Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs McAfee StoneGate [EOL] comparison

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Check Point Software Technologies and McAfee are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 96% of Check Point Software Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of McAfee users who would recommend it.

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

Read 246 Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) reviews

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11,668 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Read 3 McAfee StoneGate [EOL] reviews

66% willing to recommend

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2026

McAfee StoneGate [EOL] and Check Point Cloud Firewall compete in network security. Data comparison shows Check Point Cloud Firewall has an upper hand due to its superior features and cloud-native capabilities.

Features: McAfee StoneGate [EOL] offers comprehensive centralized management, robust intrusion prevention capabilities, and straightforward hardware-focused deployment. Check Point Cloud Firewall provides advanced cloud integration, sophisticated security policies, and cloud-native features suitable for dynamic environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: McAfee StoneGate [EOL] comes with a straightforward, hardware-focused deployment model and dedicated customer support. Check Point Cloud Firewall offers flexible deployment options due to its cloud-native architecture, simplifying integration with cloud services. Both provide reliable customer service, but Check Point's deployment flexibility enhances its appeal.

Pricing and ROI: McAfee StoneGate [EOL] aligns with budget-conscious organizations due to its relatively lower initial setup costs and traditional on-premise solutions. Check Point Cloud Firewall requires a greater initial investment but offers significant ROI through cloud flexibility and advanced security features, optimizing long-term value.

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October 2026

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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

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

246

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (10th), Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Vulnerability Management (10th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), Cloud and Data Center Security (4th), Container Security (9th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (4th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (5th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (6th), Compliance Management (6th)

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Oscar Nunez

Ingeniero en redes y Telecomunicaciones at K-IT

Centralized management has reduced policy time and provides reliable multitenant protection

What I would like, what I think they should improve a little is the management of objects at large scale. When you work with multiple domains, there are thousands of network objects. Detecting duplicates and consistency across domains is a very manual process that should be more automated. Another thing: the SmartConsole interface is very powerful and very good, but the learning curve, compared to other solutions in the market from other manufacturers, could be modernized. I think it does not necessarily have to be done from a client application; it could be done via web, because via web I know that not all the options you have in SmartConsole are available. So it would be good if it could also be done from the web and all the options were available. Another thing that I would really like is more automation with Ansible or Terraform. I know it has improved in recent versions, but I think it is still not mature enough. Compared to other manufacturers that do have a bit more in terms of automation capabilities in integration flows with Ansible or Terraform, Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) could improve. Another thing that could be improved a little would be the TAC response time, because when there are very complex cases, I think there should be more speed initially, more ownership of those urgent cases, and not leave the customer waiting. This has happened to me: when I have cases open with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) TAC, sometimes they do not respond and I have to keep insisting, and I think that part should improve. I do not know if it depends on who takes the ticket or on the severity of the ticket, but sometimes I have had to insist a lot, and that would be the only problem. Once they attend to me and become involved in the case, the responses they give are very professional and really help directly resolve the problems when there is a bug or troubleshooting to do. As I said, I would like to see a specific improvement in SmartConsole. I think if they improved it—how to say it—gave it a facelift so you could access all the options directly from a browser, that would be great, because sometimes, for one reason or another, you cannot download SmartConsole or, for some reason, the SmartConsole client does not start correctly, and you could do it directly from the browser. I think that would be a good option to improve. Another thing would be that in multidomain environments, I would like a global search function for objects and rules. That is, you could enter and search across all domains at once, because right now you have to go domain by domain, and in environments with many customers, you spend quite a bit of time; you have to exit one domain and enter another. So those would be the improvements I would like to see.

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it_user935460

Computer Framework at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

It works well with a highly-active cluster.

It is important for us in case of a disaster, or in case of a failure of one server. This means that the high availability is the most important part for us. It is important for us that the system is available and no connection is going to be lost if the system is restarting one note, or something like that. This is the main request for us for a good firewall protection product.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution provides threat prevention and detection of anomalies automatically and investigates the activity of each one of them."

"The tool's most valuable features are threat prevention and protection mechanisms."

"The URL filtering provides a lot of added value compared to the Azure Firewall."

"This solution has saved the company from unnecessary data loss that occurs due to cyber attacks."

"The solution helps protect network security by offering threat prevention, addressing vulnerabilities, and utilizing blades."

"I value the comfort and the ability to receive proper insights almost hands-off."

"We primarily secure our network using CloudGuard Network Security's next-generation firewall features, including anti-spam, IPS, and URL filtering. Our chosen package for the go-to-market strategy is NGTP. For customers seeking more features, we provide options to upgrade to the tool's advanced packages."

