Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs Untangle NG Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Arista are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.7, while Arista is ranked #23 with an average rating of 8.0. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Arista’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Arista users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Untangle NG Firewall and Palo Alto Networks K2-Series are advanced network security solutions. Untangle NG Firewall offers favorable pricing and support, while Palo Alto Networks K2-Series provides superior features, making it a compelling product despite its higher cost.

Features: Untangle NG Firewall is known for its simplicity and ease of use, offering valuable features such as web filtering, antivirus, and application control. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series stands out with advanced threat prevention, superior application visibility, and granular control. Users prefer Palo Alto's extensive features despite a steeper learning curve.

Room for Improvement: Untangle NG Firewall users suggest improvements in reporting capabilities, advanced feature depth, and scalability. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series users recommend better integration with third-party tools, enhancements in the initial setup process, and more intuitive management interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Untangle NG Firewall is highlighted for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer support. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series, while more complex to deploy, benefits from detailed documentation and robust customer service. Users find it easier to start with Untangle, but Palo Alto offers more comprehensive support once configured.

Pricing and ROI: Untangle NG Firewall is noted for its cost-effectiveness and favorable return on investment, particularly for small to medium-sized organizations. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series involves a higher initial expenditure, but users feel the extensive security features justify the cost, resulting in a positive ROI for larger enterprises or those needing advanced security capabilities.

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

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Untangle NG Firewall

July 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 August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, 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 Untangle NG Firewall is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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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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MatthewSmith3

Service Delivery Manager at CasCom

Thorough with all-in-one security functions and good affordability

The all-in-one gateway security functions and the ability to install it on generic equipment stand out. The centralized management console is great. I can template my installations and configurations. My ability to monetize it as a gateway security appliance to offer enhanced service offerings allows me to increase our price point. I provide it as a managed device to many of our clients. I take on the initial costs and charge them a monthly fee. They have threat detection.

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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

"It's very easy to configure."

"Their proxy-based inspection is responsive and secure."

"Fortinet FortiGate has very good support."

"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."

"The GUI is good."

"Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it “readable”"

"The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches."

"Offers good security and filtering."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I have found that Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has the best security. They are more user-friendly, older firewalls used to have to be configured using the command-line interface, but in this solution, it can be done in the GUI."

"Palo Alto has an approach that makes the configuration easier not only for the customers but also for the IT help for the customers."

"This is a very reliable firewall and we have never had problems with it."

"The company is inventive and always adds a lot of great features."

"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."

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

"Palo Alto firewalls are scalable enough. We have about 110 employees in our company, and we are about to expand to 130."

"We've found the solution offers us good stability."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"None of my clients has had a ransom or breach using Untangle."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the content filtering."

"The product helps small and medium enterprises secure their networks from intrusions. It also has features like DNS blocking."

"NG Firewalls allow us to permit or deny applications we don't want to run. We also use content filtering, SSL inspection, and all the other things we run on the firewall to keep our clients protected and ensure they're not going where they shouldn't. It's a great firewall that works as intended."

"Web filtering is very reliable."

"The interface is very good."

"The features I have found the most useful are the web filter, the captive portal, the SSL inspector, and the ad-blocker. They're awesome."

"The web blocking for my clients and the application control are valuable."

More Untangle NG Firewall pros

Cons

"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."

"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests."

"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."

"Cisco Meraki products are rising very quickly in the cloud and the connected era. Meraki products offer much better ROI, upgradability, and manageability."

"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."

"Some of the web policy reports could be improved."

"There could be more integration between the logging and analytical platforms to make it more seamless and integrated."

"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"I cannot think of anything specific to improve at the moment."

"The product should get frequent updates allowing us to add new signatures."

"The reporting functionality in GlobalProtect needs to be improved."

"When it comes to renewing the solution, they tend to try to jack up the pricing."

"Its networking features could be better."

"Higher levels of support are excellent but new users may need additional options."

"Palo Alto doesn't have extended visibility to the end point in their firewalls."

"Threat prevention could use improvement."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"The web content filtering needs improvement."

"The product needs to improve its mobile application."

"The management console for partners is a bit tricky (buggy)."

"Whenever there are a large number of endpoint VPN clients, connectivity becomes slow."

"They don't have any feature that allows you to drop the session."

"The product needs to have a better support group for its online support, specifically for its help desk."

"It would be much easier if there was a mobile app."

"The storage is minimal, so we have to set the system to delete data after seven days."

More Untangle NG Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this solution is good."

"The pricing of Fortinet FortiGate is average, not cheap or overly expensive compared to other firewall solutions in the market. It's effective and affordable for customers."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"Pricing is lower than Cisco."

"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."

"If you compare Fortinet FortiGate with Sophos and other firewall products available in the market, this solution is affordable."

"The pricing for the product is alright."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is an expensive solution, the price could be reduced. They are more expensive than some of their competitors."

"This solution is expensive compared to other, similar products."

"Products by the leader in the field are justifiably a bit more expensive compared to other vendors."

"The overall price of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be reduced."

"If you compare K2-Series' quality with its price, I think it is reasonable."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Palo Alto firewalls are very expensive."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"It is the most cost-effective to use."

