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Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Cisco Secure Firewall vs Juniper SRX Series Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
5.6
Fortinet FortiGate offers affordability and functionality, leading to cost savings, reduced downtime, and enhanced security for organizations.
Sentiment score
7.4
Check Point Quantum Force NGFW boosts return on investment through enhanced security, operational efficiency, and reduced costs and workloads.
Sentiment score
7.2
Cisco Secure Firewall offers improved security and efficiency, but cost and ROI vary based on deployment and usage.
Sentiment score
7.6
Juniper SRX Firewall reduces operating costs by 25% over three years with strong security and AI support, enhancing ROI.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
This is a time-saving measure because we don't need to deploy a cluster or a firewall each time; we just create a virtual system on the management server using the same appliance.
Incident response time has reduced significantly, and downtime due to network issues has been minimized, leading to an improved return on investment.
The fact that we've not had any breach toward the data center side is plenty enough.
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is that there's no waste in any infrastructure cost and licensing costs for us.
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is the single pane of glass, which is a huge plus for us.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Secure Firewall is reliability and robust network design.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiGate customer service is responsive but inconsistent, with praise for knowledge and critique of efficiency and response times.
Sentiment score
6.5
Check Point Quantum Force support receives mixed reviews; prioritized contracts improve experiences, but inconsistencies and delays affect overall satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Secure Firewall support is highly rated for knowledgeable assistance, though response times and access vary based on contracts.
Sentiment score
7.3
Juniper SRX Series Firewall's support is praised for knowledgeable teams and effective service, though some report occasional delays.
They offer very accurate solutions.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
The support team we engaged was knowledgeable and well-versed with the application.
We have escalated issues to Check Point technical support multiple times and have received timely and very good responses.
Even challenging issues like those with VPNs have been resolved efficiently with their help.
I have to provide many logs, yet problems remain unresolved, often requiring workarounds rather than solutions.
I have been working with them on firewalls, wireless, switching, and routing, and the support is the best.
They have expertise and provide solutions for the most difficult problems.
Technical support is very good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiGate scales well when correctly sized, though design flaws and licensing issues can cause problems.
Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point Quantum Force ensures scalable growth through hardware upgrades and cloud integration, accommodating large enterprises without performance loss.
Sentiment score
7.2
Cisco Secure Firewall offers scalability and integration, though licensing complexity and scalability challenges in growth may concern some users.
Sentiment score
7.5
The Juniper SRX Series Firewall is lauded for its scalability, adaptable to varying enterprise sizes despite some limitations.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
If specified correctly, even the smaller boxes offer high session and bandwidth rates, making the solution highly scalable, even up to telco-level requirements.
It is easy to scale up by adding capacity through clustering or upgrading the license, and it effectively handles spikes in remote user connections or increased east-west traffic without noticeable bottlenecks.
Scalability must be carefully planned for, considering future growth and user base increases.
Scalability presents a challenge.
Compared to FortiGate and Palo Alto, it lags in configuration and other aspects.
Even with the highest one, the 4600, we still face issues, particularly when transitioning between screens; it becomes very slow.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for stability and reliability, with minor bugs, quickly addressed by regular firmware updates.
Sentiment score
7.8
Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) is stable with strong security, though some face bugs; HA setups are suggested.
Sentiment score
7.2
Cisco Secure Firewall is highly reliable with minimal outages, though occasional upgrade issues are typically fixed with updates.
Sentiment score
8.3
The Juniper SRX Series Firewall is considered highly reliable, with users experiencing minimal issues and high satisfaction ratings.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
While the solution is generally stable, there are complications, such as requiring SmartConsole for deployment and upgrades, which can be time-consuming.
I have worked with Check Point products for 15 years and haven't found any stability or performance issues.
The use of Check Point firewalls has helped improve our security posture without any downtime.
We have often encountered split-brain scenarios during failover processes and code upgrades, which have been persistent problems for us.
We work with a cluster with high availability, so if something goes wrong, we have it functioning.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional performance and stability.
The solution has absolutely high stability.
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs simplified interface, expanded features, better stability, improved support, and competitive pricing for enhanced user experience.
Check Point Quantum Force users cite stability, compatibility, user interface, support quality, costs, and training challenges as improvement areas.
Cisco Secure Firewall faces criticism for its complex GUI, high costs, and demands better features, integration, and performance improvements.
The Juniper SRX Series Firewall suffers from complexity, poor support, integration issues, limited features, and lacks innovation and scalability.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
The constant daily revisions necessitate meticulous identification of the relevant documents to prevent the use of outdated information that could jeopardize our environment.
While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.
Other products, like FortiGate, are perceived as more intuitive because they are easier to configure from the start.
More granularity and control for threat prevention, especially on the OT side, would be beneficial.
It would be beneficial for Check Point NGFW to integrate more advanced AI and machine learning algorithms for better threat detection and response.
My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time.
Firepower Management Center is quite out of date compared to other vendors.
The integration between Cisco products themselves presents difficulties, such as SD-WAN configuration.
With a better user interface and graphical interface, the Juniper SRX Series Firewall could be a superior solution compared to what it is now.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers competitive pricing with clear licensing, value bundles, and cost-effective performance features for enterprise buyers.
Enterprise buyers view Check Point Quantum Force as expensive but justified by its robust security features and negotiable costs.
