Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series comparison

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

August 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.8

Users experience ROI from Check Point Cloud Firewall via improved security, cost savings, efficiency, and satisfaction with enhanced management.

Sentiment score

6.5

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers cost-effective security solutions with advanced features, providing significant ROI within three to five years.

The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.

reviewer2647578

Cybersecurity consultant at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

Implementing CloudGuard has resulted in an excellent return on investment over one hundred percent ROI.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

The unified policy is comprehensive and helps me to create firewall policies that are shared across all our facilities and plants.

Daniel Sander

System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The return on investment with this product is a hard question because security tends to be a cost center rather than a profit center.

Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series will be more reliable and will save money, time, and multiple resources.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Project Engineer at IT Solution

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is definitely worth the investment a company is paying to use it.

Nazish Sameer Shaikh

Senior Network Security Engineer at UNITE HERE HEALTH

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.2

Check Point Cloud Firewall support is praised for prompt, knowledgeable assistance despite regional disparities and occasional challenges.

Sentiment score

6.2

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series customer service is praised for knowledge but criticized for slower response times compared to Cisco.

They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.

Dimitris Baziotopoulos

Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

We had an endless loop of emails trying to fix this, and the suggestion was to reinstall the gateway and do it from scratch, which was not an option at that point because it would leave that specific location without access.

Andrei Ganciu

System administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Available twenty-four by seven.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

They're constantly following up after a case has been opened to ensure that it has been resolved properly.

Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Cisco TAC support comes within five to ten minutes on the call.

Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Initially, it took one or two hours to get a Palo Alto engineer, which is quite slow.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers scalable, flexible, and reliable security, ideal for enterprises needing seamless defense across virtual and cloud environments.

Sentiment score

6.9

The PA-Series provides excellent scalability for enterprises, with virtual models offering adaptability for thousands of users and devices.

It is capable of managing the increased load and performs well as our needs expand.

Viral Shaa

IT Security Analyst at Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc.

I can deploy it everywhere I need it.

Christian Riedl

Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees

We have transitioned from 1,000 to 500 users without any issue.

Sam Deprettere

Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at delaware BeLux

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

If you talk about virtual firewall, it is easy to autoscale.

Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The solution can handle more than ten thousand users in my organization.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited

There are no restrictions in scalability.

Akhilesh Kumar

Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

Check Point Cloud Firewall is reliable and stable, performing well despite minor external challenges and requiring regular maintenance.

Sentiment score

8.2

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is praised for stability due to consistent updates, high availability, and reliable long-term operation.

I have not observed any downtime.

Mantas Mazeika

Sales manager/ project manager at Atea

For instance, when we are working on a release and do an upgrade, we start experiencing unexpected issues.

Rui-Pereira

Chief Technology Officer at Chief Security Officers

The solution is stable.

David Gippner

Network administrator at Helios IT Service GmbH

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

I am giving stability a rating of 10 out of 10 because since implementation, we have not observed any issues with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series related to version, vulnerabilities, or anything else.

Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

If the data plane hangs or gets stuck, then we can troubleshoot using the management plane.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Project Engineer at IT Solution

Room For Improvement

Check Point Cloud Firewall struggles with onboarding, latency, support, and integration, needing simplification and performance improvements for competitiveness.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series faces high costs, complex setup, slow support, and demands for better integration, UI, and features.

Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.

Stefan Baumgartner

Security architect at Twinformatics

Better documentation would be welcome.

Dimitris Baziotopoulos

Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

The user interface could be more intuitive, and the initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a technical team.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

You can buy cheaper products, but I believe in the value they're giving us.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The interface of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series should be made much more user-friendly.

Michael Chiao

IT Coordinator at CSA Makati

For the next release of the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series firewall, I would like to see logs monitoring included.

Akhilesh Kumar

Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers perceive Check Point Cloud Firewall pricing as mixed, with flexible options but potentially high costs for advanced features.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series provides high-end security and support valued by enterprises, despite its higher price compared to competitors.

The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.

Thanos Constantopoulos

Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

It is the highest in the market.

Daniel Sander

System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The firewall is expensive for every company, but the cost is worth it to ensure maximum security.

Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited

The price of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive.

Michael Chiao

IT Coordinator at CSA Makati

Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Project Engineer at IT Solution

Valuable Features

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers advanced security, scalability, and integration for seamless and secure operations in multi-cloud environments.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers advanced security features and simplified management for organizations prioritizing data security and flexibility.

One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches.

For more quotes and insights, download the Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.

Christian Riedl

Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees

Network Security provides us with unified security management across hybrid and cloud as well as on-prem.

Thanos Constantopoulos

Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Integrated threat intelligence has empowered my organization to adapt to threats by taking a lot of the burden off us; there's just no way we would see the same breadth of knowledge that a vendor or manufacturer would have.

Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series has multiple security features, including antivirus, IPS, and behavior-based analysis.

Project Engineer at IT Solution

The most effective features of the solution are its Magic Quadrant positioning, making it a leading firewall on perimeter areas and internet edges.

For more quotes and insights, download the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series report

Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...

