IPFire vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Why PeerSpot?

IPFire Project and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. IPFire Project is ranked #29 with an average rating of 8.0, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.8. IPFire Project holds a 0.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 5.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IPFire Project users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

IPFire

Read 3 IPFire reviews

4,023 Views
3,943 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...

Read 200 Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls reviews

24,301 Views
23,329 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

IPFire

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and IPFire compete in the network security domain. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls seem to have the upper hand in advanced security features and enterprise-level support, while IPFire benefits from open-source flexibility and cost-effectiveness.

Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer threat prevention, application control, and advanced security analytics, suitable for large enterprises. IPFire provides versatility, ease of use, and modularity, with features like intrusion detection and customizable firewalls.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer comprehensive customer support and detailed deployment guides suitable for extensive infrastructures. IPFire is praised for simplicity and easy installation, with community-driven support valuable for flexible setups.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have higher setup costs, offering substantial ROI by improving security measures. IPFire, as an open-source solution, has lower setup costs, delivering high ROI through its cost-effective approach, ideal for small to medium-sized networks.

To learn more, read our detailed IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

September 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

IPFire

Ranking in Firewalls

29th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...

Ranking in Firewalls

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

200

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of IPFire is 0.9%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls	5.2%
IPFire	0.9%
Other	93.9%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Agharinma Ehiedu

Chief Technology Officer at Agileware Limited

Firewall deployment has secured mission-critical public apps and simplifies Linux-based management

The best features IPFire offers include its very intuitive nature because, even though it has a Linux back-end, in terms of configuration, it has a very rich GUI interface. The GUI and configuration features of IPFire have made my work easier and more efficient because their positioning and the sequence with which I follow is easy. In terms of all the processes, what you need to do at first and the next thing that you need to do is clear. The GUI is well arranged in sequential order, so you can follow that from whatever you want to do until you get the target objective. IPFire includes features with a very robust and rich community that is very much valid in terms of content. IPFire has positively impacted my organization by giving us some mileage. At least, a lot of organizations now know that we have a solution that can deliver the same value.

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Nitin Yadav

Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt.Ltd.

Strong threat prevention has reduced phishing and malware while I monitor traffic in depth

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offers application and user awareness, which allow me to control traffic based on threats. The product includes threat prevention, advanced threat prevention, and deep packet inspection that really helps prevent issues in our network. Deep packet inspection inspects full traffic content, even inside applications and encrypted sessions. Deep packet inspection makes a very practical difference day to day because it lets me see and control what is actually inside the traffic, not just the open port or IP. I have real visibility of which application is running instead of just seeing HTTPS. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls WildFire sandboxing is really good at detecting and blocking zero-day malware automatically, along with its GlobalProtect and DNS security features. Using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls positively impacts my organization by providing strong security, better visibility, faster response, and simplified operations. After deploying Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls in our network, it blocks malicious traffic and prevents compromises that occurred before Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls. I can now block outside IPs to prevent issues. After Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls installation, I reduced 60 to 70 percent of malware and phishing attacks. Its threat prevention and DNS security features detect these attacks, block malicious domains, and reduce manual efforts for the security team.

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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

"Regarding IPFire's AI capabilities, I think they are quite focused; in all the deployments I have done, I have not had any incidents or breaches."

"IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements."

"I would rate the stability as ten out of ten for IPFire."

"The most valuable features are the power of the threat prevention and the WildFire service. Its strength comes from the huge number of sensors all over the world. The firewalls have a rich library of signatures."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls' application context, traffic flow, netting, and other features help provide protection in a more secure way."

"The most valuable aspect of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is the performance."

"I would tell potential users that Palo Alto is the best, even compared to Cisco or any other competitor."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is Cortex Data Lake."

"The most valuable feature is threat prevention."

"The technical support is great."

"The best features of this solution are URL filtering and traffic visibility."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

"I would rate IPFire 8 out of 10 because I do not think there is any solution anywhere in the world that is 100 percent efficient."

