Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL] comparison

Palo Alto Networks and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

WatchGuard XTM and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are competitive products in the firewall space. Users indicate a preference for Palo Alto Networks due to their advanced features, even though WatchGuard is favored for pricing and support.

Features: WatchGuard XTM is valued for ease of use, robust security, and comprehensive reporting tools, making it suited for businesses with limited technical teams. On the other hand, Palo Alto Networks provides innovative threat prevention, superior application control, and advanced analytics.

Room for Improvement: WatchGuard could benefit from enhancing its advanced threat prevention and real-time analytics features. Additionally, improvements in application control could broaden its appeal. Palo Alto Networks could improve cost-effectiveness, enhance user interface simplicity, and further streamline deployment processes to better serve smaller businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deployment of WatchGuard XTM is straightforward with reliable support, ideal for businesses with limited technical teams. Conversely, Palo Alto Networks offers efficient deployment alongside comprehensive customer service, catering to complex environments.

Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard XTM is cost-effective, appealing to budget-conscious organizations with a strong ROI. Palo Alto Networks has higher upfront costs reflecting its advanced capabilities. Despite the investment, the ROI from Palo Alto is worthwhile due to enhanced security and suitability for high-value environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

March 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

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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AmjadKhan1

Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees

Provides inline protection with a unified view and anti-spyware capabilities

I would rate Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls ten out of ten because it is the best. Our disaster recovery site utilizes Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls. We are also in the process of upgrading the firewalls at our 365 sites in Pakistan to Palo Alto Networks firewalls. While budget firewalls may advertise comparable features, they often fall short of effectively detecting viruses, threats, and ransomware. In contrast, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, combined with Cortex XDR, provide comprehensive threat intelligence and detection capabilities, ensuring superior security coverage. I recommend conducting a proof of concept before selecting a firewall. This will allow you to evaluate different options and determine which best suits your needs. While Palo Alto offers robust firewall solutions, it's essential to compare them with other vendors to ensure you make an informed decision.

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it_user498942

Deputy Head of IT Department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees

Helps me create firewall policies for networks and services.

1. It is difficult to configure WatchGuard with your internet settings. Actually, a normal internet setting/configuration is easy. However, I had a problem with multi WAN and multi LAN. I have a few different LAN subnet and two WAN. What I want to do is to route traffic from LAN1 through WAN1 and use WAN2 as failover. And for LAN2, it would route through WAN2 and use WAN1 as failover. So all traffic from LAN1 supposed to go through WAN1 only unless WAN1 is down, then it will go WAN2. However, I still could see some packet from LAN1 go through WAN2 at the same times. I checked the Traffic Monitoring in WatchGuard and I figured it out that is because of default “Outgoings” policy. Unfortunately, I could not disable default “Outgoings” policy and if I do “all clients could not access the internet even if I created another Outgoing Policy to replace the default one”. I used to ask my Vendor to help with this problem, but they could not do it. 2. I would like to see more granularity on each IP bandwidth that is used. I want to check which IP consume internet Bandwidth the most, but it is not convenient to check the total bandwidth that one IP is consuming. I need to go to “Traffic Management” to see which group IP that used most of the bandwidth, and then I go to “Hostwatch” to check bandwidth of each IP and sum the consumed bandwidth by myself. 3. It cannot block Internet Download Manager nor the Torrent application “BitComet” Internet Download Manager and BitComet are two applications that I cannot block in “Application Control”. I used to ask my vendor for help, but they still could not do it. Other application (Messenger, other peer-to-peer application, social network, VOIP .. etc), WatchGuard can block them.

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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 solution is very user-friendly."

"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."

"Centralized monitoring, policy management, and virtualized appliances allow us to take control over our public and private infrastructure."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"FortiGate is more feature-rich and has a broader range of hardware. T"

"The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."

