Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series comparison

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.9

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong security, cost efficiency, and easy integration, saving organizations up to 30% on data costs.

Sentiment score

6.9

Check Point Quantum Force enhances security, productivity, and cost savings by integrating functions and streamlining operations for efficiency.

Sentiment score

6.2

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series improved cybersecurity, efficiency, and cost savings through enhanced visibility, automation, and reduced incident response times.

Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.

Bart Homblé

BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks

It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.

Bernard Samontanes

Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

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.

reviewer2678856

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

Incident response time has reduced significantly, and downtime due to network issues has been minimized, leading to an improved return on investment.

Durgesh K.

Ot Security Network Specialist at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

The fact that we've not had any breach toward the data center side is plenty enough.

reviewer2701569

Enterprise Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

For CN-Series, there is no competitor which works the same way as Palo Alto does.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Fortinet FortiGate support is generally effective, but some users report delays and issues with complex problem resolution and communication.

Sentiment score

5.9

Check Point Quantum Force support is knowledgeable and proactive but can be inconsistent, with occasional delays and escalation challenges.

Sentiment score

8.0

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series support is praised for vendor responsiveness and expertise, though partner support is less reliable.

They offer very accurate solutions.

Taimoor Khan

Network Operations Engineer at Inara Technologies

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.

Alexandre Menezes

IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The support team we engaged was knowledgeable and well-versed with the application.

Thomas Gadson

Sr. Cyber Security and Solutions Architect at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

We have escalated issues to Check Point technical support multiple times and have received timely and very good responses.

Asif Ash-Hal

Solution Architect at Techbridge Distribution

Even challenging issues like those with VPNs have been resolved efficiently with their help.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Solutions Architect at NTT DATA

I would rate tech support from Palo Alto Networks at around eight out of ten points because we had dedicated people assigned to us.

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

We get Gold support from them, and they are pretty good.

reviewer2224035

Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees

I would rate the technical support for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series from Palo Alto as nine out of ten points.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Fortinet FortiGate efficiently scales for SMEs, though hardware upgrades can be challenging, with virtual deployments offering flexibility.

Sentiment score

7.8

Check Point Quantum Force provides scalable solutions with ElasticXL, easing workload management, but requires proper upfront sizing for growth.

Sentiment score

7.8

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers scalable, flexible solutions for organizations, excelling in network expansion and handling diverse environments.

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.

Ian Manton

IT Manager at Daltons Limited

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.

reviewer2667480

Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

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.

FatmaSamy

General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

If specified correctly, even the smaller boxes offer high session and bandwidth rates, making the solution highly scalable, even up to telco-level requirements.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Solutions Architect at NTT DATA

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.

reviewer2751468

Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Scalability must be carefully planned for, considering future growth and user base increases.

Manikandan Kannan

Head of Technology at Techfruits

Vertical scaling allows you to purchase more powerful devices with additional RAM, compute, and larger model form factors.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its dependable stability, minimal downtime, and robust performance, especially with regular firmware updates.

Sentiment score

8.0

Check Point Quantum Force is praised for its stability and reliability, with excellent support despite minor update issues.

Sentiment score

7.8

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is praised for exceptional stability and dependability, with minor configuration and maintenance issues reported.

We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.

Ricardo Biggs

Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees

I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

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.

Juan Frias

CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

While the solution is generally stable, there are complications, such as requiring SmartConsole for deployment and upgrades, which can be time-consuming.

Manikandan Kannan

Head of Technology at Techfruits

I have worked with Check Point products for 15 years and haven't found any stability or performance issues.

Asif Ash-Hal

Solution Architect at Techbridge Distribution

The use of Check Point firewalls has helped improve our security posture without any downtime.

Durgesh K.

Ot Security Network Specialist at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Palo Alto typically doesn't have many glitches.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Room For Improvement

Users seek improvements in FortiGate's performance, web interface, reporting, documentation, licensing, and training resources.

Check Point Quantum Force struggles with stability, complexity, and cost, impacting user experience, VPN capabilities, and technical support.

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series needs better pricing, integration, usability, and AI to address user demands for support and scalability.

Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.

Jose Gisbert

Manager Network (IT/OT) at a consumer goods company with 5,001-10,000 employees

While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.

MOHAN SUKUMAR

Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)

When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.

Taha Turkestani

Senior IT specialist at SAUDIA ALIRLINES

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

AI-driven features would be highly valuable—particularly those that enable bulk operations and efficient handling of large numbers of objects or object groups.

Mayur Wadekar

Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited

Other products, like FortiGate, are perceived as more intuitive because they are easier to configure from the start.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Solutions Architect at NTT DATA

More granularity and control for threat prevention, especially on the OT side, would be beneficial.

Durgesh K.

Ot Security Network Specialist at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

Enhancing web traffic protection would be a great upgrade.

Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series because it's too complex, which requires L2 and above level of engineers.

Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

With AI, if there is a Precision AI bundle that you're planning on exploring, then that definitely needs a significant uplift because currently it doesn't work for all the known models.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust features at a competitive price but can be costly, especially with licenses; long-term pricing negotiation advised.

Check Point Quantum Force pricing is competitive, though complex licensing and additional features can increase costs.

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is expensive, suitable for large enterprises, with straightforward licensing but requires frequent price negotiations.

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.

AiméKouchade

Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios

It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.

