Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is ranked #29 with an average rating of 8.2, while Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and K2-Series are competitors in the next-generation firewall market, both offering advanced security solutions. Though Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide more comprehensive security features, K2-Series stands out for its performance and scalability, making it more suitable for high-demand enterprise environments.

Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls include WildFire for malware analysis, App-ID for application visibility, and URL filtering for web traffic control. The K2-Series offers advanced parallel processing, high throughput capabilities, and seamless scalability for large enterprises.

Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls could benefit from a more intuitive user interface and better integration with existing network tools. K2-Series users seek enhanced multi-factor authentication options, more intuitive reporting tools, and improved support processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are deployed in diverse environments, often requiring comprehensive technical support, which can be slow at times. K2-Series excels in on-premises installations with simple setup, yet users desire quicker customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls demand premium pricing reflecting their extensive features, often justified by the security return on investment. K2-Series is deemed more cost-effective for large deployments, offering better value through its performance and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

June 2025

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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 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 3.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Q&A Highlights

Donny Lee

Works at KLA

Mar 23, 2021

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

Hi PaloAlto is better when working on app control feature and special virtual wire links. Execpt that specific point, Fortinet is above. Best Regards, Damien

See all answers

Featured Reviews

Jorge Martínez

Presales Engineer at Sencinet

Offers good SD-WAN capabilities and integrates easily with Fortinet devices

I am not part of the initial setup or deployment process since I work in presales. The setup or deployment is quite easy, as you can do a one-touch deployment that automatically connects to the FortiManager cloud when you connect it to a broadband or dynamic IP, allowing you to start the configuration from that point. We usually sell it for on-premises setups. It's on the cloud only when the client has virtual machines or their own service. Sometimes they have a service on the cloud like AWS, but it's more difficult to sell now because AWS has an e-commerce option where you can buy FortiGate directly. The only thing you need is someone to manage and configure.

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Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

One of the best tools for the prevention of evasive threats

There is a feature called granular application controls, which I liked. Instead of relying on ports and IP addresses, they use AMP ID. This kind of solution is very good. Another valuable feature is the prevention of evasive threats, which is one of the best tools I've encountered. SSL decryption and app ID-based SSL decryption are also impressive, along with the integration with user ID. Identity-based policies ensuring only authorized users can access specific resources are excellent features. Normally, there is something called SIM or SCIM in IDA IDM, but this feature is provided on the box, which is exemplary.

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AmjadKhan1

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

Provides inline protection with a unified view and anti-spyware capabilities

I would rate Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls ten out of ten because it is the best. Our disaster recovery site utilizes Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls. We are also in the process of upgrading the firewalls at our 365 sites in Pakistan to Palo Alto Networks firewalls. While budget firewalls may advertise comparable features, they often fall short of effectively detecting viruses, threats, and ransomware. In contrast, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, combined with Cortex XDR, provide comprehensive threat intelligence and detection capabilities, ensuring superior security coverage. I recommend conducting a proof of concept before selecting a firewall. This will allow you to evaluate different options and determine which best suits your needs. While Palo Alto offers robust firewall solutions, it's essential to compare them with other vendors to ensure you make an informed decision.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a good UI and overall integration, including FortiGate Manager for controlling all firewalls from a single place."

"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."

"Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."

"The solution is extremely reliable."

"Security management tool that's easy to integrate and easy to work with. No issues found with its stability and scalability."

"The technical support in our region is excellent."

"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."

"The solution is very, very easy to use."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"This firewall is very good for our customers because they don't have to write their own rules for adding an application."

"I have found the threat profile feature valuable."

"It's easy to configure."

"The most valuable features are the intuitive user interface, ease of use, and reporting."

"K2-Series' best features include its scalability, which is the best on the market."

"Everything I could possibly want has already been implanted in the new version."

