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Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall vs Netgate pfSense comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Arista Edge Threat Manageme...
Ranking in Firewalls
40th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Netgate pfSense
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
221
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 16.0%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 8.3%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate16.0%
Netgate pfSense8.3%
Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall0.3%
Other75.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
reviewer2785293 - PeerSpot reviewer
systems engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Perimeter security has reduced botnet attacks and now needs better interface and logging
The best features Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall offers are its ability to push a lot of traffic along with bandwidth management and traffic policy. Bandwidth management and traffic policy help my organization by keeping our internet subscription low. Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall has positively impacted my organization by reducing botnet attacks. Immediately after I installed the firewall, it stopped a few botnet attacks.
JA
Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control
What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are using this solution to filter communication to and from the website or our site, and we also use it to create a VPN connection for all of our sites in the world."
"It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us."
"We are satisfied with this solution."
"Mainly the FortiGate reporting system is very good. It guides us through all the expectations of security. Fortinet provides us all that we need for security. Also, Fortinet FortiGate is a next-generation firewall. It is much more advanced than others."
"It has improved our productivity because we can control the people who go on the internet, and we control their access to social networks."
"SD-WAN feature at no cost is a really great feature for remote locations and HQ, making application steering between many ISP links a simple task by dynamically measuring link quality such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and available bandwidth."
"In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable."
"The integration of SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted application performance."
"Phish Blocker is a valuable feature."
"Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall has positively impacted my organization by reducing botnet attacks."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"After switching from Cisco, Juniper, Astaro and Microsoft network response improved and more control of packet (for me, pfpacket technology is better than packet filter.)"
"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 performance and functionality are good."
"The flexibility is very good; we have a lot of possibilities."
"Netgate pfSense is 100 percent flexible and configurable."
"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."
"With pfSense we have low balances for the internet and the internet is always available, and when our service provider fails, it takes communication to another service so employees always have access to the servers that they need."
"The flexibility of adding new kinds of services without spending any money can't be beaten."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate firewall is good, but other products like the switching part and all that fabric, in handling very audio-video traffic, sometimes it struggles on the switching part, but on the routing part, it is fine."
"The FortiGate series does not have that much troubleshooting and network testing features in its GUI, hence we’ll definitely be looking for some add-on features in near future."
"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."
"The technical support that Fortinet provides is not satisfactory. When we call Fortinet technical support, it takes too much time to connect with them."
"The user interface could be improved."
"Another issue is how deduplication services don't work reliably after enabling deduplication on Fortinet."
"The support is inadequate. The support staff I have dealt with lately are very rude. Some support staff are not up-to-speed with the technology. They basically read a script."
"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."
"The product has a lot to improve in the area of policy implementation."
"Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall can be improved, particularly the user interface, which is not very good, and also the logs, which are not very good."
"The documentation is not clear."
"This solution is good for small businesses but it is not as stable as other competitors such as Fortinet."
"The user interface could be improved, it's a bit clumsy and clunky."
"The solution could be more user-friendly, and the graphical interface needs some work so that someone without an IT background can use the application. I would like the ability to manage the on-premise appliance from the cloud. When I'm not in the office, it would be great to connect to the pfSense server and administer the network remotely."
"Maybe in their package manager, it would be nice to see which packages are officially from pfSense and which are community driven."
"The configuration could be a little more intuitive."
"The overall documentation has room for improvement."
"Unfortunately, my experience with pfSense hasn’t been so good."
"For the third-party packages, I'd rather have it built-in, like a core feature of pfSense, part of the core model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Currently, we are paying about $1,500 a month for three sites."
"Its price is affordable and lesser than Cisco. Cisco is expensive. In terms of licensing, there is only one issue. If a customer's license has expired a month ago and they do the renewal after one month, Fortinet renews the license from the start of the previous month. The activation of the product is done from the previous month, not from the date of renewal. The customers usually shout and complain that because they are paying today, the renewal should start from today. The support contract renewals or licensing should be renewed from the date of renewal, but Fortinet starts from the day it had expired. It is a loss for customers. They might have had some problems because of which they did not take the license one month before. Fortinet should work on this. Cisco doesn't do this. Cisco always starts from the day they apply for the license."
"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive. Overall, I find it to be competitive in the market."
"We just pay a flat monthly fee to the vendor for the support."
"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."
"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."
"The product pricing is reasonable."
"We purchased a five-year bundle package, which worked out cheaper than competing solutions."
"The tool is quite cheap."
"I consider it an averagely-priced tool."
"It is free. It is open source."
"While pfSense hardware from Netgate might have a higher upfront cost, I've had very little trouble with it. Plus, buying from them directly helps fund the software's development, making it a worthwhile investment in my eyes."
"Hardware costs more than $500. The cloud version costs me $50 a month."
"The product is cheap."
"PfSense's pricing is reasonable. However, support is relatively expensive for smaller customers, and you need to pay per device to get it. So if Customer A is having an issue, I have to get support, and then I have to get support for Customer B, and so on. It would be nice as a managed services provider to get support for my company rather than individual devices."
"There is an open-source community version that is available."
"Because the Community edition is free, we only charge for our services to the customers. In Turkey, we cannot demand normal pricing; if we were in Europe or the United States, we might collect more money from customers."
"From Sonic Wall, their price is much higher, because for every feature that you want to add, you have to pay. I can do the same things with pfSense, but everything is included in one price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
36%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business171
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall?
I consider it an averagely-priced tool. Adding additional features does not cost extra. My small company pays around ...
What needs improvement with Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall?
Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall can be improved, particularly the user interface, which is not very good, a...
What advice do you have for others considering Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall?
My advice to others looking into using Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall is that it is effective and accompli...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I reco...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigat...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Information Not Available
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Edge Threat Management NG Firewall vs. Netgate pfSense and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.