Azure Firewall vs Menlo Secure comparison

Microsoft and Menlo Security are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Microsoft is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.4, while Menlo Security is ranked #51. Microsoft holds a 2.6% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Menlo Security’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Menlo Security users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Menlo Secure and Azure Firewall are two leading security solutions. Users generally find Menlo Secure more budget-friendly with stronger customer support, while Azure Firewall stands out for its robust feature set, often deemed worth the higher price.

Features: Menlo Secure users value its simple administration, threat isolation, and cost-effectiveness. Azure Firewall receives praise for its integration with other Azure services, advanced threat intelligence, and comprehensive feature set.

Room For Improvement: Menlo Secure users note the need for enhanced analytics and reporting tools, more seamless integration with other systems, and improved threat detection capabilities. Azure Firewall users mention a need for better documentation, more intuitive configuration options, and faster update cycles.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Menlo Secure is praised for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer support. Azure Firewall users highlight a steeper learning curve but benefit from extensive Azure support resources.

Pricing and ROI: Menlo Secure is appreciated for its lower setup costs and quicker ROI. Azure Firewall, though more expensive, is seen as a worthwhile investment due to its extensive capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Firewall vs. Menlo Secure Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall vs. Menlo Secure

June 2026

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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 June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 2.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Menlo Secure is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
Azure Firewall	2.6%
Menlo Secure	0.3%
Other	82.0%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Joseph Koomson

IP Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana

Process-Level CPU Visibility: Introduce detailed CPU-usage metrics per subsystem (e.g., IPS engine, logging) so administrators can quickly identify and address performance spikes.

Analytics with FortiAnalyzer. Being able to pull in logs not just from our FortiGates but from all our other firewalls and then get them in one view has been a game changer. Whether I’m building an executive dashboard or doing a deep dive forensics session, I get everything I need without navigating consoles.Straightforward Application Control. FortiGate spots and blocks unwanted apps (eq. like BitTorrent or streaming services) with accuracy. Segmentation with VDOMs. We’ve carved our data center into four logical ‘mini-firewalls’ enterprise, core, billing, and WAF—all on one box. Each has its own rules and logs, and any traffic between them still gets inspected. It’s like having multiple appliances without the extra hardware. Always-Up-to-Date Threat Feeds. Daily signature updates and AI-driven threat sensing mean we’re blocking the latest vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re announced.

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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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reviewer2701794

Head Of Bluechip Enterprise at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Provides strong protection and multiple use cases but struggles with market recognition

There aren't specific areas for improvement; however, they're not as well known as the big vendors such as Palo Alto. Menlo Secure is a smaller company with limited resources and funding, which makes it challenging to compete with larger companies such as Palo and Cisco. What can be improved is market awareness and adoption of the technology. When selling it in the channel, regardless of how good the technology might be, success depends more on market adoption and awareness.

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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

"All in all, it's quite a good product, of course, a very good product."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and the UI; it has always provided me with what I needed and I have no need for additional costs that other solutions have, such as Sophos."

"The technical support is great."

"We have knowledge of other firewall products but FortiGate is the best."

"FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features."

"The wireless control is helpful."

"There is really nothing to complain about with this product; it's a very good product to use, and it has just started to get the top ratings for firewalls."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Network filtering is valuable. The scalability capability from the cloud-native service helps us a lot because it simplifies our day-to-day maintenance activity."

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

"The solution can autoscale."

"We have experience with Palo Alto, Check Point, FortiGate, and Cisco firewalls, and Azure Firewall is more scalable than these other solutions."

"If you use the Azure platform, it is the best choice."

"In terms of the reporting, it's beautiful. It integrates with Azure monitoring and with Azure policies. That piece is a big help. You can set governing policies and you can use the application firewall, as well as the Azure Firewall, to enforce those policies."

"It is pretty straightforward for what I'm using it for."

"It is easy for me to protect certain ports or even the IP addresses, as well as do whitelisting, blacklisting, and the FQDN when we want virtual machines connected and to protect certain websites."

More Azure Firewall pros

"For us, the primary goal is protection on the web, and that's extremely important. We're not using any of the other services at this time. The web part is key to the success of the organization. It gives us the ability to protect. It can isolate. It opens the session in an isolated format so that the code isn't running locally. It is running over in the Menlo environment, not in ours. It is not running on the local computer, whereas if you were to go to a normal website, it would run Java or something else on the local machine and potentially execute the malicious code locally. So, it does give us that level of protection."

