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Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Steelhead comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.3
CloudGuard Network Security reduces costs and manual tasks, enhances security, and improves efficiency with flexible cloud deployment.
Sentiment score
8.5
Steelhead enhanced bandwidth efficiency, resulting in substantial cost savings and improved user experience without additional tools or upgrades.
The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.
Implementing CloudGuard has resulted in an excellent return on investment over one hundred percent ROI.
The unified policy is comprehensive and helps me to create firewall policies that are shared across all our facilities and plants.
Without Steelhead, we would have spent much more on bandwidth costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is praised for reliable service but has some inconsistencies in regional and first-level support.
Sentiment score
6.4
Steelhead's customer service and technical support are efficient, knowledgeable, and responsive, though complex issues may face slower resolution.
They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.
We had an endless loop of emails trying to fix this, and the suggestion was to reinstall the gateway and do it from scratch, which was not an option at that point because it would leave that specific location without access.
Available twenty-four by seven.
Steelhead's support is generally good for typical issues yet can be time-consuming during complex problem-solving across teams, particularly for Active Directory integration.
Riverbed's customer service and technical support would be rated an eight.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Check Point CloudGuard is scalable and adaptable, valued for cloud flexibility but faces some licensing and architecture limitations.
Sentiment score
8.4
Steelhead efficiently scales for SMBs and enterprises, managing up to 20,000 users with effective traffic handling and deployment support.
I can deploy it everywhere I need it.
We have transitioned from 1,000 to 500 users without any issue.
We perform minor and major upgrades, and it works seamlessly.
It allows us to maximize use from our MPLS providers by handling traffic efficiently across phased deployments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is stable and reliable, with high performance and issues addressed through updates and maintenance.
Sentiment score
8.5
Steelhead offers stable, efficient network operations with minimal downtime, robust performance, and reliable support, ensuring continuous traffic flow.
I have not observed any downtime.
For instance, when we are working on a release and do an upgrade, we start experiencing unexpected issues.
The solution is stable.
It's quite stable and provides all necessary alerts if something is wrong.
Steelhead helps significantly with large data transfers.
 

Room For Improvement

Check Point CloudGuard needs improvements in usability, support, integration, automation, and cloud compatibility for enhanced user experience and cost-effectiveness.
Steelhead needs improved traffic handling, encryption optimization, enhanced response times, better integration, and user support with fewer scaling limitations.
Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.
Better documentation would be welcome.
The user interface could be more intuitive, and the initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a technical team.
It would help if Riverbed could prevent such drastic impacts during updates.
It could still be useful in places with satellite communications, such as the south of Chile, or in the mining industry.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users have mixed views on Check Point CloudGuard's pricing, with some noting cost-effectiveness and others perceiving high expenses.
Enterprise users find Steelhead costly yet valuable for TCP optimization, with complex licensing and comparable alternatives like SolarWinds.
The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.
It is the highest in the market.
Buying the hardware initially is costly, but yearly maintenance and licenses are not as expensive.
Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country.
 

Valuable Features

Check Point CloudGuard provides scalable, comprehensive threat prevention and easy management across hybrid and public cloud environments.
Steelhead optimizes WAN with compression and caching, enhancing network efficiency and reducing costs in bandwidth-limited environments.
One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches.
Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.
Network Security provides us with unified security management across hybrid and cloud as well as on-prem.
Functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP, and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency.
Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data.
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point CloudGuard Netw...
Ranking in WAN Edge
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
154
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (8th), Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (5th), Cloud and Data Center Security (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
Steelhead
Ranking in WAN Edge
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the WAN Edge category, the mindshare of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Steelhead is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Edge Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security1.7%
Steelhead1.3%
Other97.0%
WAN Edge
 

Featured Reviews

Martin Raška - PeerSpot reviewer
Unification of security features strengthens network protection
The overall network security is good. It's big-picture, all in one bundle. It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products. Unified security management positively affects a company's security operations. They have one unified view of the security. I can connect multiple gateways to the management and have it in one place. I can have reporting and views in a single pane of glass on the consolidated platform. It's easy to use. The management is the best on the market. It's very easy to work with, read, understand, and navigate. It helps increase our customer's security posture. We can see in some cases CloudGuard improves our customers' posture overall.
Raj Metkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency & bandwidth saving, best layer 7 QoS shaping policy can be achieved with ease
There are several features specific to branches, like keeping data hot and active on Steelhead devices. These features prevent unnecessary data travel across the international MPLS. Additionally, functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP for branches and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency along with really good QoS for bandwidth shaping.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise75
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
The tool's most valuable feature is its management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is that it was good.
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
I think Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is an ideal product, so I see no improvements needed. If I had to think of one area where it could be improved or made easier, I would say that suppo...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitoring solutions were ExtraHop first, Riverbed SteelCenter second. Their negotiated c...
What do you like most about Riverbed Steelhead?
One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users.
What is your primary use case for Riverbed Steelhead?
In the past, we have sold a lot of Steelhead ( /products/steelhead-reviews ) for retail companies, insurance companies, some finance companies, and some engineering companies. Steelhead ( /products...
 

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Steelhead and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.