Azure Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Microsoft and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Microsoft is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.4, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #38 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 2.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hillstone Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Hillstone E-Series and Azure Firewall compete in the firewall solutions category. Hillstone E-Series is noted for its cost-effectiveness and support, whereas Azure Firewall stands out for its advanced features, justifying its higher price.

Features: Hillstone E-Series offers comprehensive security features, advanced threat protection, and scalability. Azure Firewall provides deep integration with Azure services, sophisticated threat intelligence, and seamless cloud integration.

Room for Improvement: Hillstone E-Series users want better reporting capabilities, improved setup processes, and more intuitive default configurations. Azure Firewall needs enhancements in documentation, customization options, and better support resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone E-Series has straightforward deployment but mixed customer service reviews. Azure Firewall's cloud-native deployment is simpler with robust support and easier integration with cloud infrastructures.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone E-Series has favorable setup costs and ROI, especially for mid-tier enterprises. Azure Firewall offers a high ROI despite higher initial costs, suited for large-scale operations due to its comprehensive features and reliability.

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

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.8%
Azure Firewall	2.2%
Hillstone E-Series	0.4%
Other	78.6%

Firewalls

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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Amit Das

Technical Solution Architect at liwa

Has enabled us to manage internal access securely but lacks accessible documentation for deeper integration

We haven't required any support, but overall, Microsoft support is good. Whenever we raise any concern, they are supporting us on time. Currently it is good. We are not a public-facing company; it is a retail company only, so that's why I don't think it is required. We don't have an e-commerce solution on Azure. For that, we are using a different stack for the e-commerce portal, so that is not in Azure. We are only using it for business applications, and I think L3 filtering in network security suffices for our problem currently. Regarding scalability for Azure Firewall, we don't need it here because the request to the application is internal. All are internal users. So there is not much request to get into the application, so scalability is not required for us in the current scenario.

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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

"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."

"The most valuable features are simplicity, management, and that it's constantly evolving."

"It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG. It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."

"Having IPS helps in ensuring that our network is protected from potential threats, which is crucial as we implement our payment gateway."

"The configuration possibilities that Fortinet FortiGate provides are extensive, and the task configuration activity is fast and efficient for me."

"Fortinet FortiGate appears to be scalable."

"It's very similar to a Cisco firewall, yet less expensive."

"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The feature that I have found the most valuable is the control over the network permissions and the network."

"I like that you can deploy the policies separately from the firewall."

"I find the solution to be very stable, and would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of stability."

"The solution has many useful features. For example, the solution allows users to create virtual IP addresses."

"The solution should be capable of self-scaling, which is one of the features we like about it."

"We use the solution for application and server deployment."

"It provided ease of maintenance. If a new firewall was needed, we only had to run the pipelines for this. So, the maintenance was very easy."

"With Azure products, customer support is really good."

More Azure Firewall pros

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

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

"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."

"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."

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

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

"Five out of five ROI."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"They could continuously focus their improvements on network perimeter security, as that's what they're best at."

"At the moment, if you don't integrate any third-party solution with a simple Fortinet FortiGate box, the box would not function as expected for superb protection."

"I need user-behavior analytics, to find threat scenarios from inside the organization, insider attacks. That would be very helpful for us. In addition, I would like next-generation features for small and medium businesses. These businesses require UTM, all in one product. Fortinet must include it."

"The solution could be improved by addressing limited local reporting. It requires obtaining the FortiAnalyzer for proper visibility because you can't do much from a reporting perspective with just the firewall alone."

"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."

"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."

"The inability to scale the FortiAnalyzer to match our growth necessitates the purchase of new hardware."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG could improve the price, it is expensive."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Azure Firewall is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to ten, where one is not affordable, I would rate the price as a three."

"The solution should incorporate features similar to competitors like split tunneling."

"When we started deploying the solution, it was not a mature product at times."

"I would like the premium and standard features to be available on the basic package. Additionally, it lacks some functionalities when compared to competitors like Check Point and Fortinet, such as WAF or load balancing."

"I would appreciate it if Azure Firewall included built-in VPN capabilities."

"The solution doesn't offer the same capabilities of Fortinet. It should offer intrusion prevention and advance filtering. These are two very useful features offered on Fortinet that Azure lacks."

"In my experience, Azure Firewall is quite expensive, with a high cost. I would rate its pricing a two out of ten."

