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Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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
6.2
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series improved cybersecurity, efficiency, and cost savings through enhanced visibility, automation, and reduced incident response times.
Sentiment score
6.5
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers cost-effective security solutions with advanced features, providing significant ROI within three to five years.
For CN-Series, there is no competitor which works the same way as Palo Alto does.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The return on investment with this product is a hard question because security tends to be a cost center rather than a profit center.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series will be more reliable and will save money, time, and multiple resources.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is definitely worth the investment a company is paying to use it.
Senior Network Security Engineer at UNITE HERE HEALTH
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.0
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series support is praised for vendor responsiveness and expertise, though partner support is less reliable.
Sentiment score
6.2
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series customer service is praised for knowledge but criticized for slower response times compared to Cisco.
I would rate tech support from Palo Alto Networks at around eight out of ten points because we had dedicated people assigned to us.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We get Gold support from them, and they are pretty good.
Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees
I would rate the technical support for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series from Palo Alto as nine out of ten points.
Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED
They're constantly following up after a case has been opened to ensure that it has been resolved properly.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Cisco TAC support comes within five to ten minutes on the call.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Initially, it took one or two hours to get a Palo Alto engineer, which is quite slow.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers scalable, flexible solutions for organizations, excelling in network expansion and handling diverse environments.
Sentiment score
6.9
The PA-Series provides excellent scalability for enterprises, with virtual models offering adaptability for thousands of users and devices.
Vertical scaling allows you to purchase more powerful devices with additional RAM, compute, and larger model form factors.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
If you talk about virtual firewall, it is easy to autoscale.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The solution can handle more than ten thousand users in my organization.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
There are no restrictions in scalability.
Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is praised for exceptional stability and dependability, with minor configuration and maintenance issues reported.
Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is praised for stability due to consistent updates, high availability, and reliable long-term operation.
Palo Alto typically doesn't have many glitches.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I am giving stability a rating of 10 out of 10 because since implementation, we have not observed any issues with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series related to version, vulnerabilities, or anything else.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
If the data plane hangs or gets stuck, then we can troubleshoot using the management plane.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
 

Room For Improvement

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series needs better pricing, integration, usability, and AI to address user demands for support and scalability.
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series faces high costs, complex setup, slow support, and demands for better integration, UI, and features.
Enhancing web traffic protection would be a great upgrade.
enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series because it's too complex, which requires L2 and above level of engineers.
Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED
With AI, if there is a Precision AI bundle that you're planning on exploring, then that definitely needs a significant uplift because currently it doesn't work for all the known models.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
You can buy cheaper products, but I believe in the value they're giving us.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The interface of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series should be made much more user-friendly.
IT Coordinator at CSA Makati
For the next release of the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series firewall, I would like to see logs monitoring included.
Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is expensive, suitable for large enterprises, with straightforward licensing but requires frequent price negotiations.
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series provides high-end security and support valued by enterprises, despite its higher price compared to competitors.
It's a little bit expensive.
enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable.
Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED
The firewall is expensive for every company, but the cost is worth it to ensure maximum security.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
The price of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive.
IT Coordinator at CSA Makati
Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series provides advanced, scalable security with AI-driven features, strong threat prevention, and user-friendly management.
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers advanced security features and simplified management for organizations prioritizing data security and flexibility.
Overall, the K2-Series helps in much more protection, and dashboard compliances are being met.
Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED
We had configured dynamic user groups and App-ID based policies, which makes it all Zero Trust.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Mainly, it is very easy to understand, and the logs are very good.
Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees
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.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series has multiple security features, including antivirus, IPS, and behavior-based analysis.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
The most effective features of the solution are its Magic Quadrant positioning, making it a leading firewall on perimeter areas and internet edges.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
35th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
35
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 K2-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 K2-Series0.4%
Other98.5%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

TJ
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Has provided strong traffic visibility and efficient policy management for advanced network environments
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be improved, though I don't think of much. I'm unsure how widespread the adoption for K2-Series alone is. Looking at the base Palo Alto capabilities, they are going in the right direction. K2 specifically about its efficacy with all these 5G protocols, the GPRS tunneling protocol performed without many hiccups during testing. With AI, if there is a Precision AI bundle that you're planning on exploring, then that definitely needs a significant uplift because currently it doesn't work for all the known models. There are many false positives that need to be addressed. While it's still ahead of its competitors, on the AI security side, there is quite a room for improvement.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be improved, though I don't think of much. I'm unsure how widespread the adoption for K2-Series alone is. Looking at the base Palo Alto capabilities, they are goi...
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

 

Sample Customers

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.