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Hillstone E-Series vs Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
22nd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (39th), SSL VPN (9th)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 4.2%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway4.2%
Hillstone E-Series1.6%
Other94.2%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
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.
Srinivas A - PeerSpot reviewer
Director- Head of DevOps, security, and Complaince at Rightdata
Secure data links from on-premise sources have enabled private access to client databases
The best feature of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is its sophisticated security mechanism for transmitting data between on-premise to Azure or Azure to Azure. The process of building the VPN gateway is user-friendly, making it easy to configure. Additionally, it supports various options to establish connections between on-premise to Azure or other sources to targets. Using pfSense as a firewall and VPN at our on-premise allows us to establish connections between Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and our on-premise pfSense VPN easily. This streamlined connection process occurs within a few steps. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway has positively impacted our organization because it is core to our system and crucial for establishing private connections to our customer's data sources. Their databases lie in a private network with no communication with the outside world. Our customers trust Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, and by extension, trust us because of this efficient networking establishment process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"The side-to-side connections are valuable."
"The solution is very quick to connect."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"The interoperability with various firewall and access gateway vendors is one of this solution's most valuable features."
"All of our offices are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway; the solution is scalable."
"The Azure tool is useful and powerful and availability for clients. The updates are very good and reliable."
"The performance is good."
"It sends us a lot of detections when we have any anti-virus updates. It provides the extended time needed to update a set of time needs and notifications."
 

Cons

"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"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 current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"Microsoft could work on having micro VPNs to integrate with mobile devices."
"It isn't stabilized on the first day, and you need to set up the channels properly."
"My advice is to only use it if absolutely necessary. If you have the option, don't."
"VPN gateway works based on how you stabilize and work with it. It isn't stabilized on the first day, and you need to set up the channels properly and understand what bandwidths you're using."
"They should release a less expensive version of the solution."
"The marketing material in the portal is not very user-friendly."
"Microsoft's support is rated at four due to issues such as speed of response and coordination difficulties."
"The product's deployment phase is not simple, making it an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"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 cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"It's an expensive product"
"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."
"The software has good pricing compared to other vendors."
"The solution is subscription-based and very cheap."
"Its price is reasonable for new technology."
"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is the cheapest way for us to connect to our cloud infrastructure. Other solutions, such as ExpressRoute are very expensive."
"I pay the licensing charges associated with the tool on an hourly basis. The tool is affordable."
"The costs are quite high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
The logging mechanism could use improvement. More detailed logging would help in troubleshooting any failures during connection establishment or monitoring Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. Otherwise, e...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
For those considering using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, read the documentation thoroughly. Create an Excel sheet outlining tasks for both the source and target sides, especially when establishing ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure VPN Gateway
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Hillstone E-Series vs. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
886,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.