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Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Juniper Session Smart Router comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 15, 2026

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

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
166
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (8th), Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Cloud and Data Center Security (5th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
Juniper Session Smart Router
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Routers (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 3.1%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)3.1%
Juniper Session Smart Router2.1%
Other94.8%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Viral Shaa - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Analyst at Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc.
Cloud security has unified hybrid policies and now protects critical energy workloads continuously
I would say Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is valuable due to its hybrid cloud security features. It offers granular policy management across the on-premises and cloud environments, giving administrators consistent control for configuration drift. We need to change the policy and the inbound and outbound traffic settings, indicating what traffic must be blocked or allowed, and this capability with Check Point provides significant input into our security strategy. Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) provides unified security management across both hybrid clouds and on-premises environments. Unified security management affects my security operations positively, as we maintain critical systems on the cloud that require strong security and air gap networks. This cloud-native routing and policy installation helps close gaps in protecting critical applications and environments from exposure to the public cloud. From an administrator's perspective, Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) enhances our organization with clearer and more intuitive logging, making decisions easier to understand without deep investigation. In the CloudGuard UI, I can see which threats have triggered alerts, and this information is available on the unified dashboard that provides details of the threat analysis upon alert. As a small team, we log into the console to check specific alerts for high or low network usage or machine shutdowns. If needed, I tune the configuration policy, and the visualizing tools with reporting functionality simplify tracking changes made on the firewall, including the relevant source IP or device names. We ingest logs into our SIEM for detailed oversight, which allows us to monitor any administrative changes. Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) has significantly reduced our organizational risk. We clearly understand our threat landscape and the associated risks. Onboarding the CloudGuard solution directly into our cloud environment has significantly lowered the risks throughout the network and it is easy to launch. When we assess our security posture with third-party assessments, we gain granular visibility into our network pre- and post-CloudGuard installation, showing how we have addressed significant risks and secured vulnerabilities.
Vinitha Kundawad - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Implementation Engineer at Cisco
Session-based routing has transformed branch failover and now optimizes application paths
Juniper Session Smart Router is a very good cloud integration router, with very strong application visibility, and WAN path optimization is also present. It has very good simplified branch connectivity, particularly strong automation and API support, and better SaaS performance. Session-based routing instead of tunnel-heavy architecture is one of the best features. Session-based routing and API support in Juniper Session Smart Router have helped me in my work. It helps in session-based routing changes from route-based packets only on destination IP to application session awareness. This can help with a better application experience, and voice or video traffic automatically takes the best WAN path based on latency, jitter, and packet loss. Faster failover occurs; instead of waiting for routing protocol convergence, sessions can dynamically move to healthier links. Additionally, there is improved SaaS performance. In terms of APIs, I have had a very good experience integrating it with automation platforms like Terraform and Ansible. It has reduced manual errors, and my team has been using the API to automate deployment and dozens of other tasks with branch SSR devices. Another feature I can think of regarding Juniper Session Smart Router is that there is no traditional overlay tunnel overhead in many scenarios, which is one of the best features. Dynamic path selection based on latency and jitter makes this one of the standout features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The SSL spectrum proved to be the most valuable for our incoming connections."
"The ease of administration with the cloud management extension and the cloud licensing model is valuable."
"The solution assures protection on cloud and ensures the workload is protected in the same manner when deployed on-premises."
"CloudGuard Network Security has helped reduce our organizational risk by about 15%."
"Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has helped us reduce our organizational risk significantly, and I believe in Check Point strongly because it has only four critical CVEs from 2020 to 2025, compared to its competition, which has had more than fifteen to sixteen critical vulnerabilities from 2020 to 2025, which proves that Check Point's secured firewall OS security is better than its competitors and it will provide the best security to its network."
"The solution provides me with unified security management across all environments."
"It enabled us to move to cloud workloads safely while having the same level of security as we have on-prem."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring. We can easily monitor what kind of stuff comes over to our network and we can then check the dashboard and work accordingly."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization because we have multi-cloud solutions that are extremely useful for our M365, Teams communication, Zoom communication, SAP applications, and Oracle-based applications."
"For telecom companies, I think zero-trust segmentation is the way to go because if you allow anything that you do not understand, then it becomes a problem."
"Customer service is very prompt."
"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."
"I can share specific numbers; we achieved a 30 to 60% WAN cost reduction by reducing MPLS usage."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization by achieving a 30% to 40% reduction in WAN cost, which means less reliance on MPLS, with a 40% faster failover with near-zero user impact during link issues, and 20% to 30% less time spent on troubleshooting, along with fewer outages due to dynamic path selection, which facilitates fast branch deployment."
"Because we are talking directly to engineers in the US, the support is usually the best you can possibly get."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."
 

Cons

"Check Point CloudGuard Network Security could improve by making it easier to configure."
"There is room for improvement in addressing bugs and support issues."
"The cost is a little high, it doesn't suit every budget."
"The product needs to improve support. They don't consider my case the number one priority even though I want a quick resolution."
"The threat scanning system should categorize the level of threats to enhance reliable data interpretation."
"What I would like for future updates would be faster updates to apply, and perhaps a greater presence in the local language for the regions of Latin America."
"The deployment phase takes too much time."
"Areas for improvement include other Security Features like AntiVirus, AntiSpam, DLP etc."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."
"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could improve its documentation to become more competitive. It has very little documentation, and you have to rely mainly so much on support to do something, which I feel should not be that way."
"A key area for improvement in Juniper Session Smart Router is its security stack, which is not as robust as Fortinet."
"Juniper Session Smart Router can be improved by simplifying onboarding for traditional network teams and providing better documentation for complex deployments, as well as improving the GUI for operational workflows and better migration tooling."
"One area for improvement that I have observed is related to the VPN, where I frequently notice VPN flaps or disconnections between Juniper Session Smart Router and the SD-WAN hub device in the data center, which should be addressed to prevent users from experiencing any downtime."
"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."
"I found some weaknesses on their hardware. They are sometimes breaking very often."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be better."
"There is flexibility in the different licensing models that are offered."
"The tool's pricing is been higher than other solutions, but it seems like it's turning downwards."
"We pay approximately ‎€150,000 ($166,000 USD) per year."
"The tool's pricing is good. Customers want it to be cheap. I consider the pricing to be elastic. CloudGuard Network Security is perceived as cost-effective compared to using the built-in tools provided by the cloud."
"On average, it is normally on the lower end, being less expensive than Palo Alto or Cisco."
"CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is fine."
"Licensing is available on a monthly or yearly basis."
"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."
"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
23%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise79
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is comparatively conservative in terms of pricing; it is not a very expensive product. If you are a Check Point shop with multiple ...
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is definitely lagging behind its peers. I am not sure what the reason is. Compared to Palo Alto, they are not there in terms of cap...
What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is a cloud-native application protection platform and a suite of multiple products. We primarily use it for our hybrid multi-cloud ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?
Pricing for Juniper Session Smart Router is premium but is usually justified for enterprises needing advanced WAN optimization and application-aware routing. Some challenges arise from initial lice...
What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?
When collecting reviews, we also ask about disadvantages. There is nothing in Juniper Session Smart Router that I dislike, and I cannot identify anything they need to improve.
What is your primary use case for Juniper Session Smart Router?
Juniper Session Smart Router is used by our clients for specific purposes in their operations. As someone involved with the product for more than 10 years, I have significant experience with it. Th...
 

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance
Revation Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Juniper Session Smart Router and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.