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is the performance which is above their competitors. The throughput they have delivered is good. When we used other solutions they failed the deployment when we were using different rules. They have a theory perform performance light and performance degradation. However, Palo Alto Networks K2-Series never fails in that scenario."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"Palo Alto solutions are scalable and highly capable. NG firewalls offer a complete solution that's reliable, consistent, easy to manage, and full of rich security features. They're easier than other firewalls and certainly more effective."

"The solution provides web security, application security, and network security."

"The payload is a very valuable feature."

"With App-ID, we can identify exact traffic. Even if someone tries to fool the firewall with a different port number, or with the correct port number, Palo Alto is able to identify what kind of traffic it is."

"The most valuable features include the different security zones and the ability to identify applications not only by port numbers but by the applications themselves... And with the single-pass architecture, it provides a good trade-off between security and network performance. It provides good security and good network throughput."

"The most significant benefit is threat protection. Anti-malware uses signatures, so dynamic analyzers like WildFire are the best way to protect the company. It is a firewall based on application control, user ID, and security policy. We can use it based on user and application ID without a stateless firewall or TCPIP ports."

"In general, I appreciate the regular firewall function of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls."

"The ease of use and the ease of configuration of our policies are the most valuable features."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

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

"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."

"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."

"I could not configure sFlow from the FortiGate graphical user interface. I realized that the sFlow configuration is available only from the CLI, and discovered that sFlow is not supported on virtual interfaces, such as VDOM links, IPsec, or GRE."

"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."

"It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server."

"The firmware updates are sometimes not stable. The stability issues can vary, sometimes happening once a month or quarterly. New firmware updates can occasionally introduce bugs, causing some policies to fail. We then have to raise a ticket, and Fortinet usually provides a fix within a few days."

"Due to its higher cost, Fortinet FortiGate can lead to increased operational expenses."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The password function of the solution could be improved. Additionally, some of the processes take too long to complete."

"Threat prevention could use improvement. Not just in malware exploits and C2 traffic; enhancing web traffic protection would be a great upgrade."

"The ease of management and configuration should be improved."

"The tool needs to improve integration with more products from other vendors. I would like the product to add threat intelligence features as well."

"The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series because it's too complex, which requires L2 and above level of engineers."

"There are a lot of bugs in this solution."

"We had some issues with upgrading in the past. They could make the process easier."

"They could improve by providing more features in the solution."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"I would like to see better integration with IoT technologies."

"There is a web-based GUI to do management, but you need to know how the machine or firewall operates. There are hundreds of different menus and options. I have used other firewalls before. Just implementing or designing a policy with Palo Alto, if you want a certain port to be open to different IP addresses, then that could take 20 to 25 clicks. That is just testing it out. It is quite complex to do. Whereas, with other places, you tell it, "Okay, I want this specific port open and this IP address to have access to it." That was it. However, not with Palo Alto, which is definitely more complex."

"I would like Palo Alto Networks to provide a free virtual firewall."

"Over the past one or two years, Palo Alto Networks has added a lot of features into the NG Firewall products. I think this is becoming more complicated for our customers. Therefore, we could use some best practices, best practice tools, and implementation guides for some of the complicated features."

"The solution could be simplified."

"Surfacing actionable intelligence right away could be better. You have to dig far to get some of the information. If the solution could surface the two or three things out of the 10,000 a day that we really need to deal with, it would be helpful."

"I'm thinking about a new feature. They have decryption. It's a good idea to use decryption on Palo Alto. It would be good if they had offloading of the traffic, and if they could decrypt the traffic and offload it. Like, for example, ASM on our site. We have an SSL decryption to offload the traffic. We could use that on Palo Alto."

"The scalability of the firewalls could be improved."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."

"The price of FortiGate is average and I would say that based on the top five products available on the market, it is in the affordable range."

"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."

"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."

"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."

"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."

"Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Palo Alto firewalls are very expensive."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"The pricing is expensive."

"It would be nice if they lowered their prices for small businesses."

