Trend Micro ScanMail vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

Trend Micro and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Anti-Malware Tools category. Trend Micro is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0. Additionally, 75% of Trend Micro users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

WatchGuard Firebox and Trend Micro ScanMail compete in network security products. WatchGuard Firebox appears to hold the upper hand due to its comprehensive support and features despite needing some design updates.

Features: WatchGuard Firebox is known for its web filtering, spam blocking, and VPN integration. It offers deep-layered security and a high success rate in performance and usability. Users appreciate its GUI, which simplifies management. Trend Micro ScanMail focuses on real-time antivirus behaviors, particularly email protection, and provides effective scanning of URLs and mailboxes.

Room for Improvement: WatchGuard Firebox could enhance client administrative tools and third-party integration, with suggestions for updating setup screens and improving Wi-Fi reporting. Trend Micro ScanMail faces criticism for its old-fashioned management console, poor documentation, issues with the threat scan engine, and pricing concerns. Both could benefit from improved threat response and expanded sandboxing capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Firebox offers flexible deployment in on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, with highly praised tech support. In contrast, Trend Micro ScanMail, while also offering deployment flexibility, has slower technical support response times, affecting user satisfaction. WatchGuard's support team is noted for being prompt and knowledgeable.

Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard Firebox is praised for competitive pricing and favorable licensing terms, providing good value and significant ROI due to reduced management time and enhanced network security. Trend Micro ScanMail's pricing is mid-range, yet some users find the high list pricing impacts deal successes. Its perceived value could be improved with better pricing models.

To learn more, read our detailed Trend Micro ScanMail vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Trend Micro ScanMail vs. WatchGuard Firebox

December 2025

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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

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

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.

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Jaffar Ali

Director Technical Services at TechnoBIZ

Ensures continuous protection with real-time scanning of emails and mailboxes

ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas. Additionally, the response time of their technical support is slow and needs enhancement. Overall, Trend Micro's technical support has deteriorated, and pricing is another area that requires attention. The list pricing is high, and we lose deals against competitors because of this. Trend Micro should consider reducing their prices, especially for large customers.

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Pedro Soteras

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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate has SD-WAN, FortiView, antivirus, sandbox, and IPS, which are generally well-known features."

"We use the FortiGate Sandbox to detect zero-day vulnerabilities, such as anomalies or malware, that are unknown and have not yet been discovered."

"Offers good security and filtering."

"Whenever we raise a complaint with FortiGate, their response and resolution times are minimal."

"The most valuable features of the FortiGate firewall include SSL inspection, VPN functionality, and threat intelligence features for preventing threats."

"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."

"This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's design is good...I am very impressed with the product's stability."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most effective feature of ScanMail is its real-time antivirus behaviors, particularly when it scans URLs."

"The pricing of Trend Micro ScanMail is average, which is fine."

"What I like the most about Trend Micro ScanMail is its easiness."

"I find Trend Micro ScanMail to be a stable solution, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten."

"Its integration with mail platforms is valuable."

"The most effective feature of ScanMail is its real-time antivirus behaviors, particularly when it scans URLs."

"It does the job. Even when our clients have a very high rate of emails per second, there has been no problem."

"The analysis part is good."

More Trend Micro ScanMail pros

"The most valuable feature for small and medium businesses is the support for various protocol proxies."

"It does the job of what it says it does. We set it to what we want it to block and then it blocks it."

"WatchGuard Firebox offers a satisfying VM and hardware"

"The most valuable feature is the correlation of logs from different devices."

"The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication."

"Firebox's best feature is the access portal."

"I haven't a problem with anti-virus stability using WatchGuard for over two years."

"What I found most valuable in WatchGuard Firebox is that it's a functional platform that works, and each of its features works well. The solution also has good reporting and dashboard capabilities. I also find the overall performance of WatchGuard Firebox great."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"There are some problems that support cannot give you a logical reason as to why it happened. For example, I had a case where I was dealing with a WhatsApp application that was giving issues. Technical support gave more than one reason it could be giving issues, but none of them solved the problem. Eventually I solved the problem, but it was far from the solutions that support had given."

"One point against them is that their solution lacks a unified approach."

"The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."

"We would like to see an improvement in the consistency of the product's performance levels."

"The main thing they have to improve in Fortinet FortiGate is the technical support; the rest of the features are good enough. We can handle them, but sometimes you really need support, and in that case, we are not getting it at the proper time."

"In terms of pricing, the solution is a bit expensive, but I think it was a better option than Checkpoint, which is why I replaced it."

"The performance can be improved."

"The interface could be better."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The weaknesses of Trend Micro ScanMail are that it doesn't fully protect ad-based web access and lacks proper security for Outlook, iOS, and web browser access."

"The price could be better. I think it's pretty good compared to other solutions as far as the features are concerned. It basically covers most of the stuff which we require for email security. But it would be better if they made it a little cheaper and more cost-effective. That would make it easier for us to sell it."

"ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas."

"The sandboxing part can be improved."

