Cisco IOS Security vs Cisco Secure Firewall comparison

Cisco IOS Security and Cisco Secure Firewall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco IOS Security is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.3, while Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco IOS Security holds a 0.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Cisco Secure Firewall’s 5.6% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Cisco IOS Security users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Cisco Secure Firewall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Cisco Secure Firewall and Cisco IOS Security are important products in cybersecurity. Cisco Secure Firewall is considered more user-friendly and robust, while Cisco IOS Security is preferred for its comprehensive features.

Features: Cisco Secure Firewall offers advanced threat protection, ease of management, effective integration capabilities, and extensive logging features. Cisco IOS Security provides versatile security functions, strong routing, and advanced firewall features.

Room for Improvement: Enhancements in documentation, simplification of the configuration process, and addressing performance issues under high load are suggested for Cisco Secure Firewall. Cisco IOS Security could benefit from simplifying its complex configuration and updating its interface to be more intuitive.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Secure Firewall has a straightforward deployment process and strong customer support, with detailed guidance provided during setup. Cisco IOS Security is more complex to deploy but benefits from robust support resources and community assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall is cost-effective with a good return on investment, making it suitable for businesses seeking budget-friendly solutions with comprehensive security. Cisco IOS Security's higher cost is justified by its extensive range of features and flexibility, delivering significant ROI for organizations needing advanced security capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco IOS Security vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security vs. Cisco Secure Firewall

March 2025

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco IOS Security is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 5.6%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

Read full review

Karthik Venkataraman

Senior Consultant at Velocis Systems

User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues

Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward. From a networking perspective, for instance, Cisco IOS incorporates time-tested security features. The zone-based firewall feature has significantly influenced our network security management. For instance, when managing multiple geolocations, it's essential to apply geographically appropriate policies. If a customer operates within the UK zone, I need to implement UK-specific policies. This approach is also applicable to customers in the Asia Pacific and UK regions. It enables me to tailor security policies based on the geographical location of my customers, such as adjusting policies for customers in China or Japan. This flexibility helps in creating a comprehensive zone list. Additionally, this feature allows for seamless service agreements between all zones from headquarters, providing access to all zones within the firewall we create. Essentially, it facilitates the creation of zones within the firewall.

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Maharajan S

VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

Enhances security with precise access control but has integration challenges

Overall, I would rate the product six out of ten. Because of the support and cost, I moved away from Cisco, but otherwise, it is a good product. Recommendation depends on the requirement. If lacking a proper team and being dependent on the OEM and partner, Cisco is not suitable. However, if the team is qualified with Cisco-certified people and the requirement is a big network, it can be considered. In today's hybrid work world, having an expanded gateway is more typical than having a single one. Thus, Cisco is unlikely to be recommended for a hybrid requirement unless in-house skills align. Otherwise, depending on partners and Cisco, it can be a risk. I rate the overall solution six out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."

"The VPN is the most valuable feature."

"The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."

"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."

"This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried."

"We've found the solution to be pretty stable."

"The solution is very user friendly. The user interface in particular is quite nice."

"The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Cisco Technical Assistance Center works on a follow-the-sun concept and gives real 24x7 customer support, which is a great advantage when you have a service contract with them."

"Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward."

"Cisco IOS allows us to keep the same security features as our principal offices."

"Cisco IOS Security is very robust and works very well."

"I recommend Cisco IOS Security for other organizations."

"In Pakistan, we only use Cisco because they have good local support infrastructure. Huawei and Fortinet don't offer direct support in Pakistan."

"The capabilities for scalability with this product are huge"

"We use Cisco IOS Security mostly for routers to route off the firewall. It's a next-generation device."

More Cisco IOS Security pros

"The information coming from Talos does a good job... I like the fact that Cisco is working with them and getting the information from them and updating the firewall."

"I have not contacted technical support. There is a lot of information on the internet for troubleshooting. All you need to do is use a search engine and you will find the information you are looking for easily."

"It helped us a lot with our VPNs for the home office during COVID. There has been more security and flexibility for VPNs and other applications."

"It's a flexible solution."

"The most valuable feature is the Intrusion Prevention System."

"The configuration capabilities and the integration with other tools are the most valuable features. I really like this product. Cisco is one of my favorite brands, and I always think Cisco solutions are very reliable, easy to configure, and very secure."

"The return on investment is not going to be restricted to just the box... Now, these genres have been expanded to cyber, to third-party integrations, having integrated logging, having integrated micro and macro segmentations. The scope has been widened, so the ROI, eventually, has multiplied."

"ASA is stable and with a low level of work required on the maintenance side."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pros

Cons

"They should offer special pricing to premium partners and customers."

"The solution's framework needs to be frequently updated in order to have a stable solution."

"I haven't had a single issue since using Fortinet."

"The updates Fortinet provides are sometimes unstable."

"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."

"To the best of my knowledge, Fortinet does not have a CASB solution and Fortinet does not have a Zero trust solution."

"Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."

"Though the tool's GUI is user-friendly, it can be considered as an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Signatures and other critical definitions need to be updated more frequently."

"While Cisco IOS Security is stable and scalable, I would like to see it improved to be even better."

"Most of their features are meant for Cisco. You cannot integrate them with any other vendor."

"While I do not have specific recommendations for improvement, pricing can be reduced."

"The company needs to make its solution more affordable to make it more accessible to larger markets. Otherwise, it's seen as an enterprise-level solution that small or medium-sized organizations can't afford and therefore they won't even look at it."

"Cisco is an expensive firewall, so the pricing can be improved."

"With respect to user-friendliness, it is a command-line interface and those with such experience will get along just fine, whereas others may struggle."

"The user interface needs to be improved."

More Cisco IOS Security cons

"Cisco missed the mark with all the configuration steps. They are a pain and, when doing them, it looks as if we're using a very old technology — yet the technology itself is not old, it's very good. But the front-end configuration is very tough."

"I'm not very familiar with the largest Firepower models, but competitors like Palo Alto seem to have a more capable engine to do, for instance, TLS/SSL decryption. As I understand, Firepower doesn't let you export the decrypted traffic so that, for instance, the security department can look at the traffic or inspect traffic. It's all in the box. I've heard rumors that this is something Cisco is working on, but it isn't yet available."

"On firewall features, Fortinet is better. Cisco needs to become more competitive and add more features or meet Fortinet's offering."

"The SSL VPN is, and always has been, painful to configure and the Java plugin does not guarantee a uniform deployment."

"Deploying configurations takes longer than it should."

"The policies module in FMC specifically isn't the most user-friendly. Coming from Cisco ASA, Cisco ASA is a little bit easier to use. When you get into particularly complex deployments where you have a lot of different interfaces and all that kind of stuff, it's a little bit tricky. Some usability improvements there would be nice."

"It is hard to control the bandwidth of end-users with a Cisco Firewall. That is the main issue I've faced. I used Mikrotik for many years for this very reason. Mikrotik has the option to set a bandwidth restriction for a single IP or complete segments. Cisco should add this option to their firewall."

"It could also use a reporting dashboard."

More Cisco Secure Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"We just pay a flat monthly fee to the vendor for the support."

"It was worth the money overall. It's good value."

"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."

"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."

"The cost of Fortinet FortiGate is competitive and not expensive compared to other enterprise- grade solutions. On average, the license cost per year is around seventy percent of the firewall's purchase price."

"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."

"The pricing is flexible."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The licensing is on a subscription basis, and it is fairly costly. I would prefer a one-time payment."

"The solution's pricing is very good."

"You can get a better price if you commit to a longer-term license. Three years, five years, or even seven or ten years will be cheaper than a three-month or one-year term."

"We can purchase its licenses as per specific business requirements."

"It is necessary to pay for a license in order to use the solution. It is on a yearly basis and the price is high."

"The pricing is average and includes all features with support."

"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."

"Price is certainly something that the IOS technology has fallen behind the competition on."

More Cisco IOS Security pricing and cost advice

"There are licensing costs."

"The licensing models that are available for Cisco Secure Firewall are okay. You have nearly every option that you need. You can pick filtering, advanced malware protection, or all the available features. It's sufficient. In terms of pricing, there are, for sure, some cheaper vendors, but overall, it's nearly the same. It has a fair price."

"This solution might be expensive, but it is economical in the long run."

"Cisco pricing is premium. However, they gave us a 50 to 60 percent discount."

"The pricing of Cisco's boxes is pretty good."

"The product is very expensive."

"The solution’s pricing could be lower."

"In terms of scalability, it is really expensive. It is scalable, but when it comes to pricing, the upgrading is a bit high."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user206346

Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting

Mar 11, 2015

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

29%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

42%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Cisco IOS Security?

Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It off...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS Security?

Pricing can be reduced. I rate the current price for the product a four out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS Security?

While I do not have specific recommendations for improvement, pricing can be reduced.

See all answers

Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?

One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...

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How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?

It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...

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Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

OPNsense vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 19% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 10% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco IOS Security Competitors

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security

March 2025

Download Cisco IOS Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall

March 2025

Download Cisco Secure Firewall product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

IOS Security

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Cisco IOS Software delivers a sophisticated set of security capabilities for a comprehensive, layered security approach throughout your network infrastructure. Cisco IOS security technologies help to defend critical business processes against attack and disruption, protect privacy, and support policy and regulatory compliance controls.

Cisco

Cisco Secure Firewall stands as a robust and adaptable security solution, catering to organizations of all sizes. It's designed to shield networks from a diverse array of cyber threats, such as ransomware, malware, and phishing attacks. Beyond mere protection, it also offers secure access to corporate resources, beneficial for employees, partners, and customers alike. One of its key functions includes network segmentation, which serves to isolate critical assets and minimize the risk of lateral movement within the network.

The core features of Cisco Secure Firewall are multifaceted:

Advanced threat protection is achieved through a combination of intrusion prevention, malware detection, and URL filtering technologies.
For secure access, the firewall presents multiple options, including VPN, remote access, and single sign-on.
Its network segmentation capability is vital in creating barriers within the network to safeguard critical assets.
The firewall is scalable, effectively serving small businesses to large enterprises.
Management is streamlined through Cisco DNA Center, a central management system.

The benefits of deploying Cisco Secure Firewall are substantial. It significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks, thereby enhancing the security posture of an organization. This security also translates into increased productivity, as secure access means uninterrupted work. Compliance with industry regulations is another advantage, as secure access and network segmentation align with many regulatory standards. Additionally, it helps in reducing IT costs by automating security tasks and simplifying management processes.

In practical scenarios, Cisco Secure Firewall finds diverse applications. It's instrumental in protecting branch offices from cyberattacks, securing remote access for various stakeholders, safeguarding cloud workloads, and segmenting networks to isolate sensitive areas.

User reviews from PeerSpot reflect an overall positive experience with the Cisco Secure Firewall. Users appreciate its ease of configuration, good management capabilities, robust protection, user-friendly interface, and scalability. However, some areas for improvement include better integration capabilities with other vendors, maturity, control over bandwidth for end-users, and addressing software bugs.

In summary, Cisco Secure Firewall is a comprehensive, versatile, and reliable security solution that effectively meets the security needs of various organizations. It offers a balance of advanced protection, user-friendly management, and scalability, making it a valuable asset in the realm of network security.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Arup Group, Brunel University London, City of Biel, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates , New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Offshore Northern Seas, Transplace

There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security vs. Cisco Secure Firewall

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco IOS Security vs. Cisco Secure Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS Security vs. Cisco Secure Firewall and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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