Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall	1.0%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series	0.4%
Other	83.5%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Joseph Koomson

IP Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana

Process-Level CPU Visibility: Introduce detailed CPU-usage metrics per subsystem (e.g., IPS engine, logging) so administrators can quickly identify and address performance spikes.

Analytics with FortiAnalyzer. Being able to pull in logs not just from our FortiGates but from all our other firewalls and then get them in one view has been a game changer. Whether I’m building an executive dashboard or doing a deep dive forensics session, I get everything I need without navigating consoles.Straightforward Application Control. FortiGate spots and blocks unwanted apps (eq. like BitTorrent or streaming services) with accuracy. Segmentation with VDOMs. We’ve carved our data center into four logical ‘mini-firewalls’ enterprise, core, billing, and WAF—all on one box. Each has its own rules and logs, and any traffic between them still gets inspected. It’s like having multiple appliances without the extra hardware. Always-Up-to-Date Threat Feeds. Daily signature updates and AI-driven threat sensing mean we’re blocking the latest vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re announced.

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Ahmed_Shalaby

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…

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Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management

The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the policies, filtering, and configuration."

"I highly recommend Fortinet as a leader in integrated suite information security capabilities."

"I appreciate the ease of use, ease of setup, and the different abilities it has; I have been very pleased with it over SonicWall, the interface of Fortinet FortiGate is a lot easier to use and more robust, plus their VPN option is much better."

"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"Overall, I would recommend the product, as it comes with a very good set of features and we have been quite happy with it."

"The IPS and the application control feature are the most valuable."

"Good anti-malware and web filtering features."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."

"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."

"Zscaler provides effective protection against various cyber threats ensuring a safe environment"

"Most of the features that Zscaler has to offer, we will deploy."

"Zscaler is one of the leading vendors in the cloud space."

"Zscaler is the Rolls Royce for this kind of solution."

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"I like the ease of deployment and its flexibility. We don't need to deal with license, quotes, procurement, delivery, and installation. Everything is software-based, and it's very easy to operate."

"Zscaler has a good foothold in the market and any new competitor will have to be cognizant of the fact that they will have to be affordable and provide all of the features Zscaler has while being good at threat analysis and filtering."

"The solution is scalable."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"In the past six to seven years with the Fortinet FortiGate, we've had two major downtimes, both caused by firmware upgrades."

"While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up."

"The room for improvement is to have more flexibility on the virtual machines of their next-generation platforms."

"FortiGate is really good. We have been using it for quite some time. Initially, when we started off, we had around 70 plus devices of FortiGate, but then Check Point and Palo Alto took over the place. From the product perspective, there are no issues, but from the account perspective, we have had issues. Fortinet's presence in our company is very less. I don't see any Fortinet account managers talking to us, and that presence has diluted in the last two and a half or three years. We have close to 1,500 firewalls. Out of these, 60% of firewalls are from Palo Alto, and a few firewalls are from Check Point. FortiGate firewalls are very less now. It is not because of the product; it is because of the relationship. I don't think they had a good relationship with us, and there was some kind of disconnect for a very long time. The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate."

"With the standard support subscription, if the device goes down, the customer has to first ship the box, and then Fortinet sends the replacement. With the higher support, the customer has to ship the device after they have the replacement. It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription."

"Fortinet FortiGate can improve by integrating the web application firewall and the DDoS protection part of the solution. Having a WAF feature, web application firewall, and proxy together would be a good benefit."

"They could improve the response time and quality of support."

"The representative from the vendor seems to know the basics of the product but when it comes to troubleshooting he seems to lack information."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."

"I'd like to see more IOPs features."

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

"Instead of the standard license, they should certainly provide customers with the visibility to access and view the logs."

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation."

"Certain criteria need to be met if you want to scale this solution."

"Currently, the Data Leak Prevention is only for web filtering and there is nothing for email and the USB, so it would be an improvement if that could be included."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"It would be better if they improved their policy, package visibility, and flexibility while we're creating rules for inspection. It could also be cheaper or more things could be included in the basic package. In the next release, I would like better coverage in the Asia Pacific region and better quality of service."

