Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

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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

6.8

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers efficient security, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, enhancing ROI through reduced overhead and effective risk management.

Sentiment score

5.7

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series delivers strong ROI through enhanced security, rapid deployment, and significant time savings despite high pricing.

The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.

reviewer2647578

Cybersecurity consultant at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

The compliance has improved as our overall compliance score against CIS benchmark has improved from around 72 to 92% within the first three months of adoption.

reviewer2751468

Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

This helped my team cut manual review time by roughly twenty to twenty-five percent, allowing me to reallocate effort to proactive cloud security improvements.

Pedro Leão

Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.

Chandra A

Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.3

Check Point Cloud Firewall customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, but documentation and routing need improvement.

Sentiment score

7.5

Customers appreciate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series support for responsiveness and expertise, despite occasional delays and high premium service costs.

They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.

Dimitris Baziotopoulos

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.

Andrei Ganciu

System administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Available twenty-four by seven.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

The support quality could be improved.

Chandra A

Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.

Resolving issues promptly.

RonnieYazdani

Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd

They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.

Aravind Vellingiri

Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Check Point Cloud Firewall is highly scalable and adaptable, though users find configuration and licensing complex.

Sentiment score

7.4

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is scalable, easy to deploy, and suits businesses with positive feedback on flexibility and growth.

Visibility scales without performance issues as my environment expands.

Pedro Leão

Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.

It is capable of managing the increased load and performs well as our needs expand.

Viral Shaa

IT Security Analyst at Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc.

I can deploy it everywhere I need it.

Christian Riedl

Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.

Aravind Vellingiri

Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services

It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.

Oyvind Mattland

Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no

ØM

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

Check Point Cloud Firewall is praised for stability and reliability, with minor issues typically related to cloud integrations.

Sentiment score

8.2

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is highly regarded for stability, reliable performance, and consistent uptime, despite minor navigation delays.

If there are errors, it is sometimes challenging to elaborate or troubleshoot since it is not transparent enough to understand what to search for.

Reffat Gharaibeh

Cloud Security Architect at controlware

I have not observed any downtime.

Mantas Mazeika

Sales manager/ project manager at Atea

For instance, when we are working on a release and do an upgrade, we start experiencing unexpected issues.

Rui-Pereira

Chief Technology Officer at Chief Security Officers

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Hardware is generally very stable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.

Frank Nguyen

Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi

Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.

Oyvind Mattland

Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no

ØM

Room For Improvement

Check Point Cloud Firewall faces integration and UI challenges, high costs, inconsistent support, and demands enhanced features and documentation.

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs UI updates, better platform integration, scalability, user-friendliness, and improved documentation for broader efficiency.

Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.

Stefan Baumgartner

Security architect at Twinformatics

Better documentation would be welcome.

Dimitris Baziotopoulos

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.

Aravind Vellingiri

Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services

Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers.

MuhammadNadeem

Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Setup Cost

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers flexibility and strong support, offsetting its higher cost compared to competitors like Fortinet and Palo Alto.

Palo Alto VM-Series is costly but reliable, with complex licensing; AWS Marketplace offers scalable subscription options.

The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.

Thanos Constantopoulos

Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

It is the highest in the market.

Daniel Sander

System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.

Frank Nguyen

Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi

Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.

RonnieYazdani

Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd

Valuable Features

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers advanced threat prevention, scalability, unified security, and automation for efficient cloud security management.

The VM-Series provides scalable, flexible security with advanced threat management, visibility, and integration features, enhancing network protection.

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.

Christian Riedl

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.

Thanos Constantopoulos

Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.

Chandra A

Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.

Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks VM-Series report

Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.

Oyvind Mattland

Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no

ØM

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

Ranking in Firewalls

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

240

Ranking in other categories

Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Vulnerability Management (5th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), Cloud and Data Center Security (3rd), Container Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (5th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (5th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Compliance Management (5th)

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Ranking in Firewalls

17th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (18th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 2.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.7%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)	2.7%
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series	2.7%
Other	94.6%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

reviewer2875401

Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Unified security policies have protected our hybrid network with deep, user-based controls

The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds have L2 infrastructure, you cannot build a unified clustering system everywhere. As a result, the problem usually is not with Check Point, but with the cloud. The main problem with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is that it uses a separate thick client instead of a browser. A browser-based SmartConsole exists, but it still has a number of limitations, while the thick client, the so-called SmartConsole, often works unstably, freezes, and has to be restarted. I do not recommend using Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) as a VPN hub for site-to-site VPN because it is inconvenient to monitor the state of its tunnels, especially visually. It does not have a convenient snap-in and everything can be checked only via the console, which is very inconvenient. Check Point is not the most universal solution as a device that provides routing and administration capabilities in addition to security. It is an excellent firewall, but it has a number of limitations in terms of routing and in creating VPN sessions, especially in terms of displaying their states.

