IPFire vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

IPFire Project and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. IPFire Project is ranked #35 with an average rating of 8.0, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.9. IPFire Project holds a 1.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 4.6% 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.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and IPFire compete in the network security domain. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls appears to lead due to its advanced security features and comprehensive threat detection capabilities, while IPFire offers a more basic but valuable open-source model.

Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offers application awareness, advanced threat prevention, and automated analysis for robust security. IPFire provides open-source flexibility, an effective intrusion detection system, and customizable firewall settings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto's deployment requires comprehensive planning with extensive customer support, suitable for larger organizations. IPFire's setup is straightforward, appealing to those with limited resources or preferring a DIY approach, with less intensive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls entail a higher setup cost but promise substantial ROI through advanced security capabilities and long-term support benefits. IPFire offers a low-cost option with its open-source model, requiring internal expertise for high ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,425 peers since 2012

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 Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IPFire is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 4.6%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.7%
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls	4.6%
IPFire	1.9%
Other	74.80000000000001%

Firewalls

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.

Read full review

DanielS

Head Competence Team IT at Duktig Brand

Blocking access from specific countries and ensuring robust security have been effortlessly achieved

I use IPFire to protect my home The best feature of IPFire is the location block functionality. It allows me to block certain countries from accessing my site. Additionally, it is a solution that is available for free, which is perfect. The graphical interface could be much better. I have…

Read full review

Venkatasubramanian Rajagopal

Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees

Cost-effective with operational and maintenance ease

Understanding the flow and application of securities can be complex, requiring navigation across different sections. Further integration into a unified system could improve usability. It is a bit complex to understand the flows and how the securities are applied to each of those flows. It was a little bit challenging because we had to go to two different sections to figure that out. It would be helpful if it is all unified so that we can see the way the firewall connections and security are set up and the applications that are using those connections. It could be structured differently so that it is more understandable. It has been a while, but it was a bit of a complex way. We had to hop from one area to the other and go back and forth to figure out how a specific connection and application was set up.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate has many functions, and it is one of the best next-generation firewalls with an affordable cost than other vendors."

"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."

"It is stable and easy to use. There are a lot of good resources available on the web."

"The next-gen features, the unified threat management capabilities are something that just about everybody is interested in at this point."

"I found the upgrades valuable."

"It's user-friendly and easy to operate."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."

"One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"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 packet level inspection is the most valuable feature. The traffic restriction features allow us to restrict the sub-features of any platform."

"The interface and dashboards are good."

"In general, its performance and ease of use are the most valuable. Its performance is good, stable, and reliable. The user interface is friendly and easy to use. Customers find it easy to work with and easy to learn."

"The feature that I like the most is its IPS model, the WildFire model. I really like how the whole threat protection model functions, including the vulnerability and anti-spyware aspects. That is really awesome."

"The stability of the product has been good over the years."

"They are regularly releasing new versions that include more integration with third-party services."

"I love the Policy Optimizer feature. I am also completely happy with its stability."

"The solution does a great job of identifying malicious items and vulnerabilities with URL filtering."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

"Its technical support could be better."

"Its reporting and pricing need improvement."

"In the past six to seven years with the Fortinet FortiGate, we've had two major downtimes, both caused by firmware upgrades."

"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."

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

"Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."

"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."

"They need faster serviceability and more security features."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The graphical interface could be much better."

"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."

"Surfacing actionable intelligence right away could be better. You have to dig far to get some of the information. If the solution could surface the two or three things out of the 10,000 a day that we really need to deal with, it would be helpful."

"The initial configuration is complicated to set up."

"We would like to see the external dynamic list for this solution improved. The current version does not automatically block malicious IP addresses, which would be very useful."

"Palo Alto Firewalls could improve by introducing more features, particularly in load balancing."

"If you enable SSL you will face a problem. The throughput of the firewall will be degraded. SSL is a big issue on all firewalls. All products suffer from issues with SSL, but Palo Alto firewalls suffer more from it."

"The only problem that I see with the Palo Alto NGFW being an all-in-one appliance is that because of the different features that are being put into a single appliance, the OS tends to be beefier. Over the eight years, we have seen that the number of features or analyses being put into the appliance itself has a tendency to slow down the appliance, especially at the time of bootup. So, any time we are doing maintenance work, the time required for the appliance to boot up and be fully functional again is significantly longer than eight years ago. They could find a way to make this all-in-one appliance faster."

"The tool's central management system is complicated, making it challenging to manage multiple devices centrally. Individually, the firewalls are easy to use and manage. I'd like to see better central management features in the next release. They've introduced some, but I haven't tried them yet, so I can't say how effective they are. However, having a single management interface would be a big improvement."

"I would like the option to be able to block the traffic from a specific country in a few clicks."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost has increased since the update so I would rate it eight out of ten."

"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."

"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."

"Some of our customers are using Sophos and SonicWall due to price concerns, as they can't manage the pricing of Fortinet FortiGate."

"It was pretty affordable. We did go a little bit above MSRP, but the service pack that was included was quite worth the additional costs. It is competitively priced compared to other major players in the market. It is significantly cheaper than Check Point, which is a primary competitor. Additionally, its pricing is comparable to that of Cisco's ASA and a few other vendors."

"It is a cost-effective solution that meets the user's needs."

"We pay about $4,000 for a yearly license, and there aren't any additional fees."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"Palo Alto is one of the most expensive firewalls in the world. Everyone knows that. But you need at least one layer from Palo Alto to protect your environment because it is the strongest company in the security field."

"The licensing is annual, and there aren't any additional fees on top of that."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are very expensive compared to other firewalls such as Fortinet. As a result, Palo Alto is losing some of its market share."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are more expensive than Cisco firewalls, but slightly less expensive than Juniper firewalls."

"Compared to other solutions, it's very expensive to set up and maintain."

"The solution is expensive."

"Its price is quite high but is justified for the features and capabilities provided, although I would prefer a lower price."

"It has a yearly subscription."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

21%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

University

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

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	74
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	84

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IPFire?

The graphical interface could be much better.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IPFire?

I use IPFire ( /products/ipfire-reviews ) to protect my home.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?

Sometimes configuring IPFire is challenging. Overall, I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.

See all answers

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 Firew...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 si...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

OPNsense vs IPFire

Compared 77% of the time

Smoothwall Firewall vs IPFire

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs IPFire

Compared 4% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs IPFire

Compared 3% of the time

More IPFire Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 12% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos XG vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

December 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

December 2025

Download IPFire product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

December 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

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

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

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

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

December 2025

Free Report: IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Find out what your peers are saying about IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IPFire vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report.

See our list of best Firewalls vendors.

We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.