Hillstone A-Series vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

Hillstone Networks and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Hillstone Networks is ranked #46, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.9. Hillstone Networks holds a 0.3% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 5.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hillstone Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Hillstone A-Series compete in the network security sector. Palo Alto holds an edge in performance and innovation, while Hillstone is notable for cost-effectiveness and deployment ease.

Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide advanced threat detection, application control, and integrated security. Hillstone A-Series offers robust scalability, simplified threat management, and practical network defense.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone A-Series excels in ease of deployment and offers attentive customer service. Palo Alto demands more complex integration, but provides comprehensive support services.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks incurs higher setup costs but promises significant ROI with premium security and management savings. Hillstone A-Series offers a lower entry cost, providing immediate cost benefits and strong security.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

March 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 April 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 17.2%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone A-Series is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 5.2%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	17.2%
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls	5.2%
Hillstone A-Series	0.3%
Other	77.3%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav

Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd

Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches

Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.

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Albert-Wang

Technical Consultant at SiS Technologies

Good performance, responsive support, and an easy setup

We use the product for small and medium-sized businesses. Their scalability is good. They have a lot of choices based on their performance. Even on one unit, they have multiple ports to support customers so that they can connect to different devices. I'd rate the scalability nine out of ten.

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Abhinandan Yadav

Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd

Advanced visibility has transformed security policies and provides proactive threat prevention

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are powerful, but there are areas for improvement that could enhance their effectiveness, such as cost and licensing models. One of the main challenges we face is the high cost, especially for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), with licensing for features such as threat prevention, URL filtering, and WildFire being quite expensive. Additionally, centralized management with Panorama is a dependency for managing multiple firewalls, leading to added costs and complexity, and the built-in centralized management features could be made more user-friendly. Moreover, the learning curve associated with the initial setup and advanced configuration including NAT, decryption, and routing can be complex for new users, and enhancements in logging and reporting could also improve the user experience. There are a few more areas where improvements could streamline operations, such as optimizing commit times. Sometimes committing changes takes a noticeable amount of time, particularly for larger configurations, so a faster commit option would significantly help during urgent troubleshooting. Easier policy troubleshooting is necessary as well. Even though logs are detailed, finding the exact rule match and issue can still be time-consuming in complex environments, so having automated policy simulation and a recommendation tool would expedite troubleshooting. Additionally, better default templates and best practices for SMB data centers and branch offices would speed up deployment and reduce errors. Enhancing integration visibility through a unified dashboard would simplify monitoring, and improving the firmware upgrade process to allow for a more seamless zero downtime upgrade would also enhance operations, as upgrades are stable but typically require careful planning and downtime.

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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

"I find that Fortinet FortiGate is pretty easy to use and integrated, offering many features in one box at a decent price compared to other enterprise vendors."

"It's very easy to configure."

"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."

"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."

"It is a UTM firewall with many features, helping me control users and public multi-servers easily while providing seamless, simple integration into a large network."

"It's super reliable, I don't think I've ever had a reliability issue with it."

"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."

"Having FortiGate allowed for easy management of the network, protection from threats by having a very intuitive administration console."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The antivirus is very good."

"The most important thing is that it's really user-friendly. I have almost stopped using the CLI because I like the graphical interface. You can do whatever you want on a single screen, including all the configuration and implementation, using Panorama. You don't have to switch from one place to another."

"The most valuable features are the threat prevention and policy-based routing features."

"One of the key features for us is product stability. We are a bank, so we require 24/7 service."

"Most features in Palo Alto are okay, but we have had some issues like publicity not working, comments have some delay, but overall, it's a good product."

"The stability is awesome."

"It's quite nice. It's very user-friendly, powerful, and there are barely any bugs."

"I like that they are more stable than the previous ones, and they allow a lot of other features."

"The most important feature is the firewall. We can make rules to filter the application layer of traffic. It's a very helpful feature."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

Cons

"If they could extend their fabric towards other vendor environments for integration, that would be great."

"In their datasheet, they put the throughput as huge, but once you enable all the features of the box, the performance is impacted dramatically."

"The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."

"The graphical interface could be improved."

"The issue lies with features available in GUI versus CLI during configuration. When using GUI, I want to accomplish everything there, but sometimes it requires using CLI to ensure proper configuration."

"The tool is expensive for small businesses, making it an area where the tool can improve the product by making it available at a cheaper rate."

"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues."

"At the moment, the main concern is the pricing and the type of licensing."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"It would be helpful if they could integrate more with third-party security systems."

"Currently, they don't have email protection. They can maybe add it in the future."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls lack built-in multi-factor authentication, requiring the purchase of a third-party tool to implement this essential security feature."

"The whole performance takes a long time. It takes a long time to configure."