Ranking in Firewalls

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

170

Ranking in other categories

Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), Cloud and Data Center Security (5th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Ranking in Firewalls

18th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 2.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)	2.7%
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series	1.1%
Other	96.2%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

reviewer2875401

Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Unified security policies have protected our hybrid network with deep, user-based controls

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 have L2 infrastructure, you cannot build a unified clustering system everywhere. As a result, the problem usually is not with Check Point, but with the cloud. The main problem with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is that it uses a separate thick client instead of a browser. A browser-based SmartConsole exists, but it still has a number of limitations, while the thick client, the so-called SmartConsole, often works unstably, freezes, and has to be restarted. I do not recommend using Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) as a VPN hub for site-to-site VPN because it is inconvenient to monitor the state of its tunnels, especially visually. It does not have a convenient snap-in and everything can be checked only via the console, which is very inconvenient. Check Point is not the most universal solution as a device that provides routing and administration capabilities in addition to security. It is an excellent firewall, but it has a number of limitations in terms of routing and in creating VPN sessions, especially in terms of displaying their states.

Read full review

Identity-based perimeter control has improved security and supports reliable remote access

Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Currently, we are working with vendors such as Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, Cisco, Check Point, and Citrix. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is a better firewall. Deep packet inspection and threat prevention basically comply with whatever traffic is incoming and outgoing through the firewall. I do not think anything improvement is required. The thing is that Palo Alto Networks PA-Series works mostly on a license-based model. If you want to utilize any feature, you have to purchase the license. For example, URL filtering requires a license purchase. It simplifies the implementation because LDAP server profile can be integrated. Basically, that simplifies the implementation of access rule or security policy.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

17%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	73
Midsize Enterprise	41
Large Enterprise	81

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	17

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...

What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

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 ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

If we look at the features, then the price is good, but they do charge for the GlobalProtect VPNs. Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.

What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

There is room for improvement in Palo Alto Networks PA-Series in the areas where they can minimize applications and implement features that can be useful for us.

What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

I am using Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to ensure protection and cybersecurity by preventing and implementing network security features to safeguard networks against threats and malware. I have to ...

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Product Reports

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)

August 2026

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) report

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

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

July 2026

Download Palo Alto Networks PA-Series product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

Check Point Cloud Firewall delivers advanced threat prevention and administration ease with centralized management of hybrid clouds. It offers seamless cloud platform integration, maintaining consistent security policies and enhancing efficiency.

Check Point Cloud Firewall is designed for comprehensive cloud security, ensuring perimeter protection, traffic inspection, and threat prevention. It is often used for safeguarding workloads and applications in public cloud settings like AWS and Azure. The firewall effectively controls both east-west and north-south traffic and supports hybrid cloud setups. Utilizing features like VPN, IPS, and URL filtering, it secures environments across multiple platforms, helping manage compliance effectively while addressing latency, API integration, and onboarding challenges.

What are the key features?

Advanced Threat Prevention: Defends against cyber threats across hybrid clouds.
Auto-Scaling: Automatically adjusts resources to meet demand.
Unified Security Management: Centralizes management for consistent security.
REST API Automation: Enables seamless integration with existing workflows.
Robust VPN Capabilities: Ensures secure data transmission across networks.

What benefits to expect in reviews?

Ease of Administration: Simplified management processes across environments.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances productivity by reducing risk and complexity.
Consistent Security Policies: Maintains a uniform security posture between clouds.
User-Friendly Interface: Streamlines user interactions and task completion.

Check Point Cloud Firewall sees frequent use in sectors needing robust perimeter protection, such as finance and healthcare, where compliance is critical. Its capabilities suit businesses utilizing public cloud infrastructures, managing complex hybrid models, or requiring strong VPN services and traffic control.

Check Point Software Technologies

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is essential for firewall implementation, perimeter defense, securing infrastructure boundaries, web filtering, VPN, and threat prevention. Organizations deploy it for secure cloud connections, internet security, and managing network devices.

Companies trust Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to protect corporate networks from external threats, control traffic between networks, and meet regulatory compliance. Integrating well with applications, it offers centralized management and advanced security features such as IDS, IPS, and GlobalProtect. It ensures stable performance, application-based policy enforcement, and decryption of SSL traffic while providing efficient resource usage and comprehensive logging.

What are the key features?

Stability: Reliable performance for continuous protection.
App-ID: Application-based policy enforcement.
URL Filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.
Security Controls: Comprehensive threat prevention mechanisms.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management and operations.
Efficient Resource Usage: Optimized for minimal resource consumption.
Reporting: Detailed logs and analytics for better insights.
Antivirus: Protects against malware and viruses.
WildFire: Advanced threat prevention with machine learning AI.
Protocol Anomaly Detection: Identifies unusual network behavior.
SSL Decryption: Ensures secure traffic inspection.
Encryption: Safeguards sensitive data.
VPN Capabilities: Secure remote access for users.
Active Directory Integration: Streamlines user authentication.
Quality of Service (QoS): Manages network traffic efficiently.

What benefits should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security: Superior threat prevention and detection.
Centralized Management: Streamlined control of network devices.
Regulatory Compliance: Assists in meeting legal requirements.
Operational Efficiency: Reduced resource usage and downtime.
Comprehensive Reporting: Complete visibility into network activities.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands.
User Accessibility: Simplifies secure access for remote employees.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is implemented across industries like healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing. In healthcare, it ensures patient data protection and compliance with HIPAA. Financial institutions utilize it to secure transactions and meet regulatory standards. Retailers benefit from protecting customer information and securing online payments. Manufacturing companies deploy it to safeguard intellectual property and control plant floor operations.

Palo Alto Networks

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

Information Not Available