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Cisco Meraki MX vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cisco Meraki MX
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (6th)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
40th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (10th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 3.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Meraki MX3.5%
Hillstone E-Series0.8%
Other95.7%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

SG
Technical Presales at Vcom Technologies
Cloud-based solution simplifies network management with excellent support
There have been no issues with stability after deployment. There have been no complaints. For stability, I would suggest that Cisco Meraki MX is the most stable device from the security processor. Regarding content filtering features, we are using content filtering and malware access, along with all security features in Cisco Meraki MX9500. We have received good feedback from customers because since installing Cisco Meraki MX9500, we have not received any complaints. There have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits. It is compatible with all different OEMs, and for VPN, site-to-site VPN has been configured with other firewalls as well. We are getting very good responses from customers as there have been no complaints where we have deployed Cisco Meraki MX9500.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is that we didn't have any problems with Meraki MX."
"Maintaining firewalls will never be joyful, but Meraki has made the quality of life for someone who has to maintain a firewall much better."
"We switched to Meraki because it lets you see what's happening in your LAN and WAN in a graphic and web environment."
"We've had no issues with the scalability or the stability of this solution"
"You can use your web browser to do the configuration which is easier than Cisco CLI transcripts."
"It is a very good platform for small businesses; it is easy to configure and manage, it has Talos, it is easy to integrate with other Meraki products, its content filtering is good, and the VPN is very easy to configure with the Auto VPN feature."
"Meraki makes it easy to be secure and know where the holes are to fix them. We have been fixing anything that we have ever found for 20 years. We keep up-to-date with firmware upgrades. We just try to stay on top of everything for security, like maintaining updates and getting rid of old systems. I feel like we're on top of it."
"The solution is simple, fast to set up, and brilliant for its use."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
 

Cons

"As far as what needs to be improved — nothing really comes to mind. It does what we need it to do."
"It would be great if the Meraki devices let us see, in real time, the internet demand on a single device."
"The product could improve most by improving the client VPN."
"I think Cisco Meraki MX can be improved by seeing more of Layer 7 firewall functions as opposed to just Layer 3."
"It is a little bit expensive. In order to work with Meraki support, you have to buy permission."
"Management can be improved in Meraki MX."
"There are a few things that are odd that I can do with other firewall products that I can't do with a Meraki."
"The product could incorporate tools like ThousandEyes into the system so we can see things directly."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Meraki is the best option — based on the price and the features available."
"The product is a little expensive."
"Our customers pay for the solution on a monthly basis."
"It is a good global solution in terms of the price and features, but because we sell this solution in dollars, sometimes we don't get to sell this solution in Brazil because the dollar is very expensive. The price of every project is different. It varies depending upon the project, scenario, and client."
"The larger MX products are on the expensive side."
"I think the price is comparable with other solutions of the same kind. Depending on the use case it could be cheaper or more expensive, I think it offers good value."
"The pricing for Meraki MX is all right, but as the hardware needs to be licensed, the cost depends on the complexity of the device and the term. Pricing could be $100 to $10,000 yearly or even more for a more complex device."
"Meraki is also expensive, but it's a little bit less expensive and it's easier to configure than Cisco ASA."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department
We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL Inspection, Granular Firewall rules (Block only, no allow setting), client vpn re...
Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports network security and firewall options. We researched both Meraki and ASA. We liked t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MX?
I don't even look at the cost of Cisco Meraki MX; I let the accountants deal with that.
What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
 

Also Known As

MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hyatt, ONS
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki MX vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.