"The price of this solution is too high."

"It is an expensive solution."

"We are on an annual license to use Palo Alto Networks K2-Series."

"This product is designed for large companies. The price would not be suitable for a small or medium size company."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"It's pretty good."

"Pricing is yearly, but it depends. You could pay on a yearly basis, or every three years. If you want to add a device or two, there would be an additional cost. Also, if you want to do an assessment, or other similar add-on, you have to pay accordingly for the additional service."

"While Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls may be considered expensive, their quality justifies the cost."

"With Palo Alto, the licensing is very straightforward. For example, if you only have a requirement for a firewall, you can go with that. If you want to go with a subscription, you get all the features with it."

"If the cost is your main priority, Palo Alto would be a bit high. However, if you are ready to hear about return of investment, then I would convince you to go for Palo Alto."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive."

"Its price can be better. Licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The product is expensive compared to competing products but uses a similar type of pricing model based on hardware, software and maintenance."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Answers from the Community

Donny Lee

Works at KLA

Mar 23, 2021

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 and such like, they have always been top of the pile there. The GUI is very good, and their product is very user-focused. Fortinet is good for scalability and predictable high throughput (ASICs in the...

2 out of 4 answers

ABHILASH TH

Managing Director at FOX DATA

Mar 20, 2021

Hi, Both FT and PA have compelling features for large Enterprises. I would like to add a few good points about Fortinetwhich might be helpful ( from my 13 years of engagement with them as Distributor and Partner) Fortinet: Have higher throughput; which comes with competitive rates Wide range of models to select to meet your requirement, without spending heavliy Outstanding customer support and very active customer care team Easly available skilled resources from the channel for deployment and post-implementation support Regards Abhilash

Read full answer

Lucas Damien

CTO & co-Founder at Anevia

Mar 22, 2021

Hi PaloAlto is better when working on app control feature and special virtual wire links. Execpt that specific point, Fortinet is above. Best Regards, Damien

Read full answer

See all 4 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

23%

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

It is a stable solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable and there are no complaints about the licensing.

See all answers

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 Firew...

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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 si...

See all answers

What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

We utilize advanced threat prevention features like web filtering and SSL decryption, which haven't caused any issues.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 100% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XG vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 9% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

May 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

May 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Designed to handle growing throughput needs due to increasing amounts of application-, user-, and device-generated data, the K2-Series offers amazing performance and threat prevention capabilities to stop advanced cyberattacks and secure mobile network infrastructure, subscribers, and services.

Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer comprehensive security, including application control, traffic shaping, threat prevention, and load balancing, designed to secure internal networks, perimeter protection, VPN services, and cloud environments.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are a key choice for managing and protecting data centers, securing remote access, network segmentation, malware prevention, and ensuring high availability and performance for business-critical applications. Known for stability and strong security, these firewalls use application-aware identifiers and IPS/IDS subscriptions to offer advanced threat protection. The unified platform facilitates seamless integration, while GlobalProtect and centralized management via Panorama enhance ease of use. However, there are areas for improvement, including pricing strategies, training, user support, and integration with third-party applications.

What are the essential features?

Stability: Reliable performance in different environments.
Application Control: Identifies applications to manage traffic.
Advanced Threat Protection: Includes DNS security, WildFire, and machine learning.
GlobalProtect: Secure remote access for users.
Centralized Management: Managed via the Panorama platform.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Security: Protects against threats with robust features.
User-Friendly: Simplified interface and easy configuration.
High Availability: Ensures performance for critical applications.
Integration: Seamless with existing systems and applications.
Support: Reliable technical support and resources.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls secure sensitive data and meet regulatory requirements. These firewalls help manage large-scale networks in these sectors, providing essential security features and maintaining high-performance standards. They are implemented to ensure compliance, protect patient information, secure financial transactions, and safeguard customer data.

Palo Alto Networks

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

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME

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

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

June 2025

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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