ESET Inspect vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

ESET and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. ESET is ranked #33 with an average rating of 8.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #20 with an average rating of 7.6. Additionally, 80% of ESET users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 5, 2025

WatchGuard Firebox and ESET Inspect compete in cybersecurity solutions, with each offering distinct benefits. WatchGuard Firebox is ahead in ease of use and comprehensive network management, while ESET Inspect's advanced security capabilities give it an advantage for those needing deep threat analysis.

Features: WatchGuard Firebox includes advanced threat detection, comprehensive network security with firewalls, VPN support, and customizable filtering options. ESET Inspect offers deep data inspection, endpoint detection capabilities, and significant threat analysis functions, suiting detailed security needs.

Room for Improvement: WatchGuard Firebox could enhance its advanced threat intelligence tools, improve scalability options, and expand integrated third-party support. ESET Inspect might improve user interface simplicity, streamline deployment processes, and lower licensing costs for broader market appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Firebox is known for its straightforward setup and excellent customer service, ensuring easy network integration. ESET Inspect, while highly capable, presents more complex deployment challenges due to its advanced features, though its technical support is well-regarded for effectiveness.

Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard Firebox is economically viable for small to mid-sized organizations with its competitive pricing offering substantial value. ESET Inspect requires higher initial investment due to its advanced features, delivering long-term ROI for enterprises seeking robust security frameworks.

To learn more, read our detailed ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

August 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

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.

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Cees Van Den Haak

ICT Manager at Bouwbedrijf de Vries en Verburg BV

A product with an easy setup phase that helps manage attacks and vulnerabilities

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that you can manage and react to vulnerabilities and attacks on all the workstations or laptops. You can put certain workstations and isolation. With ESET PROTECT, you see only one machine that is protected, but with ESET Inspect, you see all the machines that are protected in an environment.

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Rajesh Makwana

Regional Pre-Sales Engineer at Roundrobin Tech

Efficient bandwidth management and secure network access with a strong firewall

The primary use case of the Firebox mainly revolves around bandwidth management, unnecessary web blocking, application control, and protection against brute force attacks. It is also implemented for load balancing, SD-WAN, and branch-to-branch connectivity from one location to another. We also use…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They are very affordable compared to Palo Alto and other vendors, offering a great solution for networking and SD-WAN with extremely good protection."

"Its usability is good. We can easily navigate the system, and we have a very good user experience."

"What I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is that the UI is easier than what I've previously known from Sophos."

"Fortinet FortiGate is quite popular in my region, so we are implementing Fortinet FortiGate firewalls. Fortinet FortiGate is the best option on the market when it comes to firewalls. It's straightforward to deploy and has good stability and performance."

"The solution is extremely reliable."

"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."

"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's greatest asset lies in its user-friendly interface, which allows for easy navigation and thorough analysis of incidents."

"Rules are the most valuable feature of ESET Inspect. They are created through XML language, and they track and filter events from endpoints. If the event matches the rule, the rule is triggered. Exceptions are the second most valuable feature because it gives you the power to filter false positives in large numbers. The third most valuable feature is the Learning mode that facilitates making exceptions for known processes with a good reputation."

"The rules are the best and most useful features."

"The product's most valuable features are its performance and stability."

"I find the multilayered endpoint security the most valuable feature."

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's most valuable feature is EDR."

"Scalability-wise, it is a very good solution."

"WatchGuard Firebox is the most powerful firewall for Wi-Fi security."

"The ease of use is most valuable. You can quickly train someone who hasn't seen a firewall in life. You can get people up to speed, and in a few months, they are able to manage this product very easily. It is a very user-friendly, scalable, and stable product. Its price is also spot-on."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ease of use."

"One of the most valuable features is that when we send emails and it gives a warning, you can configure those email addresses so that they can only send outside the email."

"The throughput is great. It's perfect. We have no issues whatsoever. The management features are very powerful..."

"The alarm system is valuable."

"The firewall aspect and the branch office VPNs are the most valuable features... We don't have any issues with it. We don't have to spend a lot of time maintaining it."

"Regarding the reporting, I was in the Dimension server earlier today. It's very powerful. I like it. And the management features are easy to use. I like the fact that I can open up the System Manager client or I can just do it through the web if I'm making a quick change."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

"The ease of use could be improved."

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."

"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."

"The cloud features and integration could be improved."

"I would like to see more advanced developments of a wireless controller in the future."

"A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."

"There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Every vendor is working on making the job of SOC analysts easier, with fewer false positives and more precise detections. ESET uses LiveGrid technology that provides feedback on the reputation of files and operations. It's hard to eliminate all of the false positives, but hopefully, we'll see some improvement with the advances in AI."

"It is not a stable product. We were disappointed in the stability of this product in comparison to McAffee."

"One area that needs improvement for the product is ransomware protection, which does not offer complete security."

