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ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

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
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate delivers cost efficiency, improved security, and management simplicity, leading to high user satisfaction and significant ROI.
Sentiment score
6.4
Users report mixed ROI experiences with ESET, appreciating its efficiency, cost savings, enhanced security, and streamlined patch management.
Sentiment score
6.8
WatchGuard Firebox delivers quick ROI through enhanced security, reduced incidents, cost savings, and efficient remote access management.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
Regarding cost savings, ESET Endpoint Protection Platform definitely saves money because if my system or organization is hacked or ransomed, the potential financial loss would be far greater than the cost of the solution.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I saw the return on investment with ESET Endpoint Protection Platform within months.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
From a security standpoint, preventing even a single major security incident or prolonged outage can represent significant cost savings.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
I do not see any return on investment after WatchGuard Firebox implementation in terms of cost reductions.
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
Reduced incidents and easier management helped lower operational cost.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's support is valued for responsiveness but needs improvement in consistency, speed, and technical competence.
Sentiment score
7.0
ESET Endpoint Protection receives positive feedback for support, though availability issues exist, especially in certain regions.
Sentiment score
6.4
WatchGuard Firebox customer service is generally praised for its reliable, knowledgeable support despite some regional inconsistencies.
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.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
They have great technical support.
Owner at Online IT
I typically receive support from the distributor, and the customer support team is also responsive and helpful.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
Normally, I cannot give a ten for support of all brands, as it is not always possible to get full support from companies.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the technical support of the WatchGuard Firebox a 10.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with other vendors such as Fortinet, SonicWall, Palo Alto, and Sophos, WatchGuard Firebox performs competitively.
Cyber Security Engineer at Underdefense
Most of the time, support engineers are knowledgeable and able to assist effectively with firewall configuration issues, VPN troubleshooting, firmware updates, and security-related concerns.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers excellent scalability with flexible deployment options, though hardware scalability may require planning or upgrades.
Sentiment score
7.3
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is scalable, versatile for various environments, and praised for ease of use and minimal hardware needs.
Sentiment score
6.9
WatchGuard Firebox offers good scalability, supports growth with upgrades, and is suitable for varying user counts and environments.
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.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
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.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
In terms of scalability, I can rate it eight or nine out of ten.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
Their support is phenomenal, offering quick assistance.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
Minimal system performance impact is very important when choosing endpoint protection solutions, and I believe ESET uses minimum hardware of the PC.
Owner at Online IT
Overall, WatchGuard Firebox offers strong scalability for SMBs, MSPs, branch offices, and hybrid environments while keeping deployment and management relatively straightforward.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
The user interface and features compared to newer firewalls are not up to the mark, which includes functionalities such as filtering, web filtering, threat protection, user identity, and UTM features that need improvement.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
You can choose different models based on throughput and features, which makes it easy to support growing environments.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is a reliable, stable platform needing careful configuration to avoid occasional bugs during updates.
Sentiment score
8.2
ESET Endpoint Protection is highly stable and reliable, with minimal issues, consistently receiving high ratings for performance.
Sentiment score
8.0
WatchGuard Firebox is praised for stability, rarely needing reboots, and offers consistent performance with occasional maintenance required.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
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.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
In terms of stability, I can rate it at nine out of ten.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
Our experience with ESET Endpoint Protection Platform's centralized management console is mostly fine for managing security policies across endpoints.
Owner at Online IT
I have just one WatchGuard Firebox unit that is licensed, and I have no bugs on it, so I am happy with that.
Administrateur Systã¨Mes Et Rã©Seau at Btp Consultants
Once properly configured, the platform handles VPN connectivity, traffic inspection, and security services constantly, even in multi-site environments with remote users.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
There are issues with traffic hitting the firewall, which could indicate performance problems related to throughput.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users seek better integration, pricing, stability, security, support effectiveness, GUI ease, and documentation improvements.
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform struggles with updates, complex interface, integration, and needs enhanced features and support improvements.
WatchGuard Firebox needs improvement in reporting, UI, cloud integration, pricing, support, and advanced threat detection compared to competitors.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
A lightweight version of ESET might be beneficial as many of our clients have older CPUs and RAM.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
When we were using CrowdStrike, it used to detect and block pirated software, but ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is not doing that.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Extensive APIs to easily integrate our own systems with the platform for user configuration via their company portal.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
It gives good visibility and control over the traffic, and the UI makes it easy to manage policies and respond quickly when something comes up.
