Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

Hillstone Networks and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category. Hillstone Networks is ranked #22, while WatchGuard is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Hillstone Networks holds a 1.5% mindshare in ID, compared to WatchGuard’s 6.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hillstone Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System and WatchGuard Firebox compete in network security by focusing on intrusion prevention and firewall protection. WatchGuard Firebox offers a broad feature set appealing to organizations seeking robust security, making it the preferred choice for those investing in extensive protection.

Features: Hillstone S-Series provides advanced threat detection, comprehensive traffic analysis, and a focus on depth of analysis. WatchGuard Firebox integrates firewall, VPN, and malware protection, focusing on integrated functionalities and ease of use. Both offer powerful tools in distinct areas to meet various network security needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone S-Series involves a detailed setup process with solid customer support post-deployment. WatchGuard Firebox simplifies deployment with automated features, offering strong support channels for a quicker, user-friendly implementation.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone S-Series incurs a higher initial setup cost, justified by its extensive threat management. WatchGuard Firebox offers flexible pricing suitable for various budgets, promising ROI through efficient management and streamlined deployment. Hillstone requires upfront investment, while Firebox offers a comprehensive return over time with additional features and lower initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

February 2026

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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 Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.2%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System is 1.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 6.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	13.2%
WatchGuard Firebox	6.1%
Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System	1.5%
Other	79.2%

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

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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reviewer1080873

Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Complements any firewall

The core processors are there and it's able to generate reports for that. It also complements any kind of firewall. For example, if an end user is using Palo Alto as a firewall, they'd need another layer of firewall like the S-Series that will protect internal servers. It's something that complements any firewall in the market.

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Pedro Soteras

CEO at ajuntament del Prat

Network protection has improved with stronger VPN connectivity but administration remains complex

Deploying WatchGuard Firebox was quite easy, but we have had some problems regarding the VPN and the administration of the tool and the two firewalls that we have. When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with our previous solution, Palo Alto, we have had some problems in administration because of the tools. I think that they have some aspects in their system that are cloud-provided, but they also have an on-premise solution, which makes this combination good. Although I should say that when compared to Palo Alto, we have taken a step backwards. In general, I would rate WatchGuard Firebox around 6-7; it is a good firewall, but they lack good administration tools. We experience many problems with the performance and administration tools on the web, including several issues with VPNs.

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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

"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."

"The ease of use and the user-friendly interface are the beauty of this firewall."

"Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are its SD-WAN capabilities, such as dynamic routing, and other features, including security options such as antivirus, IPS, and IDS—all integrated into one device."

"The ECC management and the GUI that offers single interface management are the most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate."

"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."

"The primary feature I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is the ease of setup."

"It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Setup is straightforward with the same reliability and scalability as the firewall series."

"It does its job very well, and it is quite easy to put to use."

"The most valuable features of this solution are live logging, rule setup and maintenance, and VPN creation."

"I could still keep the data rates really high, up near the two gigahertz data speeds, without compromise on the security perimeters being acted simultaneously."

"One of the most valuable features is the Geolocation. Because we aren't a multinational corporation, it allows me to look at things which might be suspicious to make sure that they are legitimate transactions rather than people sniffing around the network."

"The features that I have found most valuable are the FireWall features. The management side of WatchGuard is quite easy because it supports two ways to manage it - by the web and the other one they call WatchGuard systems manager. I used to be familiar with WSM only, but they improved their GUI in the web browser and now it is much easier to do it within the web browser."

"I like intrusion detection the most."

"The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication."

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

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"One area for improvement involves FortiAnalyzer, specifically regarding the SOC part and log interpretation. Sometimes interpretation is very difficult."

"One of the weaknesses of the solution is something we noticed, especially after comparing the tool with SD-WAN features, since, unfortunately, in a massive scale size environment, the solution is not good. I"

"Fortinet doesn't provide multiple virtual firewalls which would facilitate end users and customers."

"More SD-WAN features can be integrated into the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall"

"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."

"Fortinet can add some Machine Learning and AI to improve its accuracy and give it an edge on IPS detection and protection."

"The anti-malware engine could use an upgrade."

"In terms of pricing, Fortinet needs to do more to compete effectively."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Lack of tools to help educate end users"

"In WatchGuard Firebox, the antivirus and malware detection systems are areas with shortcomings that require improvement since they are the most important elements of a cybersecurity tool."

"The pricing could be improved. It is definitely one of the more expensive products."

"WatchGuard technical support requires a license."

"I would like to have a little more control over access points and the ability to see the bandwidth that is passing through a specific access point. We are not able to see that. We can see what traffic is passing through the Firebox itself, but we can't identify if it is coming from a particular access point or not."

"The solution isn't what I would consider feature-rich."

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

"The next release should have better software and configuration systems that can also be used on Linux."

"The documentation for the System Manager/Dimension configuration, could be a little bit clearer... The use case where you have multiple sites with multiple firewalls, and one site that has the System Manager server and the Dimension server, wasn't really well defined. It took me a little bit of digging to get that to actually work."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive. I rate its pricing a six out of ten."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"The price of FortiGate support is too expensive."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"I'll rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten since it is moderately priced."

"Easy to understand licensing requirements."

"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."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"There is a license required to use the solution and we pay annually. The price could be reduced because it is a bit expensive."

"WatchGuard Firebox is a cheap solution."

"The pricing was in line with everyone else; maybe slightly higher."

"WatchGuard had a very competitive price. It was only 10 to 20 percent more than a single instance device but with that extra cost it provided a second load balancing device... unlike other brands whose method of hardware and software licensing would have doubled our cost."

"The price is very good."

"The subscription that was purchased is for three years, but it is usually for one year at a time."

"We don't have any other costs other than the licensing stuff."

"Its cost is okay. It is not too expensive, not too low. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of pricing."

More WatchGuard Firebox 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

Comms Service Provider

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

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	95
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	15

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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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.

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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 Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

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

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System

Compared 24% of the time

Vectra AI vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System

Compared 18% of the time

Darktrace vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System

Compared 17% of the time

ProtectWise vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System

Compared 14% of the time

Trellix Intrusion Prevention System vs Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System

Compared 11% of the time

More Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 3% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

February 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

February 2026

Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System report

Download Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

January 2026

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Hillstone S-Series NIPS

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

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 Network-based IPS (NIPS) appliance operates in-line, and at wire speed, performing deep packet inspection, and assembling inspection of all network traffic. It also applies rules based on several methodologies, including protocol anomaly analysis and signature analysis to block threats. Hillstone NIPS can be deployed in the network to inspect traffic left undetected by perimeter solutions, and is an integral part of network security systems for its high-performance, no compromise, best-of-breed protection capability and broad and flexible deployment scenarios.

Hillstone Networks

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

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

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February 2026

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