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Kaspersky Next EDR Expert vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 9, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate delivers cost efficiency, improved security, and management simplicity, leading to high user satisfaction and significant ROI.
Sentiment score
2.5
Kaspersky EDR Expert can improve data security for SMBs, but effectiveness varies based on IT setup and enterprise size.
Sentiment score
6.6
Organizations gain ROI from WatchGuard Firebox through enhanced security, reduced costs, and improved efficiency, despite challenges in quantifying ROI.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
From a security standpoint, preventing even a single major security incident or prolonged outage can represent significant cost savings.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
I do not see any return on investment after WatchGuard Firebox implementation in terms of cost reductions.
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
Reduced incidents and easier management helped lower operational cost.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's support is valued for responsiveness but needs improvement in consistency, speed, and technical competence.
Sentiment score
6.2
Kaspersky support quality varies; some users praise responsiveness and expertise, while others criticize slow and inadequate assistance.
Sentiment score
6.4
WatchGuard Firebox support is responsive and knowledgeable, but some regions experience delays with complex issue resolutions.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
I rate the technical support from Kaspersky a 10, as they respond quickly with engineers joining the conversation within three to five minutes.
Enterprise Endpoint Protection and IT Security Controls General Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have my own independent team for Kaspersky deployment and operational support, so I am not dependent on Kaspersky's backend technical support.
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
From my perspective, the local team and the support team of Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert need to be more accurate and more responsible.
Systems Specialist/ Administrator at ALFA International Company Limited.
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the technical support of the WatchGuard Firebox a 10.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with other vendors such as Fortinet, SonicWall, Palo Alto, and Sophos, WatchGuard Firebox performs competitively.
Cyber Security Engineer at Underdefense
Most of the time, support engineers are knowledgeable and able to assist effectively with firewall configuration issues, VPN troubleshooting, firmware updates, and security-related concerns.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers excellent scalability with flexible deployment options, though hardware scalability may require planning or upgrades.
Sentiment score
7.0
Kaspersky is scalable and flexible for SMEs; some report deployment complexity, suggesting third-party solutions for high availability.
Sentiment score
6.8
WatchGuard Firebox offers scalability for diverse environments, balancing intuitive management with some performance restraints and hardware considerations.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is very scalable, working with high availability techniques across three main data centers in my organization.
Enterprise Endpoint Protection and IT Security Controls General Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I believe Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is scalable, as I can keep adding agents without hard limitations.
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
Overall, WatchGuard Firebox offers strong scalability for SMBs, MSPs, branch offices, and hybrid environments while keeping deployment and management relatively straightforward.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
The user interface and features compared to newer firewalls are not up to the mark, which includes functionalities such as filtering, web filtering, threat protection, user identity, and UTM features that need improvement.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
You can choose different models based on throughput and features, which makes it easy to support growing environments.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is a reliable, stable platform needing careful configuration to avoid occasional bugs during updates.
Sentiment score
6.6
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is stable, effective, and highly rated for its robustness and threat detection capabilities.
Sentiment score
8.0
Users praise WatchGuard Firebox for its stability, reliability, and consistent performance, with quick support solutions for any issues.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It effectively detects new applications and requires whitelisting based on assessments discussed with the technical teams or vendors.
Enterprise Endpoint Protection and IT Security Controls General Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Customers using Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert can manage environments with as few as 100 endpoints or as many as 5,000 endpoints very effectively.
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
I haven't found any issues with this particular solution, and there's no room for improvement for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert.
Owner at Maxpro Technologies
I have just one WatchGuard Firebox unit that is licensed, and I have no bugs on it, so I am happy with that.
Administrateur Systã¨Mes Et Rã©Seau at Btp Consultants
Once properly configured, the platform handles VPN connectivity, traffic inspection, and security services constantly, even in multi-site environments with remote users.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
There are issues with traffic hitting the firewall, which could indicate performance problems related to throughput.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users seek better integration, pricing, stability, security, support effectiveness, GUI ease, and documentation improvements.
Kaspersky needs to enhance resource efficiency, cloud integration, and add features like AI while improving support, interface, and partnerships.
WatchGuard Firebox needs improved reporting, interface, performance, integration, support, pricing, security, and VPN/mobile management capabilities.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
A centralized dashboard is a primary requirement, as it would facilitate easier management without needing to install multiple agents.
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
Deployment with the console directly, without depending on other workers to deploy the agents, would be beneficial.
Technical Support Analyst at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Compared to my previous product, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is not up to the mark; it's below my rating.
Systems Specialist/ Administrator at ALFA International Company Limited.
It gives good visibility and control over the traffic, and the UI makes it easy to manage policies and respond quickly when something comes up.
Manager at Cyvogenix
The cost for renewal after three years is 75% of the hardware cost, which is a significant problem.
Owner at it logic
When implementing a rule using a group of IPs, it is not possible to do that directly.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, scalable solutions with competitive pricing, yet some users find advanced feature costs high.
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert offers competitive pricing, varying by license duration, region, and necessary features.
