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KerioControl vs WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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

KerioControl
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (29th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (11th)
WatchGuard Intrusion Preven...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
26th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of KerioControl is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Constantnos Achilleos - PeerSpot reviewer
Leveraging geo-tagging and web filtering for enhanced network security
The solution is used for site-to-site VPN connections and it is valued for its cost efficiency and easy connectivity. It is especially beneficial for multi-site VPNs and is used in about fifteen different components KerioControl has provided a financial benefit as it allows purchasing one license…
Gianluca Vinci - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps us protect published resources with a valuable alarm system
Our primary use case for the solution is to protect published resources The alarm system is valuable because it alerts us if an external intruder tries to attack published resources. The user interface can be improved because it is sometimes difficult to manage functionality. For example, the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The reporting needs to be improved. It is hard to get a domain."
"It has helped our organization with testing."
"Kerio Control can be scaled easily."
"I like intrusion detection and prevention and bandwidth management. The routing part is also awesome. It is a good firewall. We never had a major breach from outside. We've never been impacted by ransomware, and our systems have never been infiltrated."
"The firewall appliance itself is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of KerioControl are ease of configuration, user-friendliness, and comfortable to use. It is an all-in-one solution, it comes with many features, such as a firewall, antivirus software, and network protection."
"Kerio is a lot clearer to set up to do particular things, whereas when I do it on a Cisco or a FortiGate I have to go fight with it per week sometimes to do something I can do in 20 minutes on Kerio."
"It is very comprehensive and simple. It has all the active protections. It's updated. We love that you can set how often it is updated so you can work what is right for you. A large company with a lot of bandwidth can update the virus definitions and security definitions hourly, if they want. A smaller site that's remote, where maybe updating the definitions will eat into the bandwidth, we can schedule those more to go later at night. It's very flexible and works for us in all types of situations. This is great because then we don't have to learn seven different products to be able to work with seven different scenarios."
"The alarm system is valuable."
"The most important feature of this solution is the SLAs."
"It works right out of the box. You just have to enable it and you can start working."
"The initial setup was straightforward and, because we only need intrusion detection and prevention, we needed only about four hours to deploy it."
"The VPN and the filtering features are the most valuable. Its VPN is very strong, and its services are very nice. The main problem in India is the service. There are not enough Check Point and Fortinet Firewall services, but for this product, the service is very good."
 

Cons

"The trial duration of the product should be extended."
"The improvement that we are looking for is for when decide to move some part of our application to the cloud."
"My experience with the solutions technical support is fine but they could be faster in responding."
"The filtering on the unlicensed version of Kerio Control is inefficient - you have to add each website manually, which isn't feasible."
"They should improve the remote connectivity feature for users."
"The denial of service could also be improved. There recently was a big issue with denial of service attacks and it was a bit laborious."
"The product's technical support is not good as it used to be."
"There were certain things I didn't know about it, but I've always been able to just contact our IT company. They've been able to walk me through certain things. It was quite a monumental task to set up a public site. Support really had to help me with setting up the VLANs and walk me through it. It was not possible for me to figure that out on my own, but that's what they're here for. That could have been a little bit easier laid out."
"The user interface and configuration can be improved."
"I would like to see faster automatation."
"Regarding technical support, they could use more engineers."
"Its graphical user interface could be improved because not everybody is technical. There is a lack of knowledge, and they can give some training for this solution."
"Multi properties could be added to the solution in the future to make it better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"KerioControl's pricing is reasonable. The license for KerioControl is annual. It's difficult to specify an exact cost since it varies depending on the number of users and additional software combined with it. For example, a basic box might cover 25 users, but licenses can be purchased starting from 10 users."
"The price is fine."
"It is priced low enough for entry-level, but it has the power to grow with a company without them having to replace it."
"The fixed model of users and devices is a bit of a problem for us. We want to be able to expand it fast and not have to contact our supplier first to get a license... If they had a larger fixed price with unlimited users or devices, that would help. Now, it's five users each time. A pack of 100 or 200 users for a certain price would make it more dynamic and user-scalable."
"It's very affordable."
"I think it is a bit on the pricey side, but it's okay. I've got 50 licenses which I think is $250 a year or something like that."
"I pay approximately $50 for the solution on an annual basis."
"Its licensing is yearly. You renew every year. Its price is all-inclusive."
"The price of the solution is not expensive, it is less than FortiGate."
"The price of WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service is pretty reasonable compared to similar solutions."
"It is not expensive. Other products like Fortinet and Check Point are of the same price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Media Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about KerioControl?
The solution provides feasibility regarding cyber privacy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for KerioControl?
KerioControl offers good pricing as one license covers all features needed without extra payment. The price for the product is rated as ten out of ten.
What needs improvement with KerioControl?
The logs could be improved for better clarity. It is difficult to understand when there is a threat attack, and handling firmware requires experience.
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Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
WatchGuard IPS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Triton Technical, McDonald's
Chester School District
Find out what your peers are saying about KerioControl vs. WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.