AWS Direct Connect vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.1, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #23 with an average rating of 8.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.9% mindshare in EIV, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hillstone Networks users who would recommend it.

AWS Direct Connect

Read 11 AWS Direct Connect reviews

971 Views
942 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Hillstone E-Series

Read 10 Hillstone E-Series reviews

1,492 Views
403 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AWS Direct Connect

Hillstone E-Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Hillstone E-Series and AWS Direct Connect are two prominent products in the network infrastructure space. Although users are happier with the pricing and support of Hillstone E-Series, AWS Direct Connect is viewed as superior due to its robust features and overall performance.

Features: Hillstone E-Series provides comprehensive security features, an intuitive management interface, and effective threat detection. AWS Direct Connect offers exceptional network performance, reliability, and seamless integration with other AWS services.

Room for Improvement: Hillstone E-Series requires enhancements in its integration capabilities, advanced reporting features, and scalability. AWS Direct Connect could benefit from better support, more flexible configuration options, and improved regional coverage.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone E-Series is noted for its smooth deployment and responsive customer service. AWS Direct Connect, while more complex to deploy, is backed by a comprehensive support system when challenges arise.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone E-Series is praised for its cost-effectiveness and solid ROI. AWS Direct Connect, despite higher setup costs, is justified by users due to its superior performance and reliability, leading to an overall positive ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,114 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

AWS Direct Connect

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

12th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Hillstone E-Series

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

23rd

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (38th), SSL VPN (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.9%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
AWS Direct Connect	1.9%
Hillstone E-Series	1.3%
Other	96.8%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

Harendra Sisodia

Business Analyst & Agile Strategist at Charles Schwab

enables seamless hybrid cloud connectivity and ensures secure, low-latency data transfers with robust security features

AWS Direct Connect is very useful for transferring data between on-premise and cloud servers quickly, with minimal latency issues. It is cost-effective for large data transfers and offers excellent network performance, even with low internet quality. Its security features are critical, especially for industries like healthcare and finance, providing secure data transfer without breaches. It supports multi-account and multi-tenant environments, allowing centralized management with a single connectivity.

Read full review

TahirMahmood

IT Manager at Zubair Feeds

Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

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

"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."

"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."

"It is a highly scalable solution."

"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."

"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."

"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."

"It is a stable solution."

"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."

More AWS Direct Connect pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."

"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."

"Five out of five ROI."

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."

"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."

"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."

"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."

"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."

"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."

"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."

"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."

"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."

"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."

"The platform's stability needs improvement."

"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."

More AWS Direct Connect cons

"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."

"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."

"The tool only had some memory-related problems."

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."

"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

12%

University

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Direct Connect?

AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?

We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?

I'm not an end user of any of those SAP products. I wanted to have a comparison between different solutions for process mining and process modeling, but I'm not an end user of any. I have Microsoft...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?

I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?

Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS PrivateLink vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 22% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 21% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 10% of the time

SonicWall Connect Tunnel vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 8% of the time

More AWS Direct Connect Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 17% of the time

OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 16% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 10% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

More Hillstone E-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

January 2026

Download AWS Direct Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

January 2026

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Overview

AWS Direct Connect offers low-latency, reliable connectivity with secure data transfers between on-premise infrastructures and AWS environments. It ensures high availability and cost-effectiveness for large data transfers, integrating seamlessly with existing systems.

AWS Direct Connect is recognized for its robust network and security, providing minimal latency and reliable connectivity. It seamlessly integrates with on-premise infrastructure, enabling secure and fast data transfers. Users benefit from its high availability and low maintenance, making it cost-effective for large data transfers. Multi-account environment support is a key feature. Despite a complex configuration process compared to cloud GUIs, it enhances security by avoiding public internet exposure. Room for improvement includes the setup of credentials and terminology, upgrade process, BGP configuration, multi-network connections, traffic visibility, stability, and throughput security. Expanding data center locations and cross-cloud connections can be advantageous. Promotion is necessary for awareness. Some report VPN connection issues while some are content with its performance.

What are the key features of AWS Direct Connect?

Secure Connectivity: Enhances security by avoiding public internet exposure
Low Latency: Provides minimal latency for fast data transfers
High Availability: Ensures continuous connectivity with low maintenance
Cost-Effective: Reduces costs for large data transfers and multi-account environments
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with on-premise infrastructure

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Reliability: Sturdy and consistent connectivity minimizes downtime
Efficient Data Transfers: Cost reduction and efficiency for large data volumes
Security: Avoids exposure to the public internet, enhancing data protection
Resource Integration: Facilitates hybrid cloud environments by integrating on-premises and cloud resources

In industries like finance, healthcare, and media, AWS Direct Connect is implemented to ensure secure and efficient connectivity between on-premises data centers and AWS environments. It supports operations like database management and application deployment, facilitating data and application migration while enabling hybrid cloud connectivity.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Hillstone E-Series is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It offers a range of features including a firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private network (VPN), and application control.

With its advanced threat intelligence capabilities, E-Series can detect and prevent sophisticated attacks, ensuring the security of critical data and systems. It also provides granular control over applications, allowing organizations to enforce policies and optimize network performance.

E-Series is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized management console. It offers high-performance throughput and scalability, making it suitable for small businesses to large enterprises. With its robust security features and ease of use, Hillstone E-Series is an ideal choice for organizations looking to enhance their network security posture.

Hillstone Networks

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO

Buyer's Guide

AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series

December 2025

Free Report: AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our AWS Direct Connect vs. Hillstone E-Series report.

See our list of best Enterprise Infrastructure VPN vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Infrastructure VPN 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.