Read full review

MuhammadNadeem

Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Has supported urgent deployments and enabled inline threat protection but pricing and features could be more flexible

I am not using Palo Alto Networks VM-Series mostly, but based on my experience, there are some deficiencies in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers. However, for urgency and for some solutions that customers need for some of their other sites and subdivisions, we are providing the same.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

15%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	132
Midsize Enterprise	55
Large Enterprise	138

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Since we use a unified standard for using policies and modules in Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security), we can clearly plan which modules we need to activate on a parti...

What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is the main manager that provides network security in different forms in my organization. The primary task that Check Point solves ...

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...

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...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series?

The pricing is more on the expensive side, but it is justified due to its functionality, reliability, and throughput, even with all features enabled. In comparison to FortiGate ( /products/fortinet...

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Comparisons

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Compared 3% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Compared 3% of the time

AWS Security Hub vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Compared 2% of the time

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Compared 24% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Compared 3% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Download Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) product report

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series

Download Palo Alto Networks VM-Series product report

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security, Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP

No data available

Overview

Check Point Cloud Firewall, previously known as CloudGuard Network Security, provides advanced threat prevention, centralized management, and VPN capabilities, enabling robust cloud security across various platforms including Azure and AWS.

Check Point Cloud Firewall delivers seamless cloud integration with advanced automated threat prevention and centralized management to enhance security posture. It offers auto-scaling for dynamic environments and a comprehensive policy enforcement framework in hybrid settings. The unified interface streamlines administration across cloud infrastructures, ensuring consistent protection and reducing risk.

What important features does it offer?

Advanced Threat Prevention: Safeguards against sophisticated threats.
Centralized Management: Simplifies control for cloud infrastructures.
Auto-scaling: Adapts to changing workloads seamlessly.
VPN Capabilities: Enables secure connections across environments.
Integration with Azure and AWS: Ensures compatibility with leading cloud services.
Visibility Tools: Enhanced monitoring and management for security enforcement.

What benefits can users expect?

Enhanced Security: Comprehensive threat management reduces risk.
Operational Efficiency: Automation capabilities streamline processes.
Cost Management: Efficient resource usage with auto-scaling reduces expenses.
Integration Flexibility: Adapts easily into existing cloud platforms.
Simplified Administration: Unified management reduces complexity.

In manufacturing and conglomerate sectors, Check Point Cloud Firewall is utilized for protecting cloud environments and implementing network segmentation. It supports secure cloud migration on AWS, Azure, and GCP, ensuring compliance, perimeter defense, and traffic inspection, facilitating sophisticated threat prevention strategies.

Check Point Software Technologies

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers robust threat prevention and advanced security capabilities. Key features like traffic control and malware protection enhance its usability in cloud and hybrid environments.

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series specializes in delivering comprehensive network security with features such as traffic inspection, threat management, and firewall functionalities. It supports secure remote access and integrates easily with third-party solutions. With features like GlobalProtect VPN and Advanced Threat Protection, enterprises leverage the VM-Series in cloud, on-premises, or hybrid deployments to protect data and enhance cybersecurity. Despite its strengths, improvements in cloud solutions, integration, and scalability are needed.

What are the most important features of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series?

Traffic Control: Manages and inspects traffic for security risks.
App-ID: Identifies and controls applications for enhanced security.
WildFire: Provides threat intelligence and malware detection.
Centralized Management: Streamlines security management from a single pane.
Cloud Integration: Seamlessly fits into cloud services for flexible deployment.

What benefits should users expect from Palo Alto Networks VM-Series?

Ease of Deployment: Quick setup and easy integration reduce disruption.
Scalability: Adaptability to growing network demands.
Threat Intelligence: Informed decisions through comprehensive threat data.
Traffic Inspection: Detailed analytics for informed security posture.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and technology, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series plays a crucial role in network security. Companies implement it to secure remote access, protect sensitive data, and ensure compliance. Its compatibility with cloud environments allows versatile deployment across sectors needing stringent cybersecurity measures.

Palo Alto Networks

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

Warren Rogers Associates

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series