Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Barracuda Networks and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Barracuda Networks is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.0, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #38 with an average rating of 8.0. Barracuda Networks holds a 0.5% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Barracuda Networks 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

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall and Hillstone E-Series are robust firewall solutions catering to the needs of enterprise security. Hillstone E-Series is noted for its advanced capabilities, while Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is praised for its overall cost-efficiency and support.

Features: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is valued for its comprehensive threat protection, ease of integration, and user-friendly approach. Hillstone E-Series stands out with its performance, scalability, and advanced feature set offering greater flexibility for complex networks.

Room for Improvement: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall could improve its reporting capabilities, support for high throughput environments, and overall documentation. Hillstone E-Series users feel there is room to enhance its configuration simplicity, documentation, and technical support. Hillstone’s technical complexity might require more immediate attention.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall receives positive feedback for its straightforward deployment and reliable customer service. Hillstone E-Series, though effective once deployed, is seen as more complex, with fewer favorable reviews regarding support. Barracuda seems more accessible in terms of deployment and ongoing support.

Pricing and ROI: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall users appreciate its competitive pricing and solid return on investment. In contrast, Hillstone E-Series, while potentially delivering higher ROI through advanced features, is perceived as pricier. Users tend to align more with Barracuda’s cost-benefit ratio, particularly for mid-sized enterprises.

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

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

September 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 October 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.4%, up from 19.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.3%, 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	20.4%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall	0.5%
Hillstone E-Series	0.3%
Other	78.8%

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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RobertSmith15

Product Manager - Cyber Security at M247 Ltd Miami

Ensures data security with advanced intrusion prevention and 24/7 monitoring

I rate the initial setup as ten out of ten. It is straightforward to set up a CloudGen file, taking a couple of hours. Once we have the configuration agreed with the customer, the setup and onboarding are completed within a few hours. We receive the box from Barracuda or from our stores, pre-stage it into our network for initial configuration and Soak testing to ensure functionality. The customer can install it at their location, or we do it on their behalf. We run the firewall in simulation mode to observe traffic and ensure service transition is effective. After confirming functionality with the customer, we transition to a live service.

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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.

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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

"It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us."

"Customers keep on improving their licenses. The solution remains scalable and flexible. On-premises deployments may have some limitations. However, cloud deployments offer a high degree of flexibility."

"The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution."

"The initial setup is very straightforward and easy, with wizards helping to configure the device efficiently."

"There’s something magical about the way the flavors blend together, creating a dish that is both comforting and exciting."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"The most useful features are application control, web filtering, and SD-WAN."

"Fortinet FortiGate has SD-WAN, FortiView, antivirus, sandbox, and IPS, which are generally well-known features."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The solution is stable."

"Its central management, especially when it comes to distributed environments, is great. I can generate and save a setting and then apply that setting across the network with just one click."

"It provides a lot of functionality adhering to the current trends."

"It can now integrate with Barracuda's XDR."

"Their GPS possibilities and the security that it has, especially the SD-WAN functionality, is very good."

"The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall include antivirus protection, anti-DDoS, and IPS."

"The ability to be deployed and supported remotely is valuable."

"Scalability is good; the company wants to be able to handle large customers."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pros

"Five out of five ROI."

"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."

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

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

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

"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."

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

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"WAN load-balancing could be a lot better at detecting when a link is poor or inconsistent, and not just flat out dead."

"We also have FortiAnalyzer deployed here, so we want to enable the soft functionality of FortiGate and built-in compression for a firewall VPN use case. We want the ability to deploy a gateway for HTTPS enabled on this firewall. It is currently only for use in our headquarters."

"I cannot say definitively about the return on investment with Fortinet FortiGate because I have always been in the technical field, but most of our clients are very happy since threats were stopped, generating confidence in the Fortinet brand among our clients."

"I prefer Palo Alto over Fortinet FortiGate. Its IPS engine is not better than the Palo Alto version. The monitoring tool needs improvement, and the syslog configuration needs enhancement."

