Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.6, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.6. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.5% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% 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

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Zscaler Cloud Firewall and Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offer robust cloud firewall solutions. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series often has the upper hand due to advanced features and perceived overall value.

Features: Zscaler Cloud Firewall is praised for its seamless integration with cloud environments, scalability, efficient management, and granular control over internet traffic. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is highly valued for its comprehensive security features, including threat prevention, application control, and deep visibility into traffic patterns with advanced threat detection capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Users of Zscaler Cloud Firewall suggest improvements in detailed reporting capabilities, enhanced threat intelligence integration, and occasional performance lags. For Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, feedback indicates the need for a more intuitive configuration process, better support for diverse deployment environments, and ease-of-use improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zscaler Cloud Firewall users report a straightforward deployment process with excellent customer support, emphasizing rapid implementation and responsive assistance. Conversely, Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is viewed as more complex to deploy, requiring more expertise. However, once configured, users find it highly reliable. Customer service is rated positively for both, but Zscaler edges out with quicker support response times.

Pricing and ROI: Zscaler Cloud Firewall is commended for its cost-effectiveness and clear ROI, making it an attractive choice for budget-conscious buyers. Users feel the pricing is transparent and justified by the benefits received. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, while more expensive, is perceived to deliver significant ROI through advanced security features and comprehensive protection, justifying the higher cost for many users.

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

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 848,207 peers since 2012

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 PA-Series is 0.5%, up from 0.1% 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.

Read full review

Deminda Dilan

Senior Network Engineer at Just In Time Group (Sri Lanka)

Good for enterprise-level businesses and offers many features like URL filtering and antivirus capabilities

Palo Alto can improve the web application firewall (WAF) feature at layer 7. Currently, I don't think it's available. If they can improve that, it would be better. We wouldn't need to purchase a separate WAF solution because they already have advanced URL filtering. But I don't think that advanced URL filtering has the same features as a dedicated WAF, like F5 or other solutions. That is an area for improvement. If they can improve the WAF feature, customers won't have to buy a separate WAF solution. They could do it with the same Palo Alto firewall, perhaps through a subscription-based model. So the web application firewall feature has to be improved.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

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 straightforward."

"The solution is highly scalable because they have devices that can handle a large amount of traffic."

"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."

"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."

"What's most important is the ease of use."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the APIs. They are the most widely known."

"The initial installation is very straightforward."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I like the tool's security and web filtering features."

"The product's most valuable feature is web filtering."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is that it is highly customizable."

"The reporting feature and application ID functionality within Palo Alto Networks PA-Series are incredibly valuable to us."

"App-ID is a really good feature."

"The solution is used for security and IoT security."

"It is scalable. But that depends on what model you are using."

"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series pros

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall understands the applications in the current generation and adapts to the present generation cloud applications."

"It is a stable solution."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

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

"Most of the features that Zscaler has to offer, we will deploy."

"The solution is scalable."

"Zscaler is still a very good product."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"The solution lacks multi-language support."

"It is quite new for us, and we need to go more in-depth into the monitoring tools. It provides different features that we need to do what we want. So far, it is okay for us. In terms of improvement, in the future, they can provide a faster implementation of features. Some of the features are first available in other solutions. Fortinet sometimes takes a little bit longer than other solutions, such as Check Point, to implement new features."

"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."

"Scalability for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be improved. SD-WAN security for this solution also needs some improvement."

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

"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."

"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve to be on par with its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Sophos. They are the market leaders. Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve its capabilities. However, we are happy with Fortinet FortiGate."

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"As we migrate fully into the cloud, additional features like capacity upgrading and improvements to hardware resources will be necessary, especially since our equipment consists of older-generation switches and routers."

"Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive. We would like to see additional threat hunting features."

"There seem to be some issues with TAC (Technical Assistance Center) or Palo Alto support. Anytime you open a case, a level one engineer joins, and then you have to escalate it to level two or three. The support system has changed in the past few years, and that's something they need to look into."

"Currently, they are not protected with any data security when they work from home or outside the network. They surf the Internet directly and should implement a proxy or firewall to monitor the data between the endpoint and the internet."

