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Azure Firewall vs Microsoft Purview Information Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Firewall
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
10th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (14th)
Microsoft Purview Informati...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (4th), Data Privacy Management Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Firewall is 4.2%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Information Protection is 1.1%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

AnvarSadique - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy setup and effective traffic routing enhance security
In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls. However, the functional aspects of Azure Firewall met our needs. While I found the interface not particularly user-friendly, this is a common issue across vendors.
Heidi Hasting - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides an essential audit trail that helps prevent accidental exposure of sensitive data, but the changing product names are confusing
One of the key features of Microsoft Purview Information Protection is the auto-classification functionalities, although I have found them to be less effective in complex scenarios. The policy toggle, demanding justification for downgrading labels, provides an essential audit trail that helps prevent accidental exposure of sensitive data. The security tools integrate well. I like that you can scan several data or informational assets, such as your SharePoint list, Teams, etc., and bring them into Purview as a central repository. Partnering with other products, like Sentinel, for logging capability and inventory provides a service across the board. It's essential that Purview automatically prevents highly sensitive corporate secrets and data from being ingested into generative AI models, but the reality is that AI is a tool. It's problematic if consumers rely on a tool to protect them because they must be educated first. Regardless of the education, the employee might share the information anyway, so the AI shouldn't be the first point of failure. It should be a human making good decisions.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has many useful features. For example, the solution allows users to create virtual IP addresses."
"There is not a single feature or single product that can ensure security."
"I like that you can deploy the policies separately from the firewall."
"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."
"I find the solution to be very stable, and would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of stability."
"I can easily configure it."
"One of the best features is that it natively integrates with Azure Services and tools. When you have a third-party offering, that is not the case. But Azure Firewall provides a comprehensive and seamless security solution for your Azure resources."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is the control over the network permissions and the network."
"It ensures that sensitive data is automatically safeguarded, even for email attachments, regardless of the user or device."
"I think Purview is incredibly stable."
"Microsoft Purview Information Protection supports data classification, sensitivity labels, and data loss prevention."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Purview Information Protection is its ability to respond to sensitive data shared on Teams chat by deleting the message, not just monitoring or logging."
"The scalability of Microsoft Purview Information Protection is excellent."
"We can restrict access or specify who can see sensitivity labels, which can be based on the classification level. We can encrypt restricted content and limit who can see that from an internal view, too, so Purview is a powerful tool."
"The UI is user-friendly, and I have observed that it improves further each year."
"The reporting capabilities of Microsoft Purview are crucial. They provide insights into potentially non-compliant situations and suggest ways to rectify them. The solution helps to automate many tasks, allowing human operators to focus on areas where they offer the most value."
 

Cons

"This solution is not mature when it comes to handling perimeter traffic like internet browsing."
"It would be much easier if the on-premises, firewall rules, had some kind of export-import possibility in place, which is not the case right now."
"I would appreciate it if Azure Firewall included built-in VPN capabilities."
"For larger enterprises, they need to adjust the scalability."
"The development area and QA area could be improved. With those improvements, we can improve projects and take even less time to implement them."
"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."
"The threat intelligence aspect of this particular firewall is not at par with other providers."
"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."
"There is potential for more integration in the use of AI."
"Our primary concern is third-party application visibility. Many people choose other DLP tools, as they can search the Office 365 suite and detect sensitive information across thousands of other apps. The product is weak compared to the competitors on the DLP front, but the classification is good; the tool needs a bit more maturation."
"I wouldn't recommend Microsoft Purview Information Protection for petabytes of documents as performance might be affected."
"There should be more training and communication regarding new features. I may be missing those communications, but it often seems like changes happen in the Purview portal without notice. Having a roadmap or updates about new releases would be helpful for demonstrating to clients. If things are constantly changing, I sometimes look silly when I log in, and things have moved or changed."
"I had experience with previous versions of Microsoft Purview Information Protection as well. The new version doesn't have all the features that were present in the previous native clients and functionalities. For example, the ability to track documents - knowing where your document is, who is accessing it, when and where. You could even revoke access to a particular document if needed, which was a cool feature. These aren't available right now, although Microsoft is working on bringing them back, which might take some time."
"I rate Microsoft support six out of 10. Response times are a challenge. It's hard to be an ambassador for a product when you know it will be hard to get support."
"There is room for improvement with the policy tips feature."
"My experience with the customer service and support of Microsoft is around five out of ten. The response time is slow, and they take multiple sessions for diagnosing issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"Azure Firewalls operate on a pay-as-you-go model, similar to cloud services."
"Before choosing this solution, we evaluated others, and we found this to be the most cost-effective."
"I rate the product pricing a five out of ten."
"The solution is cheaper than other brands. My company has an enterprise contract and we finally got a good price with Azure."
"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."
"Azure Firewall is expensive."
"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."
"The tool's pricing is not a problem for customers because they often purchase it as part of a bundle. With an E5 license, for example, users get access to the entire functionality. This is one of the main reasons why many customers are choosing Microsoft."
"The pricing and setup costs are transferred to my clients, who find it affordable and are satisfied with what they receive."
"The tool's pricing is fairly low, less than 100,000 for a year."
"The product is affordable, and our clients agree. Sensitivity labels come with the MIP license at an additional $2 a month per user, an excellent deal for auto-labeling capabilities."
"Initially, Purview's cost seemed quite high because it was for personal use. I was scanning a tiny tenant and thinking, "If I extrapolate this to an enterprise-scale tenant, it will be quite costly." However, I talked to people who had compared it to other products on the market, and they're spending five figures to get started. At least, Purview has a free trial, so you can try some of the features early on."
"The price is determined by the enterprise licensing, either the E3 or E5 licensing or the EMS plus security and other feature licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...
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 overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigate VM integrates well and has excellent centralized reporting. It is very easy to...
What do you like most about Microsoft Purview Information Protection?
It ensures that sensitive data is automatically safeguarded, even for email attachments, regardless of the user or device.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Information Protection?
The pricing is not very high and is considered fine. Microsoft offers different licensing options. AIP Plan 2 is used for critical users. The AIP is included in the business standard license for cl...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Information Protection?
The most difficult part in the labeling solution is the lack of direct PDF support on Macs, whereas on Windows, a Purview agent can label PDFs. This should be improved to support PDF protection on ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Information Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall vs. Microsoft Purview Information Protection and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.