We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Zscaler Internet Access based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The features that we have found most valuable are the SSL VPN and the User Portal."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"Fortinet FortiGate has many valuable features, such as IDS, and intrusion detection. It has security features that are in part with the technologies that are available in the market."
"The wireless control is helpful."
"The SD-WAN function is very developed. It has SD-WAN functionality with security features in one device. We can manage from one single console SD-WAN and the security policy."
"The solution is scalable."
"The pricing is great and very reasonable."
"Good performance, stability, and virtual domain ability."
"The GUI is easy to understand."
"I am happy with the EPLS, the radius, and I am happy with the captive portal."
"I handle the scanning for the finance department. I recently encountered an issue with the PCL bills, our company bills. I resolved the matter, cleared the bill, and received calls regarding it using pfsense.The user interface is extremely user-friendly, which is why we use it across various plant sites. Our IT representatives at the plants find it easy to use and manage because of its straightforward interface."
"The flexibility of adding new kinds of services without spending any money can't be beaten."
"An incomparable stability is achieved with other firewall systems."
"I have found the most valuable features to be antivirus and malware protection."
"It's a good solution for end-users. It's pretty easy to work with."
"The documentation is very good."
"After a proper implementation, the maintenance is very low."
"The cloud proxy and integration are some of the key features. Since there is cloud waste, we can quickly provision it and start working on the configuration. On top of that, they have added a few more features. They have integrated CASB, and file sandboxing is part of it."
"The solution’s customer service is good."
"The solution is scalable and stable."
"The most valuable feature is bandwidth control."
"Zscaler Internet Access protects using data loss prevention. If you have a CASB exposing your cloud out into the network, then Zscaler Internet Access will go ahead and control that unknown cloud application in the CASB, protecting it. There is also data detection with exact data match. This improves the data coming into your cloud so you are protecting it."
"SSL inspection is a valuable feature."
"The protection is most valuable."
"Web security solutions can be improved."
"We'd like more management across other integrations."
"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."
"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."
"The solution's framework needs to be frequently updated in order to have a stable solution."
"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
"There are mainly two areas of improvement in Fortinet FortiGate— the licensing cost and the timing of upgrading licenses for boxes."
"I expect a better interface with more log analysis because I create my own interface."
"There is more demand for UTMs than a simple firewall. pfSense should support real-time features for handling the latest viruses and threats. It should support real-time checks and real-time status of threats. Some other vendors, such as Fortinet, already offer this type of capability. Such capability will be good for bringing pfSense at the same level as other solutions."
"The solution could always work at being more secure. It's a good idea to continue to work on security features and capabilities in order to ensure they can keep clients safe."
"The hotspot and the portal feature in this solution are not stable for WiFi access. We use it at least once or twice every day and it crashes. Some modules can be better by improving detection and having new updates. Additionally, we have some issues with clustering and load balancing that could improve."
"We have not had any problems with it, and we also do not have a need for any new features. If anything, its reporting can be better. Sophos has better reporting than pfSense. Sophos has more detailed information. pfSense is not as detailed. It is summarized."
"I would like to see multiple DNS servers running on individual interfaces."
"It should integrate with LDAP, Active Directory, etc, to improve the way in which the traces and connections of each IP, or user connected through the firewall, are shown."
"Reporting and real-time monitoring, since I'm used to Watchguard's reporting features, it would be nice to have an embedded solution for reporting."
"We'd like for them to include some sort of antivirus tool."
"Sometimes, support isn't available."
"The OS capabilities and WSL support could be improved."
"There are a few features that are not compatible with the Azure cloud."
"The interface for administration could be better. They should upgrade the management portal."
"They should enhance the audit reporting feature."
"Technical support could be better."
"In every cloud service in the world, you have multiple upstream internet providers to create diversity so that if one of your providers fails, your network just continues. In South Africa, there is only one upstream provider, and that's not right. That that's a problem."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Zscaler Internet Access is ranked 2nd in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 46 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Zscaler Internet Access is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Zscaler Internet Access writes "Provides integrated CASB and file sandboxing but could be less expensive ". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Zscaler Internet Access is most compared with Cisco Umbrella, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Netskope , Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and Appgate SDP. See our Netgate pfSense vs. Zscaler Internet Access report.
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