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Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
3.0
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection offers a 30% ROI, top-tier protection against data loss, and is highly valued for its cost-effectiveness.
Sentiment score
6.8
WatchGuard Firebox enhances network security and management, reducing incidents and downtime, offering significant cost savings and productivity benefits.
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
I have observed value for money from Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
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
5.3
Kaspersky's support is praised for expertise, but experiences vary due to response times and communication clarity.
Sentiment score
6.4
WatchGuard Firebox support is praised for quick response, expertise, and effective problem-solving despite some regional differences.
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
Compared to other solution providers, the responses are not very clear when we need support.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We usually solve issues ourselves due to our experience, as paid support is not used.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
For technical support, Kaspersky provides two kinds: purchased support for real-time assistance and normal support during working hours.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
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
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection scales well for large organizations, with straightforward licensing and strong integration for extended capabilities.
Sentiment score
6.9
WatchGuard Firebox provides scalable solutions for small to mid-sized environments, effectively supporting growth and diverse deployment needs.
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 Optimum can expand from Endpoint Detection and Response to Extended Detection and Response and then threat intelligence solutions.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
It is very easy for me to scale.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
Currently, I find it good and easily scalable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
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
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is praised for its stability and performance, despite occasional disconnection issues.
Sentiment score
8.0
WatchGuard Firebox is praised for stability and reliability, with minimal issues and long-lasting performance, despite rare outages.
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
The solution is highly stable, scoring more than nine in terms of protection.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is stable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
I would rate stability for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum as nine; it is pretty stable, a very good, stable product.
CEO at Haniya 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 Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum needs improvements in integration, scalability, pricing, UI, support efficiency, and central management.
WatchGuard Firebox requires enhancements in performance, usability, cloud features, integration, support, pricing, documentation, and threat detection.
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
To increase the benefits of the product, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service from Kaspersky should be included.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The uninstallation needs better handling, specifically with automatic license deletions.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
SonicWall can integrate with other products such as Sophos, SentinelOne, and several others, but not with Kaspersky.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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 EDR Optimum offers competitive pricing, considered economical by some despite security concerns, compared to Fortinet or CrowdStrike.
WatchGuard Firebox offers competitive pricing and good value, appealing to small and mid-sized businesses despite potential cost concerns.
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
Kaspersky is very cheap compared to solutions like CrowdStrike or other vendors.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
The value from Kaspersky is very good, especially since we recently got a special deal.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
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 provides advanced security with real-time analytics, automation, encryption, and user-friendly management for comprehensive protection.
WatchGuard Firebox offers strong firewall protection with features like intrusion prevention, VPN, user-friendly management, and cloud integration.
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
It fulfills security and protection requirements against newly discovered malware, especially ransomware attacks.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Threat Response Automation in Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is quite effective for enhancing security.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
In the past month, we encountered an unknown type of malware, but the behavior was sufficient for Kaspersky to isolate the network based on this behavior, which proved very efficient.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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 Optimum
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (23rd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (25th)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
134
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 Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
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.
Nadeem Syed - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Haniya Technologies
Continuous protection has improved automated threat response and reporting for our endpoints
We did work with one of our clients who required mobile security solutions. In my opinion, Trend Micro, when we went through the POCs and other components, we did not find it very strong as far as mobile security is concerned. I think Kaspersky is much better than Trend Micro when it comes to mobile security solutions. From an outside perspective, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum looks pretty strong and comprehensive. The main improvement would be if they could decrease the cost, as it would be great for clients since it is quite expensive now compared to when it used to be cheaper. The key competitor for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is Trend Micro. Trend Micro is the only competitor in the market right now. I would say both Trend Micro Endpoint Detection and Response and Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum are quite similar; I cannot say that one is better than the other. The difference is mainly in cost; Trend Micro has mostly moved all their products to the cloud, offering no on-premises products now, whereas Kaspersky is still in a transition phase providing both on-premises and cloud solutions. Many clients prefer on-premises as it is less expensive compared to cloud.
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%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
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 Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business99
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market. I do not know the exact cost o...
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
We did work with one of our clients who required mobile security solutions. In my opinion, Trend Micro, when we went ...
What is your primary use case for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
When it comes to endpoint security requirements, we work with Trend Micro most of the time; currently, my focus is mo...
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
No data available
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
Information Not Available
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 Optimum vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.