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IBM Security Network IPS vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 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

IBM Security Network IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
21st
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 5.1%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention5.1%
IBM Security Network IPS1.5%
Other93.4%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Jacob_Koithra - PeerSpot reviewer
Project & Program manager at Shell Grp
User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive
Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Advanced protection enables us to confidently secure against evolving threats
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to protect against those types of threats, as AI will be there to do a human job; this is an evolving area. From an Advanced Threat Protection perspective, the technology associated with Palo Alto Networks, such as their sandboxing environment, is quite good. However, Palo Alto needs to focus on how to bring that technology to end users and how easy it is to use, especially in a hybrid environment where users work from various locations. While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions.

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 feature is its simplicity."
"Signature based analysis and preventing different types of network attacks."
"This is definitely a product that I recommend, especially for organizations that want a quick integration of data from the transaction systems, with a very low cost of operations."
"The blocking feature is great; it acts as an in-line blocker, and any malicious traffic that you see, or anything really, it can block the traffic."
"The initial setup is simple."
"IPS has helped us in understanding more about the latest threats out there and made us realize that we need to be proactive when it comes to security rather than reactive."
"As a next-generation IPS, it's a very good firewall."
"It protects us from cyber attacks."
"It's a monster, it's got so many beautiful features. We do deal with other firewalls and we've got a better idea of what other firewalls' capabilities are, any comparison with the Palo Alto I liked the quality of service on the applications that you can control the amount of bandwidth an application is allowed to consume. The best feature is the quality of the application quality of service."
"For those who want a next-gen firewall that's easy to configure and easy to operate, I think you should go for Palo Alto."
"The most valuable features are the simplicity, transparency, and overall ease of management."
"The most valuable feature is its use of machine learning to detect potentially unknown threats."
"One of the most valuable features is the anti-malware protection."
"It is a stable product."
 

Cons

"It's an expensive device."
"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"The management server can be made more user friendly and also the database configuration could be made simpler."
"The configuration of this product is complex. It could be made more user friendly."
"In terms of scalability, I would say that it is a little on the poor side."
"The documentation needs to be improved. I need better information about how to configure it and what the best practices are."
"There is a potential drawback with the lack of support for the ICAP protocol."
"While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions."
"The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
"The initial setup was very complex as the solution does not have these APIs to facilitate the configuration."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"The technology firewall anomaly network could stand improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of operations is very low."
"If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing."
"There is an initial, expensive investment but the return is good."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention could improve by having consistent pricing at system levels."
"It is an expensive solution and I would like to see a drop in price."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"It's not too expensive."
"Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is quite competitive, offering extensive threat detection and prevention capabilities, though it is priced higher than some alternatives."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention requires an add-on license and is considered expensive compared to competitors like Cisco AMP and FortiGate ( /products/fortinet-fortigate-reviews ) fi...
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to prot...
 

Also Known As

Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Network IPS vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.