Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Palo Alto Networks WildFire comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Palo Alto Networks WildFire based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire Report (Updated: September 2023).
745,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The VM-Series reports how much bandwidth a particular IP is using. You don't need to regularly log into a website, like a Cisco command, to see what kind of ACL it's getting. There isn't an ACL use portal event. You can go there and see how much my ACL has been getting me.""Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view.""Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is easy to maintain...From a security point of view, I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to be a better product compared to the other solutions in the market.""Centralized management is valuable because it allows us to configure settings in one location and apply them across all three locations.""Palo Alto Networks VM-Series's most valuable feature is the visibility of the environment.""Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has everything centralized. You have the VPN solution, firewall, routing, UDR, flexibility, updates, and full visibility of your traffic.""I like the UI. Most things are accessible from the user interface and it is quite user-friendly. With respect to both VM-based firewalls and physical firewalls, it's easy to create updates.""With the improved visibility we now have, the traffic is being properly monitored, which means that we are better able to manage it. These are improvements that we saw very quickly."

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"A good tool for file scanning and email threat detection, especially when it comes to attachments and communications.""I give the initial setup an eight out of ten.""Stability is never a concern.""The solution is scalable.""We have found that Palo Alto Networks WildFire is scalable. We currently have six thousand users for the product.""The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is its ability to adapt to environments and its robustness.""It is the best device in comparison to other network products in the marketplace.""We get support in the free version."

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Cons
"Recently, they introduced their Prisma Cloud solution. Compared to the previous technologies, like Panorama, which is used for centralized firewall management, or even the individual firewalls, it's a bit challenging to integrate the traditional firewall policies into Prisma Cloud.""There's room for improvement in terms of integration with the load balancer. It isn't like Fortinet, which has a load balancer built into its firewall. It is effortless to integrate within the load balancer-plus-firewall solution.""Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs to improve its order process.""With Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, it is hard for me to manage its network configuration part.""The product could be better in terms of performance than one of its competitors.""The utilization monitoring and GUI have room for improvement.""There could be dynamic DNS features similar to Fortinet in the product.""The product's AIOps process needs improvement."

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"They can keep on doing more updates. As new malware and viruses are coming out, they can make sure that WildFire is up to date.""The price could be better.""The cost of this solution could still be improved, in particular, giving product discounts for charitable causes.""In the future, Palo Alto could reduce the time it takes to process the file.""The cyber security visibility and forensics features to receive more information about incidents could improve in Palo Alto Networks WildFire.""In terms of what I'd like to see in the next release of Palo Alto Networks WildFire, each release is based on malware that has been identified. The key problem is an average of six months from the time malware is written to the time it's discovered and a signature is created for it. The only advice that I can give is for them to shorten that timeframe. I don't know how they would do it, but if they shorten that, for example, cut it in half, they'll make themselves more famous.""Palo Alto Networks WildFire could improve by adding support for manual submission of suspicious files and URLs. Additionally, it would be an advantage to add rule-based analysis. Currently, it uses only static and AI. We need to be able to analyze archive files.""The free version does not have real-time updates. It is slow."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Palo Alto definitely needs to be more competitive compared to other products. The problem that I have faced is that the price of licensing is very high and not very competitive."
  • "Initially, pricing was high. Later on, we were able to negotiate the pricing and get something that fits our budget."
  • "This is not the cheapest firewall but it's not the most expensive of the options on the market."
  • "Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is notably cheaper than other firewall vendors, except Fortigate."
  • "The product's most valuable feature is pricing."
  • "It is an expensive product."
  • "The solution is expensive. I rate its pricing a three out of ten."
  • "I rate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series pricing an eight out of ten."
  • More Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Palo Alto Networks WildFire is an expensive product."
  • "Palo Alto Networks WildFire is quite expensive, and this is what puts people off."
  • "The solution is a bit expensive. You pay for security."
  • "It's comparable to what the competition is. It is probably a little lesser than what the competition is because, as a state government, we go for whatever the lowest cost is."
  • "For the last three years, the price of Palo Alto in Vietnam has been very high."
  • "There are different types of licenses."
  • "The price could be better."
  • "The price of Palo Alto Networks WildFire could improve. It is expensive. There is an annual subscription to use the solution."
  • More Palo Alto Networks WildFire Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: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 and… more »
    Top Answer:Both products are very stable and easily scalable The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can… more »
    Top Answer:The main advantage of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series stems from the fact that you can access it with the help of cloud services.
    Top Answer: The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly… more »
    Top Answer:FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy… more »
    Top Answer:When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox feature… more »
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    Overview

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a highly effective advanced threat protection (ATP) solution and firewall that can be hosted on cloud computing technologies designed by many different companies. It decreases the amount of time that it will take administrators to respond to threats. Users that deploy VM-series have 70% less downtime than those who use similar firewalls. Neither protection nor efficiency are concerns when this next-generation firewall is in play.

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Palo Alto Networks VM-Series include:

    • Deployment flexibility. VM-Series can be deployed to protect both public and private cloud environments. This level of flexibility empowers organizations to run the environment or environments that best meet their needs without worrying that they are going to be exposed to digital threats due to the environment that they chose. 
    • Ease of use. In the public cloud, users of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can automate their deployment and dynamically scale up their environment while experiencing a consistent level of protection. This dynamic scalability means that they also integrate their security into their DevOps workflows so that their security can keep up with their activities and requirements. Users of private cloud environments can set up security policies that can be automated to be provisioned as the need arises. Organizations don’t need to slow down when they deploy VM-Series because it makes the task of defending them so simple that they can set their defenses and forget that they are even there.
    • Detect and stop even the trickiest threats. Users gain a deep level of visibility when they deploy Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. App-ID technology enables organizations to see their network traffic on the application level and spot threats that might be trying to sneak in through vulnerable points in their defenses. It also leverages Palo Alto Networks WildFire and advanced threat protection to block the threats before they can escalate.