"The various CNAPP modules have granted more visibility of our cloud applications to our system engineers and developers."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) pros

"High availability is very consistent and provides good firewalling and stability."

"It works well with a highly-active cluster."

"We did not have issues with scalabiliy."

"The stability of the product is fantastic; it is a really proven system and I never had any type of problem where the system was unstable or had a software failure."

"It has given us better application control."

Cons

"Stability wise the product is stable but we had issues when we had really old hardware that had a less than stable OS."

"Check Point support, beyond CloudGuard, does need some improvement."

"I would like an interface more adapted to cell phones or tablets."

"The business and product development team should introduce a high-end feedback collection mechanism and analyze the customer requirements constructively."

"Dome9 should also support deployments that are on-premises and in a hybrid cloud."

"CheckPoint CloudGuard could be better at solving cases."

"Our biggest complaint concerns the high resource usage for IDS/IPS, as we cannot turn on all of the features even with a recent hardware upgrade."

"The complexity to deploy should be decreased."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) cons

"After some experience with the solution, we had to do some redesign, but generally, we were happy with the product."

"The hardware needs improving as we had a lot of problems with the hard drive reliability, both with the firewall and the intrusion protection system."

"HA failover is not stable."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using our BYOL. We are using our existing Check Point discounts to work with licensing. Overall, it is very competitive. Its pricing is reasonable to me."

"I suggest that you pay attention to the product pricing because while there are no tricks, and the licensing model is transparent, the final numbers may surprise you."

"Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management is always known as a good solution but an expensive one. When you're using Cisco, Check Point, or Palo Alto, you know that you will pay more, but you know that it will work."

"CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is fine."

"The price could be better."

"The licensing model has since transitioned to a cluster-based variant."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable."

"The pricing is pretty high, not just for your capital, for what you have to pay upfront, but for what you pay for your annual software renewals as well, compared to a lot of other vendors. Check Point is near the top, as far as how much it's going to cost you."

More Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

16%

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	133
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	146

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Since we use a unified standard for using policies and modules in Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security), we can clearly plan which modules we need to activate on a parti...

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What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds ha...

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What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is the main manager that provides network security in different forms in my organization. The primary task that Check Point solves ...

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Comparisons

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 2% of the time

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Compared 29% of the time

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Compared 27% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

October 2026

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Download Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

October 2026

Download McAfee StoneGate [EOL] product report

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security, Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP

McAfee Next Generation Firewall, Stonesoft, Intel Next Generation Firewall, Intel Security StoneGate

Overview

Check Point Cloud Firewall, previously known as CloudGuard Network Security, provides advanced threat prevention, centralized management, and VPN capabilities, enabling robust cloud security across various platforms including Azure and AWS.

Check Point Cloud Firewall delivers seamless cloud integration with advanced automated threat prevention and centralized management to enhance security posture. It offers auto-scaling for dynamic environments and a comprehensive policy enforcement framework in hybrid settings. The unified interface streamlines administration across cloud infrastructures, ensuring consistent protection and reducing risk.

What important features does it offer?

Advanced Threat Prevention: Safeguards against sophisticated threats.
Centralized Management: Simplifies control for cloud infrastructures.
Auto-scaling: Adapts to changing workloads seamlessly.
VPN Capabilities: Enables secure connections across environments.
Integration with Azure and AWS: Ensures compatibility with leading cloud services.
Visibility Tools: Enhanced monitoring and management for security enforcement.

What benefits can users expect?

Enhanced Security: Comprehensive threat management reduces risk.
Operational Efficiency: Automation capabilities streamline processes.
Cost Management: Efficient resource usage with auto-scaling reduces expenses.
Integration Flexibility: Adapts easily into existing cloud platforms.
Simplified Administration: Unified management reduces complexity.

In manufacturing and conglomerate sectors, Check Point Cloud Firewall is utilized for protecting cloud environments and implementing network segmentation. It supports secure cloud migration on AWS, Azure, and GCP, ensuring compliance, perimeter defense, and traffic inspection, facilitating sophisticated threat prevention strategies.

Check Point Software Technologies

StoneGate is a Highly Available Firewall/VPN. The StoneGate fault-tolerant VPN maintains sessions across multiple VPN devices and multiple Internet or network connections, regardless of device or connection failures. StoneGate provides Security, Manageability, Availability, and Scalability thus reducing network security complexity and costs. Stonesoft was the inventor of high availability for security solutions and a recognized leader in network security.

McAfee

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

Avency, R€SLER Oberfl_chentechnik GmbH, MAUSER Group, CEMEX, Cegedim, Fusion Media Networks

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