IBM Security Network IPS vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

IBM and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category. IBM is ranked #24, while WatchGuard is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 1.2% mindshare in ID, compared to WatchGuard’s 6.8% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

IBM Security Network IPS and WatchGuard Firebox are competing in the network security solutions category. While IBM leads in advanced threat detection capabilities, WatchGuard Firebox offers a more extensive feature set, providing greater overall value.

Features: IBM Security Network IPS focuses on robust threat intelligence, integration capabilities, and detection of sophisticated intrusions. WatchGuard Firebox provides versatile threat management with comprehensive firewall capabilities, advanced malware protection, and intuitive user interfaces.

Room for Improvement: IBM Security Network IPS could improve by simplifying its deployment process, expanding its range of intuitive features, and lowering its initial costs. WatchGuard Firebox could enhance by offering deeper threat analytics, improving global threat intelligence integration, and adding more detailed reporting options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Security Network IPS is intricate in deployment, requiring specialized knowledge, but offers strong support. WatchGuard Firebox is noted for its straightforward setup and excellent customer service, accommodating various levels of IT expertise.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Security Network IPS tends to have higher initial costs, showing its enterprise-level focus. WatchGuard Firebox provides a cost-effective solution with a lower upfront investment and fast ROI due to its scalable pricing and rich feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Security Network IPS vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Network IPS vs. WatchGuard Firebox

December 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

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.9%, down from 19.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 6.8%, down from 11.8% 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	13.9%
WatchGuard Firebox	6.8%
IBM Security Network IPS	1.2%
Other	78.1%

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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Jacob_Koithra

Project & Program manager at Shell Grp

User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive

Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.

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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

"I prefer FortiGate because it has a lot of other solutions embedded within it and is the easiest for our technicians to operate."

"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization by centralizing the way to access all of our network firewalls."

"The system is very easy to scale."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."

"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are the UTM package which provides internet blocking restrictions and load balancing. Additionally, the solution is easy to use and the security reporting is good. The security fabric which they have launched Fortinet FortiGate IPS, it's very good in terms of giving details."

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

"The solution is scalable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature is its simplicity."

"The initial setup is simple."

"It has everything we need in terms of functionality."

"It's user-friendly. And if you are using a WatchGuard device and you want to test that side of the software, it's quite easy to get the license to test it."

"Firebox operates effectively in the background, blocking potential threats without a need for constant monitoring."

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

"It is the most effective on non-encrypted traffic and it is able to determine some threats through deep packet inspection."

"The Dimension control, the one-spot reporting and control, has been nice. It's been easy to go in and make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing and that only the right stuff is getting in."

"The solution is very easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of WatchGuard Firebox is the VPN. It's easy to connect to the VPN."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"When considering the policy of the vendors, they do not offer much of a discount policy, making the licensing model an area that needs improvement."

"Difficult to add or define, and not that easy to configure and manage."

"The support we receive when we need to upgrade is not satisfactory and has room for improvement."

"The technical support that Fortinet provides is not satisfactory. When we call Fortinet technical support, it takes too much time to connect with them."

"The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."

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

"One drawback of Fortinet FortiGate is that they provide two types of models: one with a hard disk and another without. The model without a hard disk has very low ROM where you can store very few logs, after which you need to upload it to the cloud or purchase a firewall with SSD. That's the only drawback."

"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."

"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."

"The drawbacks are just sometimes not having the technical information that we need in order to easily make connections with all of our Internet-based clients."

"I believe there is room for improvement in policies, with the potential to enhance the margins further."

"Last year, I had an issue with one of the Fireboxes going down. It was overheated, because my server room became overheated and this fried it."

"WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention catches so little. When I've implemented it, it just can't look at the traffic in a thorough enough manner to capture as much as it should. And I find that I'm disenchanted with all data loss protection solutions I've tested and looked at."

"Since WatchGuard acquired Panda, there may be synergies in consolidating both solutions under a single name to reduce customer confusion."

"It's very difficult to find a reseller of WatchGuard Firebox to purchase a license"

"The solution is lacking a professional website, they should be updated more often."

"I think one area for improvement in this solution would be enhancing communication with tools like Active Directory. This would make the tool easier to integrate and effective for users."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Their licensing costs are annual. The UTM feature license along with their support is called FortiCare. We include that as a part of the annual maintenance cost. Palo Alto or Juniper also have an annual subscription charge for UTM. Price, of course, can always be more competitive, but it is not the most expensive product. The price-performance ratio is quite high for FortiGate."

"Cost-wise, there is not much difference from Sophos, but feature-wise, we get more features."

"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."

"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."

"The solution could be better priced."

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."

"Work through partners for the best pricing."

"It cost us around $73,000 for three years."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The cost of operations is very low."

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

"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."

"The two larger devices are about $1,000 each and the smaller ones are about $500 or $600 each... It's cheaper and you have more control because it's self-managed."

"It's in the medium range. Its price is pretty good considering the functions and add-ons that are used."

"Despite the fact that there is always room for improvement, the current pricing of the solution is still lower compared to its competitors."

"I haven't seen the pricing since 2017, but it was competitive. SonicWall, Barracuda, and WatchGuard were all about the same price when we did our last pricing."

"For what we use, the tool's price has been reasonable, but it is not the cheapest. The tool has been quite reasonable."

"I think we might be subscribed to one or two of the premium features."

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

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

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	188

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	92
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	15

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 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.

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Trellix Intrusion Prevention System vs IBM Security Network IPS

Compared 23% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs IBM Security Network IPS

Compared 21% of the time

Vectra AI vs IBM Security Network IPS

Compared 15% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs IBM Security Network IPS

Compared 14% of the time

Darktrace vs IBM Security Network IPS

Compared 13% of the time

More IBM Security Network IPS Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

January 2026

Download IBM Security Network IPS product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

January 2026

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX

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

IBM Security Network Intrusion Prevention System appliances are designed to stop constantly evolving threats before they impact your business. This means providing both high levels of protection and performance, while lowering the overall cost and complexity associated with deploying and managing a large number of point solutions.

IBM

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

Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Network IPS vs. WatchGuard Firebox

December 2025

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