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Palo Alto Networks VM-Series 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
7.1
Number of Reviews
373
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (13th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (9th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (13th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
RonnieYazdani - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly CLI and efficient dashboard streamline operations with robust security features
I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series easy to deploy, and none of my customers have had significant complaints. My customers have high certifications provided by Palo Alto Networks. The friendly dashboard and the ability to easily command and use the CLI make Palo Alto Networks VM-Series a better product. It offers robust solutions, making it valuable to my customers.
Benjamin - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the features, like content filtering. The firewall is powerful."
"The main benefit is the grouping of our security monitoring."
"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"The security fabric is excellent."
"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."
"Its stability is the most valuable."
"FortiGate firewalls are easy to manage through a user-friendly web interface. They also have advanced features like DDoS and DLP. However, I wouldn't recommend enabling all of these features on one device because it can cause performance issues."
"The UTM feature is quite good. FortiAP is easy to deploy because both Fortigate and FortiAP are under the same brand. Otherwise, you need to do more work on the configuration."
"I recommend going with the VM series, as it integrates advanced technological standards on a single platform and supports Kubernetes and Docker, which other vendors often don't offer."
"App-ID and User-ID have repeatedly shown value in securing business critical systems."
"They now know the details about their network traffic that they did not know before: Applications that they are using and some application they did not know they were using."
"A solid operating system with all the necessary data center security features."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has everything centralized. You have the VPN solution, firewall, routing, UDR, flexibility, updates, and full visibility of your traffic."
"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's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team."
"The Palo Alto VM-Series is nice because I can move the firewalls easily."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"The solution has improved my organization because I can see what traffic is happening and I can use it to block and prevent attacks."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
 

Cons

"When we cluster the two Fortinet FortiGate boxes together we have some issues."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."
"At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out."
"Its price could be better."
"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."
"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"
"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."
"When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency."
"The flexible throughput in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can be improved"
"The reporting part of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The DLP functionality or data classification can be improved in the solution's basic firewalling."
"The user-friendliness of the UI could be improved."
"We have ran into issues with Palo Alto’s limitations for resolving large IP lists from DNS lookups, as well as the antivirus interfering with App-ID."
"There should be an option for direct integration with the Azure platform."
"The tool is very costly."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."
"It could be better if it were more user-friendly. It's too complicated for us to use it. The price could be better as well."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."
"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."
"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"For the performance that we get, the price is reasonable. There are cheaper options, but they may not deliver the same kind of performance that we want. For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."
"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."
"Easy to understand licensing requirements."
"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."
"It is cheaper and more competitive compared to other options. For example, when comparing Palo Alto products to others, Palo Alto tends to be more expensive. If you compare Cisco's platform, including Cisco Meraki, with Fortinet products, you'll notice that Cisco's offerings are generally higher priced than Fortinet's firewall solutions."
"Sometimes, it's cheaper to buy a new firewall with licensing instead of renewing the licenses of an old firewall."
"The product's most valuable feature is pricing."
"We used BYOL, because of the cost to own."
"I know Palo Alto is not cheap. They have been telling me, the members of the finance team, it is not a cheap solution. It is a solution whose target is that no matter how big your organization is, small, medium, or large, it is about the maturity of your security team or infrastructure team whom you want to work with."
"The pricing was expensive but it was comparable to the competition."
"Purchasing on the AWS Marketplace was simple, effective, and easy."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is an expensive product but the best one in the market."
"The solution is a little bit expensive compared to other vendors."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"The pricing could be better."
"I think the price is good."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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...
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 ...
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...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
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
Warren Rogers Associates
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
860,745 professionals have used our research since 2012.