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ESET EDR/XDR vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
581
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
ESET EDR/XDR
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (18th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (28th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (23rd)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
129
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (11th), Firewalls (11th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (5th), Anti-Malware Tools (6th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (18th), Application Control (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
GirdharMishra - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at iONE IT Solutions
Centralized monitoring has improved threat visibility and reduced incident response time
In terms of valuable features in ESET EDR/XDR, we focus on endpoint device management as well as for the firewall team, including our log analysis and monitoring the firewall, which are three significant functions for us. ESET EDR/XDR has automated threat detection that gives us real-time incident alerts, and it helps us proactively receive and work on incidents that could have an impact. Regarding the usefulness of ESET EDR/XDR's behavior-based analysis in detecting potential breaches, we have identified some files or configuration files that should remain static, and if any changes occur without proper change management, we are able to identify those changes, including detecting zero-day attacks. The integration of threat intelligence feeds has helped our response strategies, as we are using Oracle OCA-based data analysis, and we have integrated it so that logs are forwarded to our SIEM, allowing us to analyze the data effectively. I evaluate the impact of centralized management on our security operations as very useful because it eliminates the need to log into individual systems to find sources, allowing us to identify all types of risks and vulnerabilities from a single desk.
PS
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is value for money. It is very easy to deploy and scale. It saves us costs and increases bandwidth throughput."
"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."
"Routing and reporting are two areas where the product has an added advantage compared to any other product."
"This solution has a unique range of features that are not available with any other product."
"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."
"For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."
"The IPsec tunnels are very easily created, and quite interoperable with devices from other vendors."
"The solution is easy to use."
"It is pretty easy to install without any hassles, and ESET EDR_XDR has its own cloud portal where everything is available."
"ESET EDR/XDR has automated threat detection that gives us real-time incident alerts, and it helps us proactively receive and work on incidents that could have an impact."
"ESET EDR/XDR has automated threat detection that gives us real-time incident alerts, and it helps us proactively receive and work on incidents that could have an impact."
"The initial setup of ESET EDR_XDR is very simple, easy to deploy, and manage."
"The most valuable feature is the correlation of logs from different devices."
"The VPN and the filtering features are the most valuable. Its VPN is very strong, and its services are very nice. The main problem in India is the service. There are not enough Check Point and Fortinet Firewall services, but for this product, the service is very good."
"The protection that it provides from ransomware is valuable. The awareness that it has is also valuable. It didn't have a central console earlier, but now it has a central console, which is pretty good."
"It saves us time in the respect that we now have the template built for it so we can get in and get it done. We've had much less problem supporting Voice over IP technologies from different companies. Because our client base has grown over the years, we're probably saving 20 to 30 man-hours a month now that we've got this on a good stable level."
"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's not the most expensive option."
"I appreciate the interface and the client of WatchGuard Firebox the most, since many firewalls do not have a client to connect and instead rely on CLI only, and I also use the fully managed management server and appreciate the feature to schedule operations."
"I found several features valuable in WatchGuard Application Control such as the HTTP Proxy, DNSWatch, VPN, and HTTPS Content Inspection."
"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."
 

Cons

"The cloud features can be improved."
"There are mainly two areas of improvement in Fortinet FortiGate— the licensing cost and the timing of upgrading licenses for boxes."
"They could improve the response time and quality of support."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
"The web filtering categories could improve in Fortinet FortiGate IPS. There are too many websites under the category of Unknown and the other categories are not featuring all the necessary sites."
"Technical support needs to be improved."
"Their support's response time can be better. In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets."
"The solution could improve how it scours each website."
"The memory and CPU footprint can affect performance. It sometimes slows down the CPU performance."
"ESET EDR_XDR needs to conduct more research and development and innovations in early detection of attacks."
"There is a slight learning curve."
"There is room for improvement in the threat protection, data packet inspection, and performance of the solution. Generally, it's just a lower-end product. It does the job but doesn't do it very well."
"The product can improve in terms of layout to provide easier access and viewing to users, especially for the reports."
"The main problem that WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response has is that they use several tools to do the same tasks, and they are sometimes very complicated to use and very slow."
"One area for improvement could be making the interface even more user-friendly."
"I'd like a few extra features, especially around threat severity assessment."
"The documentation for the System Manager/Dimension configuration, could be a little bit clearer... The use case where you have multiple sites with multiple firewalls, and one site that has the System Manager server and the Dimension server, wasn't really well defined. It took me a little bit of digging to get that to actually work."
"The scalability of the solution needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."
"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."
"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."
"It's not the cheapest, but it's value for money. Given everything we've got out of it: the DMZ port, the VPN, and the high availability, it's a pretty reasonable price."
"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."
"It is more expensive than Sophos. Fortinet is overall more expensive than Sophos. The small range of Fortinet, such as 60F and 80F, is more expensive than the small range of Sophos. Sophos is cheaper. In addition, if you jump from 80F Series to 100F Series, the price doubles."
"I rate the pricing an eight and a half on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."
"I rate the solution’s pricing a six or seven out of ten.."
"Over the years, the costs have increased, especially since I cater to very small businesses."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its pricing."
"The solution is not expensive and customers pay for a yearly license."
"Cheap."
"It's an affordable tool"
"The licensing model for WatchGuard Application Control is based on the number of users. WatchGuard Application Control also has licensing models with several features."
"The licensing costs are comparatively lower than other providers, and I would rate the pricing as five out of five."
"I think the tool is quite competitive compared to the other brands."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise189
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business93
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise15
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET EDR/XDR?
I find the price of ESET EDR/XDR to be competitive to the market, which is a reasonable aspect for us.
What needs improvement with ESET EDR/XDR?
I just deploy and forget it, so I don't get into much detail about improvements. The major setback we face with ESET ...
What advice do you have for others considering ESET EDR/XDR?
We might get good pricing one year, and then the next year there could be significant pricing issues. Integration wit...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
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...
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.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
ESET Secure Authentication
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
Mitsubishi Motors, Canon
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET EDR/XDR vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.