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AWS Direct Connect vs Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Check Point Harmony SASE (f...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (9th), Firewalls (22nd), Anti-Malware Tools (14th), ZTNA as a Service (8th), ZTNA (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.8%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) is 4.6%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81)4.6%
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
Other93.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
Nasseer Qureshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Delivers seamless and secure remote access while enhancing security posture
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) offers strong features, but there are areas that could be improved. One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers. It works with standard SAML and SSO, but we would prefer deeper integrations with solutions such as Ping for more advanced identity-based policies. Additionally, a mobile-specific client or lightweight agent would be helpful for securing access from smartphones, especially in BYOD environments. We would appreciate more granular reporting and analytics, including better drill-down capabilities to investigate specific users or app activity. The logs are comprehensive, but filtering them can sometimes feel messy. The user interface on the management portal could be more intuitive, especially when managing multiple sites or remote offices. Some of the policy configuration steps are nested and could be streamlined.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"The scalability is good, and I'd give it an eight out of ten."
"Our investment in quality hardware has proven to provide a better customer experience. They heavily rely on Check Point Firewall and Check Point SaaS Connect to safeguard their networks from external threats and attacks."
"Since implementing Perimeter 81 we are seeing an increase in network performance and employee productivity."
"I appreciate the console of Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) because everything is well-centralized in one place."
"The Check Point portfolio showcases very strong products."
"We were able to implement Perimeter 81 within an hour with all the required services (SSO) and infrastructure (GCP and SaaS applications)."
"Harmony Mobile has enabled us to provide the necessary information for the evaluation and analysis of the risks, threats, and security vulnerabilities to which mobile devices are currently exposed, as well as the technology used to address these risks."
"The solution has many valuable aspects, including anti-Phishing, which blocks phishing attacks in all applications (email, messaging, and social networks)."
 

Cons

"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions."
"I would suggest adding more networking and security features that allow more customization within their platform."
"The solution requires you to buy a minimum of 50 licenses and that is not practical."
"When it comes to firewall configuration, sometimes we encounter issues."
"The connectivity issue can be improved as at times it lags when connecting to their server."
"What would be useful would be a notification/warning that a session is due to timeout after exceeding the default connection limit."
"Automation and scalability are areas where the solution lacks and needs to improve."
"Providing USB control in a Linux environment will give more control over data security."
"Check Point is an expensive product so support should be more adequate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"Perimeter 81 charges separately for gateways and VPN connectivity, but compared to Azure, it seemed more reasonable."
"Regarding pricing, I can say that the more the number of users, the less they have to pay."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"The cost of the solution's licenses depends on the particular use cases."
"The pricing of Check Point is relatively high when compared to other competitors like Palo Alto and Fortinet. While Palo Alto may be on the higher side in terms of cost, Check Point's pricing is similar to that of Fortinet. In some cases, Check Point offers better value for the features it provides. We initially considered other options but ultimately decided to purchase hardware that came with three years of iOS. This approach eliminated the need for any additional costs associated with Check Point. I would rate it 10 out of 10."
"The pricing is good, especially when you compare it to other firewall or UTM solutions from FortiGate or SonicWall, where you would have to invest about four hundred thousand rupees for 100 users over a three-year period."
"I would rate Harmony Connect's pricing at six out of ten. It wasn't particularly expensive, but it wasn't super cheap either."
"The product is neither cheap nor expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Harmony Connect?
I am not aware of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I would say the setup cost is our resource, and we have invested many hours into this project.
What needs improvement with Harmony Connect?
When I'm raising a ticket for Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81), it's a bit technical for non-technical people. It could have been clearer and easier for them to raise a ticket becau...
What is your primary use case for Harmony Connect?
I have experience with this product as a user. Currently, the Check Point product that I worked with mostly was the Firewall, the R81. I'm not working with Check Point WAF, Web Application Firewall...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Check Point Quantum SASE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Aqua Security, Cognito, Multipoint, Kustomer, Postman, Meredith
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.