We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Firewall vs. pfSense based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Cisco Secure Firewall and pfSense come out about equal in this comparison. Cisco ASA Firewall has a slight edge when it comes to service and support, but pfSense has an edge when it comes to pricing.
"The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."
"The threat prevention is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"You can create multiple Virtual Domains (VDOMs), which are treated as separate firewall instances."
"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."
"It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is URL filtering."
"Cisco Secure Firewall made it easier so that more than one person can handle things. We are able to have a bigger team that can handle simple tasks and have a smaller team focus on the deep-dive needs."
"There are no issues that we are aware of. It does its job silently in the background."
"The benefits we see from the ASA are connected to teleworking as well as, of course, having the basic functionality of a firewall in place and the prevention of attacks."
"IPSec Tunnel and AnyConnect (of course), the context awareness was a good feature, but clumsy at the beginning. I think it's better now."
"Netting is one of the best features. We can modify it in different ways. Site-to-site VPN is also an awesome feature of Cisco ASA. The biggest advantage of Cisco products is technical support. They provide the best technical support."
"It integrates with various Cisco security portfolios and products, and there is an easy and seamless integration for building a complete security framework for our customers."
"The initial setup was not complex."
"This solution has good security, and it's a good product. You can trust Cisco, and there's support as well, which is really good."
"I like the connectivity to the open VPN. It's very smooth."
"The performance and functionality are good."
"Open source and support are valuable. I have community support."
"I have found the firewall portion for the blocking most valuable."
"I mostly like all of it. Whatever we use is valuable."
"The initial setup was simple and fast."
"A free firewall that is a good network security appliance."
"The initial setup was straightforward, therefore I wanted to continue using the product."
"The support system could be improved."
"Fortinet FortiGate can be integrated with different platforms. They have integrations in place, but I can't say they're 100%."
"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"They have to just improve its performance when we enable all UTM features. When you enable all the features, the performance of FortiGate, as well as of Sophos and SonicWall, goes down."
"Tunnel flapping was one of the major things I had seen wherein your internet link remains but your VPN tunnel is down. However, since I got a fix from the TAC team, I have not noticed it, but the customer complained a few times that they couldn't access the internet because of this problem."
"While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up."
"The platform's interface could improve."
"Application management can be improved."
"It could use a web-based portal for VPN. Earlier they had it in the ASA model, but currently they don't have it."
"The initial setup was a bit complex. It wasn't a major challenge, but due to our requirements and network, it was not very straightforward but still easy enough."
"I wouldn't give them a ten. Nobody is perfect. I'll give them a nine because they help me with any issues I've had."
"It would be great if some of the load times were faster."
"I would like to see the inclusion of a protocol that can be used to protect databases."
"The service could use a little more web filtering. If I compare it to Cyberoam, Cyberoam has more the web filtering, so if you want to block a website, it's easier in other solutions than in Cisco."
"We are replacing ASA with FTD which offers many new features not available using ASA."
"I would like for the user interface to be easier for the admin and network admin. I would also like to be able to access everything from the GUI interface. The way it is now, it needs somebody experience in iOS to be able to operate it. I would like to have a GUI interface."
"Improve analysis of logs and dashboards (control panel) with improved alert functionality."
"Needs services on additional features, such as managing inventory and generating reports."
"We would like to see ready-made profiles to cover most users' needs."
"The stability could be improved."
"A malware blocker should be included. I do not know if it is included yet. However, until now, we have not experienced a large malware invasion."
"The solution’s interface must be improved."
"The integration should be improved."
"It was difficult to configure our web printer through the solution. This process could be easier. Additionally, integration with SD-WAN solution."
Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 4th in Firewalls with 404 reviews while Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "Highlights and helps us catch Zero-day vulnerabilities traveling across our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Juniper SRX Series Firewall, whereas Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, Sophos UTM, KerioControl and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Netgate pfSense report.
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