"It may be difficult for a first-time customer to understand all of the functions that are available to him."

"The solution could improve the consumption of resources. The RAM and CPU usage increases during usage which can cause issues. We have three separate services and it would be beneficial if all were executed from one agent limiting the over usage of system resources."

"The platform's price could be better."

"The product is complex to configure, and there are too many errors that are not errors, making it an area that can be considered for improvement."

"In terms of what could be improved, I would say their web blocker feature. It is still quite a confusing setup, especially when you want to filter out a particular category for granularity. For example, you do not want to filter Facebook but you do want to filter Facebook games only. It can be done, but the process to do it is very confusing."

"If they could make the traffic monitoring easier that would be great. I don't use it that frequently, but I would like to see some improvements in the ease of use of that component, so it makes more sense. I know it's a technical component so there's going to be some difficulty trying to make that easier."

"There should be better integration and a way to configure multiple vendors into the same data center in order to offer more flexibility."

"I'd like to have better access to workstation monitoring, connection monitoring, and the amount of time an address is being used, to better gauge proper network utilization. If I knew that something was connected to a particular external location for an extended period that seems abnormal, I'd be able to act upon it."

"It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence."

"The solution needs to improve the interface. I'm not able to easily find things using it."

"The solution needs to improve its accessibility."

"They are working on cloud-based options. However, they do not have the options fully functional in their solution at this time."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is affordable. Most of our customers are on a three-year license to use the solution. All the features and support are included in the price."

"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."

"Its price is reasonable. They have a clear pricing policy. It is not complicated by the number of VPN users at a time. We know what the price is. The yearly subscription for the security license is rather high, but it is all included for whatever number of users you have and the kind of functions you need."

"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."

"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."

"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."

"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."

"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The platform's licensing is affordable and straightforward."

"This is true in the case of licensing, we do not have the most expensive products, and we don't have the cheapest product, it's somewhere in the middle. Perhaps a little higher from the middle, but we are known for what we provide to our customers, and they are pleased."

"I feel it is a very expensive product."

"The pricing and licensing are the big issue now, in my opinion. If the price was less than other companies, or a one-time charge for service was available, I think there would be more users of this solution."

"The platform is expensive; it could be cheaper."

"We pay about $3,500 every three years."

"It is an entry-level product, so the price is cheap."

"The price of WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service is pretty reasonable compared to similar solutions."

"I buy a three-year renewal on the main device, which is usually around $3,000 to $4,000. They usually upgrade the device when I do it. You get a big discount when you do three years."

"The price of the WatchGuard Firebox is reasonable."

"The licensing model for WatchGuard Application Control is based on the number of users. WatchGuard Application Control also has licensing models with several features."

"WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention's pricing is expensive. I rate it a seven out of ten."

"Their price point worked, which is the reason why we stayed with WatchGuard."

More WatchGuard Firebox pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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What do you like most about ESET Enterprise Inspector?

ESET Enterprise Inspector's most valuable feature is EDR.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET Enterprise Inspector?

The platform is expensive; it could be cheaper. However, it is an essential part of our network's security.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering ESET Enterprise Inspector?

I recommend ESET Enterprise Inspector to others and rate it an eight out of ten.

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What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.

See all answers

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...

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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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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HP Wolf Security vs ESET Inspect

Compared 32% of the time

Fortinet FortiEDR vs ESET Inspect

Compared 11% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs ESET Inspect

Compared 10% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs ESET Inspect

Compared 8% of the time

N-able EDR vs ESET Inspect

Compared 3% of the time

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OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XG vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect

August 2025

Download ESET Inspect product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

July 2025

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

ESET Enterprise Inspector

WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

ESET Inspect is an essential component to help ensure the highest level of enterprise security. While standard ESET Endpoint Security provides strong protection, ESET Inspect takes your environment's security to a new dimension. A security tool is needed to help security professionals protect their sensitive data and detect and investigate security incidents, advanced threats, and targeted attacks or breaches on endpoint devices. ESET Inspect is a tool that offers the peace of mind of continuous protection and security monitoring in a powerful and easy-to-use solution.

ESET

WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.

WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.

What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?

Ease of Setup: Quick and straightforward installation process.
GUI: User-friendly graphical interface for simplified navigation.
VPN Features: Secure and efficient virtual private network management.
Web Filtering: Advanced filtering for safer browsing experiences.
Threat Detection: Proactive monitoring and detection of cyber threats.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Centralized Control: Streamlined management from a single point.
High Throughput: Efficient data handling and processing capacity.
Stable Performance: Consistent and reliable operational functionality.
Active Directory Integration: Seamless connection with user directories.
Customer Service: Strong support service for customer inquiries.

WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.

WatchGuard

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

Mitsubishi Motors, Allianz Suisse, Cannon, T-Mobile

Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

August 2025

Free Report: ESET Inspect vs. WatchGuard Firebox

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