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OPNsense vs Palo Alto Networks WildFire comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
OPNsense
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (3rd)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Firewalls
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2024
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
Akram Zaki Hussein - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2023
Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support
The interface is user-friendly, but there's room for improvement in terms of intuitiveness. The bundle management aspect requires additional attention to make it more intuitive, especially for inspecting high-level traffic. This is crucial, especially for larger companies where the existing features might not be the most optimal choice, given limitations like printer constraints. For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process. Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine. It would be beneficial if OPNsense supported additional virtualization platforms like Hyper-V from Microsoft and VMware, similar to how Kaspersky has integrated them.
Mario Lacroix - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 11, 2024
Provides seamless automation functionality and has a straightforward setup process
We use the product to enhance threat detection and response. We utilize it as part of a broader security ecosystem to monitor and block potential cyber threats. Our environment includes multiple financial clients and has tailored rules for specific needs, such as anti-fraud measures. The solution…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The payment function for applications is good."
"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."
"It's an easy solution to set up."
"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."
"In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable."
"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."
"This is an easy solution to deploy."
"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
"The IDS and IPS features are valuable. From the usability perspective, there is a lot of good documentation. As IT professionals, we found it very easy to configure the firewall. It was easy to configure and use."
"The VPN server feature is the most valuable. It is integrated with Radius and AAA for doing accounting and authentication. Insight view is also an important feature for me at this time. It allows me to assess our network traffic. I also like the firewall feature. The BSD kernel has a packet filter. It is one of the most solid frameworks for firewalls. Its user interface is one of the best interfaces I have used."
"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"It has an open license. It works very well, and there is an update every month."
"The most valuable features are reporting, the Sensei plugin, and firewall capabilities."
"I find the solution to be user-friendly. It has a lot of reports and easy settings."
"The automated scanning capabilities integrated with Palo Alto's XDR are crucial for detecting and responding to potential environmental threats."
"It is stable and pretty much scalable."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten since we never faced any issues."
"The scalability is acceptable."
"A good tool for file scanning and email threat detection, especially when it comes to attachments and communications."
"The most effective feature of WildFire for threat analysis is its collaboration with other security profiles on our Palo Alto firewall."
"The analysis is very fast."
"The cloud-based services are a nice feature."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."
"Currently, FortiGate is providing SSL VPN. But they're missing some features that are available in Palo Alto's SSL VPN."
"The integration with third-party tools may be something that they should work on."
"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."
"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
"The command line is complicated, and the interface could be better."
"A lack of integration between our data centers."
"Some of the filtering is not robust, you can escape it with a VPN. Some of the users bypass some of the filters. It catches some but it also misses some, that area could be improved. It's functioning reasonably but there's room for improvement in that area."
"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."
"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
"The IPS solution could be more reliable."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"The deployment model could be better."
"The cyber security visibility and forensics features to receive more information about incidents could improve in Palo Alto Networks WildFire."
"There are more specialized solutions that compete with Wildfire. Therefore, they need to work on their machine learning and AI to be more competitive."
"The size of Palo Alto's cloud is big but it could be easier to use from a product management perspective."
"The integration is almost not easy because it depends on the vendor."
"The automation and responsiveness need improvement."
"The support is good but they could be faster."
"​They provide a medium level of technical support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be lower."
"It is a good product from a price perspective versus functionality."
"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."
"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."
"It's expensive, but compared to the competition it's okay."
"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 bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"It's a free solution."
"OPNsense is an open-source solution and it is free to use."
"OPNsense is a well known open-source tool."
"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."
"Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls. You can have a small instance that could be €80 a month with the hardware underneath. Azure Firewall and FortiGate are out of the question at this price. If you are on a public cloud, you need the underlying infrastructure. Other than that, there is no additional cost. If you have it on-prem, you have to buy the server or the appliance. The hardware cost is replaced with the infrastructure cost in the cloud. You also have costs for the public IPs and underlying VMs, but that's not related to OPNsense. It would be the same for a FortiGate deployment on Azure. You need a FortiGate license, and you need the underlying infrastructure that scales up depending on your needs."
"It's not expensive."
"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."
"OPNsense is open source software so at this time it is free for us to use."
"Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a product with a high price."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"WildFire is a little bit pricey. Sometimes it's difficult to sell it to customers at the current price."
"It depends on the features. Additional features cost additional money as well."
"The solution is worth its price"
"This solution is very pricey and it depends on the package that you implement."
"The price is expensive but is reasonable considering overall functionality."
"It is expensive, a feature more accessible to enterprise class customers, but provides an enhanced possibility that Zero- or near-Zero-day threats may be identified and mitigated. The cost of the product weighed against the potential impact of even one successful crypto malware-type exploit may justify the expense."
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...
What do you like most about OPNsense?
What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?
I've used the free version. My computer with two network cards at home allows me to try as many different software op...
How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one conside...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advan...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
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Learn More

 

Overview

 

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
1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc.  3. EuroBSDCon  4. Netgate  5. Claranet  6. Voleatech  7. Open Systems AG  8. Securebit AG  9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH  10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH  Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: November 2024.
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