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Darktrace vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Darktrace is 11.5%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System is 1.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 5.4%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Darktrace11.5%
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention5.4%
Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System1.5%
Other81.6%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Consistent threat hunting and anomaly detection deliver valuable insights for network security management
In terms of improvement for Darktrace, pricing is the main concern. Pricing bothers me and this is one of the major factors when choosing a solution. When we get feedback from customers, that's the only felt need. When we factor in Darktrace, we do it only limited. We put it on where the perimeters and connections are, but still, some gray areas are left out, especially if we have multiple branches. We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.
reviewer1080873 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Complements any firewall
The core processors are there and it's able to generate reports for that. It also complements any kind of firewall. For example, if an end user is using Palo Alto as a firewall, they'd need another layer of firewall like the S-Series that will protect internal servers. It's something that complements any firewall in the market.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Advanced protection enables us to confidently secure against evolving threats
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to protect against those types of threats, as AI will be there to do a human job; this is an evolving area. From an Advanced Threat Protection perspective, the technology associated with Palo Alto Networks, such as their sandboxing environment, is quite good. However, Palo Alto needs to focus on how to bring that technology to end users and how easy it is to use, especially in a hybrid environment where users work from various locations. While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the AI and advanced learning tools that distinguish it from other products."
"The ability to detect activity on the network is very useful to us. Even if it's not necessarily an illegal activity, if it is abnormal activity, it is able to detect it and notify us."
"It's a very stable product."
"We allow customers to access our Wi-Fi as guests, and some of them were going to restricted sites. Darktrace showed us what they were doing so we could block them."
"We liked their approach to identifying intrusions or network anomalies using AI."
"Regarding the autonomous response feature, I appreciate how it functions within the platform."
"The Antigena feature is most valuable. Once it learns your environment, Antigena can step in and block a denial of service attack, a ransomware attack, or just about anything that doesn't belong in the environment. It can detect any type of attack that hits the environment because it understands what normal looks like for the network. It is very useful for an autonomous response."
"It is a very simple product to use."
"Setup is straightforward with the same reliability and scalability as the firewall series."
"Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good."
"I rate Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention as nine out of ten."
"One of the most valuable features is the anti-malware protection."
"The most valuable features are the simplicity, transparency, and overall ease of management."
"It is a stable product."
"It effectively prevents malware, ransomware, and other attacks."
"I like the solution's interface."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It's quite easy. Deployment took one to two weeks."
 

Cons

"It should be easier to access the Darktrace portal and its documentation. Only the customer can access their portal and support. It could be cheaper."
"The interface is too mathematical and it should be simplified."
"Darktrace requires numerous configurations. It would be beneficial if the configuration could be made simpler."
"Needs to improve its collaboration with local partners."
"The management dashboards and the meter dashboards should be more user-friendly and simple to use for easy management."
"Darktrace does not have any capabilities to configure."
"The pricing is costly in USD, and they charge based on device counts."
"Although we haven't detected any network threats since implementing Darktrace, we are unsure of its efficacy. It would be beneficial if the solution could offer additional details to the user regarding any potential or prevented threats. Additionally, there could be better search tools and integration."
"Lack of tools to help educate end users"
"Palo Alto's maintenance needs to be improved."
"The documentation needs to be improved. I need better information about how to configure it and what the best practices are."
"I think they can use some improvement on FID."
"It's not so easy to set up a test environment, because it's not so easy to get the test license. The vendor only gives you 90 days for a test license; it's a tough license to get."
"Generally, to deploy it will take some downtime, about a day."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions."
"The initial setup is complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They are too expensive compared with other vendors."
"Darktrace is pricey, but the price is reasonable for what the solution does, and it's comparable to other products."
"Prior to negotiating, Darktrace offered their appliance and service for $80,000 per year."
"We've budgeted about 50,000 Kuwaiti dinars for the solution. That is a yearly operating cost."
"The price of Darktrace is high and could be reduced. We pay approximately $30,000 to $54,000 annually."
"It is a very expensive product."
"It is expensive. I don't have the price for other competitors."
"I am using a demo of Darktrace for deployment and testing which is free."
Information not available
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"From one to ten, with one being the most expensive, I would rate the pricing of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention a one out of ten. It is my understanding that Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the most expensive one."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention could improve by having consistent pricing at system levels."
"The price of the solution is higher than others on the market. A price reduction would be beneficial if it does not impact their database quality."
"It's not too expensive."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
"If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing."
"The product’s pricing is expensive for small companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
No data available
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Performing Arts
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise29
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
 

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Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention requires an add-on license and is considered expensive compared to comp...
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooli...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Hillstone S-Series NIPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
Information Not Available
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Darktrace, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS). Updated: January 2026.
881,928 professionals have used our research since 2012.