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Cisco Meraki MX vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

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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
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
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 (24th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 3.8%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Meraki MX3.8%
Hillstone E-Series0.9%
Other95.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Md Rafique - PeerSpot reviewer
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Centralized security management has simplified daily monitoring and remote troubleshooting
One area that could be improved is providing more advanced reporting and analytics within the dashboard, especially more detailed historical data and customizable reports. It would also be useful to have greater flexibility for advanced firewall and security configuration without making the interface more complex. Better customization and more detailed troubleshooting information would also help administrators. Another improvement would be more granular control over alerts and notifications, so administrators can prioritize critical security and network events without being overwhelmed by less important alerts. More detailed historical analysis and easier integration with third-party security and monitoring tools would also be valuable. Overall, I would keep the simplicity of the Meraki dashboard while adding more advanced options for administrators who need deeper control and visibility. One additional improvement would be better support for integration with third-party security and monitoring platforms. More flexible APIs, deeper SIEM integration, and more detailed security analytics would make Cisco Meraki MX even more useful for organizations with a broader security stack, while the simplicity and centralized management are already strong points.
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

"A strong, reliable solution for small companies with little or no dedicated IT department."
"Since it has an integrated dashboard for all the products, customers can get complete network analytics regarding what the user is doing, monitoring, and observing."
"Point-to-point VPNs can dynamically follow IP changes with no need for static IPs."
"It's flexible, easy to configure, and easy to manage."
"It is very fast to implement."
"It is very easy to use and manage. It is also very easy to scale."
"Simple to manage."
"Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS): The best feature. It can detect malware, even a virus, and warn you by email about the device that has it. When the Meraki detects that something is wrong, it automatically blocks the connection or the intrusion, delivering a graphic report with all the necessary content."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"Five out of five ROI."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
 

Cons

"I find it very expensive when discussing the cost of Cisco Meraki MX."
"If customers are looking for very large-scale deployments or need to migrate, Cisco Meraki MX may not be sufficient."
"It lacks some switching features. For instance, when you use MX to link the firewall to a stack, you cannot use LACP."
"The event logging, alerting, and reporting features could use improvement."
"It can be hard to get a hold of the solution’s technical support team."
"The current lead time is longer for Meraki MX, and it needs to be improved."
"There are a few things that are odd that I can do with other firewall products that I can't do with a Meraki."
"I need more UTM protection security features."
"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 room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In my country, the product is cheap compared to the UK because of the differences in taxes."
"The license cost depends on the box. We acquired a different product line. We are dealing with MX appliance now, that is, MX6, MX54, MX100, MX250, MX450. Every box has got an identity, and it has got its own specification. Every box has got a different license fee. We deployed Meraki MX in UAE when it was not a mature product. We took a risk, but we were successful. We saved a huge amount of money after implementing and removing all the MPLS and leased lines. We got a broadband connection because Meraki MX could work on a broadband connection. We have drastically saved a very good amount of money, which was one of the successful things apart from the successful solution."
"The product is a little expensive."
"Our customers pay for the solution on a monthly basis."
"The solution is expensive compared to other vendors but you can get good discounts if you know the account manager. The product is less expensive than a normal Cisco subscription. The tool's hardware warranty is a lifetime but you need to purchase support which comes in three, five, and seven years subscriptions."
"The price could be lower, but compared to the TCO of other products, it's not really that expensive."
"The product’s pricing depends on the discount Cisco gives to different people."
"Meraki MX's pricing is cheaper as compared to Cisco's standalone products."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"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 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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Construction Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise20
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 find the pricing for Cisco Meraki MX reasonable and competitive given the features provided and the target market. I believe it is acceptable.
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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: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.