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IBM Security Network IPS vs KerioControl comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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

IBM Security Network IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
24th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
KerioControl
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (26th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KerioControl is 2.7%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
KerioControl2.7%
IBM Security Network IPS1.2%
Other96.1%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Jacob_Koithra - PeerSpot reviewer
Project & Program manager at Shell Grp
User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive
Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.
MM
Senior Systems Tech/Admin at Samco Software Inc.
Comprehensive Security Features and High Ease of Setup Elevate User Experience
The best features for KerioControl are its proprietary VPN protocol, which does not connect easily with other firewalls unless you enable IPsec. It will only connect to KerioControl. KerioControl is very valuable for business. Key points where KerioControl is valuable include its own anti-spam, intrusion prevention, and antivirus, which is included in the yearly subscription renewals. The VPN capabilities are helpful in managing my remote or distributed workforce, as we create documents and set up a location for clients to download. Clients can download KerioControl's VPN client online, and they just have to log in from the VPN client, which connects easily. I assess the firewall function in filtering both incoming and outgoing network traffic with KerioControl as excellent. Everything is logged, and any intrusion, antivirus, virus, or anything foreign to the system trying to hack in gets logged, and we can easily block those IPs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is its simplicity."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The initial setup is a breeze."
"The interface control manager where we can allocate LAN connections to certain VLANs is the most valuable feature. The other feature that's important for us is because obviously everything is remote with MyKerio, as long as the boat has an internet connection, we can log onto the Kerio and get statistics, as well as provide support."
"I am impressed with the tool's firewall filtering capacity."
"Instead of using a cloud-based product for accessing information, and putting my data at risk in the cloud and in someone else's hands, it has allowed me to use a VPN and access my data directly from a laptop when I am out in the field. That has made my life a lot easier, where I'm able to access any information I need to be able access, basically on demand, with an Internet connection. That alone has been great."
"One thing we use quite a lot, as well, is the DHCP Server, because we do a lot of work where all our devices need to have static IP addresses. Rather than going around and configuring every box, we do it all through DHCP reservations. It's easier. We've got a record of it. We can manipulate it if we need to change something or change some hardware. It's all easy. Even guys who are not used to using it can pick it up quite quickly."
"The solution is easy to manage. Kerio Control is unique compared to other firewalls because it has been around since 2000 when we switched and the name it started with was WinRoute, and then later became Kerio Control. It evolved over time and it is more of a proprietary firewall on its own and has been developed through open source."
"​Setup is simple. The Kerio interface is very intuitive.​"
"The top features are ones that we're not using yet but we soon will be because we've just had broadband upgraded in Australia. We've got something called the National Broadband Network, which is forced onto you, so you have to take it when it arrives. We'll be trying the high availability out soon. We tried that with some load balancing, it didn't quite work as we expected, but I think that was more of a configuration thing rather than a product thing."
 

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"The overall speed needs improvement. Internet connectivity speed needs to be improved somehow."
"Support responses need improvement."
"Improvements are needed to the Next Generation Firewall Protection, specifically with user-level protection."
"Filtering of pages and greater personalization in services need improvement."
"I can no longer renew my subscription directly with GFI but we have to go through third-party resellers like CDW. The first time I did it with CDW. I went to CDW and it was almost like they didn't even know anything. They didn't know what package I was supposed to get. Then after I got it, it took almost five days to get everything working."
"The GUI should be changed because it remains the same consistency across versions. However, those who have been using KerioControl for a long time may be accustomed to the current interface. Installing a new version in the same location makes it easy to find, but overall, there are no notable changes between versions."
"I would like to see them develop a bit more flexibility creating VLANs."
"The filtering on the unlicensed version of Kerio Control is inefficient - you have to add each website manually, which isn't feasible."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of operations is very low."
"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."
"Its initial cost is less as compared to other products. It becomes a bit costly when you pay for the products that you don't use. We paid for almost all the products through subscription, but we are using only a few products. We use EndPointSecurity, Kerio Connect, WebMonitor, and LanGuard. We don't use the rest of the products."
"Licensing is easier with Kerio Control. With FortiGate, we realized the licensing is really hectic, because if you skip one year, you have to back pay that year. If you skip two years, you have to back pay two years. With Kerio Control, if a license expires, one year later you can just reactivate and go on."
"It gets expensive pretty quickly if you need to purchase license packs."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. For additional costs, you can add on more features such as antivirus."
"The pricing is in-line with our expectations in terms of the quality that we get for it."
"It is a good fit for SMBs because of its maintainability. When you want to keep your costs low, then Kerio Control is a very good solution. It's not an expensive product that is well integrated. It has a complete set of features within it that make it a very strong product."
"There is a yearly upkeep fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Media 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

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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

Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
Triton Technical, McDonald's
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Network IPS vs. KerioControl and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,346 professionals have used our research since 2012.