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

VMware Carbon Black App Control vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 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

VMware Carbon Black App Con...
Ranking in Application Control
7th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Firebox
Ranking in Application Control
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (10th), Firewalls (12th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (10th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 10.4%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 10.7%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
WatchGuard Firebox10.7%
VMware Carbon Black App Control10.4%
Other78.9%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Security Administrator at EJADA
We can isolate problem machines and limit their access
We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access.  More than two years. I rate Carbon Black App Control 10 out of 10 for stability. I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability.…
Abhishek Saini - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
Centralized security management has improved VPN reliability and simplified daily operations
WatchGuard Firebox is a strong and reliable platform overall, but there are a few areas where improvements could make the experience even better. One area is the user interface and navigation in some management tools. While the platform is powerful, certain configurations and troubleshooting workflows can feel less intuitive compared to some newer cloud-native firewall platforms. Another point is reporting and log analysis. Although the logging features are very useful, deeper analytics and more customizable reporting dashboards would make security monitoring much more effective. Firmware upgrades and policy synchronization can sometimes require careful planning to avoid security interruptions. Overall, the core security and VPN functionality are very solid, but improving usability, reporting, and automation would make the platform even stronger. One area that could be improved is the learning curve for new administrators. While experienced engineers can work with the platform effectively, some advanced networking and security configurations can be a bit complex for junior technicians. More guided configuration workflows, smarter recommendations, and simplified troubleshooting tools would make onboarding easier. Another improvement would be more flexible reporting customization for executive-level and client-facing reports.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access."
"If any malicious activity, like VAT viruses, anything RNE, ZOD malware, or something similar, comes in we know that unless we approve it, it's going to be blocked."
"Overall, this is a good product and one that I recommend."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"We have been dealing with VMware Carbon Black App Control for one year, and during this time we have already made sure that this is the best solution to protect our user machines and servers."
"It offers a sense of security where anything that comes in, regardless of what it is, unless you approve it manually, it's not going to run."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
"Carbon Black offers a total lockdown solution; it shows us the attacks that are being attempted against our infrastructure and how we are being protected."
"This product offers great protection using the default settings."
"The most valuable feature of WatchGuard Firebox is the VPN. It's easy to connect to the VPN."
"Because we bought two firewalls... we need a central place to manage the policies and deploy them to both devices. It's good that it provides a system management console that is able to manipulate and manage policies in one place and deploy them to different locations."
"I like that this product has very few issues."
"For a firewall product, I do think that it's a leader."
"It is a scalable solution."
"Intrusion Prevention is my primary focus so that's what I find most useful. The why is straightforward: It's to prevent intrusion."
"If we don't want specific data sent out, the tool will stop that data based on the policy we have allocated to it. It has reduced the risks of sending data where it shouldn't be. I haven't faced any issues with the tool's integration capabilities."
 

Cons

"Its initial setup is very complex. We got help from their implementation team because if it is not set up properly, you can really hinder the operation of your environment and things won't execute or run."
"Another issue is that even sometimes if you approve, for example, Adobe as a publisher, you say any product or anything that's from Adobe has to run. It generally runs, but especially in a large environment and with a lot of users, sometimes, due to some certification validation issues or some other issue, it might stop the process from running. Genuine processes like Adobe and Chrome can get blocked. so that needs to be improved."
"I would like to see the addition of some more features that are in other, similar solutions."
"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
"The control software is currently only available for Windows, which can be a little annoying for Linux users."
"The level of support from WatchGuard is not as good."
"The dashboard itself has an outdated appearance, just the looks of WatchGuard Firebox; it looks really outdated."
"WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention catches so little. When I've implemented it, it just can't look at the traffic in a thorough enough manner to capture as much as it should. And I find that I'm disenchanted with all data loss protection solutions I've tested and looked at."
"Its graphical user interface could be improved because not everybody is technical. There is a lack of knowledge, and they can give some training for this solution."
"What could use some significant improvement in WatchGuard Firebox would be its interface and policy management. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of WatchGuard Firebox is the ability to modify an existing policy instead of having to recreate a policy when changes are necessary. At the moment, there's no possibility to modify the policy. You have to delete the policy and recreate it."
"It's very hard to get information from their website, for exactly what I need to do. Sometimes I end up having to open a lot of support tickets... It's a navigational issue which makes it hard to find what I'm looking for and it's just so broad."
"The data loss protection works well, but it could be easier to configure. The complexity of data loss protection makes it a more difficult feature to fully leverage. Better integration with third-party, two-factor authentication would be advantageous."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"I spent $600 or $800 on this product and I'm paying a couple of hundred dollars a year in a subscription service to keep the lights on, on it... It works out to $100 or $200 a year if you buy several years at once. It's fair."
"Cheap."
"WatchGuard Firebox has good quality, but it is expensive."
"They have an annual subscription license. Initially, we had opted for three years. After that, we went for another three years, and after that, we have been doing it yearly. They also have a license for five years."
"The price of WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service is pretty reasonable compared to similar solutions."
"It is not expensive. Other products like Fortinet and Check Point are of the same price."
"The solution is cheap."
"WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention's pricing is expensive. I rate it a seven out of ten."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Control solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business104
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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 our employees.
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

CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware Carbon Black App Control vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.