"It does a lot for you for intrusion protection and as an antivirus. The threat management bundle is worth the money. You don't need another company to monitor your web traffic for you. You can do everything yourself on the firewall. You restrict your own black list for people on the firewall. You don't need to pay some other company for another product to do that for you. The firewall can do that for you. So, it's an easy-to-use product for people to be independent. They don't need to rely on other vendors to do what the firewall can do. They can do everything."

"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"With our High availability pair, we have had no downtime for several years, since it was first put it in production."

"One of the key features for us is product stability. We are a bank, so we require 24/7 service."

"It has a solid network security with some robust tools. We can block unexpected attacks, especially zero-day attacks. Since they use the Pan-OS engine, they can collect attacks from all over the world and analyze them. They can then protect against zero-day attacks and unexpected attacks."

"The configuration is very simple."

"There are many valuable features, such as wireless cloud features."

"Their Prisma log collection is pretty great. Our product collects the logs, and it definitely makes the configuration of log collection easier."

"When we put it on the border, it was blocking everything that we were getting ahead of time, and we weren't getting any hits. This includes URL filtering, spam prevention, and anti-virus."

"It helps the organization function better by virtue of cleaner and more predictive Internet access and usage being conducted by the employees and constituents of the company. It helps ensure that they have a stronger security posture. It is preventive medicine If you have DNS Security in place. You will be happy you had it. If you don't have it, you may never need it. However, if you did need it, and didn't have it, you will wish that you did. It is one of those things, like insurance."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

"They have a reporting system which can store data over a very long period of time. Not many other firewall vendors provide a reporting system, but if they do, like Fortinet does, then you've got buy that as an additional product and that can be more than twice as expensive as the initial investment in the firewall. And without reporting over a long-term period, you're just about wasting your time."

"After installing the product, we achieved awareness of our data protection needs and email misuse."

"SNMP status monitoring and the Central Management Software."

"We have used technical support for WatchGuard many times and overall, we are satisfied with it. They are always listening and there is a good reaction time to our findings. When there are issues, they really try to resolve them."

"Application Control is fantastic with over 2,500 applications and the granularity that we can either allow people to view but not be able to log on to Facebook; or view it and log onto it if they're in the marketing department, but not play Facebook games. There are all sorts of different options like that. So it's highly granular."

"There is a site-to-site VPN configuration between others people."

"Reputation Enabled Defense indicates that some websites are so infested that it's not even worth visiting them, and therefore saving the bandwidth of going through the detection process."

"It configures in all-in-one place."

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] pros

Cons

"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."

"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."

"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."

"The feedback that I have received is that the performance could be better, and the user experience is not as good compared to a previous solution we used. It could be more user-friendly. Of course, it still works fine for our operations."

"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."

"Its reporting and pricing need improvement."

"Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."

"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There should be more comprehensive documentation, case histories, and technical training on new technologies available on their portal. It will help us with troubleshooting."

"Enhancements could potentially be made to the firmware to improve its inspectability."

"I believe it would be beneficial if the solution could integrate with Google Chrome, especially for students who use Chromebooks. However, as far as I know, the solution currently does not support Google Chrome."

"The bugs can be improved."

"It is a good product, but they can add some functions for port scanning and network scanning."

"We are not happy with Palo Alto at all. It would be better if they provided more support for the firewall. We have a few pending issues with the configuration for each application. We cannot deploy them yet due to some support-related problems in the firewall. We have deployed a few policies for DNS spoofing and DNS attacks, but we could only block a few IP addresses through the policy. That's DNS security, and we have configured a few policies for DNS spoofing and more. URL categorization and URL filtering are not yet adequately maintained. For example, if you created a few rules in the rule-based configuration and made some rules downstairs, you will lose some of them if you give access upstairs. It's not giving us a proper solution for which route it is using. We need to apply the application-based policies and URL filtering-based policies. It creates more issues because we are not getting good support from the team."

"It is a good product, but they can add some functions for port scanning and network scanning."

"Sometimes some of the applications the customer has do not respond as they normally should."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

"The VPN errors are not helpful when troubleshooting."

"Sometimes we have had issues with stability of the product."

"I would like them to improve the product's overall protections. This would be good for all product users."

