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Splunk User Behavior Analytics vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

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
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers a high ROI with cost-effective cybersecurity, reducing costs and improving efficiency through centralized control.
Sentiment score
5.9
Users report varied ROI from Splunk UBA, emphasizing productivity gains, time savings, and improved incident resolution efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.9
WatchGuard Firebox improved security, efficiency, and remote access, saving time and cost, though some experienced higher operational expenses.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
The solution can save costs by improving incident resolution times and reducing security incident costs.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
All of this has already happened after implementing Splunk User Behavior Analytics.
cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK
I do not see any return on investment after WatchGuard Firebox implementation in terms of cost reductions.
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
Reduced incidents and easier management helped lower operational cost.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate support is generally effective, but users report variable responsiveness and rely on comprehensive documentation.
Sentiment score
6.8
Splunk User Behavior Analytics support is praised for its professionalism, extensive knowledge base, and prompt, reliable assistance despite regional limitations.
Sentiment score
6.3
WatchGuard Firebox support is praised for expertise and responsiveness, despite occasional delays with complex issues or time zone challenges.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
Mission-critical offering a dedicated team, proactive monitoring, and fast resolution.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
From the responsiveness perspective, Splunk is very responsive with SLA-bound support for premium tiers.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
I would rate their technical support as 8.5 out of 10.
Director at Techpace
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the technical support of the WatchGuard Firebox a 10.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Finally, we connected with someone, and I would rate their support as eight or nine out of ten once we were able to speak with them.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
Customer support for WatchGuard Firebox is very good and very fast.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is considered scalable for small to medium enterprises, though less so for large-scale expansions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Splunk User Behavior Analytics excels in scalable deployment, flexible expansion, and efficient data handling, overcoming on-premises storage challenges.
Sentiment score
6.8
WatchGuard Firebox is scalable and supports easy upgrades, though some users noted performance limits and functionality constraints.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is highly scalable, designed for enterprise scalability, allowing expansion of data ingestion, indexing, and search capabilities as log volumes grow.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
The user interface and features compared to newer firewalls are not up to the mark, which includes functionalities such as filtering, web filtering, threat protection, user identity, and UTM features that need improvement.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
You can choose different models based on throughput and features, which makes it easy to support growing environments.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
If we're going for more concurrent users, we need to change the entire box.
Owner at it logic
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is stable and reliable, with occasional issues linked to updates and high traffic, requiring regular patches.
Sentiment score
7.9
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is stable, reliable, easy to configure, and effective, achieving 99.9% uptime with proper deployment.
Sentiment score
7.9
WatchGuard Firebox is stable and reliable, with minimal crashes, occasional reboots, and robust performance despite minor issues.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
With built-in redundancy across zones and regions, 99.9% uptime is achievable.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is a one hundred percent stable solution.
Cloud Solution Architect at Tech Mahindra Limited
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is highly stable and reliable, even in large-scale enterprise environments with high log injection rates.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
I have just one WatchGuard Firebox unit that is licensed, and I have no bugs on it, so I am happy with that.
Administrateur Systã¨Mes Et Rã©Seau at Btp Consultants
There are issues with traffic hitting the firewall, which could indicate performance problems related to throughput.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
We had many bottlenecks before deploying WatchGuard Firebox, but when we switched to a higher version of our firewalls, the bottlenecks were solved.
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users desire better reporting, intuitive UI, improved documentation, simpler pricing, stability, integration, and advanced features.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics needs better pricing, integration, automation, and machine learning to enhance functionality and user experience.
WatchGuard Firebox requires simplified management, improved integrations, enhanced reporting, revisited pricing, stronger security features, and better support for users.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Global reach allows deployment of apps and services closer to users worldwide, but data sovereignty concerns exist and region selection must align with compliance requirements.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
I encountered several issues while trying to create solutions for this advanced version, which seem unrelated to query or data issues.
System Engineer at Infosys
High data ingestion costs can be an issue, especially for large enterprises, as Splunk charges based on the amount of data processed.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
The cost for renewal after three years is 75% of the hardware cost, which is a significant problem.
Owner at it logic
When implementing a rule using a group of IPs, it is not possible to do that directly.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
It is also difficult to diagnose issues if any devices get compromised; for example, if someone hacks our system, it becomes hard to trace who made changes or accessed the firewall.
Senior Network Consultant at NETOPS
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers competitive pricing, though renewal and add-on costs can affect long-term affordability, providing good feature value.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics pricing is perceived as complex and expensive, influenced by data volume, licensing, and integration needs.
WatchGuard Firebox offers competitive pricing, three-year plans, and discounts, making it appealing despite additional advanced security costs.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
Reserved instances with one or three-year commitments offer lower rates, providing up to 70% savings.
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Compared to all other products in the market, it is the most expensive one in all aspects including professional service and licenses, even the cloud version.
Director at Techpace
Comparing with the competitors, it's a bit expensive.
Regional Director at iSecureMind
When we tried to renew the Palo Alto license, the cost was beyond any reasonable range.
Digital Solution Designer at Accenture
Fortinet is more expensive than WatchGuard.
Security Engineer at Antina Empleos
It's expensive us here.
Owner at it logic
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate excels with ease of use, robust security, and affordability, featuring web filtering, VPN, SD-WAN, and IPS.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics offers advanced threat detection, real-time data collection, and customizable dashboards for enhanced monitoring and decision-making.
WatchGuard Firebox is lauded for its user-friendly setup, robust security features, strong performance, and excellent support, enhancing network protection.
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
I also utilize it for anomaly detection and behavior analysis, particularly using Splunk's machine learning environment.
Cloud Solution Architect at Tech Mahindra Limited
The dashboards themselves are nice, very good, and very helpful, but the accuracy of the data or the information that will be presented on the dashboard is something that needs to be questioned.
Director at Techpace
Splunk User Behavior Analytics positively impacts my organization by providing deep visibility into user behavior, allowing us to protect our data from abnormal users and ensuring everything is monitored to secure our data.
cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK
The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication.
Solution Architect at Simvicitsolutions
Basically, we have received a good return on investment.
Owner at it logic
I utilize AI within the WatchGuard Firebox, as we use the interconnection with threat syncs, and AI is implemented.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
581
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (5th)
WatchGuard Firebox
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
129
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (11th), Firewalls (11th), Anti-Malware Tools (6th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (18th), Application Control (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.2%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk User Behavior Analytics is 2.4%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 6.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate13.2%
WatchGuard Firebox6.1%
Splunk User Behavior Analytics2.4%
Other78.30000000000001%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

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.
SK
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Offers intuitive deployment with strong customer support and advanced analytics features
There are improvements that could be made to Splunk User Behavior Analytics as any product will have advantages and disadvantages. Scalability is one consideration. For example, the advantages include rapid auto scaling to meet demand. A disadvantage is that it can lead to cost overrun if not properly factored or governed. The speed of deployment offers faster provisioning as an advantage, but it can require substantial automation skills and infrastructure as code expertise, which can be challenging. Cloud provides major operational benefits such as agility, automation, resilience, and global access when setting up on Cloud. However, it introduces challenges such as cost control, complexity, and vendor dependency. For example, global reach allows deployment of apps and services closer to users worldwide, but data sovereignty concerns exist and region selection must align with compliance requirements.
PS
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
Network protection has improved with stronger VPN connectivity but administration remains complex
Deploying WatchGuard Firebox was quite easy, but we have had some problems regarding the VPN and the administration of the tool and the two firewalls that we have. When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with our previous solution, Palo Alto, we have had some problems in administration because of the tools. I think that they have some aspects in their system that are cloud-provided, but they also have an on-premise solution, which makes this combination good. Although I should say that when compared to Palo Alto, we have taken a step backwards. In general, I would rate WatchGuard Firebox around 6-7; it is a good firewall, but they lack good administration tools. We experience many problems with the performance and administration tools on the web, including several issues with VPNs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise189
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business93
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise15
 

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 do you like most about Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
The solution's most valuable feature is Splunk queries, which allow us to query the logs and analyze the attack vectors.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is a premium product. Compared to all other products in the market, it is the most exp...
What needs improvement with Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is still an immature product, so it still needs some R&D to be able to be mature i...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Caspida, Splunk UBA
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
8 Securities, AAA Western, AdvancedMD, Amaya, Cerner Corporation, CJ O Shopping, CloudShare, Crossroads Foundation, 7-Eleven Indonesia
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Splunk User Behavior Analytics vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.