"For large organizations, a third-party firewall would be an added advantage, because it would have more advanced features, things that are not in Azure Firewall."

More Azure Firewall cons

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

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

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

"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."

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For the performance that we get, the price is reasonable. There are cheaper options, but they may not deliver the same kind of performance that we want. For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."

"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Its one-year license cost is competitive with three and five-year licenses offered by other products."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

"This is not a cheap solution but it isn't expensive, either. It's a good solution for the right price."

"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."

"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"The licensing costs are very competitive."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Azure Firewall is more expensive. If Microsoft can make Azure Firewall cheaper, I can see that all clients will think of using it. One client used FortiGate because it is much cheaper. Some clients ask me for Cisco, but in the cloud estimate, I found its cost is the same as Azure Firewall."

"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."

"The pricing of Azure Firewall is pay-as-you-go. Fortinet also has a pay-as-you-go model, but Azure's pricing is higher and, with FortiGate, you also have the license."

"Azure Firewall is expensive."

"The solution is cheaper than other brands. My company has an enterprise contract and we finally got a good price with Azure."

"Before choosing this solution, we evaluated others, and we found this to be the most cost-effective."

"It is expensive, especially with the premium functions. For one of the clients, it was very expensive. You have to use it more at an enterprise level, and there, it was not at an enterprise level. So, it was very costly, but security-wise, it was a very wise decision to use it that way."

"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."

More Azure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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 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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

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	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	22

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

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 is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...

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How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?

Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...

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Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?

Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...

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What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the fire...

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 w...

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 ha...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Azure Firewall

Compared 19% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Azure Firewall

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Azure Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Azure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Azure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

More Azure Firewall Competitors

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

A10 Networks Thunder CFW vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 5% of the time

More Hillstone E-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall

January 2026

Download Azure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

January 2026

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Azure Firewall is a user-friendly, intuitive, cloud-native firewall security solution that provides top-of-the-industry threat protection for all your Azure Virtual Network resources. Azure Firewall is constantly and thoroughly analyzing all traffic and data packets, making it a very valuable and secure fully stateful firewall as a service with built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability. Azure Firewall allows users to create virtual IP addresses and provides for secure DDoS protection for the virtual machines on your network. It also provides fast and efficient east-west and north-south traffic security.

Azure Firewall is a managed, cloud-based network security service built to protect your Azure Virtual Network resources. It is a fully stateful firewall as a service with built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability.

Azure Firewall has two significant offerings, Standard and Premium.

Azure Firewall Standard works directly with Microsoft Cyber Security and supplies excellent L3-L7 filtering and threat awareness. The proactive real-time threat awareness will quickly alert you and immediately deny all traffic to and from any known problematic or suspicious domains or IP addresses. Microsoft Cyber Security is updated continually to protect against all new and known potential threats at all times. To learn more about Azure Firewall Standard, click here.

Azure Firewall Premium provides everything the standard version does, and additionally adds extra levels of data encryption, network intrusion detection, extended URL filtering, and Web category filters. To learn more about the added features of Azure Firewall Premium, click here.

Key Benefits and Features of Azure Firewall:

High availability - You do not need load balancers with Azure Firewall; it's already built in and ready to go.
Self-scalability - Azure Firewall is intuitive and will auto-scale as needed based on traffic flow to be ready for peak traffic times.
Threat awareness - Using Microsoft Cyber Security to filter traffic, Azure Firewall will deny any known problematic threats to keep your network safe.
Additional IP addresses - You can securely add up to 250 public IP addresses with Azure Firewall
Improved web category filtering - You can set up specific protocols to allow or deny categories within websites that are deemed inappropriate for use within your network. You have the ability to organize categories based on a defined set of descriptions.

What our real users have to say:

Many PeerSpot users found Azure Firewall to be very user-friendly and easy to use. They liked that it offers seamless integration to the cloud and were especially pleased with the threat filtering options.

Regarding integration and threat intelligence, our users wrote:

“The most valuable feature is the integration into the overall cloud platform.”

“The most valuable feature is threat intelligence. It is based on filtering and can identify multiple threats.”

“I think that one of the best features is definitely the premium version, along with the IDPs in terms of the intrusion detection and prevention system.”

Microsoft

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

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

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

December 2025

Free Report: Azure Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

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