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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
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in SSL VPN
10th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
28th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (36th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 14.5%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 2.8%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

VivekKumar10 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure remote access and load balancing with enhanced protection features
I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet. Key features include load balancing, dual-factor authentication, clientless VPN, and Web Application Firewall (WAF). The product effectively helps me protect the organization's network from potential threats, thereby securing our environment from hackers and ransomware attacks.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"Citrix primarily provides secure connectivity. If you need secure remote desktop functionality, it is a viable option."
"Providing our organization the ability to work remotely was the most valuable feature of Citrix Gateway. I also enjoy that they are always adding features."
"It is easy to set up and is stable. It is scalable as well, depending on the model."
"Provides good performance and speed."
"What I find most valuable about this solution, is that it runs seamlessly."
"The solution is scalable and can go from a very small deployment to handling 10,000 transactions a second."
"We can maintain our systems using the solution."
"Citrix Gateway improved the security of the access of our applications outside the network."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
 

Cons

"Stability and security could be enhanced."
"At this time it costs 35% more than other solutions."
"It would be nice if they offered easier setups and implementation wizards."
"Technical support could be improved."
"The dashboard or interface should be more clear in reporting issues. Integration with other applications should be more user-friendly."
"The initial setup is not straightforward."
"The first level support is very poor."
"Lacks access through a mobile device."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"
"Citrix is quite expensive."
"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."
"It is expensive and requires proper planning with strategy."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"The price could be lower."
"Pricing is very high if you do a comparison with what is available in the market."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"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."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
39%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Gateway?
We can maintain our systems using the solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model. It is seen as a premium product compared to competitors like F5, and ...
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
In the past, I submitted some support tickets, and while the support did resolve the problems, the time taken was sometimes long. They can perhaps improve the time for solutions in the support tick...
What do you like most about Hillstone E-Series?
The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hillstone E-Series?
Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low.
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...
 

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: May 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.