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Check Point SandBlast Network vs Palo Alto Networks WildFire comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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 SandBlast Network
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Check Point SandBlast Network is 5.7%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is 12.3%, up from 12.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

GaneshKhutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides advanced threat prevention and utilizes geographic-based policies to mitigate attacks
Check Point offers three types of support: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The level of support you receive should be based on the criticality of the issue, not solely on your client's support tier. While there are established support levels, I have experienced instances where the support provided was not categorized as Gold, Platinum, or Diamond but rather a standard support level. In such cases, the response times were slower, and getting support personnel on the call was more difficult.
AjayKumar17 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced cybersecurity with advanced sandboxing and effective in controlling DNS issues
Improvements are needed in the UI part. The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings. This information should be integrated with the Dashboard so that system admins can see what is happening. Furthermore, technical support needs a lot of improvement, particularly in terms of responsiveness and adhering to service level agreements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Threat Emulation gives networks the necessary protection against unknown threats in files that are attached to emails. The Threat Emulation engine picks up malware at the exploit phase before it enters the network. It quickly quarantines and runs the files in a virtual sandbox, which imitates a standard operating system, to discover malicious behavior before hackers can apply evasion techniques to bypass the sandbox."
"It looks out for new cyber ​​threats and generates predictions based on behaviors that are already detected on a daily basis."
"The forensics reports and the ability to sandbox malware are its most valuable features."
"The solution can detect and prevent attacks that may be encrypted."
"It has caught some harmful attachments and downloads."
"Check Point has enabled us to detect a lot of threats and prevented a lot of threats from entering our environments. It has kept us safe."
"One of its characteristics that we liked the most was its analysis and emulation of activities in the emails since it manages to review them and inspect them if they have an infected attachment."
"SandBlast has opened us up to a lot more opportunities where we can offer this service to clients, that way they don't have to go to a third-party to get this specific solution. It comes in the Check Point Infinity Package so it has helped us a lot."
"You have better control because you define apps. You just don't define ports. You define apps, and the apps are monitored in the traffic. It is more specific than the Cisco firewall when it comes to our needs."
"The graphic user interface of Palo Alto is good and it's easy to configure."
"It gives a more accurate assessment of a virus in terms of whether it's truly a virus, malware, or a false positive. We have some legacy software that could pop up as being something that is malware. WildFire goes through and inspects it, and then it comes back and lets us know if it's a false positive. Usually, when it finds out that it's not a virus, it lets us know that it's benign, and it can exclude it from that scan, which means I don't even have to worry about that one popping up anymore."
"The solution is scalable."
"I value the massive usage of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies."
"The most valuable features of the solution are user-friendliness, price, good security, and cloud-related options."
"Being an application-based firewall, this is one of the critical focus factors along with the threat prevention services it provides."
"The automated scanning capabilities integrated with Palo Alto's XDR are crucial for detecting and responding to potential environmental threats."
 

Cons

"The initial setup was complex because of the lack of information from the consultant."
"I am very leery right now about the stability. We've had three outages in the last month because of Check Point, not because of something that the customer has done, but because of changes on the Check Point side."
"There should be some improvement in the solution's stability and scalability."
"The cost is a little bit high-end, and you need to get precise performance metrics in order to get the correct size. Improvements are required in both areas of the tool."
"In Check Point SandBlast, improvement has to be made with respect to the GUI."
"There is a limit on the number of files that can be scanned in real-time, which could lead to us being found with our guard down on a high-traffic day."
"I would like for them to improve the visibility in the product."
"Most of the time stability is okay, but sometimes, we're not able to contact the cloud. It won't last for long. The product could be faster."
"I don't think it needs to improve anything, except maybe the speed to deploy the changes."
"The free version does not have real-time updates. It is slow."
"I think it would be nice for Palo Alto to work without the connection to the cloud. It is 100% powerful when connected to the cloud. But, if you disconnect from the cloud, you only get 40-50% power."
"I would give this product a rating of 9 out of 10 due to some slight issues of performance."
"The support is good but they could be faster."
"As a firewall and 360 degrees of security, there needs to be more maturity."
"​The VPN and decryption need improvement."
"The deployment model could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"We have seen ROI."
"The product's cost is high."
"The cost of Check Point SandBlast Network is annually, and there is only a standard license."
"We would like to try the Threat Extraction blade, but you need to buy a license. Check Point is expensive. I would like to buy things, but I would need the funding."
"The pricing is quite effective, not excessively high. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest price, I rate the pricing a nine."
"I think the overall cost for introducing Check Point with SandBlast was reasonable and competitive in the market."
"The cost is not significantly high and it can be negotiated during any purchase of NGFW."
"The physical appliance is around €3,000 or €4,000, and then, you have the licensing for a year for around €3,000."
"It's comparable to what the competition is. It is probably a little lesser than what the competition is because, as a state government, we go for whatever the lowest cost is."
"It IS a bit expensive, but I think you get what you pay for. Value is there."
"I think they should lower the price of this solution"
"Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a product with a high price."
"The pricing is highly expensive."
"We are on an annual subscription. When we purchased the firewall, we had activated this solutions license for a minimum of one year. The price of the solution is fair."
"The licensing fees are on an annual basis, and there are no costs in addition to the standard fees."
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point SandBlast Network?
The solution can detect and prevent attacks that may be encrypted.
What needs improvement with Check Point SandBlast Network?
The cost is a little bit high-end, and you need to get precise performance metrics in order to get the correct size. Improvements are required in both areas of the tool.
How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edenred, State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), Edel AG, Laurenty, Conseil Départemental du Val de Marne, Koch Media
Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point SandBlast Network vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.