Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router comparison

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router

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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

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

Ranking in Firewalls

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

241

Ranking in other categories

Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Vulnerability Management (5th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), Cloud and Data Center Security (3rd), Container Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (5th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (5th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Compliance Management (5th)

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewa...

Ranking in Firewalls

25th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 2.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router is 0.2%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)	2.7%
Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router	0.2%
Other	97.1%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

reviewer2875401

Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Unified security policies have protected our hybrid network with deep, user-based controls

The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds have L2 infrastructure, you cannot build a unified clustering system everywhere. As a result, the problem usually is not with Check Point, but with the cloud. The main problem with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is that it uses a separate thick client instead of a browser. A browser-based SmartConsole exists, but it still has a number of limitations, while the thick client, the so-called SmartConsole, often works unstably, freezes, and has to be restarted. I do not recommend using Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) as a VPN hub for site-to-site VPN because it is inconvenient to monitor the state of its tunnels, especially visually. It does not have a convenient snap-in and everything can be checked only via the console, which is very inconvenient. Check Point is not the most universal solution as a device that provides routing and administration capabilities in addition to security. It is an excellent firewall, but it has a number of limitations in terms of routing and in creating VPN sessions, especially in terms of displaying their states.

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Jim Voige

Site Manager at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

High availability routing has secured our network and delivers reliable support every day

One downside of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router is the need for a better understanding of what hardware it would run on. Right now, we're using Netgate's hardware, but I'm interested in knowing if there are other hardware options available, particularly heavier duty hardware, because the Supermicro 1537 version we have only has a single power supply, which is a shortcoming in an IT environment where dual power supplies are ideal. The pricing for the hardware of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router is steep, which is one reason I'd explore other options. I'm familiar with the costs of Supermicro servers, and I believe Netgate charges a premium for their server hardware without enough upside to justify it. The pricing is not justified.

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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

"The visibility, the one-pane-of-glass which allows me to see all of my edge protection through one window and one log, is great. Monitoring everything through that one pane of glass is extremely valuable."

"Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has reduced our threat landscape to a great extent and is performing excellently when it comes to finding risks in external email attachments, which is the major benefit for us."

"The solution, overall, has worked very well for our organization."

"The Capsule solution and application filters are the most valuable. It is pretty straightforward to implement, and it also has good stability and scalability. Their technical support is also really good."

"Technical support is excellent, and we have a country SE who provides support."

"Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management has created the best data management environment that can easily monitor workloads from the entire company networking system."

"Overall, Dome9 is a good product and I haven't received any negative feedback from our customers about it."

"This is a secure and reliable solution for us, although we are a bit disappointed with the limited scalability and resource consumption."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) pros

"I do not have complaints about Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router with Firewall, VPN, and Router; it is really comfortable for use, and it does a pretty good job."

"It's very simple to use, efficient, up to date, and the hardware is very available; it's very safe."

"We use pfSense and Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router to establish a VPN tunnel between our client and our headquarters to transfer data between client and our equipment; it's very simple to use, efficient, up to date, and the hardware is very available; it's very safe."

"My experience with the product is that it is a stable and good product that is easy to use."

"Overall, the entire Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router product has been reliable, though some of their smaller gear aimed at remote offices hasn't been cost-effective."

"They are more satisfied with Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router in terms of its flexibility and customer support."

Cons

"Lacks the ability to integrate with other security solutions."

"We have concerns regarding the pricing and would appreciate seeing some improvements."

"Streamlining the user interface would greatly improve the user experience."

"Regarding negative aspects about Check Point, previous issues included productivity metrics. Check Point solutions often do not provide as much productivity for machines' CPUs, and the implementation requires qualified engineers."

"Our environment basically expanded to such a large scale that it wasn't feasible for us to use CloudGuard in our multiple-account production environment."

"The solution's integration with cloud providers has seen significant development in the past months, but there is room for improvement for better integration."

"The UI is very slow, and getting the graph details on the security performance metrics is lagging."

"The only pain points we have had with it were when we did major version upgrades. Rather than being able to do incremental upgrades on those, we had to completely redeploy. I know that has changed recently, but we had some hiccups when we did the upgrades. This is the only issue we have had."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) cons

"The most significant drawback in recent years has been the cessation of firmware release downloads."

"The effectiveness of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router traffic shaping is quite good, but I am not very satisfied with the interface for control."

"They have to learn something more from FortiGate."

"The pricing for the hardware of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router is steep, which is one reason I'd explore other options."

"I would assess the effectiveness of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router's traffic shaping as good, but I would give a six marks only for that compared to others because in the past few years, there has been a stop of improvement or lack of improvement showing in Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall_VPN_Router."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive, but it is a little bit above the middle range. There are other solutions that are a little more expensive than this, but they also have some interesting features."

