Hillstone CloudEdge vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Hillstone CloudEdge vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone CloudEdge is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.7%
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls	5.2%
Hillstone CloudEdge	0.1%
Other	76.0%

Firewalls

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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Albert-Wang

Technical Consultant at SiS Technologies

Comprehensive cloud security with robust threat protection and VPN capabilities

Hillstone CloudEdge is compatible with all the mainstream public cloud providers, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Alibaba Cloud. This solution has a unified OS system for security products, ensuring that the virtual firewall has similar features to the on-premise solutions. Important features include a VPN, VTech VPN, SSL VPN, QoS, antivirus, threat protection, and sandbox capabilities.

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Sven-Verbeke

Solution Architect // Network Consultant at Group S

Network security has improved and allows detailed user-based control over encrypted traffic

Bandwidth usage is not something we use much, but it depends on the SD-WAN plugin because the application load balancing is based on the SD-WAN product. That functionality does not work as it should, although the App-ID is working very well. SD-WAN functionality is working, but when you compare it with other products on the market, it is very limited. Palo Alto also has ION devices, and ION devices together with Prisma Access or Strata Cloud Manager now are more the way to go than using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls on-premises. At the moment I have some issues, but the issues are more related to the general way of working of many vendors. They implement new things very fast and it is not always bug-free. With new releases, sometimes you still have some issues. This is the main concern. If you look back five or maybe ten years ago, the products were more stable and you had more decent releases, but that is something in general for many vendors. Palo Alto is also a factor with that. They want to bring new features to the market too fast. Features are a concern because all vendors try to compete against each other. If one vendor comes out with a new feature, then other vendors do the same. Sometimes they want to be the first on the market with it, and that sometimes introduces bugs or issues with the product.

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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

"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very stable solution."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include the simple user interface."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"The Fortinet FortiGate IPS has a good interface and integration."

"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."

"The performance is good."

"Fortinet FortiGate has very good support."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The solution is very easy to download and configure. The initial setup was very easy. The technical support is very good."

"I'd rate the solution nine out of ten."

"Hillstone CloudEdge is compatible with all the mainstream public cloud providers, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Alibaba Cloud."

"Application control, IPS, and sandboxing towards the cloud are the most valuable features. It is a very user-friendly product with a very easy-to-use interface."

"The strengths of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are application visibility and application awareness. Their strong point is identifying applications for traffic. So all of the policies that are configured are related to the application and not to a port."

"The trackability is most valuable. When a port is open for a protocol, such as port 443 for HTTPS, it can look inside the traffic and identify or verify the applications that are using the port, which was previously not possible with traditional firewalls."

"The packet level inspection is the most valuable feature. The traffic restriction features allow us to restrict the sub-features of any platform."

"The graphical interface is easy to troubleshoot because it has a drill-down sequence. It is easy to monitor traffic."

"The most important part of this solution is its reliability, as it just works without any fancy features."

"With its single pane of glass, it makes monitoring and troubleshooting a bit more homogeneous. We are not looking at multiple platforms and monitoring management tools. It is more efficient from that perspective. It is more of a common monitoring and control system for multiple aspects of what used to be different systems. It provides efficiency and time savings."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are one of the best security products in the market at the moment, and they have a very good team."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

"They could simplify their deployment process, especially when customers have existing devices."

"The main area needing improvement is the user-friendliness of FortiGate's integration with other Fortinet tools like FortiAuthenticator and VPN services."

"We have experienced a number of failures when trying to upgrade firmware and the process takes a long time. We only experienced this when doing major upgrades between versions."

"There's always something new that can be added or fixed."

"The product has to be upgraded every few weeks."

"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues."

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet FortiGate as a five because it is not as strong as Cisco. Additionally, the turnaround time is very high compared to Cisco."

"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution needs more granular level reporting on system usage."

"There is room for improvement in AI features, particularly for zero-day attacks and providing maintenance guidance."

"Palo Alto Firewalls could improve by introducing more features, particularly in load balancing."

"The machine learning in Palo Alto NG Firewalls for securing networks against threats that are able to evolve and morph rapidly is good, in general. But there have been some cases where we get false positives and Palo Alto has denied traffic when there have been new updates and signature releases. Valid traffic gets blocked. We have had some bad experiences with this. If there were an ability, before it denies traffic, to get some kind of notification that some traffic is going to be blocked, that would be good."

"They could improve their support and pricing and maybe integration. It's a little more expensive that Check Point but the quality is better. Integration with firewall endpoints could be better. Palo Alto does have very good malware or antivirus protection. I think they could improve on that front."

