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Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System vs KerioControl comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Hillstone S-Series Network ...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
22nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
KerioControl
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (27th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System is 1.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KerioControl is 2.9%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
KerioControl2.9%
Hillstone S-Series Network Intrusion Prevention System1.7%
Other95.4%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1080873 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Complements any firewall
The core processors are there and it's able to generate reports for that. It also complements any kind of firewall. For example, if an end user is using Palo Alto as a firewall, they'd need another layer of firewall like the S-Series that will protect internal servers. It's something that complements any firewall in the market.
Constantnos Achilleos - PeerSpot reviewer
Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean
Leveraging geo-tagging and web filtering for enhanced network security
The solution is used for site-to-site VPN connections and it is valued for its cost efficiency and easy connectivity. It is especially beneficial for multi-site VPNs and is used in about fifteen different components KerioControl has provided a financial benefit as it allows purchasing one license…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Setup is straightforward with the same reliability and scalability as the firewall series."
"Setup is straightforward with the same reliability and scalability as the firewall series."
"What I like the most about Kerio is that I can use the software appliance as a solution, so if the hardware fails for any reason then I can quickly replace it with hardware that I have in stock."
"Kerio Control can be scaled easily."
"​Setup is simple. The Kerio interface is very intuitive.​"
"Kerio Control is easy to use and provides the ability to deliver customized solutions."
"When one of the employees of my customers is using the VPN Client, I have created for them that they will always get a message. When the VPN Client connects to Kerio Control from the outside, they will get an email so they know when they are connected and when they are disconnected what is happening to their network."
"It is very comprehensive and simple. It has all the active protections. It's updated. We love that you can set how often it is updated so you can work what is right for you. A large company with a lot of bandwidth can update the virus definitions and security definitions hourly, if they want. A smaller site that's remote, where maybe updating the definitions will eat into the bandwidth, we can schedule those more to go later at night. It's very flexible and works for us in all types of situations. This is great because then we don't have to learn seven different products to be able to work with seven different scenarios."
"We have many customer sites and the solution gives us control over bandwidth internet."
"The most valuable feature is to provide users with the ability to log in to the portal page, keep track of their data usage and perform bandwidth management."
 

Cons

"Lack of tools to help educate end users"
"Lack of tools to help educate end users"
"When we did our last update, we had some trouble with the initial syncing process to get our messaging to go through."
"The improvement that we are looking for is for when decide to move some part of our application to the cloud."
"The solution's hardware is not that great and could use more improvement. However, the VM software and the virtualized KerioControl itself are pretty good. The software is good; it's just the hardware that needs improvement."
"The solution can be improved to create the capability for larger bandwidths that support our business needs."
"They should improve the remote connectivity feature for users."
"Kerio Control could improve content filtering."
"There isn't a lot to be improved. It works well as it is, but they can maybe improve the reporting side."
"The overall speed needs improvement. Internet connectivity speed needs to be improved somehow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I am living in Iran and we cannot buy the product from Kerio because of sanctions."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. For additional costs, you can add on more features such as antivirus."
"The biggest advice that I could probably give people is when you buy the solution be prepared to either buy the unlimited license or buy more licenses than you think. Each user license gives you one employee and each a user gives you five devices. In the world nowadays where everybody has a cellphone, tablet, desktop, and laptop, that's four devices. You still get one more device per person. That covers your servers and back-ends."
"Its price is fair. There are no additional costs."
"KerioControl's pricing is reasonable. The license for KerioControl is annual. It's difficult to specify an exact cost since it varies depending on the number of users and additional software combined with it. For example, a basic box might cover 25 users, but licenses can be purchased starting from 10 users."
"It's too expensive. The license, in the last year or so, has gone up by over a £100. We're almost being out-priced by the annual license at the minute."
"Its licensing is yearly. You renew every year. Its price is all-inclusive."
"There's a one-time fee. For KerioConnect, it's just a server. With KerioControl, you have an option. You can virtualize it on a VMware system or have the hardware. I think mid-range or desktop KerioControl hardware could cost around 2000 dollars for a 25 user client. You need annual renewal for additional features like antivirus."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for KerioControl?
KerioControl offers good pricing as one license covers all features needed without extra payment. The price for the product is rated as ten out of ten.
What needs improvement with KerioControl?
Regarding KerioControl's application awareness and control feature, I have not used it much.
What is your primary use case for KerioControl?
With KerioControl, we usually use them for site-to-site VPNs for most of our clients. With multiple offices, we use KerioControl as our solution.
 

Also Known As

Hillstone S-Series NIPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Triton Technical, McDonald's
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Darktrace, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS). Updated: May 2026.
894,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.