Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Application Control vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 5, 2025

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
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
574
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (2nd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Application Control
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Application Control (10th)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (11th), Firewalls (13th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (10th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (20th), Application Control (6th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Andre Lourens - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable performance and effective control over user access to specific applications and websites
I'm not sure about its scalability since most of my deployments are for small to medium-sized companies. I haven't faced any scalability issues so far. It runs smoothly. I don't use dedicated appliances; instead, I have it running on existing PCs. And it works fine. I haven't experienced any throughput issues or similar problems. I have around five or six different clients using Untangle Application Control.
ScottEastman - PeerSpot reviewer
Reduces the risks of sending data where it shouldn't be going
We use the solution to ensure that no data breach, such as credit card details and national insurance numbers, leaves the company. However, we have to allow some information to go through because we send a lot of information to the National Healthcare Service If we don't want specific data sent…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to operate."
"The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus."
"I am content with its user interface and functionalities."
"Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use."
"The solution is very stable."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"FortiGate has led to a reduction in our security budget."
"Application filter features are the most valuable for us."
"Content filtering is really easy to use. We have rules for content filtering. One of the rules that we have is that if it is not an SSL site, it should block the site. It scans, and if it finds a bad site, it is not going to allow it. We can also block based on what the company wants us to block. If the company wants us to block porn, we'll block porn. If the company wants to block social media, we're going to block social media."
"The fact that I can limit access to certain apps is the most valuable feature for me. For example, I can restrict access to specific websites or certain functions within websites."
"The most effective and helpful features of WatchGuard Firebox, especially when purchased with the full suite of applications, are its bundled applications and subscriptions for comprehensive protection against various threats."
"Among the most valuable features is the ease of use — love the interface — of both the web interface and of the WatchGuard System Manager."
"The most valuable features include the ability to raise alarms when there are issues, easier configuration compared to other vendors, centralized update management, and keeping the product updated efficiently."
"The tool provides automated responses."
"Cloud integration is one of the best features."
"From my experience with their customer service team, I would say that they seem quite knowledgeable and fairly quick to respond."
"WatchGuard is very user-friendly. It provides us with all of the security services we need."
"The solution has many security features. We have an intrusion provision system and filtering and block filtering."
 

Cons

"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"In my case, the 101F is not scalable. I faced problems with scalability related to memory. When we hit 100% memory usage, it stops the internet connection, so we need to control the traffic. We cannot increase the memory."
"It can be a little bit more user-friendly in terms of policy definition and implementation. It seems a little bit complicated, and it could be simplified."
"We would like to see an improvement in the consistency of the product's performance levels."
"The technical support that Fortinet provides is not satisfactory. When we call Fortinet technical support, it takes too much time to connect with them."
"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"
"The software is a bit expensive to renew."
"There is room for improvement in blocking torrents."
"Reporting functionality could be improved to provide more comprehensive insights."
"The only thing that they need to improve is that they drop sessions. Currently, if you see a session come in, such as a DHCP session or a VPN session, you don't have the ability to click on that session, hit drop, and have them re-negotiate. It would be a really nice feature, and they are working on it. This is the only feature that is missing."
"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."
"I don't think I can get a full-blown DNS client from it. I've been trying to have DNS services. It has forwarding, but I don't get the services of a full DNS client. My main difficulty with it is that I can't run a complete service. I need NTP. I need DNS. I need DHCP for my domain, but I only get forwarding. As far as I can tell, I don't get caching and the kinds of reporting and registration needed to host a DNS for a domain. I have to have a separate solution for that."
"Make WatchGuard Firebox capable of integrating with third-party vendors like FireMon, Splunk, Tenable, etc."
"It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence."
"The solution needs to improve the interface. I'm not able to easily find things using it."
"Sometimes, the writing rules are a little confusing in how am I doing them."
"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 scalability of the solution needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We purchased a five-year bundle package, which worked out cheaper than competing solutions."
"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."
"The setup cost was good. The Egyptian pound is declining, and upgrading Fortinet FortiGate yearly costs about $2000 USD, which equals one hundred Egyptian pounds. I maintain a business relationship with the vendor and receive support from them."
"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."
"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."
"There is a subscription-based model to use Fortinet FortiGate. We pay annually for the solution along with the support. If you want to have all the updates, and security patches you will need to renew your support."
"As far as I'm aware, in our case, it's just a yearly pricing arrangement with no additional licensing costs."
"The platform offers a reasonable price point compared to its competitors."
"Everything is included on the firewall at one price point, and we sell it for $70 a month, which includes the hardware."
"I use the free version of Untangle."
"Over the years, the costs have increased, especially since I cater to very small businesses."
"The pricing is competitive."
"The price of the solution is not expensive, it is less than FortiGate."
"The two larger devices are about $1,000 each and the smaller ones are about $500 or $600 each... It's cheaper and you have more control because it's self-managed."
"I haven't seen the pricing since 2017, but it was competitive. SonicWall, Barracuda, and WatchGuard were all about the same price when we did our last pricing."
"For what we use, the tool's price has been reasonable, but it is not the cheapest. The tool has been quite reasonable."
"I think we might be subscribed to one or two of the premium features."
"The pricing was in line with everyone else; maybe slightly higher."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Control solutions are best for your needs.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
No data available
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business350
Midsize Enterprise130
Large Enterprise187
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business91
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise15
 

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 ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
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...
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.
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
Bridger Valley Electric, Rathbone Group, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey (CPNJ), Brown County Schools
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Application Control vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.