Hillstone E-Series vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Hillstone E-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

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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 February 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.7%
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls	5.2%
Hillstone E-Series	0.4%
Other	75.7%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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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.

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Sven-Verbeke

Solution Architect // Network Consultant at Group S

Network security has improved and allows detailed user-based control over encrypted traffic

Bandwidth usage is not something we use much, but it depends on the SD-WAN plugin because the application load balancing is based on the SD-WAN product. That functionality does not work as it should, although the App-ID is working very well. SD-WAN functionality is working, but when you compare it with other products on the market, it is very limited. Palo Alto also has ION devices, and ION devices together with Prisma Access or Strata Cloud Manager now are more the way to go than using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls on-premises. At the moment I have some issues, but the issues are more related to the general way of working of many vendors. They implement new things very fast and it is not always bug-free. With new releases, sometimes you still have some issues. This is the main concern. If you look back five or maybe ten years ago, the products were more stable and you had more decent releases, but that is something in general for many vendors. Palo Alto is also a factor with that. They want to bring new features to the market too fast. Features are a concern because all vendors try to compete against each other. If one vendor comes out with a new feature, then other vendors do the same. Sometimes they want to be the first on the market with it, and that sometimes introduces bugs or issues with the product.

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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

"The most valuable features of the FortiGate firewall include SSL inspection, VPN functionality, and threat intelligence features for preventing threats."

"I would recommend using Fortinet FortiGate because of its usability."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the IPS or IDS implementation. I appreciate most the agility or the flexibility to create hashes to block incoming threats, and I can integrate with third-party threat intelligence with our FortiGate."

"It increases security posture and is helpful for firewall reporting, intrusion protection, web filtering, and SD-WAN implementation."

"Fortinet FortiGate is considered the best in the European market for security reasons."

"Mainly the FortiGate reporting system is very good. It guides us through all the expectations of security. Fortinet provides us all that we need for security. Also, Fortinet FortiGate is a next-generation firewall. It is much more advanced than others."

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

"Fortinet FortiGate has a threat detection capacity compared to other vendors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."

"Five out of five ROI."

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

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

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

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

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."

"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

"When we put it on the border, it was blocking everything that we were getting ahead of time, and we weren't getting any hits. This includes URL filtering, spam prevention, and anti-virus."

"Everything is easy in Palo Alto Networks NG Firewall. It is very stable, easy to configure, and easy to upgrade. It is also very easy to create custom policies and applications. Everything can be done with the click of a button. It is also good for the protection of web services. Nowadays, they have a rather new DNS security feature, which is pretty good and functional. We did a one-month trial, and it is the best product for the firewall network."

"There are many valuable features within the solution. This includes security, a user-friendly firewall, antivirus, and global protection."

"Comments have some delay, but overall, it's a good product."

"The best features of this solution are URL filtering and traffic visibility."

"The Unified Threat Management (UTM) module, which consists of the basic firewall and IPS services, is what the majority of our customers use in Palo Alto Firewall."

"The first time I came across these firewalls, what surprised me the most was their web user interface. It is complete and gives you a lot of information. You can do 80% of the things related to your network and firewall through the web UI. In some of the other devices, the UI is not as complete. App-ID is also very valuable in customer networks. When you're seeing a lot of traffic in your network, you can see in your web UI which users have the applications that are consuming the most bandwidth. You have a broad context, which is very good."

"The solution provides web security, application security, and network security."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."

"Fortinet should improve its software, as we are seeing lots of firmware versions generated for each vulnerability issue. It becomes difficult for us to keep updating the firmware frequently due to bugs."

"In the next release, I would like to see the interface simplified to be more user-friendly."

"Its load balancing feature could be easy to configure."

"Fortinet FortiGate could be improved in terms of user friendliness at the policy level and assigning URL based and keyword based features."

"Technical support for this solution can be improved."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG can be expensive for some customers."

"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The tool needs to improve its price."

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

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

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

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

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

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

"The tool only had some memory-related problems."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

"There should be more comprehensive documentation, case histories, and technical training on new technologies available on their portal. It will help us with troubleshooting."

"It is working well. In my opinion, nothing can be added at this time. However, when it comes to the cost, Palo Alto firewalls are the most expensive."

"The VPN has room for improvement."

"I would like the option to be able to block the traffic from a specific country in a few clicks."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls lack built-in multi-factor authentication, requiring the purchase of a third-party tool to implement this essential security feature."

