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Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
5.9
Fortinet FortiGate offers a high ROI through enhanced productivity, efficiency, security, cost savings, and simplified management.
Sentiment score
6.1
Check Point Harmony SASE users see cost savings, productivity boosts, and security improvements, though some find returns complex to quantify.
Sentiment score
4.8
Zscaler Cloud Firewall enhances global security and efficiency with comprehensive features, delivering 60% savings in time and costs.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) blocked access to those URLs at the network level before users could click through.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
We are saving 40% of our time, which is good.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
I have seen a return on investment with time saving and money saving.
Senior Devsecops Cloud Cybersecurity Specialist at CGI
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's 24/7 support is generally well-rated but needs improvement in response speed for urgent issues.
Sentiment score
7.0
Check Point Harmony SASE provides responsive, knowledgeable, and professional support, with most users expressing high satisfaction despite occasional delays.
Sentiment score
5.5
Zscaler Cloud Firewall support is generally helpful and responsive but may sometimes lack adequacy for premium expectations.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
I would rate support 10 out of 10.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
People working really hard, listening to every issue and request, and replying within hours.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The technical support from Zscaler was excellent.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for scalability and adaptability across enterprises, though some users face cloud scaling and upgrade challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
Check Point Harmony SASE offers impressive scalability and flexibility, smoothly adapting to growing user bases and organizational needs.
Sentiment score
5.7
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers excellent scalability, supporting diverse organizations smoothly, with most users rating it between seven and ten.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
The cloud-native model ensures we are not tied to any specific location or hardware, which has been a great game changer in terms of agility.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
I would rate it nine out of ten for scalability.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
Check Point Harmony SASE's scalability is good; it can handle growth easily, allowing me to easily add another region and gateway to have more people join in.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
In this case, Twingate will be very easy compared to Zscaler.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate offers reliable and consistent performance, with quick resolution for occasional bugs, ensuring minimal downtime and high availability.
Sentiment score
7.7
Check Point Harmony SASE is praised for stability, reliability, and minimal issues, with high uptime and efficient performance.
Sentiment score
7.2
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is highly rated for stability and reliability despite minor latency and GUI lag issues.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
There are some lags and glitches with connectivity, so I would rate the stability as between seven or eight out of ten.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
After the last improvement, I can say it is much more stable now.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
Check Point Harmony SASE is stable most of the time, but there are still some issues that are hard to troubleshoot.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
There were some stability issues due to occasional latency and lags, particularly with the GUI and report generation.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users face high costs, integration and stability issues, sluggish support, and need improvements in usability and security features.
Check Point Harmony SASE needs improvements in performance, user interface, integration, documentation, scalability, and features like SD-WAN and firewalls.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs deployment, support, features, UI, pricing, integration, and dashboard improvements for optimal performance and usability.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is how quickly each of these companies adapts to that and brings in more value to the customer.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
A local data center in Turkey would enhance the product, as currently, our Internet traffic goes to another country, which is problematic for us.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The product is lacking features that other competitors have, making it quite challenging to migrate customers to this solution because it feels very much unfinished.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
For now, there is no dashboard or network management system available for Twingate.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
The reverse proxy feature for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is missing.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
I believe the integration of AI could improve the dashboard by making it more agile and effective in monitoring and predicting threats.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate is cost-effective with a good feature set, ideal for mid to large enterprises, though complex licensing.
Check Point Harmony SASE offers competitive value for large enterprises, though its pricing isn't the cheapest for smaller firms.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall has subscription pricing influenced by user count and features, making it costlier than some competitors.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost.
Information Technology Infrastructure Section Head at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
Cost efficiency is a consideration, as SASE products are not the cheapest security products.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
The cost is a bit expensive for most users.
Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It is a bit expensive.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors.
Cyber Security Architect at Accenture
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust security, ease of use, and integration, with cost-effectiveness and reliable support, enhancing network efficiency.
Check Point Harmony SASE offers secure, efficient, and centralized network management with real-time threat intelligence and zero trust access.
Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers comprehensive security with real-time inspection, customizable controls, and automatic features, eliminating hardware needs.
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The most valuable feature is the deep inspection for traffic, which is capable of identifying zero-day attacks.
Consultant at SKYE AS
The firewall management is the most valuable feature for me.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
The Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) feature is a major highlight as it gives users seamless and secure access to internal resources without requiring a full-blown VPN, which improves both security and user experience.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The Zero Trust and segmentation have helped my team and our customers significantly because we are able to protect every scope and allow the work-from-home users to access internal resources while passing through a threat prevention gateway, ensuring that everything is safe.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It is really customized, a security policy that can be applied to the users so they can access only the resources I enable them.
IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
The best features that Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers are that it is AI powered and automated.
Senior Devsecops Cloud Cybersecurity Specialist at CGI
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
592
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)
Check Point Harmony SASE (f...
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (7th), Anti-Malware Tools (8th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (6th), ZTNA as a Service (6th), ZTNA (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (6th)
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
27th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate15.1%
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81)1.0%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall1.0%
Other82.9%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at airtel
Enables customers to manage security effortlessly with intuitive features and easy integration
In terms of improvements for Fortinet FortiGate, they could offer evaluation licenses, as compared to Meraki, which provides a 90-day evaluation. In Fortinet FortiGate, they do not provide standard evaluation licenses; instead, we need to request them from the OEM through the account manager for POCs. If we want to conduct a demo, we need to work with real hardware. In comparison to Cisco, we have DCloud, which helps with providing demos to customers, but in Meraki, I need to reach out to them, book a lab, and they need to provide all the hardware. I need remote access and L3 engineers to program it; only then can I offer a real-time demo to the customer.
Nasseer Qureshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Delivers seamless and secure remote access while enhancing security posture
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) offers strong features, but there are areas that could be improved. One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers. It works with standard SAML and SSO, but we would prefer deeper integrations with solutions such as Ping for more advanced identity-based policies. Additionally, a mobile-specific client or lightweight agent would be helpful for securing access from smartphones, especially in BYOD environments. We would appreciate more granular reporting and analytics, including better drill-down capabilities to investigate specific users or app activity. The logs are comprehensive, but filtering them can sometimes feel messy. The user interface on the management portal could be more intuitive, especially when managing multiple sites or remote offices. Some of the policy configuration steps are nested and could be streamlined.
Carlos Snel - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management
The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business370
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Harmony Connect?
I am not aware of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I would say the setup cost is our resource, and we have...
What needs improvement with Harmony Connect?
When I'm raising a ticket for Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81), it's a bit technical for non-technica...
What is your primary use case for Harmony Connect?
I have experience with this product as a user. Currently, the Check Point product that I worked with mostly was the F...
Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?
Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was fine.
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
I think Zscaler Cloud Firewall can be improved by adding more features. The needed improvements involve scalability, ...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Check Point Quantum SASE
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
Aqua Security, Cognito, Multipoint, Kustomer, Postman, Meredith
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.