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Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Illumio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security improves ROI through cost savings, enhanced security, automation, and reduced personnel needs.
Sentiment score
7.4
Illumio provides East-West traffic visibility and log auditing, offering substantial value with cost-effectiveness and time efficiencies despite incomplete data.
The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.
Cybersecurity consultant at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Implementing CloudGuard has resulted in an excellent return on investment over one hundred percent ROI.
Android Developer at Droidforge
The unified policy is comprehensive and helps me to create firewall policies that are shared across all our facilities and plants.
System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Illumio is known to be the cheapest solution among the security solutions we evaluated.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's customer service is generally praised for expertise and responsiveness, despite regional variations.
Sentiment score
1.0
Illumio's customer service is generally responsive with 24/7 availability, but experiences and satisfaction vary among users.
They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.
Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
We had an endless loop of emails trying to fix this, and the suggestion was to reinstall the gateway and do it from scratch, which was not an option at that point because it would leave that specific location without access.
System administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
Available twenty-four by seven.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Even if we raise an issue on non-working days like Saturdays or Sundays, we receive prompt responses.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
From my experience, they are very responsive.
Technical Associate at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is praised for scalability, seamless cloud integration, and requires careful planning for optimal use.
Sentiment score
7.6
Illumio effortlessly scales in large installations, supports diverse environments, and receives high user satisfaction across various professional roles.
I can deploy it everywhere I need it.
Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees
We have transitioned from 1,000 to 500 users without any issue.
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at delaware BeLux
We perform minor and major upgrades, and it works seamlessly.
Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Scaling it to a large level is not an issue for us.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is praised for its high stability, performance, and smooth operation in demanding environments.
Sentiment score
8.0
Illumio is praised for stability and reliability, using native firewalls with high user satisfaction and an 8.5 rating.
I have not observed any downtime.
Sales manager/ project manager at Atea
For instance, when we are working on a release and do an upgrade, we start experiencing unexpected issues.
Chief Technology Officer at Chief Security Officers
The solution is stable.
Network administrator at Helios IT Service GmbH
Illumio is a stable solution with no glitches or bugs reported, making it a reliable product for us.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
 

Room For Improvement

Users suggest Check Point CloudGuard improve design, compatibility, reports, integrations, pricing, training, policy management, support, scalability, and automation.
Illumio needs improved support, integration, OS compatibility, data security, detailed logs, interactive sessions, and tagging automation guidance.
Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.
Security architect at Twinformatics
Better documentation would be welcome.
Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
The user interface could be more intuitive, and the initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a technical team.
Android Developer at Droidforge
There could also be more examples of how the automations can be done using Illumio.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
That's why I'm looking for comparisons with other products.
Technical Associate at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Check Point CloudGuard flexible but expensive, with varied pricing and a need for more affordable options.
Illumio offers flexible pricing based on workloads, with mixed views on cost, subscribing every three years.
The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.
Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It is the highest in the market.
System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I know that Illumio is the cheapest solution in the security area.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
I think it's not very expensive if we compare it with Guardicore.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers auto-scaling, centralized management, threat prevention, cloud integration, and improved security with a user-friendly interface.
Illumio enhances security and usability with its Application Dependency Map, traffic analysis, and centralized policy management, aiding visibility and micro-segmentation.
One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.
Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees
Network Security provides us with unified security management across hybrid and cloud as well as on-prem.
Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Illumio helps in audit purposes by saving data and showing blocked traffic, ensuring no outside traffic is allowed.
Senior Technical Analyst at Allianz
The most important feature is the traffic review analysis, where we use the draft view and the reported view that helps us understand how the application interacts with other applications in the environment, and based on that, we are able to define the policies.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The dependency map is the most valuable aspect.
Technical Associate at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point CloudGuard Netw...
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
161
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (8th), Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
Illumio
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (13th), Microsegmentation Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is 2.5%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Illumio is 19.5%, down from 25.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security2.5%
Illumio19.5%
Other78.0%
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

Martin Raška - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Engineer & Instructor at Arrow Electronics
Unification of security features strengthens network protection
The overall network security is good. It's big-picture, all in one bundle. It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products. Unified security management positively affects a company's security operations. They have one unified view of the security. I can connect multiple gateways to the management and have it in one place. I can have reporting and views in a single pane of glass on the consolidated platform. It's easy to use. The management is the best on the market. It's very easy to work with, read, understand, and navigate. It helps increase our customer's security posture. We can see in some cases CloudGuard improves our customers' posture overall.
US
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Have created granular security policies based on roles and application behavior
The best feature that Illumio offers is that we can easily understand how to label the applications, how to install Illumio agent on the client machines, how to install the agent on the servers, and how to do the ring-fencing. The log analysis is very simple, and we can map the traffic very easily, such as the traffic view and map view. We have many views to do that, and then we have a topology environment where we can expand the topology and understand how we want to prepare our policy based on the requirement. These are some of the very good use cases that Illumio provides, which none of the other vendors can offer in such an easy and usable way. The most important feature is the traffic review analysis, where we use the draft view and the reported view that helps us understand how the application interacts with other applications in the environment, and based on that, we are able to define the policies. It has increased the business for the organization. We are creating business by supporting the client. The client is getting more security and is more confident in their network because they now have the micro-segmentation feature in their environment. This is new technology and that's how it helps the organization as a whole. The clients we support are benefited, and at the same time, we are making money out of it. This is definitely a good approach. After implementing Illumio, there has been significant progress. Most of the app owners now understand what applications are communicating, how these applications interact with others, and we are more aware of which application is talking to what other servers and applications, and their roles. For instance, whether an application is talking to the DB server or an app server. We have a more granular understanding of the traffic view. Additionally, after implementing Illumio, there is greater segmentation, and fewer incidents are occurring. There have been times when an attack was halted from expanding laterally.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Performing Arts
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business67
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise76
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
The tool's most valuable feature is its management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Although I do not know much about the pricing or setup costs, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very cost-effective. If you want to secure your organization completely from all ends agains...
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security could be improved with faster policy propagation across large multi-cloud environments and more intuitive dashboards for complex rule sets.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
My experience was really good because I think it's not very expensive if we compare it with Guardicore. I believe that's a good product.
What needs improvement with Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
Illumio can be improved if we have more interactive sessions with the tech team. The support of Illumio can be better since it's a new tool, and people can explore it more. There could also be more...
What is your primary use case for Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
The main use case for Illumio is providing micro-segmentation where we don't want to segment the network based on IP addresses but rather segment them based on roles, applications, and environments...
 

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
Illumio Adaptive Security Platform, Illumio ASP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance
Plantronics, NTT Innovation Institute Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Illumio and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.