Juniper vSRX vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series comparison

Juniper and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Juniper is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.1, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.5. Juniper holds a 0.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 0.0% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of Juniper users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Juniper vSRX and Palo Alto Networks K2-Series are both prominent solutions in the network security appliance space. Juniper vSRX is noted for its affordability and support, but many find Palo Alto Networks K2-Series's advanced features justify its higher price.

Features: Juniper vSRX provides comprehensive threat detection, high throughput, and robust support. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers advanced threat prevention, automation capabilities, and excels in dealing with complex security scenarios.

Room For Improvement: Users of Juniper vSRX suggest enhancements in integration, reporting functions, and compatibility. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could improve its documentation, interface, and user engagement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Juniper vSRX is praised for its straightforward setup and excellent support, while Palo Alto Networks K2-Series, although having a steeper learning curve, receives substantial support post-deployment. Deployment of vSRX is easier, whereas K2-Series provides robust assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Juniper vSRX is cost-effective and offers a quicker ROI. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has higher setup costs but is considered a valuable long-term investment. vSRX appeals to budget-conscious buyers, while K2-Series targets those prioritizing long-term security enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed Juniper vSRX vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Juniper vSRX vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

April 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 April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper vSRX is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.0%, up from 0.0% 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.

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Stratos-Margaritis

Solutions Architect at Navarino SA

The ease of installation and licensing are also significant advantages

We use the application filtering, content filtering, and intrusion prevention system (IPS) features. These features are crucial for our network security. The ease of installation and licensing are also significant advantages, as it allows us to have one license for all products, which simplifies upgrading and maintenance. Additionally, the ease of deployment is critical for us.

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Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

One of the best tools for the prevention of evasive threats

There is a feature called granular application controls, which I liked. Instead of relying on ports and IP addresses, they use AMP ID. This kind of solution is very good. Another valuable feature is the prevention of evasive threats, which is one of the best tools I've encountered. SSL decryption and app ID-based SSL decryption are also impressive, along with the integration with user ID. Identity-based policies ensuring only authorized users can access specific resources are excellent features. Normally, there is something called SIM or SCIM in IDA IDM, but this feature is provided on the box, which is exemplary.

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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

"FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering."

"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."

"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."

"The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."

"I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."

"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 signature database and zero-day detection are Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features."

"This solution made it very easy to manage our bandwidth."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It's basic functionality is probably the most valuable feature."

"It is easy for me to go in and update settings, make changes, or add/remove rules or security."

"The solution has good features."

"It's much faster to deploy a power source. If you need to deploy a firewall in the cloud of software, it's much easier and much faster than deploying the office firewall in a rush."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The authentication part is seamless and easy for people."

"It's a very powerful solution and the firewalls offer high performance"

"The product's scalability is good, and my company has 150 users."

More Juniper vSRX pros

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is the performance which is above their competitors. The throughput they have delivered is good. When we used other solutions they failed the deployment when we were using different rules. They have a theory perform performance light and performance degradation. However, Palo Alto Networks K2-Series never fails in that scenario."

"The application ID on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is able to understand the application traffic, and WildFire is also good."

"The most valuable features are the intuitive user interface, ease of use, and reporting."

"The solution is reliable and scales well."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is its management abilities. Additionally, the updates are very good."

"I like the tool's WildFire feature."

"Overall product rating: Nine out of ten."

"It's easy to configure."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

Cons

"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."

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

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more storage in the hardware for log data."

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

"FortiGate should have a better way of detecting and managing the system memory because otherwise if the memory is too low, a system restart is required."

"The solution is very expensive."

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

"The solution could be more secure and stable."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The tool's basic license does not cover everything. It needs to improve visibility and availability."

"The GUI interface needs improvement."

"We experienced some technical issues during implementation"

"The solution can be improved by allowing automatic updates for the OS devices."