Manager at Cyvogenix
The cost for renewal after three years is 75% of the hardware cost, which is a significant problem.
Owner at it logic
When implementing a rule using a group of IPs, it is not possible to do that directly.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, scalable solutions with competitive pricing, yet some users find advanced feature costs high.
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is considered cost-effective by enterprise buyers, with competitive pricing and flexible licensing options.
WatchGuard Firebox offers competitive pricing, straightforward setup, and flexible plans, appealing to enterprises with discounts and trade-in options.
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.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The pricing of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is a bit high compared to other competitors.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
The price is very reasonable compared to the features provided.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I would rate ESET Endpoint Protection Platform a five for pricing on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is cheap and 10 is expensive.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
When we tried to renew the Palo Alto license, the cost was beyond any reasonable range.
Digital Solution Designer at Accenture
Fortinet is more expensive than WatchGuard.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
I find WatchGuard Firebox to be cost-effective.
Chief Technology Officer at Falcon Automation
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong security, SD-WAN efficiency, and user-friendly management, valued for cost-effectiveness and integration with Fortinet products.
ESET Endpoint Protection offers lightweight antivirus, robust protection, ease of use, and affordability, ensuring efficient and scalable security.
WatchGuard Firebox provides advanced security features and management tools, improving efficiency, network visibility, and threat detection for organizations.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform provides ransomware prevention, which prevents attackers from encrypting my files and demanding ransom payments.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
The best feature of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is that I get all the details about which user is using it, how much time they spend on websites, and all related information.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Machine learning, especially through live detection, detects threats that are blocked based on reputation or sandbox detection.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
The features of WatchGuard Firebox are most valuable for maintaining network security.
Cyber Security Engineer at Underdefense
Some of the best features of WatchGuard Firebox in my experience are its ease of management, strong VPN capabilities, and integrated security services.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
ESET Endpoint Protection Pl...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (12th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (20th), Anti-Malware Tools (10th)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (11th), Firewalls (12th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (5th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (16th), Application Control (5th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
MS
Owner at Online IT
Cloud-based protection has simplified daily client support and keeps threats under control
The problems that we are facing with policy adoption include slow adoption, as it takes more than five minutes to adopt policy on client computers. ESET Network Attack Protection sometimes helps in reducing network-level intrusions, but sometimes it prevents local devices on the network, which are well-known and good devices, from being recognized, treating them as a threat. So it requires more administration than usual. ESET could implement a good solution for remote support in ESET Endpoint Protection Platform for improvement in the future. Since you have the cloud console, ESET could have something similar to AnyDesk or TeamViewer, but from ESET.
Abhishek Saini - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
Centralized security management has improved VPN reliability and simplified daily operations
WatchGuard Firebox is a strong and reliable platform overall, but there are a few areas where improvements could make the experience even better. One area is the user interface and navigation in some management tools. While the platform is powerful, certain configurations and troubleshooting workflows can feel less intuitive compared to some newer cloud-native firewall platforms. Another point is reporting and log analysis. Although the logging features are very useful, deeper analytics and more customizable reporting dashboards would make security monitoring much more effective. Firmware upgrades and policy synchronization can sometimes require careful planning to avoid security interruptions. Overall, the core security and VPN functionality are very solid, but improving usability, reporting, and automation would make the platform even stronger. One area that could be improved is the learning curve for new administrators. While experienced engineers can work with the platform effectively, some advanced networking and security configurations can be a bit complex for junior technicians. More guided configuration workflows, smarter recommendations, and simplified troubleshooting tools would make onboarding easier. Another improvement would be more flexible reporting customization for executive-level and client-facing reports.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business69
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business101
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise15
 

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform are good with no issues. The price is ver...
What needs improvement with ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform could be improved by offering integrations and user-friendly dashboards that could ...
What is your primary use case for ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
My main use case for ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is preventing malware and preventing outside attackers. When a...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Smart Security, ESET PROTECT Advanced, ESET LiveGuard Advanced, ESET PROTECT Platform
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
ERSTE Group Bank, Miller Solutions, Wesleyan University, The Hospital Center of Luxembourg, Deer Valley USD, SPAR, Industrial Federal Credit Union, Honda, City Hall of Palmela, Hays CISD, Lester B Pearson School Board
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.