No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Symantec Advanced Threat Protection comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Advanced Threat Pr...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is 6.7%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is 2.1%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire6.7%
Symantec Advanced Threat Protection2.1%
Other91.2%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2695164 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Advanced threat detection has protected critical document workflows and checks suspicious files
I would say the setup and putting together the hierarchy within the devices was not straightforward. There were many reboots and reconfigurations while the optimal setup was established. However, we were happy with the device. The setup process could be easier to establish the cluster. It should be easier to establish the Palo Alto Networks WildFire cluster between the devices. We had some difficulty with it, but it was not catastrophic. The operation and usability itself is what I was happy with.
Dennis O'Reilly - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber SecOps Principal at Dotcom Security
Provides end-to-end antivirus protection and has good stability
Symantec Endpoint Protection provides end-to-end protection. Along with antivirus protection, it has a lot of key areas, including intrusive prevention, firewall features, and application and device control. It can integrate with other Broadcom solutions, such as Symantec Messaging Gateway and Symantec DLP. If you want to send an email, it gets scanned through endpoint protection and DLP. We get all Symantec functionality in a single pane.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"WildFire has default licenses for threat prevention. It updates its cloud-based database in real-time, and its dedicated team analyzes threats to provide remediation and prevention measures."
"Customer service is excellent; their support is top-tier for sure."
"A good tool for file scanning and email threat detection, especially when it comes to attachments and communications."
"From a technical perspective this has given us a new high as this is how a technology solution should function."
"The automated scanning capabilities integrated with Palo Alto's XDR are crucial for detecting and responding to potential environmental threats."
"Remote access is excellent."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"From my perspective, Palo Alto is the best solution in the market."
"All of the solution's features are quite valuable for us, and we especially like the threat protection it provides."
"What I like most about Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is its notification capability."
"Real-time threat analysis is quick and takes action on threats immediately."
"The product integrates well with our systems, and we have not encountered any problems."
"The stability is excellent."
"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."
"The incident management on the solution is very good. You get a lot of detailed information about an incident. You also get a lot of documentation in connection with the CVI or integration."
"The great advantage in using this product is it creates multiple services."
 

Cons

"Many years back an update caused an issue with the firewall. However, Palo Alto not only informed us of said issue, they also sent an update that fixed the issue before I even had time to log in to determine if the issue affected our services."
"There are more specialized solutions that compete with Wildfire. Therefore, they need to work on their machine learning and AI to be more competitive."
"Palo Alto doesn't do much to support the on-premise version. It wants too much self-support for the on-premise version of WildFire."
"Perhaps an anti-spam feature could be considered."
"Palo Alto Networks WildFire should be more real-time in nature. The signature updates should happen in a minute or less than a minute to be a very good feature for the customer."
"Technical support is alright but we have to wait for a while."
"Our main concern is that everything has to be synced with the WildFire Cloud and has to be checked through the subscription."
"The product fails to offer protection when dealing with high-severity vulnerabilities, making it an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The support team that Symantec offers didn't know how to solve issues even though they referred to themselves as "engineers"."
"The endpoint protection looks old."
"The support for new OSs and older OSs could be a little tighter. They need to be more upfront about what protection services they're going to provide on new OSs. I haven't seen the Windows 11 version out yet. It is either already released in Beta, or the Beta will be released soon. There could be a little bit more advanced updates on what they're doing to help protect Windows 11 environments. They can let us know in advance so that we know it is going to be protected. We can't roll out the new OS without putting end-point protection on it. So, they should tell us what is their support model for that, and what are they doing to protect Windows 11. They're not telling me, and that's a criticism. The same issue is applicable to all the other antivirus tools. It is not just Symantec; all of them have this problem."
"They could enhance the solution to work across all devices, including Android, iOS, and Mac, and make it more user-friendly."
"The support has dropped down to a five out of ten."
"Scalability could be better."
"One area for improvement could be the pricing model."
"The product's support services need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are on an annual subscription. When we purchased the firewall, we had activated this solutions license for a minimum of one year. The price of the solution is fair."
"WildFire is a little bit pricey. Sometimes it's difficult to sell it to customers at the current price."
"​More expensive than other firewalls.​"
"There are different types of licenses."
"The pricing is affordable and fixed."
"The price of the Palo Alto Networks WildFire license is expensive. When it came time to renew the solution the price doubled."
"I think they should lower the price of this solution"
"Pricing could be improved."
"Pricing is good. It is nice to have a great product at a fair price."
"The price is quite expensive."
"Symantec Advanced Threat Protection's pricing is comparable."
"The pricing of this solution is inexpensive and affordable."
"Symantec Endpoint Protection has an average price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) solutions are best for your needs.
912,517 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
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 straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
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 nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
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 featu...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
ECI
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs. Symantec Advanced Threat Protection and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
912,517 professionals have used our research since 2012.