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Check Point Security Management vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 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 Security Manage...
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
70
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (11th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (6th)
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
17th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
3.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Check Point Security Management is 0.5%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 2.4%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Check Point Security Management0.5%
syslog-ng2.4%
Other97.1%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2751156 - PeerSpot reviewer
Years of using the solution significantly improve log management and troubleshooting efficiency
Check Point Security Management has positively impacted my organization because, after migrating from our previous firewall, a Cisco ASA, we were able to see what traffic was passing through the firewall and from that, build out least access privilege firewall rules. So only what's actually needed by the organization is being let through. The rest is being dropped. The measurable outcomes with Check Point Security Management show that the troubleshooting is definitely quicker. Now it just takes a few minutes to find out where the error is and resolve it. Before, it was at least an hour or two of troubleshooting to locate the issue.
RyanVargas - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly open-source solution that can replace or augment a commercial product in some cases
I rate syslog-ng 10 out of 10. It's free and easy to use. It has built-in tools that help us index the various logs sent to it. It's a solid log product. If you're looking for a SIEM solution, syslog-ng will work as a stopgap measure at beginning of the project. It can also work as an injector for a true SIEM solution. You can send all the logs to syslog-ng and forward all the data to the SIEM solution after you've cleaned up the data and got the pertinent information. It's a good front end for a commercial SIEM solution, which becomes more expensive as you load more data into it. I would highly recommend syslog-ng for that use case. However, if you lack the expertise, you might need to go with a cloud-based SIEM instead. You need some in-house expertise or an outside consultant to manage it and set it up.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find very useful the central view offered by Check Point Security Management, as you're able to have all your gateways and policy and different policy packages."
"The best feature Check Point Security Management offers is the GUI, which shows everything in different categories such as mobile phones, connected devices, laptops, and desktops, making it easy to understand what is connected to what."
"HA Structure provides good coverage and works fine."
"Check Point Security Management has helped my team save time, improve security, and reduce manual work significantly."
"The firewall's blades are the solution's most valuable feature."
"Check Point Security Management has a great feature that allows you to automate the request of the automated server."
"The control is granular, so you can set policy profiles for different organizational profiles."
"The most valuable feature for me is Identity Awareness."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
"We chose syslog-ng because it is easy to install, easy to maintain, easy to update, and due to the fact that all data arrive in raw format, we can manipulate it as we want."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
 

Cons

"Check Point Security Management lacks some of the competitor features."
"The upgrade procedure already made huge improvements, yet it remains more challenging compared to other products."
"They need to change the support resolution time."
"As per personal experience and based on many organizations, Check Point needs to improve PS services."
"At least once a day, the application crashes with some random error message. Then you have to close it out and open it up again."
"They need to make a Mac version of the SmartConsole, in my opinion."
"Sometimes the security system slows down when it is overloaded."
"I would like for users to have more control over the platform in the next release. Right now, the system is very central and general requiring new rules to be created that better-suite our requirements."
"In syslog-ng, I think a GUI would be beneficial. I am unsure if the premium module has a GUI to administer it."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing can be estimated around 3 or 4 out of 10 in terms of expense."
"The solution is expensive and there is an annual license."
"If one will be very expensive, and ten means low price, I rate the tool's price as a three out of ten."
"Check Point is much cheaper than the competition ($4/server as compared to $17/server)."
"Do the homework because Check Point is rather expensive."
"Price-wise, it is an expensive solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"This product can be used for 25 security gateways on a basic license."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point Security Management?
The most beneficial features for us are the alert classifications, which help us prioritize critical issues, and the detailed reports that provide insights into attack origins and purposes, such as...
What needs improvement with Check Point Security Management?
Performance with logs needs improvement as Check Point Security Management has large-scale environments that need dedicated log servers. If you store logs on the central management server or Check ...
What is your primary use case for Check Point Security Management?
We need central management for our policy, monitoring, and different day-to-day administrative tasks, so Check Point Security Management fits all the requirements for our needs. As we know, Check P...
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
We currently do not use that feature. We currently have just an open-source release, not a premium release. My boss has indicated that he wants to buy a premium syslog-ng version next month. I thin...
What is your primary use case for syslog-ng?
In Italy, we have to be compliant with the Garante for privacy. We have to log every login, logout, or login failure made by a system administrator. We store all syslog data of the infrastructure. ...
What advice do you have for others considering syslog-ng?
When it comes to parsing, I can parse both structured and unstructured data, though our data are only structured. Currently, we collect all data we receive as raw data. Each file is stored for each...
 

Also Known As

R80.10, R80, R77.30, R77, Check Point R80.10 Security Management, R80 Security Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hedgetec, Geiger
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Security Management vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.