Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.6. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Zscaler Cloud Firewall and Palo Alto Networks K2-Series are two competitors in the firewall market. Zscaler is favored for its cloud-native features and cost-effectiveness, while Palo Alto Networks K2-Series stands out for its advanced security features and robustness.

Features: Zscaler Cloud Firewall users cite valuable features like cloud-native operations, ease of scalability, and effective threat detection. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is complimented for its advanced security features, detailed threat analytics, and in-depth policy management.

Room for Improvement: Users of Zscaler Cloud Firewall seek enhanced reporting features, improved integration with on-premises systems, and operational enhancements. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series requires a more intuitive configuration process, better integration with third-party tools, and streamlined user interactions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zscaler Cloud Firewall is noted for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has a more complex deployment process, but its customer service is well-regarded.

Pricing and ROI: Zscaler Cloud Firewall is seen as cost-effective, with low initial setup costs and a positive ROI due to its scalability and cloud-native benefits. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series, while higher in initial setup costs, delivers strong ROI through its advanced security features.

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

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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 Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.0%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% 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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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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Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Though it helps deal with web traffic or any malicious traffic, it needs to work on its DC performance issues

The product's initial setup phase is moderate in level, so it is neither very complex nor very easy. For the deployment, my company first needs to gather all the requirements of the users and the domain names and consider how many users there are in the company. In the implementation and planning part, my company needs to consider what kind of policies we will create while ensuring that the policies are created based on the requirements of the users. There is a need to segregate the users' requirements since there are separate departments in the company, like the HR department, sales department, IT department, and manufacturing department, so that our company can create policies depending on their requirements. On-site, if you want a GRE tunnel, our company can handle GRE tunnel traffic routing and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, after which Zscaler will take action based on the policies created by our organization. For the deployments and maintenance, a team of five members consisting of two managers and three engineers is required.

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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 initial setup is very straightforward and easy, with wizards helping to configure the device efficiently."

"The most valuable features are the policies, filtering, and configuration."

"The security on offer is very good."

"The email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."

"The interface is very good."

"The base firewall features are quite valuable to us."

"Security management tool that's easy to integrate and easy to work with. No issues found with its stability and scalability."

"FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"This is a very reliable firewall and we have never had problems with it."

"It's easy to configure."

"The IPS system is the best in the field."

"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 virtualization of the firewall and the antivirus."

"The solution offers effective security features such as HIDS (Host-based Intrusion Detection System) in global products."

"K2-Series' best features include its scalability, which is the best on the market."

"Everything I could possibly want has already been implanted in the new version."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"The solution is scalable."

"It is a stable solution."

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"It helps a lot of companies to reduce their downtime. Also, It helps businesses in terms of being secured and protected from any threats."

"The visibility and log availability offered are highly valued for troubleshooting purposes, and this is a key factor driving customer interest in the firewall module."

"If malicious traffic attacks our on-premises servers, then it gets blocked by Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"The scalability is okay. We have around 2200 people using this solution."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."

"Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use."

"It would be nice if backups could more easily migrate between different models."

"You do need some IT knowledge in order to effectively work with the solution."

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

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

"The routing capability on the FortiGate devices has room for improvement."

"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"They should implement the features that the other firewalls have."

"They could improve by providing more features in the solution."

"The licensing cost is a typical complaint with many clients. The solution is expensive."

"I'd like to see more data protection on the system."

"It would be really helpful to have dashboards that provide information on IOC blockings such as where and how many. It will also be good to know how many hashing files have been reported. It would also be nice to have easy access to this information. Otherwise, it's a painful, manual task."

"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."

"The solution's commitment time could be reduced as it often takes a lot of time to execute."

"The URL Filtering module needs to have more categories added to it."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"It would be better if they improved their policy, package visibility, and flexibility while we're creating rules for inspection. It could also be cheaper or more things could be included in the basic package. In the next release, I would like better coverage in the Asia Pacific region and better quality of service."

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"Pricing is a challenge."

"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"

"Instead of the standard license, they should certainly provide customers with the visibility to access and view the logs."

"It would be nice to have some sort of a form factor, a physical form factor perhaps, or virtual machine that you could install on devices or on a cloud, and have some cloud computing."

"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is better than Cisco, Check Point, and Palo Alto. In terms of pricing, it's probably a better-priced firewall solution overall."

"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."

"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."

"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."

"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."

"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."

"For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year."

"The price of FortiGate is average and I would say that based on the top five products available on the market, it is in the affordable range."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The price of this solution is too high."

"This is an expensive solution, although you will get value for the price."

"It would be nice if they lowered their prices for small businesses."

"If you compare K2-Series' quality with its price, I think it is reasonable."

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

"It is an expensive solution."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

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

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall 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

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Media Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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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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.

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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

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

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What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need ...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

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

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 100% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 18% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Multicloud Defense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

March 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

March 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

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

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

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

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

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 2025

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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