Cisco Secure Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Cisco and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.2, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #38 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 7.6% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hillstone Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 5, 2026

Cisco Secure Firewall and Hillstone E-Series compete in the network security domain. While Cisco stands out with strong support and competitive pricing, Hillstone is preferred for its superior features.

Features: Cisco Secure Firewall offers advanced threat detection, unified security management, and network visibility. Hillstone E-Series provides scalable architecture, robust performance, and virtual machine support.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Firewall could enhance feature depth and streamline advanced configurations. Hillstone E-Series may improve deployment simplicity and reduce adaptation time. Both products could increase automation capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Secure Firewall is known for easy deployment and effective customer support. Hillstone E-Series, while complex, provides responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall is competitively priced, offering immediate cost efficiency. Although Hillstone E-Series has higher initial costs, its comprehensive features could yield greater long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

April 2026

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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 May 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 16.0%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 7.6%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	16.0%
Cisco Secure Firewall	7.6%
Hillstone E-Series	0.6%
Other	75.8%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav

Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd

Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches

Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.

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Phil Shiflett

Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment

Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention

Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.

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TahirMahmood

IT Manager at Zubair Feeds

Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."

"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."

"The IPsec tunnels are very easily created, and quite interoperable with devices from other vendors."

"This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall that protects all network data."

"The product's most valuable features are SD-WAN and the integration of WiFi and switches."

"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."

"The notable features that I have found most valuable are that it includes the antivirus, and also IPS, and even SD-WAN."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Cisco's technical support is the best and that's why everybody implements their products."

"Feature-wise, we mostly use IPS because it is a security requirement to protect against attacks from outside and inside. This is where IPS helps us out a bunch."

"The most important features are the intrusion prevention engine and the application visibility and control. The Snort feature in Firepower is also valuable."

"Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a really helpful product for network security."

"The most valuable feature is the security that it provides our company and users."

"The most valuable feature is stability."

"I have never seen such a powerful device which can handle 2 million connections at 20Gbps speed."

"The stability of the solution is very good. We can see that it gets even better with every release."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pros

"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."

"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."

"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."

"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."

"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."

"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."

"The renewal price and the availability could be improved."

"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."

"The prevention mechanisms and implementation are not easy."

"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."

"I would like to be able to generate reports about the protections that we have. I would like a report feature."

"I prefer Palo Alto over Fortinet FortiGate. Its IPS engine is not better than the Palo Alto version. The monitoring tool needs improvement, and the syslog configuration needs enhancement."

"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"One area that could be improved is its logging functionality. Your logs are usually displayed on the screen, but if you want to go back one or two days, then you need another solution in place because those logs are overwritten within minutes."

"The scalability is a problem as the solution has a low throughput."

"I see room for improvement when it comes to integrating all the devices into a central management system."

"Security must be increased when a new user connects over the LAN and an alarm must be generated."

"The user interface is too complex for people who are not trained or certified to engage with the product."

"One of my colleagues is using the firewall as an IPS, but he is worried about Firepower's performance... With the 10 Gb devices, when it gets to 5 Gbps, the CPU usage goes up a lot and he cannot manage the IPS."

"I would like it to be easier to work with and have a better user interface. It is not straightforward; you need to know the Cisco command-line interface."

"Cisco doesn't have many features but only basic firewalls."

More Cisco Secure Firewall cons

"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."

"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."

"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."

"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."

"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."

"The solution is very expensive so pricing is rated a one out of ten."

"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."

"Currently, we are paying about $1,500 a month for three sites."

"The license for Fortinet FortiGate is affordable in my country."

"Fortinet prices are around $600 for the small 40F model, and for licenses, the simplest option is about $300 for a year. They sell licenses that can last for 1, 2, 3, or 5 years."

"Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."

"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Cisco devices are for sure costly and budget could be an important constrain on selecting them as our security solution."

"The pricing for Cisco products is higher than others, but Cisco is a very good, strong, and stable technology."

"It's acceptable and comparable to other products."

"When we bought it, it was really expensive. I'm not aware of the current pricing. We had problems with licensing. After our IPS subscription ended, we couldn't renew it because Cisco was moving to the next-generation firewall platform. So, they didn't provide us with the new license."

"If we compare it with FortiGate and the co-existing ASA, FortiGate is better in price."

"The enterprise agreement that we have has helped with the pricing because it allows us to consume licensing in more of a consumption model versus a per-user type model. That has helped us a lot."

"We normally license on a yearly basis. The hardware procurement cost should be considered. If you're virtual maybe that cost is eradicated and just the licensing cost is applied. If you have hardware the cost must be covered by you. All the shipping charges will be paid by you also. I don't thing there are any other hidden charges though."

"When we are fighting against other competitors for customers, whether it is a small or big business, we feel very comfortable with the price that Firepower has today."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."

"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."

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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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

13%

Construction Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	367
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	193

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	191
Midsize Enterprise	129
Large Enterprise	232

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

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

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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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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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What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the fire...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?

I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features w...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?

Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I ha...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 16% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

More Hillstone E-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall

May 2026

Download Cisco Secure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

April 2026

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall, Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - BYOL

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Cisco Secure Firewall provides comprehensive network security with advanced features such as application visibility, URL filtering, and malware protection. It combines a user-friendly interface with robust VPN capabilities, making it a reliable choice for varying network environments and industry applications.

Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional protection with its integration into Cisco's broader ecosystem, ensuring enhanced threat detection and policy unification. Despite its complexity in command-line interfaces and management, Cisco Secure Firewall remains a potent tool for safeguarding data. It is widely adopted for edge security, VPN services, perimeter defense, and traffic segmentation, especially in hybrid settings. Essential sectors like banking and telecom benefit from its stable connectivity and centralized security management. Though there are challenges with costs and support for third-party APIs, the firewall's scalability and high availability provide comprehensive support for protecting network assets.

What are the key features of Cisco Secure Firewall?

Application Visibility: Offers in-depth visibility of application traffic to monitor and protect against threats.
Advanced Malware Protection: Protects against known and emerging malware threats with powerful detection capabilities.
URL Filtering: Manages and restricts access to websites, enhancing organizational data security.
VPN Capabilities: Ensures secure remote access and encrypted communication through strong VPN features.
Integration with Cisco Ecosystem: Enhances security measures with seamless integration with Cisco's suite of security tools.

What benefits and ROI should be expected from Cisco Secure Firewall?

Comprehensive Protection: Offers multi-layered security for diverse network environments, increasing overall data protection.
Performance Efficiency: High availability and scalability lead to improved network performance and resource management.
Management Simplification: Centralized security management streamlines policy deployment across networks.
Enhanced Threat Detection: Integration capabilities improve threat detection and mitigation for better security posture.

Cisco Secure Firewall is widely implemented across sectors like banking, education, ISPs, and telecoms. It fortifies data centers and network edge security, delivering strong protection for client access, hybrid environments, and intrusion prevention. In these industries, firewall solutions ensure secure connectivity and manage RTU traffic effectively, leveraging centralized management and integration with Cisco's security tools.

Cisco

Hillstone E-Series is known for user-friendliness and advanced security features, offering high-performance threat protection with virtual switching and routing to support significant data volumes without third-party hardware. It provides top-notch firewall capabilities tailored to educational and energy sectors.

Hillstone E-Series delivers comprehensive network security with threat intelligence, ransomware protection, and state-of-the-art hardware innovation. Its 64-bit call processor facilitates handling large data volumes efficiently. Capabilities such as SSL VPN, integrated IPS, and application filtering make it a valuable choice for network protection. While further integration with a web proxy and enhanced usage reporting can enhance its offerings, enhancements in pricing models, support systems, and updates align with evolving user expectations for improved regional support and detailed analytics.

What are the standout features of Hillstone E-Series?

User-Friendliness: Intuitive setup and management for all users.
Threat Intelligence: Advanced protection against modern cyber threats.
Ransomware Protection: Strong defenses to mitigate ransomware attacks.
Hardware Innovation: Virtual switching/routing for seamless operations.
64-Bit Call Processor: Efficient performance with high data volumes.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Hillstone E-Series?

Comprehensive Capability: Addresses complex network security needs.
Impressive Throughput: Maintains high performance under load.
Easy Policy Management: Simplifies network security rule application.
Robust Security Features: Offers extensive filtering and blocking options.

The Hillstone E-Series is implemented extensively across industries like educational institutions and energy companies to safeguard local networks against gateway-level threats. Many organizations benefit from features such as antivirus, integrated IPS, site-to-site VPN, SSL VPN, and policy management, enhancing remote work security and simplifying network management tasks.

Hillstone Networks

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

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.

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

April 2026

Free Report: Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

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