ESET Inspect vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

ESET and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. ESET is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.6. Additionally, 80% of ESET users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 5, 2025

WatchGuard Firebox and ESET Inspect compete in cybersecurity solutions, with each offering distinct benefits. WatchGuard Firebox is ahead in ease of use and comprehensive network management, while ESET Inspect's advanced security capabilities give it an advantage for those needing deep threat analysis.

Features: WatchGuard Firebox includes advanced threat detection, comprehensive network security with firewalls, VPN support, and customizable filtering options. ESET Inspect offers deep data inspection, endpoint detection capabilities, and significant threat analysis functions, suiting detailed security needs.

Room for Improvement: WatchGuard Firebox could enhance its advanced threat intelligence tools, improve scalability options, and expand integrated third-party support. ESET Inspect might improve user interface simplicity, streamline deployment processes, and lower licensing costs for broader market appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Firebox is known for its straightforward setup and excellent customer service, ensuring easy network integration. ESET Inspect, while highly capable, presents more complex deployment challenges due to its advanced features, though its technical support is well-regarded for effectiveness.

Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard Firebox is economically viable for small to mid-sized organizations with its competitive pricing offering substantial value. ESET Inspect requires higher initial investment due to its advanced features, delivering long-term ROI for enterprises seeking robust security frameworks.

To learn more, read our detailed ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

August 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

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Cees Van Den Haak

ICT Manager at Bouwbedrijf de Vries en Verburg BV

A product with an easy setup phase that helps manage attacks and vulnerabilities

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that you can manage and react to vulnerabilities and attacks on all the workstations or laptops. You can put certain workstations and isolation. With ESET PROTECT, you see only one machine that is protected, but with ESET Inspect, you see all the machines that are protected in an environment.

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Rajesh Makwana

Regional Pre-Sales Engineer at Roundrobin Tech

Efficient bandwidth management and secure network access with a strong firewall

The primary use case of the Firebox mainly revolves around bandwidth management, unnecessary web blocking, application control, and protection against brute force attacks. It is also implemented for load balancing, SD-WAN, and branch-to-branch connectivity from one location to another. We also use…

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

"The simplicity of the product is great. It's very easy to use, which is a compliment we get all the time in terms of feedback."

"We use the FortiGate Sandbox to detect zero-day vulnerabilities, such as anomalies or malware, that are unknown and have not yet been discovered."

"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."

"It has improved our organization with control data."

"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's content is its most valuable feature."

"The solution has helped our organization secure our network and connect remote sites."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The product's most valuable features are its performance and stability."

"Rules are the most valuable feature of ESET Inspect. They are created through XML language, and they track and filter events from endpoints. If the event matches the rule, the rule is triggered. Exceptions are the second most valuable feature because it gives you the power to filter false positives in large numbers. The third most valuable feature is the Learning mode that facilitates making exceptions for known processes with a good reputation."

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's greatest asset lies in its user-friendly interface, which allows for easy navigation and thorough analysis of incidents."

"Scalability-wise, it is a very good solution."

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's most valuable feature is EDR."

"The rules are the best and most useful features."

"I find the multilayered endpoint security the most valuable feature."

"We have witnessed an ROI as it has helped with security measures."

"The main reason we went with it was the security protocols. They were more robust on this device."

"The basic functionality is fantastic. It has been performing well. I generated a report on one machine, using that as the deployment machine. When scanning the network, it discovered machines on the network and deployed the same endpoint protection from that one machine I have on my network."

"The most valuable feature for small and medium businesses is the support for various protocol proxies."

"The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication."

"Because we bought two firewalls... we need a central place to manage the policies and deploy them to both devices. It's good that it provides a system management console that is able to manipulate and manage policies in one place and deploy them to different locations."

"Cloud integration is one of the best features."

"It is the most effective on non-encrypted traffic and it is able to determine some threats through deep packet inspection."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"This product could be improved with Active directory integration and better handling in IPsec and GRE Tunnels."

"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."

"Technical support for this solution can be improved."

"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."

"The UI could be improved."

"FortiGate should have a better way of detecting and managing the system memory because otherwise if the memory is too low, a system restart is required."

"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."

"There is an area for improvement in vulnerability management."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Every vendor is working on making the job of SOC analysts easier, with fewer false positives and more precise detections. ESET uses LiveGrid technology that provides feedback on the reputation of files and operations. It's hard to eliminate all of the false positives, but hopefully, we'll see some improvement with the advances in AI."

"One area that needs improvement for the product is ransomware protection, which does not offer complete security."

"The platform's price could be better."

"It is not a stable product. We were disappointed in the stability of this product in comparison to McAffee."

"The product is complex to configure, and there are too many errors that are not errors, making it an area that can be considered for improvement."

"The solution could improve the consumption of resources. The RAM and CPU usage increases during usage which can cause issues. We have three separate services and it would be beneficial if all were executed from one agent limiting the over usage of system resources."

"It may be difficult for a first-time customer to understand all of the functions that are available to him."

