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Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Palo Alto Networks WildFire comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver strong ROI through reduced risks, costs, and enhanced security features despite high initial costs.
Sentiment score
6.1
Organizations report quick ROI from WildFire, enhancing security, reducing false positives, and lowering costs by 25-30%.
Their user-friendly interface and Panorama central management, which provides a comprehensive overview, make them an ideal investment.
Technical Lead at Accenture
The solution helped reduce downtime, which is crucial in time-sensitive industries like manufacturing.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
I have seen a return on investment as there are definitely clear cost reductions, resource savings, time savings, and improved risk detection.
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt.Ltd.
The service generates a low rate of false positives, reducing the overhead of managing false positive events.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with language barriers and emergency response times needing improvement.
Sentiment score
6.7
Customer service is mixed, with large companies excelling, slow response times for some, and premium tiers offering better support.
Palo Alto's network support is excellent, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Their response time is within one hour.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
They offer fast and competent assistance.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
There is a lack of SLA adherence, and third-party partners do not provide prompt responses.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
We have had some open tickets for months, maybe half a year, and there is no real answer.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The service response times are aligned with standards, responding within a few hours based on the problem's criticality.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer scalability and customization, but hardware limitations and cost issues affect extensive scaling options.
Sentiment score
8.0
Palo Alto Networks WildFire offers scalable, adaptable integration for various networks, seamlessly accommodating growth, though on-premises scaling may incur costs.
Cloud deployments benefit from auto-scaling, allowing for automatic adjustments to firewall capacity based on demand.
Technical Lead at Accenture
It is important to assess the infrastructure size before choosing a model.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are scalable and reliable.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Wildfire is highly scalable.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is scalable, and I give it a nine for scalability.
Community Director at PeerSpot
The on-premises version is expensive to scale as it might need an additional device to be installed in the setup.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are favored for their consistent stability and reliability, outperforming competitors in various scenarios.
Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is highly reliable, scalable, and integrates seamlessly, offering robust malware filtering and network compatibility.
With appropriately configured policies, these firewalls can provide robust network security.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
After the upgrade, we are experiencing performance issues.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I have not experienced any outages or issues.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
It performs filtering, malware blocking, and scanning.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
The solution is scalable and stable.
Technical Manager at PSR
 

Room For Improvement

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls need improved reporting, support, affordability, AI features, integration, scalability, and better-performing hardware.
Users seek improvements in functionality, user interface, support, pricing, deployment complexity, automation, integration, and advanced capabilities.
When performance degrades due to full packet inspection, the solution should be to increase the computing power within the same firewall, not to recommend upgrading to a larger, more expensive model.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Further integration into a unified system could improve usability.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
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.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
It should be easier to establish the Palo Alto Networks WildFire cluster between the devices.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
It is a very good product.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are costly but valued for premium security, offering better value with multi-year licenses.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is an enterprise-focused, costly solution with robust threat prevention, offering various pricing tiers and a free trial.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls come at a premium, exceeding the cost of most competitors by 45 percent.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
Colleagues looking for the cheapest and fastest firewall can still use Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls because they are affordable.
Director at Zuci Systems
I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of affordability.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer robust, user-friendly security with advanced AI, threat prevention, and centralized management features.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire offers advanced malware detection, effective sandboxing, and robust integration with next-gen firewalls for threat protection.
The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are DNS sync calls, enabled security features, and Wildfire.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Threat Vault allows us access to a comprehensive threat database, enabling us to get detailed information on threats and how to mitigate them.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is Cortex Data Lake.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
Integrating Palo Alto Networks WildFire with various security protocols similar to a firewall has significantly improved the overall threat detection capabilities in our organization.
Community Director at PeerSpot
The most valuable feature of Wildfire is its sandboxing capability for examining suspicious files or locations.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
The integration and working with third-party solutions was very seamless and smooth.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
199
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (6th)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is designed for Firewalls and holds a mindshare of 5.2%, up 3.9% compared to last year.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire, on the other hand, focuses on Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), holds 7.1% mindshare, down 11.0% since last year.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls5.2%
Fortinet FortiGate14.5%
OPNsense8.2%
Other72.1%
Firewalls
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire7.1%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3656.4%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint5.8%
Other80.7%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user728382 - PeerSpot reviewer
Category Analyst at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Oct 03, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

Nitin Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt.Ltd.
Strong threat prevention has reduced phishing and malware while I monitor traffic in depth
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offers application and user awareness, which allow me to control traffic based on threats. The product includes threat prevention, advanced threat prevention, and deep packet inspection that really helps prevent issues in our network. Deep packet inspection inspects full traffic content, even inside applications and encrypted sessions. Deep packet inspection makes a very practical difference day to day because it lets me see and control what is actually inside the traffic, not just the open port or IP. I have real visibility of which application is running instead of just seeing HTTPS. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls WildFire sandboxing is really good at detecting and blocking zero-day malware automatically, along with its GlobalProtect and DNS security features. Using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls positively impacts my organization by providing strong security, better visibility, faster response, and simplified operations. After deploying Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls in our network, it blocks malicious traffic and prevents compromises that occurred before Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls. I can now block outside IPs to prevent issues. After Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls installation, I reduced 60 to 70 percent of malware and phishing attacks. Its threat prevention and DNS security features detect these attacks, block malicious domains, and reduce manual efforts for the security team.
RK
Engineer at Taalumgroup
Achieve effective threat prevention and seamless integration with powerful technical support
Integration with third-party products is possible. For example, connecting a mail gateway with Palo Alto Networks WildFire allows them to handle prevention. Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a cloud-based sandboxing solution. The firewall is connected to WildFire, and XDR performs sandboxing from the cloud. WildFire conducts malware scanning and emulation, then informs the firewall to block threats based on the response. It also generates reports regarding malware and other issues. The sandboxing process involves sending sample files to the cloud for scanning, checking file authenticity, certificates, and detecting malicious code. WildFire performs multiple checks and informs the XDR agent about file status. This automatic process occurs within minutes or seconds. For unknown or suspicious files, immediate blocking occurs while samples are sent to WildFire for identification. I rate Palo Alto Networks WildFire a 9 out of 10.
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
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…
 

Answers from the Community

it_user728382 - PeerSpot reviewer
Category Analyst at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Oct 3, 2017
Oct 3, 2017
I’m not an expert on Palo-Alto but what I do know is that they do offer of the top 3 IT security solutions in the world today. Most companies offer a very good firewall solution and one I can recommend is Check Point. Check Points Next generation firewall goes beyond the standard security protocols a lot of us as used to (Anti-Virus. Anti-Bot, URL filtering, Application control etc) and take it...
2 out of 5 answers
it_user263451 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Consultant at a tech services company
Oct 2, 2017
Dears I really have same project and same recommended, my question is: what is impact of NSS Lab in my decision? last report of nss lab, palo alto get 40% of security effectiveness .!!! where is the firewall location ? core,edge.... what is throughput of the firewall after enable URL filtering ? not mention in sheets. what is throughput of the firewall after enable ssl decryption ? best regards
it_user337929 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Oct 2, 2017
You can also check http://www.gartner.com, And make sure are you looking for UTM or NGFW
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business77
Midsize Enterprise57
Large Enterprise87
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

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 Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...
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 kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
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 signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...
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 considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
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 the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
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 advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
 

Also Known As

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments
Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Cisco and others in Firewalls. Updated: July 2026.
903,118 professionals have used our research since 2012.