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."

"The product is a little bit expensive."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"The licensing cost is at the intermediate level."

"It's an expensive solution"

"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."

"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"There are different subscription models available."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	369
Midsize Enterprise	139
Large Enterprise	195

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	13

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 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 P...

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 P...

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was fine.

What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

I think Zscaler Cloud Firewall can be improved by adding more features. The needed improvements involve scalability, ...

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 26% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 10% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks CN-Series Competitors

Check Point Quantum Force vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 18% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Multicloud Defense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Download Palo Alto Networks CN-Series product report

Firewalls

May 2026

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series offers advanced container security and micro-segmentation for Kubernetes environments, known for robust threat prevention, ease of deployment, and seamless integration with existing security infrastructure.

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series enables application-level visibility and control, providing comprehensive protection for dynamic workloads. Its scalable architecture suits modern cloud-native applications, making it a top choice for securing containerized environments and microservices. Users appreciate its automated policy creation, granular micro-segmentation, and enhanced container security. Although it offers great features, users suggest improvement in integration with other security tools, better scalability for larger environments, and enhanced documentation. Performance in high-traffic scenarios and intuitive configuration processes are areas for potential enhancement, along with improved customer support.

What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?

Advanced Threat Protection: Addresses and mitigates security threats efficiently.
Seamless Kubernetes Integration: Integrates easily within Kubernetes environments.
Comprehensive Visibility: Offers visibility across multi-cloud environments.
Automated Policy Creation: Simplifies the policy creation process.
Granular Micro-segmentation: Provides detailed network traffic segmentation.
Enhanced Container Security: Strengthens security measures for containerized applications.
Ease of Deployment: Simplifies overall deployment process.
Scalability: Adapts to growing needs of cloud-native applications.

What benefits or ROI can users expect from Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?

Increased Security: Effective protection against sophisticated threats.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Streamlined deployment and policy management.
Greater Visibility: Enhanced insight into network traffic and potential vulnerabilities.
Cost Savings: Reduced costs through automation and integration of security processes.
Enhanced Compliance: Helps meet regulatory requirements with strong security controls.

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is implemented across diverse industries including finance, healthcare, and technology. In financial institutions, it addresses stringent security and compliance requirements. In healthcare, it ensures patient data protection within dynamic cloud environments. In tech, it supports innovative cloud-native applications with robust security measures.

Palo Alto Networks

Zscaler Cloud Firewall enhances network security through seamless integration, configuration management, and comprehensive visibility. With real-time threat detection and centralized control, it provides exceptional protection without hardware investments.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is designed for efficient network traffic management and secure internet access. It allows granular policy setting, blocking malicious IPs and domains, and access control. This cloud-based service offers smooth integration with security platforms, replacing traditional firewalls and VPNs to ensure data protection and network integrity. The intuitive dashboard facilitates policy enforcement, while advanced features like SSL inspection, URL filtering, and sandboxing add layers of security. Its cloud operation supports scalability and cost-effectiveness with an OpEx model.

What are the key features of Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Seamless integration: Connects smoothly with existing security tools.
Intuitive dashboard: Simplifies policy enforcement and configuration.
Granular rule-setting: Allows detailed policy customization.
Real-time threat detection: Identifies and mitigates risks instantly.
Centralized control: Manages firewall settings from one location.

What benefits should users expect from Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Cost savings: Operates fully in the cloud, eliminating hardware needs.
Scalability: Adjusts to business requirements without additional investments.
Enhanced security: Provides advanced SSL inspection and sandboxing.
Flexibility: Blocks malicious traffic and secures various devices.
Integration: Works with other platforms for comprehensive security.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is widely used by organizations needing to secure network communications for remote and office environments. It facilitates policy implementation to block unauthorized access and is integral in protecting data and network operations across sectors like finance, healthcare, and technology. Its ability to integrate with other platforms supports a multifaceted security approach, ensuring extensive coverage and adaptability.

Zscaler

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall