No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco IOS Security vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco IOS Security
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (41st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (16th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (14th)
 

Featured Reviews

Danijel Cerovecki - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Cyber Defense Department and Network Technologies Department at Verso Altima
Have faced challenges in keeping licensing clear and consistent while ensuring reliable network protection
We are a Gold Partner with Cisco. Our customers come from various industries, including service providers, and we target service providers and enterprise customers.We do not extensively use Zone-Based Firewalls in Cisco IOS Security, instead typically deploying standalone firewalls such as Cisco FTDs or Cisco ASA devices. For threat analytics and vulnerability scanning, we utilize third-party vendors with dedicated devices and software. We use products such as Tenable from Nessus for this type of analysis. We have implemented Secure Access Control Server in Cisco IOS Security, which combines multiple security mechanisms including AAA, 802.1X for network access control with Cisco ICE, TrustSec for identity-based segmentation, and Cisco DNA Center. Cisco IOS Security's VPN support is comprehensive and increasingly important in daily communication, from basic site-to-site tunnels to remote access VPNs and SD-WAN secure VPNs. Protecting and encrypting communication is essential in modern networks. The challenges with Cisco IOS Security are more operational than product-related. There is an understaffing issue, making automation and orchestration capabilities particularly valuable. For the products themselves, we only encounter routine operational matters such as addressing new vulnerabilities and patching. For those considering Cisco IOS Security, it is important to understand that Cisco offers a complete ecosystem. When embracing the Cisco ecosystem fully, customers receive excellent products and comprehensive solutions. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Cisco IOS Security a 9.
Zsolt Jónás - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at NaxoNet
Advanced GUI and layered security have supported compliance and simplified intrusion prevention
I haven't had a task that I couldn't solve with Stormshield Network Security. The active-active high availability solution would be beneficial because currently, if you build a high availability solution with Stormshield Network Security, you have a main device and another one is a backup device. The HA can switch between them, but it would be good to have a master-master solution, not just a master-slave one. I could set a URL that I can call to update the DNS record. Currently, Stormshield Network Security devices support DynDNS, which is not a usual feature request from a server environment. I have my own solution instead of DynDNS because I don't prefer it, so I have my own service for that. However, the GUI does not support using a custom service instead of DynDNS. I had to solve it in the console on Stormshield Network Security device, but it would be much better if it was reachable on the GUI. I had to figure out a trick for the IPsec configuration. In the IPsec config, we have to provide the remote side's IP address, but it's always changing. This means that an office, for example a company that has an office but without a fixed IP address, cannot be used with IPsec VPN.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support for this solution is very good."
"Cisco IOS Security gives us a level of trust at the edge as far as being the first line of defense for anything that's trying to get into our network."
"We are using Cisco IOS Security for endpoint security, for example, spyware, firewall, database and application protection."
"Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward."
"Previously, anyone in the organization would see any data point in the wall. They could just go and connect their machine with that data point and could access the network. But now, even if someone came and tried that, they will not be given access."
"Cisco has always been a premium product. There's a lot of other entry-level solutions. This is more robust."
"Cisco IOS Security is pretty reliable, and it also has really good documentation."
"The security is very good."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"The features I find most valuable is the backup inspection, the filtering, and the load balancing, and I am also impressed by the antivirus feature that gives us two controls over the viruses - one is from the parameter and one on the endpoint."
"A very robust product."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"I feel we have more options with the Stormshield firewall and new features that we haven't previously had."
"This product has improved the way our organization functions."
"Stormshield is pretty robust, compared to other products like Fortinet, as you get more security with Stormshield and spend less money."
"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."
 

Cons

"Cisco IOS Security should improve its functionalities."
"Currently, integration with UTM is missing. Cisco IOS Security also doesn't have the load balancers and a few things that need to be done to get a good UTM firewall."
"Most of their features are meant for Cisco. You cannot integrate them with any other vendor."
"With Cisco IOS, especially the routers, don't have like long-term tendency features, or high availability features available for the IOS. Also, it could use a better user interface."
"Cisco is a scalable product, but it is expensive compared to other vendors."
"An area for improvement in Cisco IOS Security is the performance because it's not as stable sometimes."
"The graphical user interface or the GUI could be better. Beginners can use some devices with the GUI, but some security devices are configured using CLI. It would also be better if it had its own Intrusion Protection Service and Intrusion Detection Service on the server."
"We faced significant challenges related to licensing issues, particularly when licenses expire."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"The stability is not that good based on my experience. We have a lot of disruptions when it comes to Stormshield."
"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."
"An application firewall like other next generation firewalls have."
"Support is always an issue because they're constantly busy."
"One thing, though, is that not all the fields are activated yet and we were informed that it will take at least one month."
"Improvement is also needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer, they're not very responsive when it comes to technical support."
"The pricing of this solution needs to be decreased."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is expensive."
"The pricing is very expensive. Normally I do a yearly contract; I don't know the exact pricing, but it's around $75,000 USD per year. That's the standard licensing."
"The licensing is on a subscription basis, and it is fairly costly. I would prefer a one-time payment."
"You can get a better price if you commit to a longer-term license. Three years, five years, or even seven or ten years will be cheaper than a three-month or one-year term."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Price is certainly something that the IOS technology has fallen behind the competition on."
"The licenses for this solution are expensive."
"The solution's pricing is very good."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"The pricing could be better."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"I think the price is good."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
19%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS Security?
The cost of Cisco IOS Security for customers is on the higher end of pricing compared to the competition, depending on the targeted customers.This can be a major issue as enterprise customers are o...
What needs improvement with Cisco IOS Security?
Regarding improvements in Cisco IOS Security, what consistently confuses me is the inability of Cisco to maintain a clear licensing policy.This is an issue that I have observed for years now. Cisco...
What is your primary use case for Cisco IOS Security?
The main use cases for Cisco IOS Security include elementary device hardening, access control, control-plane policing, AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting), network security, Layer 2...
What needs improvement with Stormshield Network Security?
I haven't had a task that I couldn't solve with Stormshield Network Security. The active-active high availability solution would be beneficial because currently, if you build a high availability so...
What is your primary use case for Stormshield Network Security?
I already use Stormshield Network Security, and I am now looking for a new solution. I am already working with Stormshield Network Security, and the official reseller of Stormshield.
What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?
The pricing is increasing, and I would say it is a bit expensive. Palo Alto and others are much more expensive, but Stormshield Network Security is also not inexpensive. My overall review rating fo...
 

Also Known As

IOS Security
NETASQ Firewalls
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arup Group, Brunel University London, City of Biel, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates , New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Offshore Northern Seas, Transplace
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Cisco and others in Firewalls. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.