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Check Point IPS vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Check Point IPS is 5.7%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.5%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Greg Tate - PeerSpot reviewer
Great for detection and access with the capabilities of defining specific rules
Support is the biggest area for improvement. Check Point is responsive, however, their support agents seem to be very siloed in their ability and/or product knowledge. It takes time and escalation to get through most tickets as they are passed from one group to another and then back again. We are able to navigate our support issues with the aid of our account team, so I want to underscore that support is indeed responsive. However, the processes support techs have to follow seem to be the root cause of the support response issues.
Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like best about Check Point IPS is that it can prevent attacks. I also like that it has a log feature."
"Check Point helps reduce downtime and costs associated with detected cyberattacks and can block those threats to ensure protection from any significant damage that may be caused within the organization."
"Check Point IPS is very easy to configure. It's part of Check Point's blade architecture, where firewall, VPN, and IPS configurations are identical, making the learning curve minimal. The feature can be enabled with a straightforward process, allowing default or customized configurations."
"It is also worth noting that many IPS signature comes with detailed background about the vulnerability, and potentially how the vulnerability would affect the network security."
"Its event analysis and centralization features are very important for any organization."
"Overall, it give me a lot of insight into my network that I didn't have before."
"The number of the IPS protections is amazing - after the latest update I see more than 11000 in the SmartConsole."
"The autonomous threat prevention is very easy to use. The APIs and SmartConsole tool also work well."
"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"The whole solution is very good, and stable."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"Cisco technical support is unbeatable. It offers a premium service every time."
"The solution can be integrated with some network electors like Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco ISE, and Active Directory to provide the client with authentication certificates."
"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."
 

Cons

"I am not aware of a preview channel or some repository to have a preview on upcoming signatures, however, this would be nice to have."
"The solution needs enhanced reporting. The reporting on Cisco Stealthwatch and Darktrace is much bigger. The visibility that they grant for the filtering capabilities over large infrastructures are far superior."
"There is an issue with precision."
"Support is the biggest area for improvement."
"The tool's pricing could be better."
"The price has room for improvement."
"The firmware upgrade process is quite cumbersome."
"There are a lot of false positives. I would like to see integration with some kind of network detection and response in order to make some automation on IPS configuration."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"The implementation could be a bit easier."
"To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have."
"I did not experience any pain points that required improvement. Maybe a couple of false-positives, but that's about it."
"We are unhappy with technical support for this solution, and it is not as professional as what we typically expect from Cisco."
"Performance needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think that the price of support is around $40,000 USD or $50,000 USD per year."
"My company pays for the yearly licensing of Check Point IPS. It is a very expensive tool."
"The pricing for Check Point IPS is competitive and brings good value for the money."
"You can pay for Check Point IPS yearly, or you can go with a three-year license. There's no extra cost apart from the standard licensing fee."
"I give the price of the solution a five out of ten."
"Pricing for this solution is negotiable and I'm happy with our pricing."
"Enabling IPS does not require any additional license purchase from OEM, as it comes by default with the NGFW bundle."
"The pricing model can be more competitive."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"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."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point IPS?
The most valuable feature of the solution is called tunneling. Tunneling is one of the major security features that hackers cannot penetrate through.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point IPS?
Comparisons with Fortinet show that Check Point IPS is relatively more expensive, but we found it cheaper to retain it rather than switch.
What needs improvement with Check Point IPS?
Currently, the solution is good for my needs, so I don't have any particular improvements to recommend. However, a reduction in price would always be welcome.
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?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
 

Also Known As

Check Point Intrusion Prevention System
Sourcefire SNORT
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Morton Salt, Medical Advocacy and Outreach, BH Telecom, Lightbeam Health Solutions, X by Orange, Cadence, Nihondentsu, Datastream Connexion, Good Sam, Omnyway, FIASA, Pacific Life, Banco del Pacifico, Control Southern, Xero, Centrify
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 Check Point IPS vs. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,451 professionals have used our research since 2012.