WatchGuard Firebox provides cost-effective pricing and flexible licensing for SMBs, making it ideal for budget-conscious enterprises.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The pricing is nominal when we compare it with other solutions.
Owner at Maxpro Technologies
Compared to other products, the pricing for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is almost the same.
Systems Specialist/ Administrator at ALFA International Company Limited.
When we tried to renew the Palo Alto license, the cost was beyond any reasonable range.
Digital Solution Designer at Accenture
Fortinet is more expensive than WatchGuard.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
I find WatchGuard Firebox to be cost-effective.
Chief Technology Officer at Falcon Automation
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong security, SD-WAN efficiency, and user-friendly management, valued for cost-effectiveness and integration with Fortinet products.
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert offers scalable, user-friendly protection with seamless integration and strong threat detection features.
WatchGuard Firebox provides comprehensive network security with advanced threat prevention, intuitive management, and reliable firewall and VPN features.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The ATP functionality is quite strong because it utilizes the behavioral analytics engine in the backend, which employs machine learning mechanisms to identify any kind of vulnerability or exploit running on the operating system level and the network level.
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
Almost all our clients use the Patch Management, vulnerability, and integration feature.
Technical Support Analyst at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The product is strong enough and capable of handling the type of detections as protection and security.
Systems Specialist/ Administrator at ALFA International Company Limited.
The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
The features of WatchGuard Firebox are most valuable for maintaining network security.
Cyber Security Engineer at Underdefense
Some of the best features of WatchGuard Firebox in my experience are its ease of management, strong VPN capabilities, and integrated security services.
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Kaspersky Next EDR Expert
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (21st)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
135
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (11th), Firewalls (12th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (5th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (16th), Application Control (5th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network & Security Engineer at Arrowpc network
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
Ravi-Upadhyay - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Inspira Enterprise
Provides strong threat detection and response through behavior analytics and network isolation
I have found the most valuable features of Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert to be its ability to tackle the biggest challenges customers face when they have to mitigate any kind of a malware, ransomware attack, or online theft scenarios. The solution utilizes its HIPS, which is the host intrusion prevention system, behavior analytics system, and device control mechanism, making the antivirus capabilities of EDR quite strong. It is able to detect zero-day threats as well as historical or legacy malware, providing protection against current threats in the market and legacy malware. My opinion on the advanced threat detection algorithms in Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert is that the ATP functionality is quite strong because it utilizes the behavioral analytics engine in the backend, which employs machine learning mechanisms to identify any kind of vulnerability or exploit running on the operating system level and the network level. If an attack is about to happen on the endpoint, it is able to protect over the network as well and checks for any illegitimate encryption activities. The machine learning capability within Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert has contributed to improving detection accuracy and reducing false positives in my environment by helping me identify malicious activity and differentiate between any malicious activity on the operating system level and on the network level. I have seen customers with in-house developed applications that have no public signatures available. Once I whitelist a particular application, it intelligently whitelists not only the executable but also all the dependent services required to run that application. Furthermore, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert has successfully blocked network-level attacks on the endpoint. For example, during a recent DoS attack aimed at choking the entire network, Kaspersky detected the attack, isolated the device in a sandbox network, and alerted my SOC team via email for corrective action, thereby proactively helping me detect and protect devices from malicious attacks.
Abhishek Saini - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional Services Engineer at Nex7 IT
Centralized security management has improved VPN reliability and simplified daily operations
WatchGuard Firebox is a strong and reliable platform overall, but there are a few areas where improvements could make the experience even better. One area is the user interface and navigation in some management tools. While the platform is powerful, certain configurations and troubleshooting workflows can feel less intuitive compared to some newer cloud-native firewall platforms. Another point is reporting and log analysis. Although the logging features are very useful, deeper analytics and more customizable reporting dashboards would make security monitoring much more effective. Firmware upgrades and policy synchronization can sometimes require careful planning to avoid security interruptions. Overall, the core security and VPN functionality are very solid, but improving usability, reporting, and automation would make the platform even stronger. One area that could be improved is the learning curve for new administrators. While experienced engineers can work with the platform effectively, some advanced networking and security configurations can be a bit complex for junior technicians. More guided configuration workflows, smarter recommendations, and simplified troubleshooting tools would make onboarding easier. Another improvement would be more flexible reporting customization for executive-level and client-facing reports.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business100
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise15
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert?
The user interface of Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert could be more intuitive, and I would appreciat...
What is your primary use case for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert?
My usual use cases for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert involve detecting ransomware earlier and proa...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
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...
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.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Kaspersky EDR
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

Overview

 

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
Ferrari, Insolar, Tael, Republic of Serbia
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Kaspersky Next EDR Expert vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,034 professionals have used our research since 2012.