"Either you have access to something or don't have access to it, and if you do, we can ensure, 100 percent of the time, that there is nothing malicious that is going to impact our system in any way."

"We have definitely seen ROI, as we save a ton of money and time because the numerous hits that we were receiving from our security tools prior to implementing them had to all be chased down, dispositioned, and endpoints had to be reimaged."

"This security technology addresses risk and enables people to conduct business without that risk, which is where the ROI is realized."

"The fact that it is a cloud proxy solution is another feature we like. For example, if you acquire a new company, you can use it to protect that new company without the need to install anything physically on their networks."

"Accessing the internet with a proxy from anywhere is the most valuable feature. It ensures that users are only able to browse legitimate websites. If they happen to go to a legitimate website with a malicious payload, the isolation feature will take care of that."

"It has reduced security events to follow up on. While it is not 100%, there has been probably a 90% or more reduction. We were getting hit left, right, and center constantly from people browsing the Internet and hitting bad websites. It was not just bad websites that were stood up to be malicious, but good sites that were compromised."

"We are not aware of a single compromise from the web since implementing the solution."

More Menlo Secure pros

Cons

"One point against them is that their solution lacks a unified approach."

"The pricing could be reduced or include the first year warranty."

"Monitoring and reporting could be better."

"The price could be improved."

"Sometimes the dashboard does not open properly. When we add more options, SD-WAN features, and user control features, the opening is very slow."

"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."

"The UI/UX experience can be a little better."

"Its web interface needs to be more stable, and more functional, through the variety of browsers."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The threat intelligence aspect of this particular firewall is not at par with other providers."

"The reporting, logging, and monitoring features, as well as the flexibility of the policies, need to be improved."

"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."

"An important improvement for Azure Firewall could be the UI, as it could help us by clearly stating if there is already a conflicting rule, which is something I really look forward to."

"The interface could be improved, it's not very user friendly."

"Azure Firewall definitely needs a broader feature base. It should be able to go all the way up to layer 7 when looking at applications and things like that."

"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."

"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."

More Azure Firewall cons

"Currently, I don't have a good way to see which of my rules are being used in the access control lists."

"Currently, I don't have a good way to see which of my rules are being used in the access control lists. I have numerous entries, but are they all still needed? A report that would show me my list of who is allowed and whether we're actually using it would be useful because I can then go clean up my list. It would be easier to manage. We would eliminate the vulnerability of unused services."

"The user monitoring could still be improved."

"We are now transitioning to another solution. The main reason for that is that managing all of the exceptions and troubleshooting all of the issues our users have had connecting to the internet has become too significant in terms of workload, compared to what we hope we will have with another solution."

"In the best of all worlds, we wouldn't have to make any exceptions. However, that is a big ask because a lot of that depends on how websites are constructed. For example, there are some very complex, application-oriented sites that we end up making exceptions for. It is really not that big an issue for us to make the exceptions. We feel like we are doing that without a huge impact on our security posture, but we do have to make some exceptions for complex sites, e.g., mostly SaaS-type sites and applications."

"Menlo Secure is a smaller company with limited resources and funding, which makes it challenging to compete with larger companies such as Palo and Cisco."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I pay €1,200 per year for the license along with Fortinet's 81E firewall appliance. I would rate this pricing as 3/5 stars, and I believe the price is reasonably similar to its competitors in the market, being somewhere in the middle."

"The platform offers a reasonable price point compared to its competitors."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is better than Cisco, Check Point, and Palo Alto. In terms of pricing, it's probably a better-priced firewall solution overall."

"The solution is cheap."

"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."

"It is not the cheapest one, but its price is very competitive."

"We find the most valuable aspect of this solution is the price. It is affordable, and cheaper than other firewalls."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is affordable. Most of our customers are on a three-year license to use the solution. All the features and support are included in the price."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"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."

"It is pay-as-you-go. So, you pay based on the usage. If I remember it well, there is a basic fee, and there is a traffic fee. It is not per month. It is per hour or something like that. It is not so expensive."

"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."

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

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

"I rate the product pricing a five out of ten."

"The licensing module is good."

More Azure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"It is appropriately priced for what they're doing for us. Considering the protection provided, I feel their pricing is spot-on."

"The solution is expensive. It's more expensive than the solution I previously used. Compared with the other cloud-based solutions, it's very competitive."

"We save a ton of money and time. Previously, the numerous hits that we were receiving from our security tools, prior to implementing them, had to all be chased down, dispositioned, and endpoints had to be reimaged. It was just a ton of effort to do all that. That is where the savings from time and money come in."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

14%

Construction Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	369
Midsize Enterprise	139
Large Enterprise	195

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

No data available

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 Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

There aren't specific areas for improvement; however, they're not as well known as the big vendors such as Palo Alto....

