Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Check Point SandBlast Network vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

Check Point SandBlast Network
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Check Point SandBlast Network is 6.0%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

GaneshKhutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides advanced threat prevention and utilizes geographic-based policies to mitigate attacks
Check Point offers three types of support: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The level of support you receive should be based on the criticality of the issue, not solely on your client's support tier. While there are established support levels, I have experienced instances where the support provided was not categorized as Gold, Platinum, or Diamond but rather a standard support level. In such cases, the response times were slower, and getting support personnel on the call was more difficult.
AshwaniTyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced protection and good integration capabilities with good reliability
We use Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to offer services to our customers as a managed security service provider. We provide solutions and services to our customers across the globe. For example, if I want to host a firewall in the cloud or somewhere where the physical appliance is not a possibility…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides a high rate of catching the zero-day advanced threats."
"The most efficient and protective characteristics of Check Point's SandBlast solution are that we can see a lot of this protection at the network and mail levels."
"In terms of the scalability, it's expandable across the cloud."
"SandBlast Network enhances security by providing advanced threat prevention."
"The use of threat cloud protection with its artificial intelligence can automate possible threats."
"Threat extraction can help us to remove malicious content from documents by converting them to PDF."
"You do not need to risk your network by using the in-line sandbox."
"It saves time with us trying to do the analysis. We use it to try to find out how something got into the network. We use it to stop something before it ever gets in."
"Centralized management is valuable because it allows us to configure settings in one location and apply them across all three locations."
"It has excellent scalability."
"Embedding it into my application development lifecycle prevents data loss and business disruption, allowing the adoption to operate at the speed of my AWS Cloud."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is easy to maintain...From a security point of view, I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to be a better product compared to the other solutions in the market."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has everything centralized. You have the VPN solution, firewall, routing, UDR, flexibility, updates, and full visibility of your traffic."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its stability, ease of implementation, ease of operation, and security."
"The product provides more visibility into our traffic."
"I have not actually called their support line, because we have a direct contact to a senior engineer in the company for any issues that we handle with them. I will say they are very responsive, and they do give you the information you need when you need it.​"
 

Cons

"They need to improve the GUI interface."
"I would like for them to improve the visibility in the product."
"There have been a couple of things that we've tried where we read through the documentation, and we were really looking for some help in implementing, and technical support wanted me to try it first, then call them if it breaks. It would be nicer if they would hold my hand a bit more. It makes me nervous in production, as I don't have a lab."
"Using it in the beginning was difficult because I had never used anything similar. In terms of navigating the UI, it was all not too bad, but there is definitely a learning curve."
"I would like to see these solutions being easier to manage from mobile applications - from either iOS or Android - including other operating systems that appear in the future."
"We would like to see this solution reach mobile devices more efficiently, through apps or more specific products."
"The technical support could use some work, but it's okay. It's a little bit of a tedious process to get through."
"When you have to scan emails that come with attachments, it takes a long time to examine them, which causes other emails not to be scanned, which can cause some danger to our organization."
"The flexible throughput in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can be improved"
"The utilization monitoring and GUI have room for improvement."
"The initial setup of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series was somewhat challenging, requiring extensive documentation review. I rate it a six out of ten for ease."
"The one issue that I didn't like is that the SNMP integration with interfaces didn't record the interface counters."
"In the next release, I would like to see better integration of multi-factor authentication vendors."
"Just sometimes it can be a bit sluggish navigating through pages. That is just purely because of Java.​"
"The user interface could use some improvement."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a complex product to work with."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is quite effective, not excessively high. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest price, I rate the pricing a nine."
"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"The cost is not significantly high and it can be negotiated during any purchase of NGFW."
"We would like to try the Threat Extraction blade, but you need to buy a license. Check Point is expensive. I would like to buy things, but I would need the funding."
"The product's cost is high."
"The cost of Check Point SandBlast Network is annually, and there is only a standard license."
"I think the overall cost for introducing Check Point with SandBlast was reasonable and competitive in the market."
"We have seen ROI."
"The pricing was expensive but it was comparable to the competition."
"Palo Alto definitely needs to be more competitive compared to other products. The problem that I have faced is that the price of licensing is very high and not very competitive."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is the most expensive tool among competitors"
"There is a need to make payments toward a yearly subscription-based model in which you need to add modules that you want to use in your company."
"When you have a client compare box against box, a lot of times Palo Alto is a bit more expensive, but its network firewalls have a very rich ratio."
"The product is cheaper than the on-premise version."
"The box, if you do not want to buy the threat prevention license in the box, you can buy it only with the support license. It is for the support of the hardware. It works like a simple firewall. It integrates what it calls user IDs and application IDs. If you do not buy any other license, only the firewall, Palo Alto will also help you improve a lot of your security."
"Some parts of purchasing through AWS Marketplace are good, such as this product was easy to find and launch. Some of the other parts could be clearer in the AWS Marketplace, e.g., how to properly do an annual subscription."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) solutions are best for your needs.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point SandBlast Network?
The solution can detect and prevent attacks that may be encrypted.
What needs improvement with Check Point SandBlast Network?
The cost is a little bit high-end, and you need to get precise performance metrics in order to get the correct size. Improvements are required in both areas of the tool.
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...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edenred, State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), Edel AG, Laurenty, Conseil Départemental du Val de Marne, Koch Media
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point SandBlast Network vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.