"The initial setup is neither simple nor complex. If you know the base in networking and how the firewall works, you will be able to figure it out."

"The setting policies need improvement. It needs an easier way to do static NAT and check on what policy is being used for that specific traffic."

"WatchGuard doesn't have a product that allows them to get into the data center. And that's just because there is no hardware to do the job. The software could do it, but there's no hardware that allows that to happen at the moment. So it doesn't scale as well as some other products, that's for sure."

"One huge issue with WatchGuard XTM is that I'm not getting reports in a readable format. Readable means, I don't want Excel online. We repeat auditing when we trigger the report or setup calendar. That functionality is what we are looking for from WatchGuard XTM here."

"Syslog (Dimension) is focused on presentation, but needs more focus on utility like SonicWall syslog (GMS/Analyzer)."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

"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."

"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."

"The pricing is perfect."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"The price depends on the size of the company. From the beginning, you just want to know the internet bandwidths, speed, and the number of users to be able to offer the right product and model. They have a lot of products in FortiGate according to the size of the company, like 200D and 300D."

"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Cost-wise, I don't see much difference in network-related costs, but this is a premium-grade firewall. There is a cost involved, and you must pay for that to get the most out of it. Its licensing costs are straightforward. There aren't any hidden costs."

"Its price is quite high but is justified for the features and capabilities provided, although I would prefer a lower price."

"Palo Alto is like Mercedes-Benz. It is quite expensive, but the price is definitely justified."

"The Palo Alto solution is actually not expensive. It was comparable to the old firewall manufacturers that we were using. From the benefits that we have gotten out of the Palo Alto products, it is well worth the difference in cost, even though the difference in cost is not much at all."

"The pricing is straightforward with no hidden costs."

"I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten."

"In terms of price, the user finds it expensive, rating it around nine."

"I am not from presales or sales, but as a brand, Palo Alto is more expensive than other firewalls."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

"Get at least a maintenance contract for the updates and take a larger WatchGuard than you need. A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."

"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."

"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."

"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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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

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Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 11% of the time

Sophos XG vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 8% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

March 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

March 2025

Download WatchGuard XTM [EOL] product report

Also Known As

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

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation 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

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer comprehensive security, including application control, traffic shaping, threat prevention, and load balancing, designed to secure internal networks, perimeter protection, VPN services, and cloud environments.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are a key choice for managing and protecting data centers, securing remote access, network segmentation, malware prevention, and ensuring high availability and performance for business-critical applications. Known for stability and strong security, these firewalls use application-aware identifiers and IPS/IDS subscriptions to offer advanced threat protection. The unified platform facilitates seamless integration, while GlobalProtect and centralized management via Panorama enhance ease of use. However, there are areas for improvement, including pricing strategies, training, user support, and integration with third-party applications.

What are the essential features?

Stability: Reliable performance in different environments.
Application Control: Identifies applications to manage traffic.
Advanced Threat Protection: Includes DNS security, WildFire, and machine learning.
GlobalProtect: Secure remote access for users.
Centralized Management: Managed via the Panorama platform.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Security: Protects against threats with robust features.
User-Friendly: Simplified interface and easy configuration.
High Availability: Ensures performance for critical applications.
Integration: Seamless with existing systems and applications.
Support: Reliable technical support and resources.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls secure sensitive data and meet regulatory requirements. These firewalls help manage large-scale networks in these sectors, providing essential security features and maintaining high-performance standards. They are implemented to ensure compliance, protect patient information, secure financial transactions, and safeguard customer data.

Palo Alto Networks

Small businesses need big security, too, and the WatchGuard XTM Series firewall/VPN appliances deliver that strong protection, but without the hefty price tag. Enterprise-grade security includes full HTTPS content inspection, VoIP support, and optional security subscriptions like Application Control and Intrusion Prevention Service.

WatchGuard

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

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments

AVG, Cyren, Kaspersky Lab, Lastline, NCP engineering, Trend Micro, Websense

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