"The VPN aspect of the WatchGuard Firebox is an area that could potentially benefit from improvement. We encountered difficulties while attempting to integrate Windows 11 laptops into the system, which resulted in unreliable connections. After some research, we discovered that this was primarily due to compatibility issues with Windows 11 and required a patch. However, it was still a challenge as it seemed that even when we tried to keep the laptops on Windows 10, they still exhibited the same issues as Windows 11 machines. Despite WatchGuard attributing the problem to Microsoft, we were eventually able to find a solution and all the machines are now functioning seamlessly."

"The pricing could be improved. It is definitely one of the more expensive products."

"I would like to have a little more control over access points and the ability to see the bandwidth that is passing through a specific access point. We are not able to see that. We can see what traffic is passing through the Firebox itself, but we can't identify if it is coming from a particular access point or not."

"The control software is currently only available for Windows, which can be a little annoying for Linux users."

"Reporting is something you've got to set up separately. It's one of those things that you've got to put some time into. One of the options is to set up a local report server, which is what I did. It's not great. It's okay... Some of the stuff is a little complicated to get up and running. Once you do, it becomes very user-friendly and easy to work with, but I find there are some implementation headaches with some of their stuff."

"WatchGuard Firebox could improve the speed of updates, such as new features or improvements. However, they are frequently improving the solution in many areas, such as geo-locations, definitions, and web blocking."

"The interface is not the best."

"There should be better integration and a way to configure multiple vendors into the same data center in order to offer more flexibility."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive as compared to Cisco."

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

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

"The solution is more expensive than Sophos. It could be cheaper. The licensing is on a yearly basis. We have had it for about three years. We must only pay extra for the license, additional requirements, and the hardware box."

"The Fortinet FortiGate security features cost approximately $1,500 a year. The firewall itself doesn't have a recurring cost. It's the security features on top of that that you pay for."

"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."

"Its price is good."

"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The platform's licensing is affordable and straightforward."

"I feel it is a very expensive product."

"This is true in the case of licensing, we do not have the most expensive products, and we don't have the cheapest product, it's somewhere in the middle. Perhaps a little higher from the middle, but we are known for what we provide to our customers, and they are pleased."

"The pricing and licensing are the big issue now, in my opinion. If the price was less than other companies, or a one-time charge for service was available, I think there would be more users of this solution."

"The platform is expensive; it could be cheaper."

"WatchGuard had a very competitive price. It was only 10 to 20 percent more than a single instance device but with that extra cost it provided a second load balancing device... unlike other brands whose method of hardware and software licensing would have doubled our cost."

"We license the WatchGuard Firebox annually. There are different types of subscriptions available. We are paying approximately $15,000 annually. The cost can increase if you purchase different subscriptions."

"The licensing model for WatchGuard Application Control is based on the number of users. WatchGuard Application Control also has licensing models with several features."

"The price is so small that I don't pay attention to it anymore. I think we pay a few thousand dollars for two to three years, so about $100 per month. That's for all of our users. There is an additional cost if we want to go with a deeper licensing model, but we just pay for antivirus, IPS, and main product support."

"There is a license required to use the solution and we pay annually. The price could be reduced because it is a bit expensive."

"It's fair pricing, but it could always be reduced."

"Cheap."

"I think the larger firewall packages are much better because a normal firewall is not enough for these times. You need IPS, APT, and all the security features of a firewall that you can buy."

More WatchGuard Firebox pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	129
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	91
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	15

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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What do you like most about ESET Inspect?

Scalability-wise, it is a very good solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET Inspect?

The platform's licensing is affordable and straightforward. We purchase soft keys, install them, and manage the licen...

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What needs improvement with ESET Inspect?

One area that needs improvement for the product is ransomware protection, which does not offer complete security.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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HP Wolf Security vs ESET Inspect

Compared 33% of the time

Fortinet FortiEDR vs ESET Inspect

Compared 11% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs ESET Inspect

Compared 10% of the time

Cybereason Endpoint Detection & Response vs ESET Inspect

Compared 9% of the time

Fidelis Elevate vs ESET Inspect

Compared 2% of the time

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OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XG vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XGS vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

September 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect

September 2025

Download ESET Inspect product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

August 2025

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

No data available

ESET Enterprise Inspector

WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

ESET Inspect is an essential component to help ensure the highest level of enterprise security. While standard ESET Endpoint Security provides strong protection, ESET Inspect takes your environment's security to a new dimension. A security tool is needed to help security professionals protect their sensitive data and detect and investigate security incidents, advanced threats, and targeted attacks or breaches on endpoint devices. ESET Inspect is a tool that offers the peace of mind of continuous protection and security monitoring in a powerful and easy-to-use solution.

ESET

WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.

WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.

What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?

Ease of Setup: Quick and straightforward installation process.
GUI: User-friendly graphical interface for simplified navigation.
VPN Features: Secure and efficient virtual private network management.
Web Filtering: Advanced filtering for safer browsing experiences.
Threat Detection: Proactive monitoring and detection of cyber threats.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Centralized Control: Streamlined management from a single point.
High Throughput: Efficient data handling and processing capacity.
Stable Performance: Consistent and reliable operational functionality.
Active Directory Integration: Seamless connection with user directories.
Customer Service: Strong support service for customer inquiries.

WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.

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

Mitsubishi Motors, Allianz Suisse, Cannon, T-Mobile

Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

August 2025

Free Report: ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

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