exposed to potential attacks, especially since DDoS attacks have become common."
"This solution is the best option for us because we use a lot of Microsoft products. So, it is easy for us to deploy or integrate any features or products."
"Azure is easy to set up and widely used by our clients."
"The integration of various tools with Azure Firewall, like DDoS Protection, Web Application Firewall, and Azure Front Door, is quite effective."
"Microsoft's technical support is very good. They're quite knowledgable and responsive."
"The solution has FQDN integration."
"The solution should be capable of self-scaling, which is one of the features we like about it."
"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."
"The Layer four features are okay and meet my business needs."
"We secure the entry point to the virtual data center with the firewall."
"It's auto-scalable, which is a great feature."
"The solution has many useful features. For example, the solution allows users to create virtual IP addresses."
 

Cons

"The implementation of Azure DDoS Protection results in a decrease in our bandwidth capacity and should be optimized to reduce resource consumption."
"The dashboard lacks insights and user-friendliness, as most data is logged into metrics like Log Analytics workspaces."
"I have noticed some false positives with the Web Application Firewall yet not with DDoS Protection."
"I suggest adding more services and additional services, which would be beneficial."
"It's not very easy to configure, in my view."
"Sometimes, it is hard for our staff to keep track of changes (in the GUI) between different projects, because there are constant changes. As a result, it is hard to manage, recall, and see all the features because they have been moved from one place to another."
"The visibility could be better. We would like to have better metrics, so we could see all the information in a central place."
"Azure DDoS Protection could improve on the reporting."
"The tool needs to improve the onboarding and transition process for on-prem users."
"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."
"In my experience, Azure Firewall is quite expensive, with a high cost. I would rate its pricing a two out of ten."
"The interface could be improved, it's not very user friendly."
"Azure Firewall definitely needs a broader feature base. It should be able to go all the way up to layer 7 when looking at applications and things like that."
"We find it's different implementing it region-to-region. It might help if it was universal across all regions."
"One thing that would help engineers adopt it better is the documentation."
"It's a little heavy compared to a FortiGate or other firewalls."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You can test it for a certain period of time free of charge. You can have a free account. You can test it to compare its pros and cons with other products that you are testing."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Before choosing this solution, we evaluated others, and we found this to be the most cost-effective."
"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"The pricing of Azure Firewall is pay-as-you-go. Fortinet also has a pay-as-you-go model, but Azure's pricing is higher and, with FortiGate, you also have the license."
"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 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 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."
"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."
"Azure Firewall is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure DDoS Protection?
Azure DDoS Protection offers superior protection against denial-of-service attacks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure DDoS Protection?
The pricing is somewhat costly, usually around $3,000 to $4,000 per month. Managing this expense is tough, especially since we haven't received everything we need for our capital expenditure manage...
What needs improvement with Azure DDoS Protection?
The dashboard lacks insights and user-friendliness, as most data is logged into metrics like Log Analytics workspaces. It would be beneficial to have more detailed insights available directly on th...
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 DDoS Protection vs. Azure Firewall and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.