"ScanMail needs improvement in its reporting, as it is currently weak in some areas."

"I believe there is room for improvement in better signatures, better reporting features, and more insight into the spam emails database."

"ScanMail was one of the best solutions a few years ago, but it is no longer the best solution because of its old-fashioned management console. Customers associate it with something that is old because there is no change in the management console. It has old icons, and it is not fresh enough. It is also not easy to use or play with. The report engine is also old-fashioned. Customers want something easier, quicker, and cleaner."

"Its user interface is pretty old-fashioned, and sometimes, it's hard to find the features that you are looking for. The user interface definitely needs some improvement."

More Trend Micro ScanMail cons

"The main trouble is the price of the product."

"Since WatchGuard acquired Panda, there may be synergies in consolidating both solutions under a single name to reduce customer confusion."

"The administrative UI/UX could be significantly improved."

"There is a slight learning curve."

"The next release should have better software and configuration systems that can also be used on Linux."

"Multi properties could be added to the solution in the future to make it better."

"The user interface and configuration can be improved."

"Firebox would be improved with integration for endpoint protection solutions."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a very cheap solution."

"When comparing the price of Fortinet FortiGate SWG to other solutions it is expensive. The price could be better."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."

"At the time we bought them, I was satisfied with their pricing; I don't know how the new pricing will be."

"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."

"The solution's price is average."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Its price is okay. It is not too high."

"It's a yearly subscription, but the price could be better."

"It is an expensive solution. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"WatchGuard Firebox is a cheap solution."

"The price is very good."

"They license it. When we buy it, we buy it with a three-year license. That's the most cost-effective way to do it. So, if you're going to buy it, then buy it with the three-year licensing."

"WatchGuard Firebox has good quality, but it is expensive."

"It's fair pricing, but it could always be reduced."

"As per my knowledge, the product is more affordable than alternatives."

"Despite the fact that there is always room for improvement, the current pricing of the solution is still lower compared to its competitors."

"I haven't seen the pricing since 2017, but it was competitive. SonicWall, Barracuda, and WatchGuard were all about the same price when we did our last pricing."

More WatchGuard Firebox pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	92
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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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 ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Trend Micro ScanMail?

The pricing of Trend Micro ScanMail is average, which is fine. Pricing doesn't have anything to do with this; their p...

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What needs improvement with Trend Micro ScanMail?

The major limitation of this product is that their documentation is very poor; their documentation is extremely poor....

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What advice do you have for others considering Trend Micro ScanMail?

I work as a security consultant in Bangladesh Election Commission, a government organization. I have limited experien...

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What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

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Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Trend Micro ScanMail

Compared 24% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Trend Micro ScanMail

Compared 14% of the time

Trend Micro Email Security vs Trend Micro ScanMail

Compared 14% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Trend Micro ScanMail

Compared 11% of the time

Trend Micro Deep Discovery Email Inspector vs Trend Micro ScanMail

Compared 11% of the time

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Sophos Firewall vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Trend Micro ScanMail

January 2026

Download Trend Micro ScanMail product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

January 2026

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

ScanMail

WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

More than 90 percent of targeted attacks begin with a spear phishing email, which means your mail server security is more important than ever. Unfortunately, most mail server security solutions, including the limited set of built-in protections in Microsoft® Exchange™ 2013 and 2016, rely on pattern file updates, which only detect traditional malware. They don’t include specific protections to detect malicious URLs or document exploits commonly used in targeted attacks or advanced persistent threats (APTs).

ScanMail™ Suite for Microsoft® Exchange™ stops highly targeted email attacks and spear phishing by using document exploit detection, enhanced web reputation, and sandboxing as part of a custom APT defense—protection you don’t get with other solutions. In addition, only ScanMail blocks traditional malware with email, file, and web reputation technology and correlated global threat intelligence from Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ cloud-based security.

Time-saving features like central management, search and destroy, and role-based access have earned ScanMail its reputation as one of the simplest security solutions to setup and operate.

Trend Micro

WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.

WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.

What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?

Ease of Setup: Quick and straightforward installation process.
GUI: User-friendly graphical interface for simplified navigation.
VPN Features: Secure and efficient virtual private network management.
Web Filtering: Advanced filtering for safer browsing experiences.
Threat Detection: Proactive monitoring and detection of cyber threats.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Centralized Control: Streamlined management from a single point.
High Throughput: Efficient data handling and processing capacity.
Stable Performance: Consistent and reliable operational functionality.
Active Directory Integration: Seamless connection with user directories.
Customer Service: Strong support service for customer inquiries.

WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.

WatchGuard

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

L&T Chiyoda, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Bishop Luffa School, Brooks Rehabilitation, CHR de la Citadelle, CHRU de Nancy

Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence

Buyer's Guide

Trend Micro ScanMail vs. WatchGuard Firebox

December 2025

Free Report: Trend Micro ScanMail vs. WatchGuard Firebox

Find out what your peers are saying about Trend Micro ScanMail vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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