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IBM Security Network IPS vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention 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)
21st
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 1.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 4.5%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention4.5%
IBM Security Network IPS1.9%
Other93.6%
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.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Advanced protection enables us to confidently secure against evolving threats
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to protect against those types of threats, as AI will be there to do a human job; this is an evolving area. From an Advanced Threat Protection perspective, the technology associated with Palo Alto Networks, such as their sandboxing environment, is quite good. However, Palo Alto needs to focus on how to bring that technology to end users and how easy it is to use, especially in a hybrid environment where users work from various locations. While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions.

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."
"Signature based analysis and preventing different types of network attacks."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The blocking feature is great; it acts as an in-line blocker, and any malicious traffic that you see, or anything really, it can block the traffic."
"This is definitely a product that I recommend, especially for organizations that want a quick integration of data from the transaction systems, with a very low cost of operations."
"IPS has helped us in understanding more about the latest threats out there and made us realize that we need to be proactive when it comes to security rather than reactive."
"They're cutting edge."
"A strong point of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is their product called GlobalProtect VPN, where if you enable this service, there is no other firewall available for this security profile because when you go outside of the computer network, you must connect to the Palo Alto VPN before accessing the internet, which means there will be complete security visibility."
"Overall, Palo Alto Threat Prevention doesn't need much more; from a general point of view, you get everything."
"The user interface is a bit more professional than some free products."
"With the IP address flag, I was able to see that I was being hacked. The moment there was an interaction between somebody on my network and that IP, the solution was able to flag it, and we were able to protect ourselves."
"It's a monster, it's got so many beautiful features."
"Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good."
"My advice to others would be to use Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention for the perimeter of the network."
 

Cons

"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"The management server can be made more user friendly and also the database configuration could be made simpler."
"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"It's an expensive device."
"In terms of scalability, I would say that it is a little on the poor side."
"The configuration of this product is complex. It could be made more user friendly."
"The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
"The organization mail security solutions could be improved. There is no mail security solution available."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Right now we are focusing on email. If Palo Alto can increase the features related to email filtering and the new malware, it would help us protect our systems."
"Palo Alto's maintenance needs to be improved."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"The initial setup was very complex as the solution does not have these APIs to facilitate the configuration."
"I think they can use some improvement on FID. There are lots of false positives and those can be eradicated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of operations is very low."
"Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is quite competitive, offering extensive threat detection and prevention capabilities, though it is priced higher than some alternatives."
"The pricing and the licensing are pretty competitive at this stage. As a reseller, I would like to see the price come down a little bit so I can compete better against other firewalls because we do that all the time."
"It's not too expensive."
"The pricing could be lower."
"There is an initial, expensive investment but the return is good."
"It is an expensive solution and I would like to see a drop in price."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
"From one to ten, with one being the most expensive, I would rate the pricing of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention a one out of ten. It is my understanding that Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the most expensive one."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Media Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Performing Arts
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

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Earn 20 points
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention requires an add-on license and is considered expensive compared to competitors like Cisco AMP and FortiGate ( /products/fortinet-fortigate-reviews ) fi...
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to prot...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Network IPS vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.