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Norton Security Premium [EOL] vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

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

Norton Security Premium [EOL]
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (12th), Firewalls (11th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (11th), Application Control (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

RC
Project Manager at Amdocs
User-friendly solution with good blocking
I mainly use Security Premium as an antivirus.  Security Premium's best features are blocking, notifications, and the user interface. Security Premium's cost could be lower. I've been using Security Premium for a year. Security Premium is stable - I haven't faced any issues or bugs while using…
reviewer2805000 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Centralized security management has improved VPN reliability and simplified daily operations
WatchGuard Firebox is a strong and reliable platform overall, but there are a few areas where improvements could make the experience even better. One area is the user interface and navigation in some management tools. While the platform is powerful, certain configurations and troubleshooting workflows can feel less intuitive compared to some newer cloud-native firewall platforms. Another point is reporting and log analysis. Although the logging features are very useful, deeper analytics and more customizable reporting dashboards would make security monitoring much more effective. Firmware upgrades and policy synchronization can sometimes require careful planning to avoid security interruptions. Overall, the core security and VPN functionality are very solid, but improving usability, reporting, and automation would make the platform even stronger. One area that could be improved is the learning curve for new administrators. While experienced engineers can work with the platform effectively, some advanced networking and security configurations can be a bit complex for junior technicians. More guided configuration workflows, smarter recommendations, and simplified troubleshooting tools would make onboarding easier. Another improvement would be more flexible reporting customization for executive-level and client-facing reports.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The dashboard is good."
"Flexible antivirus and antimalware software. It also provides protection against ransomware. It's flexible, easy to handle, scalable, and stable."
"The licensing fee for this solution is not expensive."
"We like how it can check for issues. That includes files and web browsers."
"In general, technical support has been helpful."
"The most valuable feature is the quick installation."
"It does not take many resources during scanning."
"The ransomware protection that they have now is worth considering."
"Some of the most valuable features of the Firebox include web blocking, application control, protection against brute force attacks, load balancing, SD-WAN, and VPN support. These features help us manage and secure our network efficiently."
"Now, the provisioning goes more toward what types of software are needed, we have it completely unified across locations with a security standard through the WatchGuard systems due to the roles that we've set up for the organization, and productivity, especially within the IT department, has increased due to the time that we used to spend on each machine can now be spent on the network level."
"Initial setup is straightforward; they make the integrations simple and easy to understand, and it is fast, only a day or two."
"The solution has many security features. We have an intrusion provision system and filtering and block filtering."
"I recommend WatchGuard Firebox to other users in small companies because it is simple, it is stable, and the costs are good and right."
"WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection."
"There are no problems with the technical support. If a problem occurs it gets resolved immediately with our technical support partners."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the FireWall features. The management side of WatchGuard is quite easy because it supports two ways to manage it - by the web and the other one they call WatchGuard systems manager. I used to be familiar with WSM only, but they improved their GUI in the web browser and now it is much easier to do it within the web browser."
 

Cons

"I do not find it to be scalable."
"They say Norton Security Premium is an all-in-one solution, but we don't know exactly what's in it, e.g. they didn't make an effort to explain the difference between a virus scan and a ransomware scan."
"The product is an antivirus, it should be updated automatically when needed."
"The only problem with Norton Antivirus is that it consumes a lot of resources like CPU and memory in the background."
"It would be helpful for me if this solution works on our cloud backup data."
"During scanning, sometimes, there is a heavy load on the workstation. This needs to be improved."
"Having a dashboard that shows the different functions of Norton Security Premium can convince end users that the software is more than just an antivirus solution. This product offers several features, but end users think that it's just one out of the box solution, because the different functions are not explained in detail."
"Occasionally when you open a ticket, there's a lack of understanding that prevents the solution from being resolved directly."
"The support could improve. I had to deal with support to give me new hardware and it took four weeks."
"While the management of interfaces is straightforward, certain advanced configurations can become complex in large deployments, as it mainly targets small to mid-cap industries."
"There is room for improvement on the education side, regarding what does what, rather than just throwing it at a person and assuming they know everything about it. A lot of times, you have to call WatchGuard support to get the solution that will work, rather than their just having it published so that you can fix the problem on your own."
"Like any other firewall, if it goes down, it's going to cause problems but these don't go down."
"There should be more reports available on different subjects."
"The software base, the management piece that goes onto a server, is not as user-friendly as I would like. There are three different pieces that you have to manage, so it's a little bit convoluted, in my opinion."
"The only downside is that it is missing an API, that you can use to easily collect information from it."
"There could also be better reporting. For example, there should be more out-of-the-box management reports."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If they could come down in price that would be good. It's not exactly the lowest."
"Security Premium is highly-priced."
"As I have been a long-time customer, I was given a fair price of $49.95 per month for the first four to six months."
"Security Premium costs around US$100 for three years, which is a little expensive."
"I don't pay for a license."
"We have a yearly license, and each license is around 20 or 30 Jordanian Dinars plus taxes."
"The solution gives the value for the money."
"The licensing fee for this solution is not expensive."
"The cost three years ago was about $800."
"I buy a three-year renewal on the main device, which is usually around $3,000 to $4,000. They usually upgrade the device when I do it. You get a big discount when you do three years."
"We don't have any other costs other than the licensing stuff."
"The two larger devices are about $1,000 each and the smaller ones are about $500 or $600 each... It's cheaper and you have more control because it's self-managed."
"Each one, for the primary unit, was $8,600 and the High Availability unit was $2,000. That's with three years of subscription and support and the Total Security Suite."
"Firebox is priced reasonably."
"They have an annual subscription license. Initially, we had opted for three years. After that, we went for another three years, and after that, we have been doing it yearly. They also have a license for five years."
"The pricing of WatchGuard is probably a little higher than the SonicWall, but it makes up for it in dependability. It's worth it to me, especially since it's not much higher. For just a little bit higher price you get the dependability of the firewall with the WatchGuard brand."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business104
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of our employees.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

Norton Internet Security
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Temple University
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
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