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KerioControl pros and cons

Vendor: GFI

4.1 out of 5

58 reviews
88% willing to recommend

Pros & Cons summary

KerioControl is praised for its support and stability, with reliable and secure VPN capabilities and effective firewall and intrusion detection. Geo-tagging and web filtering enhance security, and configuration is user-friendly. However, recent changes in licensing and support have caused dissatisfaction. Resellers now handle purchases, slowing buying processes. Users note network and VPN speed issues with high-security settings and limited content filtering options. Hardware offerings could be improved to match competitors.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

KerioControl provides robust security features, including firewall and intrusion prevention, ensuring protection against unauthorized access and potential threats.

The VPN functionality of KerioControl enables secure remote access, facilitating efficient work-from-home setups and data exchange without compromising security.

KerioControl supports comprehensive bandwidth management, allowing organizations to monitor and optimize internet usage by users, applications, and departments.

Integration and scalability make KerioControl adaptable to different infrastructure environments, offering customizable solutions to meet various operational needs.

Efficient setup and ongoing management are made possible with KerioControl's intuitive interfaces, making it accessible for users with varying technical expertise.

CONS

Support responses need improvement and could be faster.

Remote connectivity features require enhancements for users.

Improvements are needed in Next Generation Firewall Protection, particularly in user-level protection.

Content filtering needs refinement, especially concerning search engine results in educational settings.

Scalability is a concern, with a need for more flexible and larger bandwidth capabilities.

KerioControl Pros review quotes

Constantnos Achilleos

Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean

Nov 11, 2024

The most valuable features include geo-tagging, which blocks all other IPs except for the specified accounts, and web filtering.

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LB

Information Technology Specialista at REMING CONSULT a.s.

Apr 9, 2024

The tool shows what has been blocked externally. It's very good because once installed and correctly set up, it allows you to work from home as if you are in the office, without any errors or issues. It's very simple to use, click to connect or disconnect.

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MM

Marcelino Mongcal

Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.

Jun 27, 2024

The solution has an app manager and a portal where you can maintain all your Keri products. It is a firewall that includes antivirus and anti-malware, which adds security. The VPNs, both site-to-site and client VPNs, are pretty easy to set up.

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David Schneiderlin

Co-Owner at Infowa

Jul 4, 2023

The product is easy to use.

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Senior Technician at Computers At Work

Jun 15, 2023

I am impressed with the tool's firewall filtering capacity.

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AK

Research And Development Manager at MFP

Apr 6, 2023

Compared to other solutions, accounting and live monitoring of firewall status are very good features in KerioControl.

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MS

Masoud Saedvand

Cisco Network Engineer at golrang

Jan 26, 2023

The solution is user-friendly.

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BC

Information Security Officer - VP at Unified Technology Solutions

Feb 7, 2022

It is very comprehensive and simple. It has all the active protections. It's updated. We love that you can set how often it is updated so you can work what is right for you. A large company with a lot of bandwidth can update the virus definitions and security definitions hourly, if they want. A smaller site that's remote, where maybe updating the definitions will eat into the bandwidth, we can schedule those more to go later at night. It's very flexible and works for us in all types of situations. This is great because then we don't have to learn seven different products to be able to work with seven different scenarios.

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MM

Marcelino Mongcal

Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.

Oct 14, 2021

The solution is easy to manage. Kerio Control is unique compared to other firewalls because it has been around since 2000 when we switched and the name it started with was WinRoute, and then later became Kerio Control. It evolved over time and it is more of a proprietary firewall on its own and has been developed through open source.

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AD

IT Manager at Flare Technologies

Aug 2, 2020

One thing we use quite a lot, as well, is the DHCP Server, because we do a lot of work where all our devices need to have static IP addresses. Rather than going around and configuring every box, we do it all through DHCP reservations. It's easier. We've got a record of it. We can manipulate it if we need to change something or change some hardware. It's all easy. Even guys who are not used to using it can pick it up quite quickly.

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KerioControl Cons review quotes

Constantnos Achilleos

Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean

Nov 11, 2024

The logs could be improved for better clarity.

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LB

Information Technology Specialista at REMING CONSULT a.s.

Apr 9, 2024

I would like to see geo-IP filtering added to the filtering rules. Incorporating these rules would be very beneficial if you have different ideas or reasons to filter, such as communication to the email server or specific websites.

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MM

Marcelino Mongcal

Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.

Jun 27, 2024

The solution's hardware is not that great and could use more improvement. However, the VM software and the virtualized KerioControl itself are pretty good. The software is good; it's just the hardware that needs improvement.

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Free Report: KerioControl Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about KerioControl. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.

893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.

David Schneiderlin

Co-Owner at Infowa

Jul 4, 2023

The upgrades make the network slower.

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Senior Technician at Computers At Work

Jun 15, 2023

The product's technical support is not good as it used to be.

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AK

Research And Development Manager at MFP

Apr 6, 2023

KerioControl should add more options in VPN features, such as IPsec VPNs, SSL VPNs, and L2TP VPNs, because KerioControl uses a special VPN for their products.

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MS

Masoud Saedvand

Cisco Network Engineer at golrang

Jan 26, 2023

The solution can be improved to create the capability for larger bandwidths that support our business needs.

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BC

Information Security Officer - VP at Unified Technology Solutions

Feb 7, 2022

I would like to see a little improvement in their technical support when you have a problem. I may be a little jaded because I came from Kerio when we could call and get a person on the phone who worked on the product. Every tech had their own demo setup. They had instant messaging capability with the developers. If we found a problem, then we could get a result for it quickly. Now, the product seems to be 24 hours. They have also gone to the model that if you need quicker support, then they now charge you additional for the exact same level of support that they used to give. I am assuming it's the exact same level of support that they say it is. I'm not paying extra for it. That's the biggest flaw with the product.

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MM

Marcelino Mongcal

Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.

Oct 14, 2021

The Kerio hardware devices look cheap and could be improved. Some of our clients are switching to Sophos because their hardware has a more sleek design.

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AD

IT Manager at Flare Technologies

Aug 2, 2020

There's also room for improvement in the Traffic Rules. We define networks to use a specific outgoing interface, say VSAT, shore, or marine WiFi, which is okay. But then all we have is a checkbox that says "Use other internet interfaces if this one is unavailable." What we would prefer would be to have a priority list. So if VSAT is unavailable, try to use 4G, etc. We haven't really found a reliable way of doing that in the current release.

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Product Categories

Product Categories

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

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Product Categories

Product Categories

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs KerioControl

Netgate pfSense vs KerioControl

Sophos Firewall vs KerioControl

OPNsense vs KerioControl

Darktrace vs KerioControl

Cisco Secure Firewall vs KerioControl

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs KerioControl

WatchGuard Firebox vs KerioControl

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs KerioControl

Cisco Meraki MX vs KerioControl

Azure Firewall vs KerioControl

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See all alternatives

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