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Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.2
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall reduces costs and improves efficiency with centralized management, automation, and reduced workforce needs.
Sentiment score
5.7
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series delivers strong ROI through enhanced security, rapid deployment, and significant time savings despite high pricing.
Cybersecurity ROI could be $1 or $100 million, depending on the risk of data behind it.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
It is easy and offers different solutions for each solution type with small, mid, and large scale options available.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
I did see a return on investment with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall, as mentioned by the efficiency improvements and the metrics related to how much I cut investigation time, the number of incidents, and the ease of making changes or pushing new configurations.
Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.8
Most customers find Forcepoint Firewall support helpful and reliable, despite occasional delays and logistical challenges.
Sentiment score
7.5
Customers appreciate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series support for responsiveness and expertise, despite occasional delays and high premium service costs.
Unlike Fortinet where you can escalate an issue and quickly get responses from the development team, Forcepoint's process seems slow and challenging.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
TAC engineers are very experienced and troubleshoot issues within the expected timeframe with no problems.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
We have a point of contact from the account manager to the presales representative, and they connect with the technical support team, providing support in Indian time, so we do not have to worry about US or European time zones.
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
The support quality could be improved.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Resolving issues promptly.
Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd
They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall offers scalable integration, supporting diverse environments with ease in both on-premises and cloud deployments.
Sentiment score
7.4
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is scalable, easy to deploy, and suits businesses with positive feedback on flexibility and growth.
I can have one management node similar to Palo Alto Panorama, with multiple nodes covering different sites, data centers, or zones.
Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Even if you have some firewalls in the cluster, it is not necessary to have them on the same version.
IT Consultant at M-COM s.r.o
In a country such as India with a large population, we often need to scale up or down depending on projects and requirements, and it is very much easy to do both ways.
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Forcepoint Firewall is reliable with minor issues; high-availability setups reduce downtime, though complex deployments may face challenges.
Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is highly regarded for stability, reliable performance, and consistent uptime, despite minor navigation delays.
It has many freezes for no reason.
Cyber Security Specialist at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall should make some improvements because there is some instability with their software.
System Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Hardware is generally very stable.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Room For Improvement

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall needs a user-friendly interface, better integration, improved support, and competitive pricing.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs UI updates, better platform integration, scalability, user-friendliness, and improved documentation for broader efficiency.
Fast response and efficient handling of issues, similar to how Fortinet responds, would be great.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
AI improvements could be beneficial, as having AI capabilities has become an important checkmark feature.
CEO at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I recommend that additional features be included in a single license to avoid the need for extra licensing costs.
Head of IT Department at Mana
Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers.
Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Setup Cost

Forcepoint's pricing is competitive, especially in Asia, with variable licensing terms and additional costs for extra features.
Palo Alto VM-Series is costly but reliable, with complex licensing; AWS Marketplace offers scalable subscription options.
The costs can be high since additional features require separate licenses.
Head of IT Department at Mana
In terms of price, I would say Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is not expensive.
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
In terms of pricing, I would place Forcepoint in the middle when compared to other firewalls like Fortinet and Palo Alto.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Forcepoint NGFW offers robust security, easy integration, advanced protection, and versatile deployment with centralized management for seamless connectivity.
The VM-Series provides scalable, flexible security with advanced threat management, visibility, and integration features, enhancing network protection.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has impacted my organization positively by making it very easy to work and offering a more competitive price compared to other vendors.
Cyber Security Specialist at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has positively impacted my organization by providing always-on perimeter security.
Responsabile System and Security at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Strong network segmentation is my favorite feature that Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall offers.
Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Categories and Ranking

Forcepoint Next Generation ...
Ranking in Firewalls
25th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (10th), WAN Edge (11th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
16th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.7%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series2.7%
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall1.0%
Other96.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Ajit Pratap Kundan - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Solution Consulting at Accops Systems Pvt Ltd
Unified security management has improved traffic control and simplified remote workforce access
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall does help in vulnerability identification and response by providing a single unified console through which I am able to monitor and manage infrastructure. The URL filtering capability of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall helps in blocking malicious sites. We have to take care of both known threats and unknown threats. The firewall takes care of known threats, and we protect ourselves from unknown threats such as malicious code and malware that we cannot create firewall rules for. With these routing capabilities and policies, only whitelisted things get processed or passed. The biggest advantages of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall, especially as a partner, service provider, and integrator, are that it is very easy to integrate these APIs with our solution, and most of the features I am getting in the clientless mode. Even with the client mode, it is easy to integrate with our client, allowing the customer to get a single client to address all the features of the firewall as well as the GTNA perspective. The flexibility of deployment, especially for the government and defense sectors, is that they want an on-premises solution, while the rest of the PSUs or enterprise segment are comfortable with the cloud offering, which is the SaaS offering and the way to go in the future.
MuhammadNadeem - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Has supported urgent deployments and enabled inline threat protection but pricing and features could be more flexible
I am not using Palo Alto Networks VM-Series mostly, but based on my experience, there are some deficiencies in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers. However, for urgency and for some solutions that customers need for some of their other sites and subdivisions, we are providing the same.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
In terms of price, I would say Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is not expensive. It is very much comparable to other vendors, and pricing is not a problem, especially for the Asian market, with...
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
The negative side of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is that the ZTNA part is missing. For that, we have to integrate a third-party component with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall to complet...
What is your primary use case for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
The major use cases for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall are in government turnkey projects where we require a lot of traffic coming from the public domain. That is why we are putting these fire...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series?
The pricing is more on the expensive side, but it is justified due to its functionality, reliability, and throughput, even with all features enabled. In comparison to FortiGate ( /products/fortinet...
 

Also Known As

Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.