"The scalability of the firewalls could be improved."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls should be more flexible and user-friendly. There should be more comprehensive documentation, case histories, and technical training on new technologies available on their portal."

"They need to provide documentation for CLI, as most of the commands, we get from Community Forums."

"The configuration framework for Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation firewalls should be simplified, particularly for applications like ASG authentication. Technical support needs improvement, as issue resolution takes a significant amount of time."

"The configuration part could be improved. It's very difficult to configure."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not the cheapest one, but its price is very competitive."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The price is okay, so far so good."

"The cost has increased since the update so I would rate it eight out of ten."

"It is a good product from a price perspective versus functionality."

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten"

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"The price of this product should be reduced."

"The tool's pricing is similar to that of Cisco. It's a security appliance; the cost depends on your network topology and specific requirements. The suitability of NG firewalls should be chosen based on your network and what you need. If a colleague from a different company asked for the cheapest and fastest firewall, I suggest they consider options like Sophos. Sophos took over Cyberoam, which was previously a leader in NG firewalls"

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive."

"You get what you pay for."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Compared to other products, the pricing is flexible and reasonable."

"The cost of the license is platform-dependent. It would be nice if they standardized that across the board to make the license a flat fee instead of based on scale and the platform you're using. Functionality shouldn't change based on the platform or the amount of data going through it. It's the same functionality on there. That's one aspect customers often raise. The platform's price is what it is, but the ongoing cost of the annual license is hard for some customers to wrap their heads around."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	365
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	191

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	75
Midsize Enterprise	56
Large Enterprise	85

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hillstone A-Series?

The solution is cheaper than other Western brands. The pricing is reasonable. There are costs for the hardware as wel...

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What needs improvement with Hillstone A-Series?

It would be helpful if they could integrate more with third-party security systems. Often, a client will have deploye...

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What is your primary use case for Hillstone A-Series?

We use these devices in the office or in the public cloud environment to protect networks.

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What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...

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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...

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Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Hillstone E-Series vs Hillstone A-Series

Compared 32% of the time

More Hillstone A-Series Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 5% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 4% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

March 2026

Download Hillstone A-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

March 2026

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

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

The Hillstone A-Series effectively enhances network security and protects against cyber threats. It is praised for its ability to prevent unauthorized access, detect and block malicious activities, and ensure the overall integrity of network infrastructure. Its stand-out features include advanced threat detection and seamless integration with existing networks.

Hillstone Networks

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver advanced threat protection with machine learning, enhancing security through real-time attack prevention. Known for application visibility and a user-friendly interface, they offer robust network protection and flexibility in rule creation.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are designed to secure environments with features like GlobalProtect VPN, WildFire malware detection, and unified platform integration. Their strong firewall capabilities and high-performance throughput make them suitable for perimeter and data center protection, VPN configurations, application control, and network segmentation. Users consistently highlight the ease of managing network security policies and integrating third-party tools, ensuring a comprehensive protection strategy. While enhancements in support, training resources, and configuration simplicity are needed, these firewalls are integral for securing both on-prem and cloud environments, aligning with platforms like Azure and AWS.

What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Application Visibility: Provides insight into network traffic for better control.
Threat Prevention: Uses machine learning for real-time attack prevention.
GlobalProtect VPN: Secures remote access efficiently.
WildFire Malware Detection: Detects and prevents advanced threats.
Unified Platform Integration: Enhances network security through seamless integration with other tools.

What benefits should be evaluated when considering Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Flexibility in Rule Creation: Allows customized security policies to meet specific needs.
High-Performance Throughput: Ensures efficient network operations under high load.
Comprehensive Policy Management: Simplifies overseeing and adjusting security policies.
Robust Endpoint Security: Protects endpoints against sophisticated threats.
Seamless Integration: Works well with third-party tools for a comprehensive solution.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are commonly implemented across industries for securing LAN environments, URL filtering, and ensuring Zero Trust security. They secure both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, often becoming integral parts of security frameworks within enterprises. Leveraging these firewalls in conjunction with Azure or AWS enhances the overall network protection strategies employed by organizations.

Palo Alto Networks

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

1. Google 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. IBM 5. Cisco 6. Oracle 7. Intel 8. HP 9. Dell 10. Apple 11. Facebook 12. Twitter 13. LinkedIn 14. Netflix 15. Adobe 16. Salesforce 17. VMware 18. Samsung 19. Sony 20. Toshiba 21. Panasonic 22. LG 23. Nokia 24. Ericsson 25. Siemens 26. Philips 27. General Electric 28. Honeywell 29. BMW 30. Mercedes-Benz 31. Audi 32. Volkswagen

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Sophos and others in Firewalls. Updated: March 2026.

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