Cisco Secure Firewall is costly but offers robust support and reliability; licensing complexity can be mitigated by smart licensing.
Juniper SRX Firewalls offer competitive pricing, excellent value, and affordable enterprise solutions despite potential support and advanced feature costs.
FortiGate is priced lower than Palo Alto.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
It is about 20% cheaper.
In comparison to Fortinet and other products, the pricing may be considered high.
Compared to other solutions, the pricing of Check Point NGFW is high.
The perception is that Check Point NGFW is expensive, especially when all software modules are included.
It's good to have them, however, it costs us a lot.
It's considered a premium, but people pay that price for Cisco.
There are a lot of in-place contracts for us that provide the benefit of discounts.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate is favored for its security, VPN, ease of use, SD-WAN, advanced protection, and affordability.
Check Point Quantum Force offers robust security features and ease of use, enhancing organizational safety through advanced threat prevention and management.
Cisco Secure Firewall provides robust security, scalability, and central management, with intuitive tools for efficient threat protection and network monitoring.
Juniper SRX Firewall combines powerful routing, robust security, and scalability, offering excellent performance and enterprise network compatibility.
In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.
FortiGate has helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that might disrupt our client's production.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
The firewall's default behavior of blocking all traffic, including a cleanup rule that blocks everything from external to internal sources, is highly valuable for protecting our network.
The most valuable features in my experience include perimeter firewalling, cloud and mobile security, application control, URL filtering, DLP, threat prevention, intrusion protection, and safeguarding against malware, botnets, and zero-day attacks.
Since implementing it, we have noticed a lot less getting through that maybe other antivirus within firewalls had failed to catch.
What stands out positively about Cisco is their training and support, which has effectively prepared engineers to work with their products.
This is very important to my organization, as we work extensively with security because we are a bank, so we can keep the data safe.
Cisco Secure Firewall allows me to safeguard Layer 7 or Layer 3 and manage the security rules with the business needs of my organization.
The routing, Layer 2, 3, 4 solutions in the network layers are valuable features.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) is 3.0%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 6.1%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper SRX Series Firewall is 1.6%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate20.8%
Check Point NGFW3.0%
Cisco Secure Firewall6.1%
Juniper SRX Series Firewall1.6%
Other68.5%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
Hailemichael Yigrem - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced security features enhance threat detection and prevention
Check Point NGFW provides granular application control and detailed visibility over application and user activity. It integrates with the ThreatCloud ecosystem, enabling real-time threat detection and prevention. The User Identity Awareness blade integrates with Active Directory, identifying user traffic sources. Check Point NGFW is highly scalable and has centralized management through SmartConsole, which manages policies, logs, and threat data. It reduced our incidents and decreased the time to analyze cyber threats by 70 percent.
Phil Shiflett - PeerSpot reviewer
Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention
Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.
MURALI NIDAMANURI - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly scalable, user-friendly UI, and easy to maintain
We have used Juniper SRX Series Firewall in airports and multiple other industries The most valuable features of the Juniper SRX Series Firewall are the user-friendly UI, and accessing the solution is simple. The pricing strategy of the vendor could improve. I have been using Juniper SRX Series…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business263
Midsize Enterprise101
Large Enterprise144
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business131
Midsize Enterprise97
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business179
Midsize Enterprise126
Large Enterprise211
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise31
 

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 ...
How does Check Point NGFW compare with Fortinet Fortigate?
I have experience on both from Disti and channel experience. Please find below my comments (nothing new as such). -Ch...
Which would you recommend - Azure Firewall or Check Point NGFW?
Azure Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include integration into the overall ...
What do you like most about Check Point NGFW?
Check Point NGFW provides essential security, featuring no-obligation access for secure connections, strong intrusion...
Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...
How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?
It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...
Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...
What do you like most about Juniper SRX?
Juniper SRX Series Firewall is a stable solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper SRX?
This is difficult to answer because I never sell these devices. As a subcontractor, I only configure them. I am not a...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper SRX?
I absolutely recommend the Juniper SRX Series Firewall, but not for everyone. The Juniper graphical user interface is...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
Check Point NG Firewall, Check Point Next Generation Firewall
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall
Juniper SRX
 

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
Control Southern, Optimal Media
There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.
7-Eleven, AARNet Pty Ltd, Allegro Networks, alltours GmbH, Apollo Hotel Papendrecht, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Atlantech Online, Availity, Bajaj Capital, Baloise Insurance, BancABC, BAS Group, Black Lotus, Blue Box, Borealis, Carilion Clinic, Catholic Health System, CATV, Champlain College, Chinas Ministry of Railways, China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT), Cloud Dynamics, CloudSeeds, Cloudwatt, CODONiS, Colt Technology Services, Cork Internet Exchange, CSS Versicherung AG, CyrusOne, Danish Crown, Deloitte Belgium, Department of Energy, Divona Telecom, DQE Communications, DreamHost, European Government Agency, Expedient, Financial Market Information Services Provider, Fluidata, Fonality, Fox Sports, Global Financial Institution, Global Investment Bank, Global Investment Company, Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), Goethe University, HEAnet, High Performance Networks Inc., Hillenbrand
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: August 2025.
866,088 professionals have used our research since 2012.