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Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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
6.5
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver strong ROI through reduced risks, costs, and enhanced security features despite high initial costs.
Sentiment score
4.8
Zscaler Cloud Firewall enhances global security and efficiency with comprehensive features, delivering 60% savings in time and costs.
Their user-friendly interface and Panorama central management, which provides a comprehensive overview, make them an ideal investment.
Technical Lead at Accenture
The solution helped reduce downtime, which is crucial in time-sensitive industries like manufacturing.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
I have seen a return on investment as there are definitely clear cost reductions, resource savings, time savings, and improved risk detection.
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt.Ltd.
I have seen a return on investment with time saving and money saving.
Senior Devsecops Cloud Cybersecurity Specialist at CGI
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with language barriers and emergency response times needing improvement.
Sentiment score
5.5
Zscaler Cloud Firewall support is generally helpful and responsive but may sometimes lack adequacy for premium expectations.
Palo Alto's network support is excellent, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Their response time is within one hour.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
They offer fast and competent assistance.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The technical support from Zscaler was excellent.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer scalability and customization, but hardware limitations and cost issues affect extensive scaling options.
Sentiment score
5.7
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers excellent scalability, supporting diverse organizations smoothly, with most users rating it between seven and ten.
Cloud deployments benefit from auto-scaling, allowing for automatic adjustments to firewall capacity based on demand.
Technical Lead at Accenture
It is important to assess the infrastructure size before choosing a model.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are scalable and reliable.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
In this case, Twingate will be very easy compared to Zscaler.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are favored for their consistent stability and reliability, outperforming competitors in various scenarios.
Sentiment score
7.2
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is highly rated for stability and reliability despite minor latency and GUI lag issues.
With appropriately configured policies, these firewalls can provide robust network security.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
After the upgrade, we are experiencing performance issues.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I have not experienced any outages or issues.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
There were some stability issues due to occasional latency and lags, particularly with the GUI and report generation.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Room For Improvement

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls need improved reporting, support, affordability, AI features, integration, scalability, and better-performing hardware.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs deployment, support, features, UI, pricing, integration, and dashboard improvements for optimal performance and usability.
When performance degrades due to full packet inspection, the solution should be to increase the computing power within the same firewall, not to recommend upgrading to a larger, more expensive model.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Further integration into a unified system could improve usability.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls lack built-in multi-factor authentication, requiring the purchase of a third-party tool to implement this essential security feature.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
For now, there is no dashboard or network management system available for Twingate.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
The reverse proxy feature for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is missing.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
I believe the integration of AI could improve the dashboard by making it more agile and effective in monitoring and predicting threats.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are costly but valued for premium security, offering better value with multi-year licenses.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall has subscription pricing influenced by user count and features, making it costlier than some competitors.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls come at a premium, exceeding the cost of most competitors by 45 percent.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
Colleagues looking for the cheapest and fastest firewall can still use Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls because they are affordable.
Director at Zuci Systems
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer robust, user-friendly security with advanced AI, threat prevention, and centralized management features.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers comprehensive security with real-time inspection, customizable controls, and automatic features, eliminating hardware needs.
The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are DNS sync calls, enabled security features, and Wildfire.
Technical Engineer Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Threat Vault allows us access to a comprehensive threat database, enabling us to get detailed information on threats and how to mitigate them.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is Cortex Data Lake.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
It is really customized, a security policy that can be applied to the users so they can access only the resources I enable them.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The best features that Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers are that it is AI powered and automated.
Senior Devsecops Cloud Cybersecurity Specialist at CGI
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...
Ranking in Firewalls
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
199
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
38th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
20
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 NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls5.2%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall1.0%
Other93.8%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Nitin Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt.Ltd.
Strong threat prevention has reduced phishing and malware while I monitor traffic in depth
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offers application and user awareness, which allow me to control traffic based on threats. The product includes threat prevention, advanced threat prevention, and deep packet inspection that really helps prevent issues in our network. Deep packet inspection inspects full traffic content, even inside applications and encrypted sessions. Deep packet inspection makes a very practical difference day to day because it lets me see and control what is actually inside the traffic, not just the open port or IP. I have real visibility of which application is running instead of just seeing HTTPS. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls WildFire sandboxing is really good at detecting and blocking zero-day malware automatically, along with its GlobalProtect and DNS security features. Using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls positively impacts my organization by providing strong security, better visibility, faster response, and simplified operations. After deploying Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls in our network, it blocks malicious traffic and prevents compromises that occurred before Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls. I can now block outside IPs to prevent issues. After Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls installation, I reduced 60 to 70 percent of malware and phishing attacks. Its threat prevention and DNS security features detect these attacks, block malicious domains, and reduce manual efforts for the security team.
Carlos Snel - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management
The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business77
Midsize Enterprise57
Large Enterprise87
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

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 Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...
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...
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 signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...
Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?
Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datacenter and endpoint. In between you have branch office. So blending EPP and firew...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was fine.
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
I think Zscaler Cloud Firewall can be improved by adding more features. The needed improvements involve scalability, which is something I wish they would address.
 

Also Known As

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
903,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.