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Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
592
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Check Point Harmony SASE (f...
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (7th), Anti-Malware Tools (8th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (6th), ZTNA as a Service (6th), ZTNA (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (6th)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
38th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (10th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate15.1%
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81)1.0%
Hillstone E-Series0.7%
Other83.2%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

JK
IP Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana
Process-Level CPU Visibility: Introduce detailed CPU-usage metrics per subsystem (e.g., IPS engine, logging) so administrators can quickly identify and address performance spikes.
Analytics with FortiAnalyzer. Being able to pull in logs not just from our FortiGates but from all our other firewalls and then get them in one view has been a game changer. Whether I’m building an executive dashboard or doing a deep dive forensics session, I get everything I need without navigating consoles.Straightforward Application Control. FortiGate spots and blocks unwanted apps (eq. like BitTorrent or streaming services) with accuracy. Segmentation with VDOMs. We’ve carved our data center into four logical ‘mini-firewalls’ enterprise, core, billing, and WAF—all on one box. Each has its own rules and logs, and any traffic between them still gets inspected. It’s like having multiple appliances without the extra hardware. Always-Up-to-Date Threat Feeds. Daily signature updates and AI-driven threat sensing mean we’re blocking the latest vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re announced.
Nasseer Qureshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Delivers seamless and secure remote access while enhancing security posture
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) offers strong features, but there are areas that could be improved. One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers. It works with standard SAML and SSO, but we would prefer deeper integrations with solutions such as Ping for more advanced identity-based policies. Additionally, a mobile-specific client or lightweight agent would be helpful for securing access from smartphones, especially in BYOD environments. We would appreciate more granular reporting and analytics, including better drill-down capabilities to investigate specific users or app activity. The logs are comprehensive, but filtering them can sometimes feel messy. The user interface on the management portal could be more intuitive, especially when managing multiple sites or remote offices. Some of the policy configuration steps are nested and could be streamlined.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution protects the environment from internal and external threats."
"Fortinet FortiGate saves a lot of time in expert hours from an expert engineer because the administration of the Fortinet FortiGate solution is easy, which may lead to fewer hours of an engineer spent on Fortinet FortiGate."
"FortiGate also makes GRE tunneling possible."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."
"This is an easy solution to deploy."
"Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network."
"User identification and application identification are valuable features."
"The FortiGate controls the user's activities and maximizes my bandwidth use overall."
"The solution provides high performance along with ATP prevention, policy management, remote activity, and IoT support."
"Perimeter 81 provides a very secure and non-disruptive experience."
"One of the most valuable features found using Harmony is being able to monitor in a simple and orderly way."
"Harmony Connect is very stable and its performance is good in the production environment."
"It has centralized management that allows administrators to supervise and control the security of the entire network."
"We use some VPN solutions, and Perimeter 81 has the best user experience for desktop or mobile."
"The characteristics that I have liked the most are the ease of implementation and administration."
"The solution provides us with an easy way to configure and join the VPN with Perimeter 81."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"Five out of five ROI."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"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 solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
 

Cons

"To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"I have contacted the support from Fortinet FortiGate IPS. The service was good but the speed could be better."
"The people we are working with are not able to configure MFA. They are having some technical issues. Fortinet needs to ensure that its partners are well-trained."
"The pricing of the solution is expensive, so it could be cheaper."
"Their support can be better, and there should be better policies for immediate replacement in critical situations."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"In mobile devices, there is also sometimes a bit of tear when it is via LTE, however, that must be due to connectivity."
"One of our challenges is ensuring the security of our cloud-based operations."
"More report and alert options would be useful. The reports are not capable of giving important information from some parts of the system - like inventory details, etc."
"When it comes to Check Point Quantum SASE, though the OEM provides security, it is not 100 percent full-fledged to meet the requirements from the customers' end."
"Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) could be improved as there's complexity during initial configuration, and there's a learning curve."
"The product needs to work on the integration of alerts with different SIEM or security solutions."
"If Harmony SASE supported bidirectional traffic and the UDP protocol, it would be better."
"I have found that the log-in/out process takes quite some time."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform offers a reasonable price point compared to its competitors."
"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."
"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive. Overall, I find it to be competitive in the market."
"It is an expensive solution."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. The additional cost depends on the extra feature requirements."
"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."
"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."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."
"Regarding pricing, I can say that the more the number of users, the less they have to pay."
"Annual licenses cost $30 to $40 each."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"The product is neither cheap nor expensive."
"The cost of the solution's licenses depends on the particular use cases."
"Perimeter 81 charges separately for gateways and VPN connectivity, but compared to Azure, it seemed more reasonable."
"I consider the product to be a medium-priced solution. There are no additional costs attached to the tool."
"Overall I am very happy with the solution’s flexibility and pricing."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"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 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
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business369
Midsize Enterprise139
Large Enterprise195
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

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 Harmony Connect?
I am not aware of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I would say the setup cost is our resource, and we have...
What needs improvement with Harmony Connect?
When I'm raising a ticket for Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81), it's a bit technical for non-technica...
What is your primary use case for Harmony Connect?
I have experience with this product as a user. Currently, the Check Point product that I worked with mostly was the F...
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...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Check Point Quantum SASE
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Aqua Security, Cognito, Multipoint, Kustomer, Postman, Meredith
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.