"I had opened a case before with the tool because I could not create a wildcard for the security address. We can create wildcards for security addresses in Fortinet, but this feature doesn't exist in the product."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved because it is an expensive solution."

"The product's gateway services can be improved."

"Palo Alto should integrate artificial intelligence for security purposes in the background for well-known threats and new risks coming to the market."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series cons

"There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, the GUI is outdated, with noticeable lags and delays, especially when generating reports for past transactions."

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

"Pricing is a challenge."

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

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's 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."

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

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."

"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."

"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."

"Its price is reasonable. They have a clear pricing policy. It is not complicated by the number of VPN users at a time. We know what the price is. The yearly subscription for the security license is rather high, but it is all included for whatever number of users you have and the kind of functions you need."

"The price is fine."

"Their licensing costs are annual. The UTM feature license along with their support is called FortiCare. We include that as a part of the annual maintenance cost. Palo Alto or Juniper also have an annual subscription charge for UTM. Price, of course, can always be more competitive, but it is not the most expensive product. The price-performance ratio is quite high for FortiGate."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Compared to other vendors, Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive."

"The product is offered to users at high prices compared to the pricing model of the other vendors in the market."

"It is a very expensive solution."

"The solution's pricing is high compared to that of Cisco and Fortinet."

"The prices are pretty high, definitely on the upper end."

"From my perspective, managing the price is important, especially because we're a small business. For larger organizations like Barclays, we provide our requirements to the client, and they place the order on BigFix. It's their responsibility to consider their budget and make decisions accordingly. We appreciate the features we get, but the cost-sharing still depends on the client."

"The pricing is fair."

"Palo Alto Networks PA-Series's price is much higher than other firewall brands."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series pricing and cost advice

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

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

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

"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."

"There are different subscription models available."

"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."

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

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

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

848,207 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

21%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

13%

University

Comms Service Provider

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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

The reporting feature and application ID functionality within Palo Alto Networks PA-Series are incredibly valuable to...

See all answers

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

The price of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

The interface of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series should be made much more user-friendly.

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

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

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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

OPNsense vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 35% of the time

Sophos XG vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 19% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 13% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 10% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 4% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks PA-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 PA-Series

March 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks PA-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

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is essential for firewall implementation, perimeter defense, securing infrastructure boundaries, web filtering, VPN, and threat prevention. Organizations deploy it for secure cloud connections, internet security, and managing network devices.

Companies trust Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to protect corporate networks from external threats, control traffic between networks, and meet regulatory compliance. Integrating well with applications, it offers centralized management and advanced security features such as IDS, IPS, and GlobalProtect. It ensures stable performance, application-based policy enforcement, and decryption of SSL traffic while providing efficient resource usage and comprehensive logging.

What are the key features?

Stability: Reliable performance for continuous protection.
App-ID: Application-based policy enforcement.
URL Filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.
Security Controls: Comprehensive threat prevention mechanisms.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management and operations.
Efficient Resource Usage: Optimized for minimal resource consumption.
Reporting: Detailed logs and analytics for better insights.
Antivirus: Protects against malware and viruses.
WildFire: Advanced threat prevention with machine learning AI.
Protocol Anomaly Detection: Identifies unusual network behavior.
SSL Decryption: Ensures secure traffic inspection.
Encryption: Safeguards sensitive data.
VPN Capabilities: Secure remote access for users.
Active Directory Integration: Streamlines user authentication.
Quality of Service (QoS): Manages network traffic efficiently.

What benefits should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security: Superior threat prevention and detection.
Centralized Management: Streamlined control of network devices.
Regulatory Compliance: Assists in meeting legal requirements.
Operational Efficiency: Reduced resource usage and downtime.
Comprehensive Reporting: Complete visibility into network activities.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands.
User Accessibility: Simplifies secure access for remote employees.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is implemented across industries like healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing. In healthcare, it ensures patient data protection and compliance with HIPAA. Financial institutions utilize it to secure transactions and meet regulatory standards. Retailers benefit from protecting customer information and securing online payments. Manufacturing companies deploy it to safeguard intellectual property and control plant floor operations.

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

Information Not Available

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 2025

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

848,207 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall report.

See our list of best Firewalls vendors.

We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.