"It is a complete product, but the SSL inspection feature requires some improvements. We need to deploy certificates at each end point to completely work out the UTM solutions. If you enable SSL encryption, it is a tedious process. It takes a lot of time to deploy the certificates to all endpoints. Without SSL inspection, UTM features will not work properly. So, we are forced to enable this SSL inspection feature."

"The VPN connectors should be better. We had some challenges in terms of the VPN with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewall, and that's one of the main reasons why we moved to Sophos. Its load handling can also be improved. There were challenges when traffic was high. During peak business hours, it did not function very well. There was a lot of slowness, and the users used to complain, especially when they were connecting from outside. We even reported this to the support team. Their support should also be improved. Technical support was a bit of a concern while using this solution. We didn't get very good support from the Palo Alto team."

"The solution has normal authentication, but does not have two-factor or multi-factor authentication. There is room for development there."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall costs our company around $12000 per year."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"The pricing for the product is alright."

"There is a subscription-based model to use Fortinet FortiGate. We pay annually for the solution along with the support. If you want to have all the updates, and security patches you will need to renew your support."

"The price of FortiGate is reasonable as I plan to buy new switches. The initial gadgets are already booted, and the pricing seems normal on the market. As for additional costs, I haven't subscribed to many extra features, so I'm only using what I need. Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

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

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

"Compared to other firewall solutions, this is an expensive solution."

"Palo Alto is not a cheap solution but it is competitive when it comes to subscriptions."

"You pay based on the kind of license you require, but comparatively, it is not very expensive."

"We pay for the licensing annually and the price could be cheaper."

"I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten."

"The price is high."

"Palo Alto can be priced higher than some less capable firewalls. However, they are exceptional when you consider the completeness of the solution and its ability to handle threats. Palo Alto is better than other solutions, which justifies a slightly higher price point. You have other tools that are easier to deploy, reducing your total cost of ownership. The newer models are faster, making the pricing more attractive."

"Cheap and faster are the opposite sides of security. Security inspections have some technical and money costs. If you just purchase some cheap, fast firewalls, then you will lose a lot of the security features and fraud protection capabilities."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	85

Questions from the Community

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

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...

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...

Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 18% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 12% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Firewalls

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

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

Hillstone E-Series is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It offers a range of features including a firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private network (VPN), and application control.

With its advanced threat intelligence capabilities, E-Series can detect and prevent sophisticated attacks, ensuring the security of critical data and systems. It also provides granular control over applications, allowing organizations to enforce policies and optimize network performance.

E-Series is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized management console. It offers high-performance throughput and scalability, making it suitable for small businesses to large enterprises. With its robust security features and ease of use, Hillstone E-Series is an ideal choice for organizations looking to enhance their network security posture.

Hillstone Networks

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver advanced threat protection with machine learning, enhancing security through real-time attack prevention. Known for application visibility and a user-friendly interface, they offer robust network protection and flexibility in rule creation.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are designed to secure environments with features like GlobalProtect VPN, WildFire malware detection, and unified platform integration. Their strong firewall capabilities and high-performance throughput make them suitable for perimeter and data center protection, VPN configurations, application control, and network segmentation. Users consistently highlight the ease of managing network security policies and integrating third-party tools, ensuring a comprehensive protection strategy. While enhancements in support, training resources, and configuration simplicity are needed, these firewalls are integral for securing both on-prem and cloud environments, aligning with platforms like Azure and AWS.

What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Application Visibility: Provides insight into network traffic for better control.
Threat Prevention: Uses machine learning for real-time attack prevention.
GlobalProtect VPN: Secures remote access efficiently.
WildFire Malware Detection: Detects and prevents advanced threats.
Unified Platform Integration: Enhances network security through seamless integration with other tools.

What benefits should be evaluated when considering Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Flexibility in Rule Creation: Allows customized security policies to meet specific needs.
High-Performance Throughput: Ensures efficient network operations under high load.
Comprehensive Policy Management: Simplifies overseeing and adjusting security policies.
Robust Endpoint Security: Protects endpoints against sophisticated threats.
Seamless Integration: Works well with third-party tools for a comprehensive solution.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are commonly implemented across industries for securing LAN environments, URL filtering, and ensuring Zero Trust security. They secure both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, often becoming integral parts of security frameworks within enterprises. Leveraging these firewalls in conjunction with Azure or AWS enhances the overall network protection strategies employed by organizations.

Palo Alto 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

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

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments

Hillstone E-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls