Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

Sponsored
 

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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
581
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
33rd
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.7%
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series1.5%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series0.2%
Other79.6%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
Ahmed_Shalaby - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
Application control excels and integration with monitoring system boosts efficiency
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent. Application control is one of the most valuable features. Its monitoring capability…
AV
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
Enhance cybersecurity for large enterprises using advanced threat management
An improvement could be the integration of security intelligence with Palo Alto cloud via APIs. This would allow IOCs, domains, and hash values to be automatically entered, reducing manual entry. Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SD-WAN has had a positive impact by reducing the operational costs in terms of headcount and management."
"FortiGate's threat detection capability is excellent."
"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."
"FortiGate's web and URL filtering are unlike any other firewall I've used. The functionality of URL filtering in those solutions is problematic because everything is encrypted, and firewalls can't break that encryption protocol. Fortinet has an SSL proxy, so the encryption is done before the packet ever leaves the FortiGate. The URL filter is definitely one of the most helpful features."
"It's a good product that significantly enhances security and protects organizational data."
"The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks."
"Generally, every aspect of it being a next-generation firewall provides good value."
"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is value for money. It is very easy to deploy and scale. It saves us costs and increases bandwidth throughput."
"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
"The filtering feature is good."
"The most valuable features are security and support."
"The product provides more visibility into our traffic."
"It gives us the ease that we are secure. We have set up the proper things that help make our data safe."
"In Palo Alto the most important feature is the App-ID."
"The most valuable features are web control and IPS/IDS."
"Overall, I rate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series an eight out of ten. I am happy with its performance and rich features."
"Scalability is a strength of Palo Alto VM-Series."
 

Cons

"Its customer service could be better."
"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests."
"The performance can be improved."
"I would like some automated custom reporting."
"The solution could be more secure and stable."
"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."
"I'd like to see more IOPs features."
"The disadvantage with Palo Alto is that they don't have a cloud-based solution that includes a secure web gateway."
"The tool is very costly."
"The DLP functionality or data classification can be improved in the solution's basic firewalling."
"There are some delays that I have observed when my company communicates with Palo Alto's support engineers."
"The command-line interface is something that some people struggle with and I think that they should have an option to go straight to the GUI."
"Just sometimes it can be a bit sluggish navigating through pages. That is just purely because of Java.​"
"The solution needs to have more easily searchable details or documentation about it online, so it's easier to Google if you have queries."
"It'll help if Palo Alto Networks provided better documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is a bit pricey for small businesses, but it is still bearable in terms of cost."
"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."
"It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products. The return on investment is also good. If you compare the return of investment and money that you are spending on this product with Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, and other solutions, the investment is very less. We are happy with this solution. The optional licenses are there, and you can choose which one you want and which one to avoid."
"It is not the cheapest one, but its price is very competitive."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"We pay $500 per year for the license."
"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."
Information not available
"Purchasing on the AWS Marketplace was simple, effective, and easy."
"The product is costly but provides all essential security features. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The VM series is licensed annually."
"Sometimes, it's cheaper to buy a new firewall with licensing instead of renewing the licenses of an old firewall."
"One of the factors for selecting Palo Alto was they had flexible pricing. They had a pay-as-you-go model. Comparable to other products, such as Check Point, the price point was definitely a plus."
"We used BYOL, because of the cost to own."
"Do not buy larges box if you do not need them. Rightsizing is a great task to do before​hand."
"I know Palo Alto is not cheap. They have been telling me, the members of the finance team, it is not a cheap solution. It is a solution whose target is that no matter how big your organization is, small, medium, or large, it is about the maturity of your security team or infrastructure team whom you want to work with."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
881,928 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise189
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise24
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
The pricing of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is quite expensive, rating around eight on a scale of one to ten for cost.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive. The SD-WAN implementation using P...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series ( /products/palo-alto-networks-cn-series-reviews ) and P...
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...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Information Not Available
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,928 professionals have used our research since 2012.