Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Cisco Meraki MX vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

June 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.2

Cisco Meraki MX provides significant ROI through intuitive management, reduced costs, and streamlined operations despite higher initial costs.

Sentiment score

6.5

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver strong ROI through reduced risks, costs, and enhanced security features despite high initial costs.

I have seen a return on investment with Cisco Meraki MX because of the time saved through cloud management.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Presales System Engineer at Logicom Sales Inc

You can eliminate some positions because it manages itself.

Lester Perrin

Enterprise Networking Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

It greatly helps out when I am moving away from the expensive MPLS circuits or MPLS hardware.

JasminPatel

Senior Manager Networking at David Yurman

Their user-friendly interface and Panorama central management, which provides a comprehensive overview, make them an ideal investment.

Jeelani Qadir

Technical Lead at Accenture

The solution helped reduce downtime, which is crucial in time-sensitive industries like manufacturing.

Venkatasubramanian Rajagopal

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

I have seen a return on investment as there are definitely clear cost reductions, resource savings, time savings, and improved risk detection.

Nitin Yadav

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

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

8.3

Cisco Meraki MX support is responsive and knowledgeable, highly rated for reliability, though some advanced users face visibility challenges.

Sentiment score

6.7

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with language barriers and emergency response times needing improvement.

When we raise a ticket with Meraki MX, they instantly become available to support us for configurations or troubleshooting.

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Cisco's TAC support for Cisco Meraki MX is excellent because no other OEM provides support at this level.

Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies

Cisco is one of the best vendors in the market.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Presales System Engineer at Logicom Sales Inc

Palo Alto's network support is excellent, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.

reviewer2173242

Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Their response time is within one hour.

AmjadKhan1

Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees

They offer fast and competent assistance.

Valentyn Lytvynov

IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.7

Cisco Meraki MX is scalable, adapting from small to large deployments, with minimal management and straightforward setup.

Sentiment score

6.8

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer scalability and customization, but hardware limitations and cost issues affect extensive scaling options.

When you have hundreds of thousands of people it is very difficult to scale in Meraki.

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The scalability of Cisco Meraki MX is rated 10 out of 10; you can scale up and scale down with no effort.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Presales System Engineer at Logicom Sales Inc

Cisco Meraki MX scales with my growing needs for my organization very well because they are easy to deploy.

reviewer2847897

Network Engineer at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees

Cloud deployments benefit from auto-scaling, allowing for automatic adjustments to firewall capacity based on demand.

Jeelani Qadir

Technical Lead at Accenture

It is important to assess the infrastructure size before choosing a model.

Valentyn Lytvynov

IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are scalable and reliable.

Hrushikesh Pandit

Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.6

Cisco Meraki MX offers high reliability and compatibility, with praised stability despite occasional content filtering and hardware issues.

Sentiment score

8.5

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are favored for their consistent stability and reliability, outperforming competitors in various scenarios.

There have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies

I have had zero downtime at all with Cisco Meraki MX.

Lester Perrin

Enterprise Networking Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

I assess the stability and the reliability of Cisco Meraki MX as good, and I have experienced no downtime, crashes, or performance issues.

reviewer2847897

Network Engineer at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees

With appropriately configured policies, these firewalls can provide robust network security.

Adam-Brenner

Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees

After the upgrade, we are experiencing performance issues.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

I have not experienced any outages or issues.

Valentyn Lytvynov

IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it

Room For Improvement

Cisco Meraki MX faces challenges with port control, VPN connectivity, interface usability, pricing, and integration, prompting user concerns.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls need improved reporting, support, affordability, AI features, integration, scalability, and better-performing hardware.

It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Data is the only path, so optimization is essential.

Mayur_Patel

Chief Commercial Officer at InnovAge Home Care

An improvement would be to use Cisco Meraki MX as a software solution as well, which might reduce the cost.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies

When performance degrades due to full packet inspection, the solution should be to increase the computing power within the same firewall, not to recommend upgrading to a larger, more expensive model.

Venkatasubramanian Rajagopal

Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Further integration into a unified system could improve usability.

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

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls lack built-in multi-factor authentication, requiring the purchase of a third-party tool to implement this essential security feature.

AmjadKhan1

Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Setup Cost

Cisco Meraki MX offers flexible licensing and high value but can involve significant initial costs and annual fees.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are costly but valued for premium security, offering better value with multi-year licenses.

I get it for $25,000, a device that can connect up to 75-100 users, whereas in Meraki MX, it goes to 75,000-80,000 per access point.

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The price could be reduced by around 30% to make it more comfortable.

Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies

If Cisco can make the pricing less, customers can purchase more licenses.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Presales System Engineer at Logicom Sales Inc

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls come at a premium, exceeding the cost of most competitors by 45 percent.

AmjadKhan1

Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees

Colleagues looking for the cheapest and fastest firewall can still use Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls because they are affordable.

Senthil Kumar Manian

Director at Zuci Systems

Valuable Features

Cisco Meraki MX provides cloud management, SD-WAN, advanced security, and ease of use, making it ideal for scalable networks.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer robust, user-friendly security with advanced AI, threat prevention, and centralized management features.

Meraki MX is among those top solutions in their exceptional approach towards VPN-less, Zero Trust client access to office private networks.

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Advanced security is the second tier of Cisco Meraki MX. It brings you the main next-generation firewalling features such as URL filtering, advanced malware protection, and threat protection.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Presales System Engineer at Logicom Sales Inc

Cisco Meraki MX API makes it really easy for me to automate a lot of changes over several thousand devices.

reviewer2847915

Technology Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are DNS sync calls, enabled security features, and Wildfire.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls report

Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Threat Vault allows us access to a comprehensive threat database, enabling us to get detailed information on threats and how to mitigate them.

Hrushikesh Pandit

Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

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

Adam-Brenner

Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki MX

Ranking in Firewalls

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Threat Management (UTM) (6th)

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...

Ranking in Firewalls

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

199

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 3.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 3.9% 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%
Cisco Meraki MX	3.5%
Other	91.3%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Cloud-based solution simplifies network management with excellent support

Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies

There have been no issues with stability after deployment. There have been no complaints. For stability, I would suggest that Cisco Meraki MX is the most stable device from the security processor. Regarding content filtering features, we are using content filtering and malware access, along with all security features in Cisco Meraki MX9500. We have received good feedback from customers because since installing Cisco Meraki MX9500, we have not received any complaints. There have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits. It is compatible with all different OEMs, and for VPN, site-to-site VPN has been configured with other firewalls as well. We are getting very good responses from customers as there have been no complaints where we have deployed Cisco Meraki MX9500.

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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.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	43
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	19

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	77
Midsize Enterprise	57
Large Enterprise	87

Questions from the Community

Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department

We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL Inspection, Granular Firewall rules (Block only, no allow setting), client vpn re...

Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports network security and firewall options. We researched both Meraki and ASA. We liked t...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MX?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that we went through a third party who negotiated all the prices with Cisco for us.

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...

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...

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...

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Meraki MX

Comparisons

Compared 11% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Meraki MX Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 13% of the time

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

Compared 9% of the time

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

Compared 5% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 4% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Download Cisco Meraki MX product report

Cisco Meraki MX

July 2026

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

June 2026

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

Overview

Cisco Meraki MX offers cloud-managed security with user-friendly setup and efficient management, enhancing VPN and firewall functionalities for businesses.

Cisco Meraki MX is known for its robust cloud-based network management, featuring AutoVPN, SD-WAN, and advanced security. Its centralized control over firewall, traffic shaping, and monitoring ensures excellent connectivity and security. The interface allows easy management by non-technical staff, offering remote access and seamless network performance through real-time alerts and troubleshooting. It supports global connectivity with minimal effort, addressing needs across small to enterprise environments. Despite its strengths, users point out areas needing improvement like load balancing, VPN features, more flexible logging, and session capabilities. Pricing, integration limits, and licensing need enhancement.

What are the key features of Cisco Meraki MX?

AutoVPN: Enables automatic VPN configuration for secure, site-to-site connections.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routes for increased performance and reliability.
Advanced Security: Offers unified threat management, intrusion prevention, and content filtering.
Centralized Management: Simplifies operations with remote monitoring and configuration.
Traffic Shaping: Prioritizes critical business applications to maximize performance.

What benefits should users consider?

Ease of Deployment: Simplified installation reduces setup time and cost.
Real-Time Alerts: Ensures proactive issue identification and resolution.
Scalability: Supports growth with seamless integration and management of multiple sites.
Global Connectivity: Maintains efficient connections across geographic locations with minimal effort.

In industries like retail, finance, and education, Cisco Meraki MX provides enhanced security and connectivity. Retail chains benefit from easy VPN setups for secure multi-site networking, while educational institutions find value in its ability to manage large campuses efficiently. Financial services leverage its robust security features to protect sensitive data, ensuring compliance and trust.

Cisco

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

Hyatt, ONS

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