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Citrix Gateway vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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

Citrix Gateway
Ranking in SSL VPN
1st
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in SSL VPN
10th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
19th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (40th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 12.0%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 4.7%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix Gateway12.0%
Hillstone E-Series4.7%
Other83.3%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

PEDRO FONSECA - PeerSpot reviewer
Citrix VDI & Windows Virtualization Specialist at ATOS
Modular security has protected remote access and simplifies endpoint compliance management
The most valuable feature in Citrix Gateway is the securable, modular solution. The most useful behaviors that Citrix has is that you can secure the applications and all the infrastructure in a modular way. You can segment the securization in groups, allowing you to do a lot of things. Citrix Gateway is really strong and secure for the companies to have the Endpoint Analysis feature configured. You can configure this to check what the company needs to be checked. Companies need to authorize some devices to check if antivirus can accomplish the necessities of the company. The final appliance is really secure for accessing the company's network resources. You have many ways to maintain security protocols. One way is using Citrix Gateway, and another is the Citrix policies where you can configure many things in desktops and applications published for the company.
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 solution is stable."
"We switched from Barracuda because Citrix offered better features and scalability."
"These days, I find Citrix products to be very stable, and there is no need to struggle with them."
"For customers who are concerned with security and would want to have virtual machines in their environment, I recommend this solution."
"The most valuable feature is that it is secure."
"Most of our customers are using the load balancing feature and also the verification feature is good as well, in my experience."
"For our use case, it was scalable. There were at least 25 end users using this solution from remote locations. And once the connection was established, there weren't any complaints."
"The stability of the solution is perfect."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"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."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"Five out of five ROI."
 

Cons

"When it comes to the VDA environment, making it additionally stable is important."
"It would be nice if they offered easier setups and implementation wizards."
"Citrix Gateway could improve the speed of the VPN. I sometimes have to wait for 10 to 15 minutes to get connected and other times when I am connected I have to abort, and reconnect."
"Focusing more on AI features could further enhance its performance."
"The support experience has received mixed reviews, as not all support staff possess the necessary technical expertise to handle inquiries effectively."
"Its interface could be made a lot easier. It is very kludgy."
"As Citrix Gateway is a third party solution, we wish to have one which is more integrated and involves less administration."
"Areas that should be improved are the configuration of profiles and uploading and downloading of our certificates."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"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 provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"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

"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"Citrix is quite expensive."
"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"
"Pricing is very high if you do a comparison with what is available in the market."
"The price could be lower."
"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 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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
The price is one aspect, but technically it is complete. Technically, it is really complete.
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
I see room for improvement in several areas. The monitoring site could be much better because monitoring NetScaler and Citrix Gateway is too difficult with just SNMP traps available. Improving the ...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Gateway?
I am on the customer side using Citrix products, specifically Citrix CVAD for Virtual and Desktop virtualization. I am using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. We are using Citrix Gateway an...
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

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Gateway vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.