Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series

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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 March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.3%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall	0.7%
Hillstone E-Series	0.5%
Other	80.5%

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.

Read full review

Jennifer Bernice

Dotnet Developer at Kohl's

Centralized firewall management has saved time and improved network security across locations

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall could be improved as it has a very high learning curve. It is definitely not a one and done firewall, as a one and done firewall requires a lot of dedicated time to get the machine running the way you want. To improve Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there should be a lot of tutorials and videos online to help new users. Multiple ways to configure for the same service or feature takes time to determine your customized build. In addition to previous points, the interface can sometimes be clunky when trying to determine how it is organized or arranged.

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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 considered the best in the European market for security reasons."

"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."

"The most helpful features of FortiGate include its firewall policy, specifically the user-based policy, which I find to be quite beneficial in managing our network security effectively."

"The main reason customers prefer Fortinet FortiGate is that it's security-centric, allowing them to implement security features such as a next-generation firewall and translate this to the WAN or SD-WAN architectures, or as a base if they want to grow in more security features or other verticals such as ZTNA and SASE."

"The solution is pretty expensive, but it provides great value to our organization."

"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."

"Fortinet FortiGate has several valuable features; the configuration and policy setup are easy to implement, and there are embedded features including DLP, WAF, and proxy capabilities with security profiles for various functions."

"FortiGate is the most effective solution for us and it's a cheaper option to Check Point or Palo Alto which we looked at."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The product is foolproof; it has done everything that we have needed with the amount of email that we receive, and it handles it quite well."

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

"I think Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is one of the most advanced firewall platforms. I also like that it's easy to get top-level support right away. You get that security, and if you make a mistake, it doesn't break."

"If you compare it with other brands, Barracuda is a very good solution."

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

"Inbound and outbound traffic analysis, rule creation wizard, and the GUI portal are among the key features."

"Barracuda CloudGen Firewall has positively impacted my organization by increasing the level of network protection against threats from twenty percent to forty-five percent."

"They have a very responsive customer service and support team."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall pros

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

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

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option."

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

"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."

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

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

"Five out of five ROI."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"It needs more available central management."

"It would be helpful to have a better tool for migrating all policy rules using an automatic script."

"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."

"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."

"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."

"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues."

"As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."

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

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Technical support could be more reliable and more professional."

"We would like to see a solution that is focused on container deployment, which is very important right now."

"The problem we found was with the issue of 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 administration UI could be better. It should also have better application detection policies."

"Another problem with Barracuda, in my experience, is the appliance lifetime."

"Technical support used to be at a very high level but it is now a bit less so."

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall cons

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

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

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."

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

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

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

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

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"The licensing cost is at the intermediate level."

"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."

"Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive."

"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."

"Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The solution's price is reasonable."

"It would be nice if the pricing and licensing offered for less."

"Purchasing through AWS Marketplace was good. We did it because it was easy."

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

"It is a product with a very transparent model of licensing. In the sense of hidden expenses, they do not exist with this model. "

"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."

"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."

"We evaluated a lot of different options. We concluded that Barracuda NG Firewall provided the most features for an exemplary price. "

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 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."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Marketing Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

14%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	363
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	190

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	8

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...

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...

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 ...

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

My experience with pricing is that while the licensing cost can be reduced and is somewhat costly, the price is good ...

What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

There is room for improvement in terms of response time and first-level support quality. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall ...

What is your primary use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?

My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that we purchased it to replace our current Cisco firewall tool. ...

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...

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...

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...

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

More Barracuda CloudGen Firewall Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 17% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

More Hillstone E-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Download Barracuda CloudGen Firewall product report

Firewalls

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls

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

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

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. Hillstone E-Series