"The pricing is pretty high, not just for your capital, for what you have to pay upfront, but for what you pay for your annual software renewals as well, compared to a lot of other vendors. Check Point is near the top, as far as how much it's going to cost you."

"CloudGuard is fairly priced."

"The solution’s pricing is a little bit high."

"The tool's pricing is not cheap."

"Pricing-wise, it is pretty competitive. However, I would like to see more flexible licensing. There should be more of a consume what you need and true-up type of model."

"When customers compare it with Sophos or any other products, the price is on the higher side."

"Although I don't have specifics for pricing, based on my overall experience, I can conclude that Check Point provides the best pricing when comparing to other vendors."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

15%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

36%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	132
Midsize Enterprise	55
Large Enterprise	139

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Since we use a unified standard for using policies and modules in Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security), we can clearly plan which modules we need to activate on a parti...

What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is the main manager that provides network security in different forms in my organization. The primary task that Check Point solves ...

What needs improvement with Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router?

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router regularly provides updates. One aspect they can improve is that most people ask whether an antivirus scanning system is available in pfSense. Other companie...

What is your primary use case for Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router?

We work with Netgate products. We are a reseller and consultant. We have been working with Netgate and Fortinet for around two years.

What advice do you have for others considering Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router?

For metrics to measure its impact, we do not measure in a formal way. We use bandwidth monitoring to check how effective the solution is. I have not encountered customers asking for additional feat...

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Product Reports

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Download Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) product report

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router

Download Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router product report

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router report

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security, Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP

No data available

Overview

Check Point Cloud Firewall, previously known as CloudGuard Network Security, provides advanced threat prevention, centralized management, and VPN capabilities, enabling robust cloud security across various platforms including Azure and AWS.

Check Point Cloud Firewall delivers seamless cloud integration with advanced automated threat prevention and centralized management to enhance security posture. It offers auto-scaling for dynamic environments and a comprehensive policy enforcement framework in hybrid settings. The unified interface streamlines administration across cloud infrastructures, ensuring consistent protection and reducing risk.

What important features does it offer?

Advanced Threat Prevention: Safeguards against sophisticated threats.
Centralized Management: Simplifies control for cloud infrastructures.
Auto-scaling: Adapts to changing workloads seamlessly.
VPN Capabilities: Enables secure connections across environments.
Integration with Azure and AWS: Ensures compatibility with leading cloud services.
Visibility Tools: Enhanced monitoring and management for security enforcement.

What benefits can users expect?

Enhanced Security: Comprehensive threat management reduces risk.
Operational Efficiency: Automation capabilities streamline processes.
Cost Management: Efficient resource usage with auto-scaling reduces expenses.
Integration Flexibility: Adapts easily into existing cloud platforms.
Simplified Administration: Unified management reduces complexity.

In manufacturing and conglomerate sectors, Check Point Cloud Firewall is utilized for protecting cloud environments and implementing network segmentation. It supports secure cloud migration on AWS, Azure, and GCP, ensuring compliance, perimeter defense, and traffic inspection, facilitating sophisticated threat prevention strategies.

Check Point Software Technologies

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router offers open-source, license-free software with strong VPN options and robust networking capabilities, supporting secure, scalable, and reliable IT infrastructure integration.

Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router stands out with its open-source framework, providing organizations the freedom from annual license renewals and enabling focus on CAPEX. It integrates seamlessly within IT environments, offering extensive package availability for broad functionality. Equipped with WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IPsec, it ensures robust VPN configurations. Its traffic shaping, load balancing, and failover functionalities enhance network performance, while Multi-WAN connections boost uptime. Users benefit from its affordability, scalability, VLAN support, and consistent secure operations. However, clearer communication on antivirus capabilities and interface improvements for speed is needed. The equipment's transition to cloud-based firmware updates has seen mixed reception.

What are the key features of Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router?

License-Free Software: Avoid annual renewals, allowing financial focus on CAPEX.
Strong VPN Options: Supports WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IPsec for secure connections.
Traffic Shaping and Load Balancing: Optimizes network performance and reliability.
Multi-WAN Capability: Enhances connectivity and ensures consistent uptime.
VLAN Support: Allows efficient network segmentation and management.
Open-Source Nature: Provides transparency and continuous community-driven enhancements.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces expenditure with license-free, open-source software.
Scalability: Grows with organizational demands without added costs.
Reliability: Ensures secure, stable connections with minimal downtime.
Ease of Use: Simplified configuration and management for technical teams.
Community Support: Backed by a knowledgeable user community for ongoing support.

In educational settings, such as universities and engineering colleges, Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router facilitates secure VPN tunnels for data transfer. It sees application as a high-availability BGP setup among consultants and resellers, ensuring reliability and network efficiency.

Netgate

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

Information Not Available

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Netgate pfSense Plus Firewall/VPN/Router