"We have some weird errors and some weird behavior on the solution occasionally. The device gets buggy without anyone touching it. It would work and then suddenly stop. Sometimes you need to just move the cards out and restart it again, and it will work. The solution itself, the hardware and the software, there must be some bugs that need to be dealt with."

"The solution should consider improving its licensing policies."

"It should also support modern data technologies like zero-day protection and zero-trust network access."

"The GUI really needs a lot of work, and it has got worse with successive version updates."

More Juniper vSRX cons

"It is recommended that the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series be implemented step by step for the Panorama. Sometimes we can't overwrite the configurations because it fails."

"It would be nice if it could easily be integrated with Elasticsearch or Nagios."

"The scalability for on-premises version is limited as it depends on the model."

"The ease of management and configuration should be improved."

"The product should get frequent updates allowing us to add new signatures."

"We had some issues with upgrading in the past. They could make the process easier."

"The reporting functionality in GlobalProtect needs to be improved."

"Higher levels of support are excellent but new users may need additional options."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's expensive, but compared to the competition it's okay."

"The pricing for the product is alright."

"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"Fortinet has more device options that are affordable for small businesses than Palo Alto, and its enterprise-level models are also cheaper. Palo Alto also has a separate license for VPN connections and SD-WAN, but FortiGate offers these features standard."

"Its pricing is fine. It is on a yearly basis. Other than the licensing fee, there is no extra fee."

"We have the full version of Fortinet FortiGate and we are on a three-year contract with a commitment of five years."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"As a customer, the pricing is good for us."

"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"Our experience purchasing the solution through the AWS Marketplace was good."

"After some research, I think that the cost of Juniper is more than Check Point, Palo Alto, and Fortinet."

"The solution is inexpensive."

"The solution could have been cheaper."

"We like pricing through the AWS Marketplace."

"The pricing is reasonable."

More Juniper vSRX pricing and cost advice

"This solution is expensive compared to other, similar products."

"Products by the leader in the field are justifiably a bit more expensive compared to other vendors."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is an expensive solution, the price could be reduced. They are more expensive than some of their competitors."

"Pricing is a sensitive issue because the cost is high in this market."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"The overall price of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be reduced."

"The price of this solution is too high."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

21%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

82%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

28%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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 Juniper vSRX?

One of Juniper vSRX's most valuable features is its integration with safety applications. It keeps the software secur...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper vSRX?

The pricing is competitive, being neither the most expensive nor the cheapest option. It falls within the medium to h...

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What needs improvement with Juniper vSRX?

I would suggest improving the pricing, particularly the licensing model. Although it is currently quite reasonable, m...

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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...

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What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

It is a stable solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable and there are no complaints about the licensing.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

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Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Juniper vSRX

Compared 20% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Juniper vSRX

Compared 13% of the time

Meraki MX vs Juniper vSRX

Compared 12% of the time

OPNsense vs Juniper vSRX

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Juniper vSRX

Compared 9% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 100% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Juniper vSRX

April 2025

Download Juniper vSRX product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

April 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Also Known As

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

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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

Juniper vSRX is a virtualized security platform that provides advanced threat protection for virtualized and cloud environments. It offers a comprehensive set of security features, including firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention system (IPS), and unified threat management (UTM).

With its scalable architecture, the vSRX can be easily deployed and managed across multiple virtual machines, making it ideal for organizations with dynamic and distributed networks. It also supports high-performance data processing, ensuring minimal impact on network performance.

vSRX is designed to integrate seamlessly with Juniper's broader security ecosystem, enabling centralized management and visibility across the entire network.

Juniper

Designed to handle growing throughput needs due to increasing amounts of application-, user-, and device-generated data, the K2-Series offers amazing performance and threat prevention capabilities to stop advanced cyberattacks and secure mobile network infrastructure, subscribers, and services.

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

Expedient Data Centers

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME

Buyer's Guide

Juniper vSRX vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

April 2025

Free Report: Juniper vSRX vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

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