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Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
196
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (6th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (11th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
VR
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
Cost-effective with operational and maintenance ease
Understanding the flow and application of securities can be complex, requiring navigation across different sections. Further integration into a unified system could improve usability. It is a bit complex to understand the flows and how the securities are applied to each of those flows. It was a little bit challenging because we had to go to two different sections to figure that out. It would be helpful if it is all unified so that we can see the way the firewall connections and security are set up and the applications that are using those connections. It could be structured differently so that it is more understandable. It has been a while, but it was a bit of a complex way. We had to hop from one area to the other and go back and forth to figure out how a specific connection and application was set up.
Benjamin - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at ACS2I
The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats
The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."
"The solution is easy to implement and easy to configure. The most valuable feature is FortiGate’s content filtering."
"The most important features of Fortinet FortiGate are the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and firewall control applications."
"Fortinet FortiGate has several valuable features; the configuration and policy setup are easy to implement, and there are embedded features including DLP, WAF, and proxy capabilities with security profiles for various functions."
"Run Script is the best tool to use in Fortinet FortiGate with multiple environments."
"It does not require a lot of maintenance."
"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."
"One of the things I really like about it is that we have the same features and functions available on the entry-level device (PA-220), as do large corporations with much more costly appliances."
"Good functionality and features."
"The most valuable feature is advanced URL filtering. Its prevention capabilities and DNS security are also valuable. It pinpoints any suspicious activities and also prevents the users from doing certain things."
"In general, I appreciate the regular firewall function of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls."
"The solution is very stable and reliable."
"The most valuable features are application inspection and sandboxing. Application inspection decides where traffic is transmitted. If I have a perimeter report for a particular service, then other services or malicious services cannot use an open port. In this way, application inspection is doing a fantastic job. We also have a very good sandbox with almost no rate limit. It will inspect any file that comes in and goes out in a dedicated patch to identify malware. Therefore, these two things help me to protect our organization from any bad actors."
"The structure is much faster and more sophisticated than Cisco."
"The packet level inspection is the most valuable feature. The traffic restriction features allow us to restrict the sub-features of any platform."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
 

Cons

"They have not yet extended to the cloud."
"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."
"The system can slow down when inspections are carried out."
"They should improve the interface to make it more user-friendly."
"The learning curve is a bit higher."
"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests."
"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."
"Scalability for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be improved. SD-WAN security for this solution also needs some improvement."
"We haven't had any issues so far."
"For an upcoming release, they could improve on the way to build security rules per user."
"The price is high and has room for improvement."
"Could also use better customer support."
"I am in GCC in the Middle East. The support that we are getting from Palo Alto is disastrous. The problem is that the support ticket is opened through the distributor channel. Before opening a ticket, we already do a lot of troubleshooting, and when we open a ticket, it goes to a distributor channel. They end up wasting our time again doing what we have already done. They execute the same things and waste time. The distributor channel's engineer tries to troubleshoot, and after spending hours, they forward the ticket to Palo Alto. It is a very time-consuming process. The distributor channels also do not operate 24/7, and they are very lazy in responding to the calls."
"Palo Alto needs to improve their training. They do not invest in their partners. I have been a partner for seven years, and it is very expensive for me to certify my engineers."
"Palo Alto's various products need better integration to ensure they work harmoniously."
"It is working well. In my opinion, nothing can be added at this time. However, when it comes to the cost, Palo Alto firewalls are the most expensive."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"The SD card could be more secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."
"The support subscription for the solution is annual. You are paying for support and there are two levels of support, professional and advanced."
"Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."
"The cost is too high... They have to focus on more features with less cost for the customer. If you see the market, where it's going, there are a lot of players offering more features for less cost."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment."
"The price is okay, so far so good."
"The solution is more expensive than Sophos. It could be cheaper. The licensing is on a yearly basis. We have had it for about three years. We must only pay extra for the license, additional requirements, and the hardware box."
"It is not expensive as compared to Cisco."
"If you compare Palo Alto with other firewalls, it's a bit expensive."
"I don't know about the price of the platform or the license fees, as the finance department deals with that. I only bill for the materials involved in the design."
"We are on an annual license for this solution. I am happy with the price and when comparing it to other solutions it is priced competitively."
"The licensing is annual, and there aren't any additional fees on top of that."
"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive compared to WatchGuard XTM firewalls."
"We pay for the licensing annually and the price could be cheaper."
"Although Palo Alto is expensive, its superior security functions, application identification, and overall performance justify the cost and make it stand out from the competition."
"Palo Alto Networks offers more cost efficiency compared to Cisco, with better operational and maintenance ease."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"The pricing could be better."
"I think the price is good."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise132
Large Enterprise188
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise56
Large Enterprise84
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

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 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...
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...
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...
What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?
The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall
NETASQ Firewalls
 

Overview

 

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
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.