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Cisco Meraki MX vs Zscaler Cloud 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
5.9
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective security with quick deployment, improving efficiency, reducing downtime, and providing a strong return on investment.
Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Meraki MX provides significant ROI through cost savings, simplified administration, and long-term value despite initial expenses.
Sentiment score
1.0
Users experienced cost reductions, improved security, enhanced performance, easier scalability, better threat protection, simplified management, and efficient resource utilization.
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.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate support is mostly praised for responsiveness and knowledge, though inconsistencies exist in complex cases or regions.
Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Meraki MX is praised for exceptional 24/7 support, with minor issues, enhancing its user-friendly and reliable service.
Sentiment score
5.0
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers responsive and knowledgeable support, though occasional escalations might cause delays, with room for improvement.
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.
When we raise a ticket with Meraki MX, they instantly become available to support us for configurations or troubleshooting.
Cisco's TAC support for Cisco Meraki MX is excellent because no other OEM provides support at this level.
The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution.
The technical support from Zscaler was excellent.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers scalability and easy integration for diverse environments, catering to businesses from small to large enterprises.
Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Meraki MX scales effectively, praised for ease of upgrades and administration, though larger enterprises note certain limitations.
Sentiment score
5.3
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is scalable and easy to manage, praised for performance and user satisfaction across various regions.
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.
When you have hundreds of thousands of people it is very difficult to scale in Meraki.
We have Juniper solutions, and I would say the Juniper solutions can scale better, however, this solution is still very scalable.
In this case, Twingate will be very easy compared to Zscaler.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is highly stable and reliable, excelling in continuous operation with effective network management, despite occasional update issues.
Sentiment score
8.5
Cisco Meraki MX offers stable, reliable performance with effective updates, minimal disruptions, and high evaluations, despite minor filtering issues.
Sentiment score
6.4
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is stable, reliable, and well-rated, with minor performance issues and redundancy minimizing outages.
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.
There have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits.
There were some stability issues due to occasional latency and lags, particularly with the GUI and report generation.
 

Room For Improvement

Users express concern over Fortinet FortiGate's interface stability, functionality, performance issues, and call for improved support and features.
Cisco Meraki MX needs improvements in load balancing, configurability, costs, support responsiveness, and integrating advanced enterprise and security features.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs improved features, better integration, enhanced support, wider coverage, affordable pricing, and a modernized interface.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.
Data is the only path, so optimization is essential.
An improvement would be to use Cisco Meraki MX as a software solution as well, which might reduce the cost.
For now, there is no dashboard or network management system available for Twingate.
The reverse proxy feature for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is missing.
I believe the integration of AI could improve the dashboard by making it more agile and effective in monitoring and predicting threats.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers high initial costs but competitive pricing, valued features, and flexible licensing compared to competitors.
Cisco Meraki MX is costly but valued for its cloud-managed features, advanced security, and excellent customer support.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is flexible yet expensive, valued for tiered packages, with prices affected by user count and features.
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 offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
It is about 20% cheaper.
I get it for $25,000, a device that can connect up to 75-100 users, whereas in Meraki MX, it goes to 75,000-80,000 per access point.
The price could be reduced by around 30% to make it more comfortable.
In terms of pricing, I would say it is not the cheapest, but it was comparable to the others.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust, affordable security with user-friendly interface, centralized management, and efficient SD-WAN capabilities.
Cisco Meraki MX offers cloud-managed, easy deployment with auto VPN, SD-WAN, robust security, and centralized, scalable network management.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers advanced threat protection, simplified management, and seamless integration, enhancing security with flexible policy customization and traffic control.
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.
Meraki MX is among those top solutions in their exceptional approach towards VPN-less, Zero Trust client access to office private networks.
We understand that Cisco solutions are very reliable, and we really like the simple management.
Since cybersecurity is my main concern, this type of miscommunication relating to vulnerability blocking is crucial.
It is really customized, a security policy that can be applied to the users so they can access only the resources I enable them.
Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants.
The biggest advantage of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is its consolidation of products.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
575
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (2nd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Cisco Meraki MX
Ranking in Firewalls
19th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (7th)
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
23rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.4%, up from 19.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 3.5%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate20.4%
Cisco Meraki MX3.5%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall0.5%
Other75.6%
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.
MURALI NIDAMANURI - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience improved network management with flexible and secure connections
I recommend that Meraki MX should improve to be a better solution for the next release by being more competent so that we can offer it as a primary solution among all other brands, although I don't have any specific feedback, while the competitors are also ahead of these solutions. Enhancing user experience is always required. Enhancing the seamless connectivity is crucial and user experience enhancement is needed daily, otherwise people find it outdated. New features should look and be dynamically connected, and users should not be bothered frequently when connectivity issues occur. It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.
Carlos Snel - PeerSpot reviewer
Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management
The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business350
Midsize Enterprise130
Large Enterprise187
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

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 ...
Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department
We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL I...
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 Meraki MX?
I am happy with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?
Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...
What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600
No data available
 

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
Hyatt, ONS
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki MX vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.