Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

Cisco and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category. Cisco is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 3.1% mindshare in ID, compared to WatchGuard’s 6.1% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and WatchGuard Firebox are two contenders in the network security arena. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT holds the advantage in threat detection, while WatchGuard Firebox is favored for its feature-rich offering, popular among tech buyers despite higher pricing.

Features: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT showcases capabilities in threat detection, intrusion prevention, and comprehensive security analytics. WatchGuard Firebox provides visibility tools, reporting capabilities, and effective feature integration into a simplified management platform, bolstering network protection.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could benefit from easier deployment processes and less reliance on technical expertise for configuration. Enhanced user-friendliness and better customer engagement could improve its appeal. WatchGuard Firebox may improve by refining its pricing strategy, optimizing specific integrations, and addressing feature gaps.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT requires expert knowledge and specific configurations, while WatchGuard Firebox offers a streamlined setup and robust customer support, making it accessible to organizations with constrained IT resources.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT might present lower initial costs with high customization potential but requires specialized skills that affect ROI. WatchGuard Firebox has a higher upfront cost but provides notable ROI through ease of use and seamless feature integration, justifying the expense with improved efficiencies and reduced management costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. WatchGuard Firebox

February 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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.2%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.1%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 6.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	13.2%
WatchGuard Firebox	6.1%
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT	3.1%
Other	77.6%

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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reviewer2772102

Cloud Architect at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

Logging and customizable rules have helped improve threat monitoring and detection

The logging is mainly what I consider one of the best features with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. Being able to log and store it in a file allows you to push it to a centralized repository. The logging and reporting help improve incident response. You should always be logging threats, any sort of misconfiguration, and anything that could be an issue. It's important to at least log and monitor it. The basic rules provide a good baseline in assessing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT's ability in providing real-time analytics for threat detection, but as a professional, you should look to constantly modify that baseline. They provide extensive customizability so you can define your own rules. The customizability allows it to be adaptable in protecting against diverse network threats to the constant change.

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Pedro Soteras

CEO at ajuntament del Prat

Network protection has improved with stronger VPN connectivity but administration remains complex

Deploying WatchGuard Firebox was quite easy, but we have had some problems regarding the VPN and the administration of the tool and the two firewalls that we have. When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with our previous solution, Palo Alto, we have had some problems in administration because of the tools. I think that they have some aspects in their system that are cloud-provided, but they also have an on-premise solution, which makes this combination good. Although I should say that when compared to Palo Alto, we have taken a step backwards. In general, I would rate WatchGuard Firebox around 6-7; it is a good firewall, but they lack good administration tools. We experience many problems with the performance and administration tools on the web, including several issues with VPNs.

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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

"The solution is user-friendly."

"FortiAnalyzer's capability to provide detailed reporting based on various criteria is highly valuable."

"The VPN is the most valuable feature."

"It is a one box solution, which covers most of the edge device’s requirements."

"The strengths of Fortinet FortiGate include network security, VPN, site-to-site tunnels, client VPN solutions, two-factor authentication for VPN clients, and SD-WAN for branch level. We have implemented these solutions for various customers."

"FortiGate improved our security. It's one of the best hardware firewalls."

"FortiGate is flexible and easy to use."

"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It is quite an intelligent product."

"The solution is stable."

"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to automatically learn the traffic in our environment, and change the merit recommendations based on that."

"The whole solution is very good, and stable."

"The solution can be integrated with some network electors like Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco ISE, and Active Directory to provide the client with authentication certificates."

"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."

"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."

More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT pros

"The most valuable features include the ability to raise alarms when there are issues, easier configuration compared to other vendors, centralized update management, and keeping the product updated efficiently."

"The solution has many security features. We have an intrusion provision system and filtering and block filtering."

"The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication."

"The solution is very stable. We've never had any problems with stability. Once a year we do a reboot just as a precaution. The solution never stops running otherwise."

"The throughput is great. It's perfect. We have no issues whatsoever. The management features are very powerful..."

"Centralization is a crucial feature for me as it allows me to have all sites and customers accessible under a single click, not limited to just one."

"WatchGuard Firebox is easy to configure and has a nice user interface."

"The most important feature of this solution is the SLAs."

More WatchGuard Firebox pros

Cons

"One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."

"The solution is not scalable."

"The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."

"Fortinet should focus on enhancing the capabilities of FortiGate by consolidating its various products, such as FortiGate Cloud, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer."

