Azure Bastion vs Azure Firewall Manager comparison

Azure Bastion and Azure Firewall Manager are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Azure Bastion is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.8, while Azure Firewall Manager is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.3. Azure Bastion holds a 1.5% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Azure Firewall Manager’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Azure Bastion users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Azure Firewall Manager users who would recommend it.

Azure Bastion

Read 12 Azure Bastion reviews

1,771 Views
832 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Firewall Manager

Read 9 Azure Firewall Manager reviews

852 Views
349 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Azure Bastion

Azure Firewall Manager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Bastion and Azure Firewall Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Bastion vs. Azure Firewall Manager Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Bastion vs. Azure Firewall Manager

December 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

Azure Bastion

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

25th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (44th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (10th)

Azure Firewall Manager

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

26th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewall Security Management (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Bastion is 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall Manager is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Bastion	1.5%
Azure Firewall Manager	0.8%
Other	97.7%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Ashadeep Parida

IT Manager at NTT DATA

Access servers securely over private networks but need better data transfer solutions

Azure Bastion is primarily used to access servers securely without exposing them to the public network. It is configured in a private network to allow accessing an environment without public exposure Azure Bastion eliminates the need for a jump server by providing secure access to servers without…

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Sikkander Batcha

DevOps Engineer at CloudIQ

Has managed traffic effectively but lacks visibility and advanced control features

Azure Firewall is typically behind other vendor firewalls because we don't see what kind of traffic is traveling through it. That is one drawback. The main drawback is that we need log support from Azure Firewall, which can be quite costly. There is no login feature in Azure Firewall because only the IAM feature is available in the Azure site; we manage it only through the Azure portal, not through any other portal. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto, provide GUI or CLI interfaces to manage their firewalls, whereas we only manage Azure Firewall through the Azure portal. In the future, I would like to see additional features in Azure Firewall Manager to make it more competitive, such as technologies like App-ID and User-ID that Palo Alto has. Azure Firewall currently only allows traffic based on layer four and sometimes layer seven, so they need to improve in those areas compared to other vendors.

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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

"As an Azure consultant, for me, it is the best way to give the administrator access as you can manage the permission - including who can access Bastion."

"Azure Bastion is preferable because you just switch it on and off you go."

"Azure Bastion eliminates the need for a jump server by providing secure access to servers without hitting the public network."

"The ability to operate the product with scripting is excellent."

"The most significant advantage lies in its runbook features, particularly beneficial for our infrastructure team."

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is easy to use...It is modernized, so I can create complex infrastructures."

"Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers."

"Overall, I had a very positive experience."

More Azure Bastion pros

"The tool's support is good."

"The solution is very easy to set up."

"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."

"It is easy to install and does not require any plugins for your browser."

"From a traffic management perspective, it's a good firewall because it's automatically scalable based on the traffic availability."

"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Firewall Manager is the testing and configuration."

"The best feature of Azure Firewall Manager is that it is easy to maintain and configure."

More Azure Firewall Manager pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement with AI features. I would like to see integrated AI features with Azure Bastion, especially for connectivity issues."

"You are charged for retrieving your own data."

"Speaking of AI, having Microsoft Copilot in Azure Bastion would be good."

"Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote Desktop emulation."

"There are some challenges because Bastion is more compatible with Edge but not with the other browsers. As an organization, it doesn't make sense that we have to use only Edge. We should be able to access Bastion over Chrome, Mozilla, or Opera. It should be our choice."

"When you have a boot issue on Windows, you cannot use Azure Bastion to fix it. You have to use the Azure console or the VM console, and it is very limited."

"The protocol speed could be faster."

"Currently, Azure Bastion does not allow for direct data transfer between desktops. A storage solution must be created to transfer data, and this requires additional permissions like ACL or NFS."

More Azure Bastion cons

"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users. Improvements in ease of configuration would benefit users significantly."

"We could do only one-way NAT-ing, where the traffic comes from outside to internal, to Azure, which is fine. However, when we actually do NAT-ed traffic to hit the firewall, that way is not working."

"The cost is a significant concern because we are in a region where the dollar is not our default currency, and converting to dollars makes it very expensive."

"Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling deployment, and traffic management, which leads to higher costs."

"The solution can improve the integration with open-source tools."

"The price is okay. This said, the solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

"The tool's security features need to improve. It needs also to include a monitoring system for logs. It is also complicated to find a query on the Azure firewall."

"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users."

More Azure Firewall Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a lower decision point than high-quality security for our organization. Better security comes at a cost, but it's worth it, and that's what we tell our customers."

"It does not save money for us."

"Azure Bastion's pricing is good."

"The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use."

"The solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

"The price of the solution is reasonable but it is reasonable for the features."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

18%

Educational Organization

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Bastion?

Microsoft's pricing is on the higher side and could be more competitive. Startups and small organizations often prefer AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) or GCP due to their lower costs, while la...

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What needs improvement with Azure Bastion?

Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote ( /products/remote-reviews ) Desktop emulation. I am u...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure Bastion?

We use Azure Bastion ( /products/azure-bastion-reviews ) as an administration tool to access Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) Virtual Servers.

See all answers

What do you like most about Azure Firewall Manager?

The most valuable feature of Azure Firewall Manager is the testing and configuration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Firewall Manager?

The pricing for Azure Firewall Manager is expensive. In our project, we have used both Palo Alto Firewall and Azure Firewall. Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling dep...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Firewall Manager?

See all answers

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Microsoft Sentinel vs Azure Bastion

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Compared 16% of the time

AlgoSec vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 14% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 11% of the time

FireMon Security Manager vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Bastion

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager

January 2026

Download Azure Firewall Manager product report

Overview

Azure Bastion is a service you deploy that lets you connect to a virtual machine using your browser and the Azure portal. The Azure Bastion service is a fully platform-managed PaaS service that you provision inside your virtual network. It provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your virtual machines directly from the Azure portal over TLS. When you connect via Azure Bastion, your virtual machines do not need a public IP address, agent, or special client software.

Microsoft

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and route management for cloud-based security perimeters.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Azure Bastion vs. Azure Firewall Manager

December 2025

Free Report: Azure Bastion vs. Azure Firewall Manager

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