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Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (10th)
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.5%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 0.7%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.3%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
AshwaniTyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced protection and good integration capabilities with good reliability
We use Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to offer services to our customers as a managed security service provider. We provide solutions and services to our customers across the globe. For example, if I want to host a firewall in the cloud or somewhere where the physical appliance is not a possibility…
Vikram Srirama. - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly scalable solution that helps monitor and block undesired, non-standard traffic
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a cloud-based solution. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a good product. Since it's a SaaS product, most of the maintenance of devices is eliminated, and it is bundled with your secure web gateway. People should use Zscaler Cloud Firewall for their remote users or work-from-home users. Overall, I rate Zscaler Cloud Firewall a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It can expand easily."
"The notable features that I have found most valuable are that it includes the antivirus, and also IPS, and even SD-WAN."
"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."
"This version is stable. I don't have any issues with this solution, in our environment, it works well."
"This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI."
"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."
"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."
"Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good."
"A solid operating system with all the necessary data center security features."
"We use the product on our Azure network firewalls."
"Using Palo Alto Networks Panorama, we were able to deploy a single point of management and visualization of the firewall infrastructure in cloud, on-premise and integrated with Azure to automate scale up. Its security features, i.e. anti-malware, threat prevention, URL Filtering, VPN, and antivirus are the most valuable. The ID-User integrated with AD and 2FA features are also very useful to provide secure access to servers and some users in the company. "
"Palo Alto is easy to use. The UI is very easy to understand and does not require any certification or highly skilled technician to handle the firewall. It is very user-friendly and straightforward out of the box."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the zero-trust security architecture."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has everything centralized. You have the VPN solution, firewall, routing, UDR, flexibility, updates, and full visibility of your traffic."
"The tool's cloud version makes application migration easy."
"In terms of security breaches, the product aids in categorizing and monitoring traffic, allowing for the identification of potentially malicisous or incorrectly formatted applications."
"The solution is scalable."
"The scalability is okay. We have around 2200 people using this solution."
"It helps a lot of companies to reduce their downtime. Also, It helps businesses in terms of being secured and protected from any threats."
"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."
"Includes advanced tech protection."
"Once you have Zscaler running you have access to configure it however you want."
"The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution."
"It is a stable solution."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is complex."
"We would like to see a better training platform implemented."
"The solution could be more evenly structured."
"It would be nice if backups could more easily migrate between different models."
"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."
"Fortinet needs more memory to save the log files. We need it to save the logs on the hardware and not in the cloud. I know this feature is available in FortiCloud, but if we need this log locally, it is not available."
"Scalability for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be improved. SD-WAN security for this solution also needs some improvement."
"The solution lacks sufficient filtering."
"It would be helpful if we had a direct number for the support manager or the supporting engineer. That would be better than having to email every time because there would be less wait."
"The user-friendliness of the UI could be improved."
"Its web interface is a bit outdated, and it needs to be updated. They can also improve the NAT functionality. We have had issues with the NAT setup."
"It is not very easy to scale up the solution."
"The scalability could be improved further."
"There is a need for two-factor authentication, particularly for VPN and CloudProtect."
"It can definitely improve on the performance."
"When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency."
"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"
"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."
"There are some areas it could improve when it comes to blocking, we have to block some things manually. For example, if we block a top-level domain we have seen that the new IPs come through, the IPs are not blocked. There should be some more granular way of doing it. My only request is if you're blocking something at a top level, the sub-level sub-domains and all those other IPs should be blocked too automatically."
"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."
"Its technical support services could be better."
"Pricing is a challenge."
"Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP."
"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Work through partners for the best pricing."
"The licensing costs are very low."
"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."
"If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate."
"Fortinet FortiGate is expensive."
"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."
"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."
"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."
"The pricing and licensing of this product on AWS should be from $1.28/hr or $4,500.00/yr. Then, it would be a good price for the performance that it delivers."
"​The licensing is pretty much like everyone else."
"The product is costly but provides all essential security features. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"Based on the customer budget, they can choose from 12-month, 36-month, or 60-month licensing models."
"The product's most valuable feature is pricing."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is the most expensive tool among competitors"
"This is not the cheapest firewall but it's not the most expensive of the options on the market."
"Because the solution was getting deployed on AWS, it was the best place to go and it was available there."
"There are different subscription models available."
"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."
"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."
"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."
"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."
"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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...
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...
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 ...
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...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.
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 ...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cl...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Warren Rogers Associates
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.