We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Palo Alto Networks WildFire based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls."Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."
"The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature."
"It's very easy to configure."
"I like that they have given me a solution at a fair price."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
"The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate."
"The initial installation is very straightforward."
"The gain in performance and security from configuring the VPN connections was significant."
"Easy to deploy and easy to use."
"pfSense helped us during COVID-19 because we used OpenVPN to connect from home."
"Some of the terminologies were more familiar to me than it was when I first encountered Cisco."
"It is a better firewall than others and it has better features."
"I have found the most valuable features to be antivirus and malware protection."
"The initial setup was straightforward, therefore I wanted to continue using the product."
"Sophos Intercept X is scalable. Currently, we have almost 30 people using it in our company."
"The reporting feature helps our performance."
"Being an application-based firewall, this is one of the critical focus factors along with the threat prevention services it provides."
"Intuitive threat prevention and analysis solution, with a machine learning feature. Scalable, stable, and protects against zero-day threats."
"The most valuable feature is the cloud-based protection against zero-day malware attacks."
"Scalable ATP solution that's quick to set up. It demonstrates good performance and stability."
"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is its ability to adapt to environments and its robustness."
"The scalability is acceptable."
"Whole team can use the firewall and understand it."
"The ease of use could be improved."
"They need to improve their technical support."
"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."
"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."
"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."
"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"The captive portal could be improved."
"Some of the web policy reports could be improved."
"The solution requires a lot of administration."
"There are several levels of firewall configuration such as beginner, advanced, and expert configurations. At each level, it becomes more complex and more tricky to set up the firewall. For example, if you want to install the firewall on your computer system, it would be a lot easier if it just tells you that this is the internet NIC and this is the Wi-Fi NIC."
"When I checked other packages, it seems they use different tools that are installed on the PSS for functionality. They rely on third-party tools, unlike Fortinet, for example, which has its own tools. In comparison, we also use third-party tools on pfSense. For example, we had a situation where we needed a tool to identify authorized users, and when I searched for a solution, I found a third-party tool. However, using such tools may come with additional costs."
"Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"The main problem with pfSense is that it lacks adequate ransomware protection."
"The VPN feature of the solution could improve by adding better functionality and providing easier configure ability."
"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."
"I have been using WireGuard VPN because it is a lot faster and more secure than an open VPN. However, in the latest version of pfSense, they have removed this feature, which is one of the main features that I need. They should include this feature."
"The global product feature needs improvement, the VPN, and we need some enhanced features."
"The size of Palo Alto's cloud is big but it could be easier to use from a product management perspective."
"I don't think it needs to improve anything, except maybe the speed to deploy the changes."
"As a firewall and 360 degrees of security, there needs to be more maturity."
"They provide a medium level of technical support."
"Management and web filtering can be improved. There should also be better reporting, particularly around web filtering."
"They can keep on doing more updates. As new malware and viruses are coming out, they can make sure that WildFire is up to date."
"There are certain changes that I was expecting in the previous version, and I hope that they are soon fixed. All of the problems that I have faced so far have been resolved."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is ranked 3rd in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with 58 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is rated 8.4. 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 Palo Alto Networks WildFire writes "Good technical support and provides automatic analysis that saves us time in filtering email". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Palo Alto Networks WildFire is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Proofpoint Email Protection, Fortinet FortiSandbox and Trellix Network Detection and Response.
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