NilsPaley

IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1

It is about 20% cheaper.

MithatBulut

Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

In comparison to Fortinet and other products, the pricing may be considered high.

Manikandan Kannan

Head of Technology at Techfruits

Compared to other solutions, the pricing of Check Point NGFW is high.

Asif Ash-Hal

Solution Architect at Techbridge Distribution

The perception is that Check Point NGFW is expensive, especially when all software modules are included.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Solutions Architect at NTT DATA

It's a little bit expensive.

Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust security, seamless integration, user-friendly interface, and cost-effective advanced threat management for diverse network environments.

Check Point Quantum Force offers robust security features like IPsec VPN, threat prevention, and centralized management for enhanced network visibility.

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series provides advanced, scalable security with AI-driven features, strong threat prevention, and user-friendly management.

In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.

MOHAN SUKUMAR

Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)

FortiGate has helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that might disrupt our client's production.

Taimoor Khan

Network Operations Engineer at Inara Technologies

These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.

Syed Ali Waqas

Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

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.

SUNNY-KUMAR

Technical engineer (SOC Analyst) at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) report

Solutions Architect at NTT DATA

Since implementing it, we have noticed a lot less getting through that maybe other antivirus within firewalls had failed to catch.

Devon Bingham

Network Administrator at POET, LLC

Overall, the K2-Series helps in much more protection, and dashboard compliances are being met.

Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

We had configured dynamic user groups and App-ID based policies, which makes it all Zero Trust.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series report

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Mainly, it is very easy to understand, and the logs are very good.

reviewer2224035

Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.9%, up from 19.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) is 2.7%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	19.9%
Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW)	2.7%
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series	0.1%
Other	77.3%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

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.

Read full review

Devraj Kc

Network Security Engineer at Max international

Has improved threat prevention and enabled seamless plug-and-play expansion with active-active gateways

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) provides numerous features such as threat emulations, anti-bots, and the most outstanding feature is ElasticXL. Since R82, the ElasticXL feature in Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) has seen significant improvement, allowing use of more than two gateways in an active-active state. If you need to upgrade any device, you can add the same device with plug-and-play capability. Using Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW), we rarely get any threats in its Gaia OS, and compared to its competitors, we need to upgrade them. In the past five years, it has had the least CVE and is one of the most stable products I've ever seen. Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) can handle growth or changes in my organization's needs. With its ElasticXL feature, I do not need to buy two different firewalls. I can purchase another single firewall with its plug-and-play feature, which matches the growing potential of our organizations.

Read full review

Has provided strong traffic visibility and efficient policy management for advanced network environments

Head of Security Engineering - Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be improved, though I don't think of much. I'm unsure how widespread the adoption for K2-Series alone is. Looking at the base Palo Alto capabilities, they are going in the right direction. K2 specifically about its efficacy with all these 5G protocols, the GPRS tunneling protocol performed without many hiccups during testing. With AI, if there is a Precision AI bundle that you're planning on exploring, then that definitely needs a significant uplift because currently it doesn't work for all the known models. There are many false positives that need to be addressed. While it's still ahead of its competitors, on the AI security side, there is quite a room for improvement.

Read full review

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872,922 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Performing Arts

24%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	148
Midsize Enterprise	94
Large Enterprise	199

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

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When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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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...

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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...

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable and there are no complaints about the licensing.

What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto N...

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

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Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW)

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 52% of the time

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW)

Download Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) product report

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

October 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Also Known As

No data available

Check Point NG Firewall, Check Point Next Generation Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Check Point Quantum Force NGFW provides centralized management with scalable security for network perimeters. As a reliable firewall, it ensures advanced threat prevention and offers seamless integration, making it suitable for various network environments.

Offering comprehensive security, Check Point Quantum Force NGFW helps control ingress and egress traffic, secures data center firewalls, and integrates seamlessly with cloud and on-premises setups. Users appreciate its application control, deep packet inspection, and identity awareness features for enhanced protection against cyber threats. Despite pricing issues and interface complexity, its IPsec VPN and robust logging provide valuable insights into network activities.

What are the key features of Check Point Quantum Force NGFW?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administrative tasks across different environments.
Advanced Threat Prevention: Shields against evolving cyber threats with real-time protection.
Deep Packet Inspection: Analyzes traffic to prevent intrusions without impacting performance.
Application Control: Manages access to applications, enhancing security policies.
IPsec VPN: Secures remote connections with encrypted tunnels.

What benefits should users consider for Check Point Quantum Force NGFW?

Scalability: Adapts to the changing needs of organizations of different sizes.
Integration Capabilities: Works alongside existing systems for a comprehensive defense strategy.
Logging and Reporting: Offers detailed insights into network activity and threats.
User-Friendly Interface: Streamlines management with intuitive controls despite initial complexity.

Check Point Quantum Force NGFW is deployed across industries for securing network boundaries, supporting critical data center operations, and enabling secure VPN connections. In finance, it helps meet stringent compliance standards, while in healthcare, it's crucial for protecting sensitive patient data through robust security protocols.

Check Point Software Technologies

Designed to handle growing throughput needs due to increasing amounts of application-, user-, and device-generated data, the K2-Series offers amazing performance and threat prevention capabilities to stop advanced cyberattacks and secure mobile network infrastructure, subscribers, and services.

Palo Alto Networks

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

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series