"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very good device overall, though it can be improved in certain areas regarding the licenses, particularly the big one called unified threat management, which has many capabilities."

"We are pretty happy with it. If anything, I believe the web interface could be simpler, especially for someone who has limited networking experience."

"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The technical manuals, at times, have images that don't match the actual screens and are not always as clear as they could be on the configuration."

"While using Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, we encounter issues with VPN profiles for Windows."

"The features are a bit limited compared to other vendors."

"The biggest downside is that it is quite an expensive product."

"A rule for email announcements, when configured hits occur, would be a great improvement for a more efficient experience."

"Barracuda CloudGen Firewall should work a little bit more with the logs so that, in our company, we can generate a little bit more reports and get a bit more statistics, which would be fine for us."

"There is room for improvement in performance and the support language. The support they're providing right now is from a different country, and in our country, there are people—network admins and IT heads—who don't speak English properly. So Barracuda needs to provide support agents who speak additional languages, such as Bangla."

"It's a little bit complex in terms of handling. If you implement a change, there is a specific point where you have to commit it. It's not like you just push a button and it's always committed. If you don't know to check whether your commit command has been executed or not... that is something Barracuda needs to work on."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall cons

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

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

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

"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."

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

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

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

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate allows you to purchase licenses for hardware and software."

"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."

"It is cheaper and more competitive compared to other options. For example, when comparing Palo Alto products to others, Palo Alto tends to be more expensive. If you compare Cisco's platform, including Cisco Meraki, with Fortinet products, you'll notice that Cisco's offerings are generally higher priced than Fortinet's firewall solutions."

"We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW."

"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"In general, it tends to be cheaper than most solutions."

"The product is a bit cheaper than some solutions."

"The pricing is very cheap compared to Cisco ASA, which we used before, and compared to Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. Barracuda has different solutions for different people. So for my SMB-level infrastructure, Barracuda has given me a proper solution that is half of the price of Palo Alto or Fortinet."

"Pricing and licensing are fine. It's worth the value because every four years, if I buy any other product, I have to replace my hardware. But with Barracuda I get a free hardware upgrade. Today I'm using Xbox. After four years I can take another Xbox or a Ybox."

"My advice is to try and evaluate it (Barracuda offers a trial period of one month)."

"Pricing is good. Licensing is pretty much automatic if using Control Center."

"We pay around 150 to 200 Euros per year and there are no additional costs."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. There is an upfront purchase price, and there is also an annual maintenance fee. There are no additional fees."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

Government

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

15%

Non Profit

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	29
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	5

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 do you like most about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The encryption and the security standards are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The license price of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is lower than others, and maintenance or support is included.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others. It is a bit complicated and could be ...

See all answers

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 XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

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OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 21% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 15% of the time

Sophos XG vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 8% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

A10 Networks Thunder CFW vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

October 2025

Download Barracuda CloudGen Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

September 2025

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Also Known As

No data available

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is a comprehensive network security solution that provides advanced protection for organizations of all sizes. It offers next-generation firewall capabilities, including application control, intrusion prevention, and web filtering.

With its integrated VPN functionality, it ensures secure remote access for employees. CloudGen Firewall also includes advanced threat intelligence, leveraging real-time updates to detect and block emerging threats. Its centralized management console simplifies administration and provides visibility into network traffic.

CloudGen Firewall can easily adapt to changing business needs based on its scalable architecture.

Barracuda Networks

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

ARZ, Bauer, CBCX Technologies, Diamant-groep, Eissmann Group Automotive, European Youth Olympics, Exalo Drilling, FineLine Technologies, Geocell, Grimaldi, Infront Sports & Media, Odlo, Schenker Deutschland AG, Tilak, Verbandsgeneinde Zell, Conservas El Cidacos S.A., Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medicine Management, Erwin Muller GmbH, Info-Tech: NGF is Champion, Schoellerbank, IZB Informatik-Zentrum, RHI AG, Berglandmilch, Antenne Bayern, Sanochemia

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

Buyer's Guide

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

September 2025

Free Report: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

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