"Its software updates can be improved. It sometimes becomes very slow with the software updates for different features. It should have an External Dynamic List of data. The malicious IP is not frequently getting updated in Palo Alto, and this should be done."

"Enhancements could potentially be made to the firmware to improve its inspectability."

"Configurations related to different operating systems can be complex, and we have encountered issues with Linux systems."

"Understanding the flow and application of securities can be complex, requiring navigation across different sections."

"I like the reports, but I wish the reporting was a little better. When I set up the automatic reports to come in, they're pretty basic. I would like them to be a little more advanced at the ACC monitoring and things like that. I still enjoy all the daily alerts that I get and all the daily PDFs and reports, but I just feel that it could expand upon the visualization of the reports."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."

"We have the full license that included all of the features and support."

"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 has one or two license types, and the VPN numbers are only limited by the hardware chassis make."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall costs our company around $12000 per year."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"If you compare Palo Alto with other firewalls, it's a bit expensive."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are very expensive compared to other firewalls such as Fortinet. As a result, Palo Alto is losing some of its market share."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls' price is expensive."

"Palo Alto NGFW is relatively expensive compared to the competition."

"The Palo Alto solution is actually not expensive. It was comparable to the old firewall manufacturers that we were using. From the benefits that we have gotten out of the Palo Alto products, it is well worth the difference in cost, even though the difference in cost is not much at all."

"This solution is quite expensive because along with the license there is premium partner support that has to be purchased as a default addition. There is also a specific Threat Prevention License that has to be requested and purchased separately. However, licenses can be purchased for specific periods as opposed to just an annual offering."

"I am not involved in the commercial side, but I believe that Palo Alto is quite expensive compared to others."

"The price is high."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	85

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 needs improvement with Hillstone CloudEdge?

There is room for improvement in AI features, particularly for zero-day attacks and providing maintenance guidance. M...

What is your primary use case for Hillstone CloudEdge?

Our primary use case is to provide cloud-based security solutions for customers using public cloud platforms. We dist...

What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone CloudEdge?

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Hillstone CloudEdge

Compared 57% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Hillstone CloudEdge

Compared 43% of the time

More Hillstone CloudEdge Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 12% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Firewalls

Download Hillstone CloudEdge product report

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Hillstone Virtual Next-Generation Firewall, CloudEdge, embedded with the Hillstone Networks StoneOS operation system, is deployed as a virtual machine, and provides advanced security services for applications and users in any virtualized environment. It provides comprehensive security features including granular application identification and control, VPN, intrusion prevention, anti-virus, attack defense and cloud-sandbox to fully keep a business secure and operational. It provides price- performance solutions for both public and private cloud customers, and can be rapidly provisioned and deployed at scale.

Hillstone Networks

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver advanced threat protection with machine learning, enhancing security through real-time attack prevention. Known for application visibility and a user-friendly interface, they offer robust network protection and flexibility in rule creation.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are designed to secure environments with features like GlobalProtect VPN, WildFire malware detection, and unified platform integration. Their strong firewall capabilities and high-performance throughput make them suitable for perimeter and data center protection, VPN configurations, application control, and network segmentation. Users consistently highlight the ease of managing network security policies and integrating third-party tools, ensuring a comprehensive protection strategy. While enhancements in support, training resources, and configuration simplicity are needed, these firewalls are integral for securing both on-prem and cloud environments, aligning with platforms like Azure and AWS.

What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Application Visibility: Provides insight into network traffic for better control.
Threat Prevention: Uses machine learning for real-time attack prevention.
GlobalProtect VPN: Secures remote access efficiently.
WildFire Malware Detection: Detects and prevents advanced threats.
Unified Platform Integration: Enhances network security through seamless integration with other tools.

What benefits should be evaluated when considering Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Flexibility in Rule Creation: Allows customized security policies to meet specific needs.
High-Performance Throughput: Ensures efficient network operations under high load.
Comprehensive Policy Management: Simplifies overseeing and adjusting security policies.
Robust Endpoint Security: Protects endpoints against sophisticated threats.
Seamless Integration: Works well with third-party tools for a comprehensive solution.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are commonly implemented across industries for securing LAN environments, URL filtering, and ensuring Zero Trust security. They secure both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, often becoming integral parts of security frameworks within enterprises. Leveraging these firewalls in conjunction with Azure or AWS enhances the overall network protection strategies employed by organizations.

Palo Alto Networks

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

LinkTime

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments

Hillstone CloudEdge vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls