No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series comparison

 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
33rd
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series1.1%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series0.4%
Other98.5%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed_Shalaby - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
Application control excels and integration with monitoring system boosts efficiency
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent. Application control is one of the most valuable features. Its monitoring capability…
Rohit Ghorpade - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Identity-based perimeter control has improved security and supports reliable remote access
Currently, we are working with vendors such as Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, Cisco, Check Point, and Citrix. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is a better firewall. Deep packet inspection and threat prevention basically comply with whatever traffic is incoming and outgoing through the firewall. I do not think anything improvement is required. The thing is that Palo Alto Networks PA-Series works mostly on a license-based model. If you want to utilize any feature, you have to purchase the license. For example, URL filtering requires a license purchase. It simplifies the implementation because LDAP server profile can be integrated. Basically, that simplifies the implementation of access rule or security policy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"It offers application-based policy enforcement. Palo Alto Networks firewalls help us recognize protocol anomalies, contrasting with other vendors that may require policies based on port numbers. With Palo Alto Networks, the port number isn't a constraint because their devices handle protocol traffic at Layer 7, allowing for accurate identification of protocol usage and port numbers. They can identify which protocol actually uses which port."
"Comprehensive logging is essential for monitoring and analysis purposes. For remote users, the firewall can be configured as a VPN concentrator, with VPN policies defined within the firewall settings."
"I like the tool's security and web filtering features."
"App-ID is a really good feature."
"The solution has a three-layer architecture, and it helps customers to deploy the solution quickly."
"When I compare the tool with other firewalls, it’s the most powerful. It's the most powerful security engine. All the traffic going to the Internet passes through it as the first layer of protection. Because of its good performance, we also use it for decryption."
"With the help of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, we are saving money, time, and multiple other resources."
"Integrated threat intelligence has empowered my organization to adapt to threats by taking a lot of the burden off us; there's just no way we would see the same breadth of knowledge that a vendor or manufacturer would have."
 

Cons

"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."
"I'd like to see more IOPs features."
"The technical support offered by Palo Alto is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The support provided by the solution is not that good."
"The product's high prices are an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The UI definitely needs work. In my opinion, the UI could be simpler and more user-friendly for the average user."
"The support has been shaky. Initially, it took one or two hours to get a Palo Alto engineer, which is quite slow. I expect faster response times."
"However, they are expensive and there might be some sticker shock if you just looked at them for the price."
"Palo Alto should integrate artificial intelligence for security purposes in the background for well-known threats and new risks coming to the market."
"As we migrate fully into the cloud, additional features like capacity upgrading and improvements to hardware resources will be necessary, especially since our equipment consists of older-generation switches and routers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"From my perspective, managing the price is important, especially because we're a small business. For larger organizations like Barclays, we provide our requirements to the client, and they place the order on BigFix. It's their responsibility to consider their budget and make decisions accordingly. We appreciate the features we get, but the cost-sharing still depends on the client."
"While other firewalls may come with a higher cost, when you consider the cost in relation to the services and features that Palo Alto offers, it is clear that Palo Alto is delivering excellent value."
"Price-wise, Palo Alto offers high-price products."
"The product is offered to users at high prices compared to the pricing model of the other vendors in the market."
"From my perspective, managing the price is important, especially because we're a small business. For larger organizations like Barclays, we provide our requirements to the client, and they place the order on BigFix. It's their responsibility to consider their budget and make decisions accordingly. We appreciate the features we get, but the cost-sharing still depends on the client."
"The cost varies depending on the device model, with entry-level firewalls priced around $1,300 to $1,500, while higher-end models can reach prices of several hundred thousand dollars."
"The tool's pricing was reasonable when we bought the product. We pay around 60,000 dollars per year."
"With Palo Alto, even when you enable all the modules, it still provides the exact throughput they advertise."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
The pricing of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is quite expensive, rating around eight on a scale of one to ten for cost.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive. The SD-WAN implementation using Panorama needs enhancement because it involves a specific plugin and configuring ...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series ( /products/palo-alto-networks-cn-series-reviews ) and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-S...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
If we look at the features, then the price is good, but they do charge for the GlobalProtect VPNs. Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
There is room for improvement in Palo Alto Networks PA-Series in the areas where they can minimize applications and implement features that can be useful for us.
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
I am using Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to ensure protection and cybersecurity by preventing and implementing network security features to safeguard networks against threats and malware. I have to ...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.