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Citrix Gateway vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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

Citrix Gateway
Ranking in SSL VPN
3rd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in SSL VPN
9th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
24th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (39th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 11.3%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 4.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix Gateway11.3%
Hillstone E-Series4.0%
Other84.7%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Strong security and versatile features drive positive experience, but support responsiveness can improve
The main purpose of Citrix Gateway is to enforce the appropriate level of access to the correct user on the proper device under the correct conditions. This is enabled through Citrix Gateway combined with endpoint analysis and optional Citrix analytics for security. Regarding improvements, implementing adaptive access policies on Citrix Gateway could be enhanced, particularly in security posture. Although it enforces real-time contextual access control based on device, user network risk, certain aspects can be improved. Other areas for improvement include BYOD access control and risk-based decision-making. Additionally, there is potential for reducing administrative overhead by applying policies dynamically based on context rather than static rules. Incident response speed is another area that could be enhanced.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"These days, I find Citrix products to be very stable, and there is no need to struggle with them."
"The most valuable feature is that it is secure."
"It performs quite well."
"Citrix Gateway improved the security of the access of our applications outside the network."
"Citrix Gateway is really strong and secure for the companies to have the Endpoint Analysis feature configured."
"It's easy to use. Also, the deployment part is perfect."
"The stability of the solution is perfect."
"I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"Five out of five ROI."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
 

Cons

"Its interface could be made a lot easier. It is very kludgy."
"We have experienced issues relating to multi-factor authentication"
"The initial setup is not straightforward."
"Citrix Gateway could improve the speed of the VPN. I sometimes have to wait for 10 to 15 minutes to get connected and other times when I am connected I have to abort, and reconnect."
"We are currently looking at automation. It would be good if there is some way to automate it in a fast way. It should be easy to automate. It also has some security issues."
"The major issue is price. I would also like them to make other aspects more accessible."
"As Citrix Gateway is a third party solution, we wish to have one which is more integrated and involves less administration."
"If the solution had a more advanced DNS, it would be an improvement."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"
"The price could be lower."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"Pricing is very high if you do a comparison with what is available in the market."
"Citrix is quite expensive."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
The price is one aspect, but technically it is complete. Technically, it is really complete.
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
It's difficult to say that because Citrix Gateway is changing all the time. It is improving all the time, and I think that it is periodically giving us patches. Anything that I can think to be impr...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Gateway?
I participate in integrator projects over the last year or two. Citrix Gateway is used in both my company and my customer's companies.
What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
 

Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Gateway vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.