"Usually, it's about $350 a year for 12 users, and it's about $600 for 50 users. It's very reasonable as compared to the others. One of the reasons is that they're all open-source. You just buy their appliance and put it in until it dies. Because it's run under open platforms, mine seems to always work on older equipment. I've taken old equipment and put a new hard disk in it. I have taken about nine-year-old computers and put their operating system on them, and ran them like a champ. The only thing that changed was the hard drive because I don't trust a hard drive that's more than three to four years old."

"Untangle is open-source software. So, you can get it for free. That has been a benefit, especially for the residential users because it is free. The license costs start at $25 a month for some additional features, including higher tiers of security intrusion prevention. The free version comes with intrusion detection, and then the license version has intrusion prevention. It also has some additional things for active directory connectors, etc. It starts at $25 a month to cover 12 devices. Then it goes up from $25 to $50 a month for 12 to 25 devices. That's where it really doesn't scale out per site. If you have a site that has more than 50 devices on it, then Untangle quickly becomes cost prohibitive in comparison to several other competitors."

"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."

"The pricing model is better than with SonicWall."

"This is not an expensive product. It is affordable and there are different packages available depending on the features that you need, or the sector that you are in."

"For the home use, it's cheap."

"It is not expensive. The best part is that it is based on the pay-per-use kind of scenario. An increase or decrease in the number of people doesn't make any difference. We are really happy about using this particular scenario."

More Untangle NG Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

23%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

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...

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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 needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto N...

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What do you like most about Untangle NG Firewall?

The product helps small and medium enterprises secure their networks from intrusions. It also has features like DNS b...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Untangle NG Firewall?

The setup cost is about $2000 to $3000 per year.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Untangle NG Firewall?

The user interface, training, and general product innovation need improvement. Enhancements could also be made to the...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 61% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 39% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series Competitors

OPNsense vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 38% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 13% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XG vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

IPFire vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Untangle NG Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

August 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Untangle NG Firewall

July 2025

Download Untangle NG Firewall product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

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

Untangle NG Firewall is an open-source firewall and gateway security platform that helps keep networks safe while accessing the internet. It offers a free core firewall platform with paid add-ons, and a cloud-based management platform with a variety of deployment options for smaller teams. The solution also has a cloud-based management console for remote management that can either be deployed on premises or as SaaS, and virtualized or cloud-based. It also has flexible deployment options, including third-party hardware, as a virtual machine, or as a turnkey appliance. Untangle NG Firewall is ideal for small IT teams with limited budgets.

Untangle NG Firewall Features

Untangle NG Firewall has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Intrusion protection
Threat prevention
Virus blocker
Virus scanner
App control
SSL inspection
Bandwidth control
Reporting
Logs
VPN
Web filter
IDS/IPS
Access controls
Location control
Proxy
Active Directory/LDAP connections

Untangle NG Firewall Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Untangle NG Firewall. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplified network security: Untangle NG Firewall has a single, modular, software platform which simplifies security for all networks and ensures every device is adequately protected.

Visibility: The solution provides a browser-based, responsive, and intuitive interface enabling users to gain visibility quickly into the traffic on the network.

Deep analysis and insights: With the solution, users can see a network’s status at a glance on the dashboard, ensure compliance with full event logs, and get notifications of network anomalies or unusual user behavior with alert rules. In addition, users can gain insights in real time from database-driven reports.

Next-generation filtering: Untangle NG Firewall makes it easy to manage every rogue application, encrypted web request, malware distribution point, and drive-by malvertising attempt.

Connectivity and performance: The solution helps your organization maintain visibility and control over remote workers, branch offices, and guest Wi-Fi to keep users connected and data safe regardless of location or level of access.

Policy creation: Users can create policies by user, group, device, and time in order to control access.

Additional apps: Untangle NG Firewall offers additional apps, allowing organizations to create complete configuration backups to protect against network disruptions.

Reviews from Real Users

Untangle NG Firewall is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it is easy to use, has good features, including VPN, reporting, alerting, and filtering, and can be installed on existing hardware.

“It is very easy to use. The user interface is very straightforward. It may not be as fancy as some of the ones I've seen, but it's very straightforward. It's very easy to find what you need, and it's very easy to get things done,” says Josh E., CEO at DragonTech IT Services, Inc.

Barry A., Owner at ThinkEzIT, says, “It has good VPN features, helpful reporting and alerting, built-in content filtering, and excellent support.”

PeerSpot user Victor O., Director at Kisii County Government, explains, “What I like about this product, which is the reason that we continue to use it, is that you can install the software version on your own hardware. In case there is a problem with the hardware, we can just install the firewall in another machine and restore the configuration.”

Arista

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

North American Stamping Group, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey (CPNJ), Brown County Schools, IN, City of Bridgeton, MO, Lancaster County, SC, Vision Charter School, Clay County Sheriff’s Department, NC, Breakwater School, Boys & Girls Club of Manchester, NH, Admiral Farragut Academy, Flow Companies, No Ordinary Hotel, KECdesign,

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Untangle NG Firewall

July 2025

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

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

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