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

People are mainly using it for zero trust web access. Menlo Secure is built from the ground up to provide zero basic ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

Secure file sharing and data protection is not exactly what Menlo Secure is designed to do. While it can handle some ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Azure Firewall

Compared 19% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Azure Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Azure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Azure Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Azure Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

More Azure Firewall Competitors

Prisma Access Browser vs Menlo Secure

Compared 18% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Menlo Secure

Compared 13% of the time

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs Menlo Secure

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Menlo Secure

Compared 9% of the time

Silo by Authentic8 vs Menlo Secure

Compared 7% of the time

More Menlo Secure Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall

June 2026

Download Azure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Menlo Secure

June 2026

Download Menlo Secure product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Menlo Security Web Security, Menlo Web Security

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 integrates seamlessly with Azure services, providing threat intelligence-based filtering, scalability, and simplified configuration. It secures Azure-based infrastructure, protects workloads, and filters network traffic to ensure safe internet access.

Azure Firewall is central to managing security for applications, especially in hybrid cloud environments. Its features like URL filtering, SSL/TLS inspection, and centralized security controls cater to segmentation and zero-trust policies. Users appreciate its affordability, frequent updates, and flexibility for administrators with policies and high availability. However, some users see room for improved application filtering, better Azure integration, and more comprehensive documentation. Desired advanced features include intrusion prevention, anti-virus, and URL filtering. Cost concerns and limited scalability are mentioned, with suggestions for AI use, VPN functionalities, and enhancements in firewall management.

What are the most important features of Azure Firewall?

Seamless Integration: Works well with Azure services, providing cohesive security management.
Threat Intelligence-Based Filtering: Uses the latest threat data to filter network traffic.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing network demands.
Simplified Configuration: Streamlines setup and management processes.
Centralized Security Controls: Consolidates security settings for easier management.
Automated Updates: Ensures the firewall stays current with minimal manual input.
SSL/TLS Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits can users look for in Azure Firewall reviews?

Affordability: Cost-effective solution for many companies.
Frequent Updates: Regular updates that keep the firewall secure and up-to-date.
Flexibility for Administrators: Offers versatile policies and is easy to manage.
High Availability: Ensures reliable access and performance.
Industry Compliance: Supports standards to meet compliance requirements.

Many industries leverage Azure Firewall for secure cloud operations. Technology firms use it for hybrid cloud security, focusing on segmentation and zero-trust. Financial institutions deploy it for compliance and secure internet access, while healthcare uses it for protecting patient data and ensuring secure communications between on-prem servers.

Microsoft

Menlo Security Secure Application Access

Menlo Security Secure Application Access makes zero trust access easy, giving users secure connectivity to private applications, including web and legacy applications. At the core of Secure Application Access is the Menlo Secure Cloud Browser, which fetches, secures and delivers the content for users.

In addition to providing simple-to-deploy, clientless ZTA, Secure Application Access and the Menlo Secure Cloud Browser protect applications from attacks such as session hijacking, cookie manipulation, and other tactics that employ protocol manipulation.

Secure Application Access protects applications from Internet threats and provides granular controls for added protection of the application and associated data. These security controls include Read-only/Read-write, Upload/download, Copy/paste, AV scanning, Sandboxing, and Data Loss Prevention.

Last Mile Data Protection

Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection identifies and prevents sensitive data from leaving your company by meticulously inspecting all file uploads and user input across browsing sessions. Leveraging the Secure Cloud Browser, users are protected from the internet and you can protect your organization from data loss with comprehensive traffic monitoring and controls. This approach addresses the growing concerns surrounding data leakage in the age of AI tools like ChatGPT.

By identifying sensitive data through file types, regular expressions, or predefined libraries, Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection empowers security teams to regulate data input into AI platforms and prevent unauthorized uploads. This capability provides crucial protection for intellectual property, PII, and other confidential information.

The solution leverages the Menlo Cloud Security Platform's visibility and control over traffic to reliably detect and prevent data leaks originating from both browser submission forms and non-browser traffic. With the ability to inspect encrypted web traffic, Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection enforces DLP policies consistently across all users and devices, ensuring comprehensive data protection.

Menlo Security

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

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall vs. Menlo Secure

June 2026

Free Report: Azure Firewall vs. Menlo Secure

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall vs. Menlo Secure and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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