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Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT 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

Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
12th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (6th), WAN Edge (6th), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (2nd)
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is 3.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.1%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cato SASE Cloud Platform3.0%
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT3.1%
Other93.9%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Product Lifecycle manager at Air Spring
Integrated platform optimizes network and security management through seamless AI system integration and user-friendly toggles
The platform lacks strong security features on the edge. All security features are on the cloud. For someone who wants to break out traffic locally from the LAN, there are only basic firewalls included. I would like to see more robust edge security features to replace existing customer on-premises firewalls.
reviewer2772102 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Logging and customizable rules have helped improve threat monitoring and detection
The logging is mainly what I consider one of the best features with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. Being able to log and store it in a file allows you to push it to a centralized repository. The logging and reporting help improve incident response. You should always be logging threats, any sort of misconfiguration, and anything that could be an issue. It's important to at least log and monitor it. The basic rules provide a good baseline in assessing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT's ability in providing real-time analytics for threat detection, but as a professional, you should look to constantly modify that baseline. They provide extensive customizability so you can define your own rules. The customizability allows it to be adaptable in protecting against diverse network threats to the constant change.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability is quite good."
"We appreciate the optimization and acceleration of the performance of SDP users."
"It is a stable solution...it is a scalable solution."
"I rate Cato SASE Cloud Platform at 9.5 out of 10."
"Unified management and internet duplication are our most valuable features. They provide a seamless experience for end users—if one link goes down, they can still work without noticing."
"The Cato SASE Cloud Platform is a remarkable solution for managing and controlling all aspects of Zero Trust network access functions through its SASE capabilities. It's designed with an exquisite and practical architecture, making it a worthwhile investment for organizations looking to optimize IT spending and streamline management processes."
"The product is very simple, and everything can be done very quickly."
"The visibility control and security aspects are amazing."
"The whole solution is very good, and stable."
"The solution can be integrated with some network electors like Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco ISE, and Active Directory to provide the client with authentication certificates."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
"Cisco technical support is unbeatable. It offers a premium service every time."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT are the dashboard for monitoring events."
"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."
"The logging is mainly what I consider one of the best features with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT; being able to log and store it in a file allows you to push it to a centralized repository."
 

Cons

"I am located in South Korea, and I can say that most people here have no idea about Cato Networks. I think Cato Networks should promote its network services in various countries."
"They should add more sophisticated security features. It should also be integrated into the cloud."
"The solution is not cheap."
"The different languages in the user interface should be enhanced."
"Its functionality is a bit limited in some areas as compared to a Cisco solution. It is not as granular. It doesn't have the manageability, feature set, and capabilities of a larger or an enterprise-level solution. It just needs a more robust feature set and granularity."
"The solution could be made more user friendly for the administrator to use the portal. It is difficult to use it for people who are not experienced with Cato Networks."
"The tool needs to be more granular. Its reports are not very in-depth."
"The tool should improve its interface."
"I don't think this solution is a time-based control system, because one cannot filter traffic based on time."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT can scale, but if you have too much, you could fill up your log files, which I consider when discussing scalability."
"The initial setup is a little difficult compared to other products in the market. It depends on the environment. If we are doing any migration, it might take months in a brown-field environment."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"The implementation could be a bit easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution depends upon the bandwidth required for different branches"
"The solution has reasonable pricing. It has a yearly subscription. The pricing depends on the permit to code. Sometimes, we need to increase the permit, and the cost will automatically change. There's no fixed cost. Unless we request additional modules such as DNS security, ELP, and decent features, there will be no additional cost."
"I rate the price of Cato Networks a four out of five."
"The solution is reasonably priced since Cato Networks provides features like SASE and monitoring, which I am very happy with currently."
"If you compare with VeloCloud, the price is the same or even cheaper."
"The pricing of this solution depends on what you need. It is based on bandwidth."
"Cato Networks is an expensive product, but it works out of the box, so that's the usual trade-off, make versus buy. If you decide to buy a product that doesn't require much programming, then you'd want to go for Cato Networks, which will work naturally, and immediately without any complex setup. However, the product is a little bit more expensive than the competitors. On a scale of one to five, I'd rate the pricing for Cato Networks as four."
"The solution's pricing is flexible."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cato Networks?
The solution is a simple WAN solution. We've onboarded the socket on the Cato platform, and it provides connectivity. There is no complex routing.
What is your primary use case for Cato Networks?
Actually, we propose Moogsoft as a solution. Previously we were using the solution for our customer, and we were basically using in-house to train our resources. We still propose this as a solution...
What advice do you have for others considering Cato Networks?
My experience would be four out of five. I personally need to understand it more deeply. But it appears good at this point, as it's one of the good products which are expanding very fast and the ma...
What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
I have not had much experience with the community-driven rule set while utilizing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. I don't have experience with recognizing zero-day vulnerabilities, but based on my knowledg...
 

Also Known As

Cato Networks
Sourcefire SNORT
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paysafe, AdRoll, Pet Lovers Centre, Arlington Orthopedics, Humphreys & Partners Architects
CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.