"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."

"For improving sectors, they need to focus on technical support and work on the technical part."

"I don't like that anything more than very basic reporting is not included."

"The renewal cost is much higher than other firewalls. It is not reasonable."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"If the price is brought down then everybody will be happy."

"Performance needs improvement."

"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."

"Integration with other components — even Cisco's own products — can be enhanced to improve administrative experience."

"The implementation could be a bit easier."

"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."

"The customization of the rules can be simplified."

"The cloud can be improved."

More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT cons

"Some of the configuration options are somewhat confusing."

"We use WatchGuard to manage our failover for internet. If a primary internet goes down, it does a failover to the secondary the internet. However, what it doesn't do so well is that if the primary internet has a lot of latency but it's not completely down, it doesn't do a failover to the backup in a timely manner."

"One other shortcoming is that there is no backup for it. We really haven't figured out how we might solve that problem. We may want to put a duplicate in... With WatchGuard, we just have the one box. If that were to fail, we'd probably be really hurting."

"There were a little bit of problems with the tool's updates, making it an area where improvements are needed."

"It doesn't offer the best protection and it's incompatible with a lot of China's websites. It makes a lot of mistakes when it is detecting items as it's not recognizing items correctly."

"The scalability of the solution needs improvement."

"The drawbacks are just sometimes not having the technical information that we need in order to easily make connections with all of our Internet-based clients."

"I believe there is room for improvement in policies, with the potential to enhance the margins further."

More WatchGuard Firebox cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is very expensive so pricing is rated a one out of ten."

"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."

"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year."

"It was pretty affordable. We did go a little bit above MSRP, but the service pack that was included was quite worth the additional costs. It is competitively priced compared to other major players in the market. It is significantly cheaper than Check Point, which is a primary competitor. Additionally, its pricing is comparable to that of Cisco's ASA and a few other vendors."

"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."

"It is an expensive solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."

"We have a three-year license for this solution."

"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."

"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."

"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."

"The licensing contract we have is on a three-year basis. There aren't any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees—usually, every three years, we just purchase or renew the same license and we are okay. Every six years, we completely change the firewall, but that's the usual schema. So after three years, we just renew the licenses for another three years, and then after that particular period of time, we just purchase another firewall equivalent to the ones that we currently use."

"We don't have any other costs other than the licensing stuff."

"Very competitive pricing regarding throughput compared to other alternatives."

"Firebox is priced reasonably."

"WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention's pricing is expensive. I rate it a seven out of ten."

"The subscription that was purchased is for three years, but it is usually for one year at a time."

"The pricing is competitive."

"We license the WatchGuard Firebox annually. There are different types of subscriptions available. We are paying approximately $15,000 annually. The cost can increase if you purchase different subscriptions."

More WatchGuard Firebox pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

University

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	93
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?

The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?

If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other t...

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What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?

I have not had much experience with the community-driven rule set while utilizing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. I don't hav...

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What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?

We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

Compared 15% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

Compared 12% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

Compared 9% of the time

Darktrace vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

Compared 7% of the time

Trellix Intrusion Prevention System vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 4% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs WatchGuard Firebox

Compared 3% of the time

More WatchGuard Firebox Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

February 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT

February 2026

Download Cisco Sourcefire SNORT product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Firebox

January 2026

Download WatchGuard Firebox product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Sourcefire SNORT

WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Snort is an open-source, rule-based, intrusion detection and prevention system. It combines the benefits of signature-, protocol-, and anomaly-based inspection methods to deliver flexible protection from malware attacks. Snort gained notoriety for being able to accurately detect threats at high speeds.

Cisco

WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.

WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.

What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?

Ease of Setup: Quick and straightforward installation process.
GUI: User-friendly graphical interface for simplified navigation.
VPN Features: Secure and efficient virtual private network management.
Web Filtering: Advanced filtering for safer browsing experiences.
Threat Detection: Proactive monitoring and detection of cyber threats.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated?

Centralized Control: Streamlined management from a single point.
High Throughput: Efficient data handling and processing capacity.
Stable Performance: Consistent and reliable operational functionality.
Active Directory Integration: Seamless connection with user directories.
Customer Service: Strong support service for customer inquiries.

WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.

WatchGuard

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

CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia

Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. WatchGuard Firebox

February 2026

Free Report: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. WatchGuard Firebox

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