"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."

"The graphical interface could be much better."

"The only real drawback to this product is that it is expensive. But you get what you pay for and there is no way to put a price on top-notch security."

"It is a good product, but they can add some functions for port scanning and network scanning."

"The pricing could be improved. They need to work on the setup over the firewall, VLAN, and PPPoE."

"The performance of the Panorama interface needs to be improved. It tends to be very sluggish at times."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls technical support is very poor."

"The only area I can see for improvement is that Palo Alto should do more marketing."

"From a normal IPS after attack, routine attack and threat detection attack, in other words, the standard IPS detection attack, I don't see Palo Alto as very good compared to others."

"The reporting and visibility are phenomenal, but you don't get that information out of the box. They can email reports regularly, and the functionality is all there. However, a lot of it is based on an older model for email, where customers have in-house email servers. The small and medium-sized business customers I deal with are moving toward Office 365 or some other cloud-based mail and not maintaining their own internal mail servers."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It's cheaper to replace the equipment every three years than to upgrade. We have done two refreshes of their appliances. What I have seen is that the initial hardware cost is low, but you need a subscription and you need maintenance plans. After every three years, if you're trying to renew your maintenance or subscription, that can be very costly. It's cheaper to just get a newer solution with a three-year subscription and maintenance. It's cheaper to replace your hardware completely with a new subscription plan and a new maintenance plan than to renew the maintenance subscription on existing hardware."

"The product is expensive compared to competing products but uses a similar type of pricing model based on hardware, software and maintenance."

"While Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls may be considered expensive, their quality justifies the cost."

"Paul Alto is the most expensive solution in this category."

"Cost-wise, I don't see much difference in network-related costs, but this is a premium-grade firewall. There is a cost involved, and you must pay for that to get the most out of it. Its licensing costs are straightforward. There aren't any hidden costs."

"Reducing costs is important, especially since Prisma can be expensive. It would be great if it were more affordable."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have a higher price tag, costing roughly twice as much as competing products."

"This is an expensive product, which is why some of our customers don't adopt it."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

20%

Computer Software Company

University

Government

Outsourcing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	77
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	89

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IPFire?

IPFire can be improved, but so far, there are no functionalities that have not been able to meet my needs. I wish IPFire could do more, but so far, I am happy with the solution. If there are other ...

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What is your primary use case for IPFire?

My main use case for IPFire is usually for security, functioning as a firewall for organizations that run public-facing applications. I will give you a typical example: there is an agency of the fe...

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What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?

I would rate IPFire 8 out of 10 because I do not think there is any solution anywhere in the world that is 100 percent efficient. In elementary physics, we are told that no machine can be 100 perce...

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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 Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...

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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 kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...

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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 signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...

See all answers

Comparisons

OPNsense vs IPFire

Compared 53% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs IPFire

Compared 9% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs IPFire

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs IPFire

Compared 5% of the time

KerioControl vs IPFire

Compared 3% of the time

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Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 22% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 11% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 4% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

September 2026

Download IPFire product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

September 2026

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

Overview

IPFire enhances network security and protects against cyber threats. It provides a secure firewall, secure remote access, and customizable options. Users praise its ease of use, flexibility, and reliability for network monitoring and traffic shaping. Its valuable features include efficient firewall capabilities, a user-friendly interface, and reliable network performance.

IPFire Project

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

1. Siemens 2. IBM 3. Cisco 4. Dell 5. HP 6. Intel 7. Oracle 8. Google 9. Microsoft 10. Amazon 11. Apple 12. Facebook 13. Twitter 14. Netflix 15. Adobe 16. SAP 17. VMware 18. Juniper Networks 19. Ericsson 20. Nokia 21. AT&T 22. Verizon 23. T-Mobile 24. Vodafone 25. Orange 26. Deutsche Telekom 27. British Telecom 28. Comcast 29. Time Warner 30. Sony 31. Samsung 32. LG

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

Buyer's Guide

IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

September 2026

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