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Features

    Some of the many features Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers include:

    • Central management system.  It comes with a central management system that enables users to set up and control their security operations from one location. Users don’t need to search for the tools that they need. This system allows for security consistency and complete control without requiring businesses to spend large periods of time to do so.
    • Blacklisting and whitelisting. Organizations can utilize blacklisting and whitelisting tools to ensure that their network traffic only contains the type of traffic that they want to be present. These tools make it possible for them to set specific web traffic sources as being either undesirable and thus blocked from entering their network or desirable and thus allowed to enter. 
    • Automation feature. The product’s automation feature can automate many critical functions that users would otherwise have to handle manually. Security policy updates are an example of a function that users can automate.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a solution that stands out when compared to other similar solutions. Two major advantages that it offers are its ability to protect users without degrading the efficiency with which their networks perform and its centralized management system. 

    Jason H., the director of information technology at Tavoca Inc, writes, “There is no noticeable trade-off between security and network performance. In fact, so far, we've not seen any negative network performance with it. We're very impressed in that regard.”

    An information technology manager at a tech services company says, “We use Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system. We have an on-prem firewall where Panorama is very good for pulling logs in from the cloud so we can see what is going on. It gives us visibility into that as well as shows us what attacks are coming in. Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view.”

    Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a highly effective cloud-based advanced threat protection (ATP) solution that organizations in a wide variety of fields trust to help them keep safe from digital threats. It is designed to enable businesses to confront even the most evasive threats and resolve them. It combines many techniques to maximize the level of threat protection available to users.

    Palo Alto Networks WildFire Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy WildFire include:

    Proactive real-time threat prevention. Organizations that utilize WildFire can take a proactive approach to their network security. Wildfire’s security scanning software is supported by powerful automation that enables it to run 180 times faster than other similar solutions. It also leverages machine learning to spot and address two times more malware monthly than its competitors. Users can solve issues as they arise, which prevents them from suffering severe harm.

    A holistic approach to security. WildFire leverages many of the security features and characteristics that can be found in some of the most effective security solutions in a way that provides users with a powerful protective blanket. It combines such things as machine learning, dynamic and static analysis, and a custom-built analysis environment, and enables users to cover many different potential avenues of attack. In this way, organizations can easily detect and prevent even the most sophisticated threats from harming them.

    Reduce overhead costs. Using WildFire cuts the expenses that a business incurs. Its architecture is based in the cloud and, as a result, users do not have to purchase hardware to run it. Additionally, those users do not have to pay anything more than a product subscription fee. They can scale it up as they wish and incur no additional costs.

    Palo Alto Networks WildFire Features

    Some of the many features WildFire offers include:

    Third-party integrations. WildFire gives users access to integrations that can enable them to combine Wildfire’s security suite with outside tools. If an organization thinks that they are missing something, they can easily use Wildfire’s third-party integrations to bolster their capabilities. These integrations can connect to many different types of tools, like security information or event management systems.

    URL filtering. Organizations can use a URL filtering feature to safeguard themselves against known threats. When this feature is active, it will scan for traffic coming from specific URLs that are known to be malicious. This keeps them one step ahead of those threats that they know about.

    Deep analytics. Wildfire comes with the ability to provide users with a detailed analysis of any threat that it finds across all of their network environments. It gives users insight into everything from their natures to the actions that they have performed.

    Reviews from Real Users

    WildFire is a solution that stands out when compared to its primary competitors. Two major advantages that it offers are the high speeds at which it can analyze network traffic for threats and the accuracy with which it can pick out genuine threats from false positives.

    Ahmad Z., the principal consultant at Securelytics, writes, “The analysis is very fast. The intermittent is a millisecond and has a speedy response time.”

    Christopher B., the senior systems administrator at a government agency, says, “It gives a more accurate assessment of a virus in terms of whether it's truly a virus, malware, or a false positive. We have some legacy software that could pop up as being something that is malware. WildFire goes through and inspects it, and then it comes back and lets us know if it's a false positive. Usually, when it finds out that it's not a virus, it lets us know that it's benign, and it can exclude it from that scan, which means I don't even have to worry about that one popping up anymore.”

    Offer
    Learn more about Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
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    Sample Customers
    Warren Rogers Associates
    Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Manufacturing Company18%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Government14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Government13%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise34%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business44%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise62%
    Buyer's Guide
    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    745,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is ranked 8th in ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) with 13 reviews while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is ranked 3rd in ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) with 20 reviews. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is rated 8.6, while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series writes "Many features are optimized for troubleshooting real-time scenarios, saving a lot of time". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks WildFire writes "Intuitive, stable, and scalable zero-day threat prevention solution with a machine learning feature". Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is most compared with Azure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Cisco Secure Firewall and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, whereas Palo Alto Networks WildFire is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Proofpoint Email Protection, Fortinet FortiGate, Juniper SRX Series Firewall and Fortinet FortiSandbox. See our Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire report.

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    We monitor all ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.