Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Smoothwall Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Smoothwall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.7, while Smoothwall is ranked #33 with an average rating of 9.0. Palo Alto Networks holds a 3.4% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Smoothwall’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Smoothwall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Smoothwall Firewall compete in the network security solutions category. Data comparisons indicate Smoothwall Firewall has the upper hand due to its cost-effectiveness and specialized performance despite Palo Alto's wider capabilities.

Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide advanced threat prevention, deep integration with cloud environments, and real-time application visibility. Smoothwall Firewall offers precise content filtering, easy integration into educational settings, and features tailored for specific market needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Smoothwall Firewall is recognized for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer support. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide extensive deployment options and global support, although they may require a learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have a higher setup cost but deliver significant ROI for those needing advanced threat management. Smoothwall Firewall presents a lower entry cost with rapid ROI, appealing to budget-conscious institutions seeking cost-efficient security.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

April 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 May 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 3.4%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smoothwall Firewall is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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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.

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Himanshu-Sharma

Senior Engineer at Qualic

Offers good scalability and monitoring features

There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages. For example, if we're creating a rule, we should be able to do everything on the same page. Just a drop-down thing or something. This would improve productivity.

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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

"I like that they have given me a solution at a fair price."

"It is easy to use and performs very well."

"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."

"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."

"It is simple to manage, and there are a lot of functionalities in the same box."

"Initial setup is easy to configure."

"Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises."

"Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Some of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls' valuable features are their powerful capabilities and user-friendliness."

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

"The WildFire reporting and Cortex XDR platform have huge infrastructures in the cloud that secures the network against threats. So, we have the potential on the system, specifically for users, where we take care of this since the user is the most dangerous. We get reports back from WildFire on a minute-by-minute basis, rather than a daily or weekly update like I used to with different AV vendors. These features can detect viruses and malware more quickly, which is super important."

"The product's most valuable features are the ease of deployment, regularly updated security information, and robust hardware."

"It has a very good user interface. The documentation is also very good. It is very useful for monitoring things."

"The most valuable features are the power of the threat prevention and the WildFire service. Its strength comes from the huge number of sensors all over the world. The firewalls have a rich library of signatures."

"The fact that the Next-Gen firewalls are integrated with identity is the best. It gives us the ability to track what an individual is doing and helps us provide access to only what they need in order to do their job."

"The most valuable feature is the security provided by the ATP."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

"It was easy to initially deploy it."

Cons

"I don't really have anything negative to say as far as Fortinet firewalls are concerned. If anything, they can support a user a little bit better. They can stop being so time-sensitive about how much time the support call has taken, and they can help you do it yourself."

"The SD-WAN functionality is a bit overly complicated and not fully documented."

"Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."

"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."

"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."

"The reports are very basic."

"In my case, the 101F is not scalable. I faced problems with scalability related to memory. When we hit 100% memory usage, it stops the internet connection, so we need to control the traffic. We cannot increase the memory."

"In the next release, I would like to see the interface simplified to be more user-friendly."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There are some advanced features that we aren't able to use, which include active IP authentication and app ID. We are facing challenges with implementing those two features."

"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."

"There should be more comprehensive documentation, case histories, and technical training on new technologies available on their portal. It will help us with troubleshooting."

"The only problem that I see with the Palo Alto NGFW being an all-in-one appliance is that because of the different features that are being put into a single appliance, the OS tends to be beefier. Over the eight years, we have seen that the number of features or analyses being put into the appliance itself has a tendency to slow down the appliance, especially at the time of bootup. So, any time we are doing maintenance work, the time required for the appliance to boot up and be fully functional again is significantly longer than eight years ago. They could find a way to make this all-in-one appliance faster."

"The solution could be simplified."

"For an upcoming release, they could improve on the way to build security rules per user."

"They can improve the handling and management of User-ID. They should also improve its price. Their technical support can also be improved."

"The technical support from Palo Alto could be better; I find that it can be improved. The issues are mainly with response time and quality, as their first level support used to be better a couple of years ago, but now you sometimes get support that isn't as good."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

"There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has a competitive price."

"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."

"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."

"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

"The pricing is fair."

"Work through partners for the best pricing."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The tool's pricing is similar to that of Cisco. It's a security appliance; the cost depends on your network topology and specific requirements. The suitability of NG firewalls should be chosen based on your network and what you need. If a colleague from a different company asked for the cheapest and fastest firewall, I suggest they consider options like Sophos. Sophos took over Cyberoam, which was previously a leader in NG firewalls"

"Unfortunately, Palo Alto Networks products aren't cheap, but you have to pay the price for good security technology. I don't know the exact price, but it's about $10,000 to $15,000 without a subscription. Cisco is priced similarly. FortiGate is inexpensive in Poland, so a lot of customers prefer that. Though it's pricey, customers ultimately realize Palo Alto is the best security solution because it's stable and the network security functions are practical. Cisco has some problems from time to time, but I feel comfortable with Palo Alto Networks."

"Its price should be improved."

"The cost of Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls is significantly higher compared to Huawei."

"I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten."

"The pricing is straightforward with no hidden costs."

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

"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."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

24%

Educational Organization

15%

University

13%

Government

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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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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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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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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...

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What do you like most about Smoothwall Firewall?

It was easy to initially deploy it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Smoothwall Firewall?

There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we d...

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What is your primary use case for Smoothwall Firewall?

Our use cases are for monitoring and security. The primary purpose of the firewall is maintaining security and benefi...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 11% 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

Cisco Secure Firewall 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

OPNsense vs Smoothwall Firewall

Compared 54% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Smoothwall Firewall

Compared 31% of the time

IPFire vs Smoothwall Firewall

Compared 15% of the time

More Smoothwall Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

April 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

April 2025

Download Smoothwall Firewall product report

Also Known As

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

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation 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

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

Smoothwall Firewall ensures network safety and compliance through robust content filtering, safeguarding educational institutions by providing appropriate online access and effective threat protection.

Smoothwall Firewall focuses on content filtering and network security for educational institutions, ensuring students access appropriate online resources while protecting against cyber threats. It offers detailed internet usage reports and helps maintain seamless network performance. Users find its ease of management and advanced threat protection beneficial, although some note complexities in setup and reporting features.

What are the key features of Smoothwall Firewall?

Content Filtering: Exceptional capabilities to ensure safe and appropriate online access.
Real-Time Monitoring: Keeps constant vigilance over network usage and threats.
Robust Security: Offers advanced threat protection to safeguard network environments.
Ease of Use: Simplifies management with an intuitive interface and responsive customer support.
Comprehensive Reporting: Provides detailed reports on internet usage and security threats.
Customizable Filtering: Tailors security measures to meet specific requirements.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from Smoothwall Firewall?

Enhanced Safety: Protects against cyber threats and ensures safe online access.
Compliance: Helps institutions adhere to internet usage policies efficiently.
Ease of Management: Simplifies the administration of network security.
Detailed Insights: Provides comprehensive reports on network and internet usage.
Customizability: Offers tailored security settings to meet specific needs.

Smoothwall Firewall is widely used in educational sectors to enhance network security and manage internet usage. Its content filtering and monitoring capabilities ensure a protected and compliant online environment. Though implementation can be complex, its robust security and comprehensive support make it a valuable choice for institutions focusing on safeguarding their networks.

Smoothwall

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

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

Information Not Available

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