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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
24th
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
4th
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 March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 4.6%, 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 Gateway4.6%
Hillstone E-Series1.5%
Other93.9%
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

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Five out of five ROI."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"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 a secure connectivity."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"All of our offices are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The solution is scalable."
"The most valuable feature is the networking. I didn't have a good experience with the networking that Sophos has."
"The side-to-side connections are valuable."
"The scalability is a highly valued feature."
"It is a stable solution in our company, and we monitor critical health and performance parameters daily and weekly."
"The ability to connect old protocols like Border Gateway Protocol is valuable."
"The Azure tool is useful and powerful and availability for clients. The updates are very good and reliable."
"I rate the product ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its price."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The product's deployment phase is not simple, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Documentation and configuration settings can be improved."
"Regarding pricing for Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, it could be more cost-effective."
"The monitoring part needs to be improved."
"Make it completely routable, for example, if I have a gateway, I should be able to connect to whatever network I want on either side of the gateway, and the gateway should figure out which packet goes where."
"The solution must provide metrics to monitor the inbound and outbound traffic easily."
"Microsoft could work on having micro VPNs to integrate with mobile devices."
"The marketing material in the portal is not very user-friendly."
 

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."
"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."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The software has good pricing compared to other vendors."
"It's an expensive product"
"The solution is subscription-based and very cheap."
"Payment for licensing the solution is part of the operating model. So, one needs to keep on paying while consuming the solution. In short, the payment is based on the solution's capacity."
"I pay the licensing charges associated with the tool on an hourly basis. The tool is affordable."
"The cost could be lower."
"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."
"The product costs us $140 to $180 per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
 

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?
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway can be improved in security points with stronger encryption. I do not have additional feedback about needed improvements regarding configuration, support, or documentation.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
My advice to others looking into using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is that if you have a specific use case such as site-to-site VPN, then this is a perfect option for you. I rate Microsoft Azure VP...
 

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: February 2026.
883,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.