Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Stormshield are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 100% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Stormshield users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks PA-Series and Stormshield Network Security based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security

February 2026

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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

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

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.

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Kevin Burgess

Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Has provided strong edge protection and advanced threat visibility while reducing manual effort

Some of the best features of this firewall are flexibility, overall depth of security analysis, and ease of use. I use application-based traffic classification. It has helped reduce my attack surface considerably; it's much better than simply doing a port-based analysis. The usefulness of machine learning algorithms in identifying threats with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is mostly behind the scenes; we subscribe to the threat analysis, so we don't see too much. It does perform some in-depth analysis, but most of the machine learning features operate on the back end, more than what we would see. Integrated threat intelligence has empowered my organization to adapt to threats by taking a lot of the burden off us; there's just no way we would see the same breadth of knowledge that a vendor or manufacturer would have. They're gathering data from all over the world, and we're going to see what we get hit with, but now we're seeing what everybody else is getting hit with.

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Benjamin

Network Engineer at ACS2I

The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats

The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is more affordable compared to alternatives."

"The CLI is robust and powerful, enabling rapid, consistent changes via SSH."

"The scalability is very good."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization, offering ease of management with no network disruptions; it works seamlessly."

"The most valuable aspects of FortiGate NGFW are its top-notch reputation in peer reviews, user-friendly interface, and excellent support."

"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."

"FortiGate is a great solution, although initially, it faced challenges in the Brazilian market due to lower brand recognition than Cisco. However, explaining and demonstrating its product format and offerings has proven easy. The cost-effectiveness and better features of FortiGate have made some clients skeptical. We set up a trial period, and they eventually opted for it. Many clients were convinced it was great after experiencing the solution's capabilities firsthand."

"The solution is user-friendly."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The cloud-based aspect helps significantly. It integrates seamlessly with other Palo products like Prisma Cloud, offers robust VPN protection, and it's all in one convenient package."

"The solution provides good customer support."

"The solution is robust."

"It is a scalable solution."

"Comprehensive logging is essential for monitoring and analysis purposes. For remote users, the firewall can be configured as a VPN concentrator, with VPN policies defined within the firewall settings."

"The solution has a three-layer architecture, and it helps customers to deploy the solution quickly."

"Integrated threat intelligence has empowered my organization to adapt to threats by taking a lot of the burden off us; there's just no way we would see the same breadth of knowledge that a vendor or manufacturer would have."

"The reporting feature and application ID functionality within Palo Alto Networks PA-Series are incredibly valuable to us."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series pros

"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."

"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."

"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."

"A very robust product."

"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."

"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."

"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."

More Stormshield Network Security pros

Cons

"FortiOS is not simple."

"It would be good if they had fewer updates."

"The price and deployment part of Fortinet FortiGate is good, but it can always be better."

"Vulnerabilities owing to viruses in the OS need to be reduced in FortiGate Next Generation Firewall from an improvement perspective."

"They need to improve their technical support."

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet FortiGate as a five because it is not as strong as Cisco. Additionally, the turnaround time is very high compared to Cisco."

"FortiGate needs to be elastic to the market's trends. It should be easy for SMBs to get the solution."

"There are SD-WAN network monitoring, SD-WAN features, Industrial Databases, Internet of Things, Detection, etc., however, we do have not licenses for those features. We thought that if you bought a product, you should have all of the features it offers. Why should you need to make so many extra purchases to enable features? They should have one price for the entire offering."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"In future releases, maybe Palo Alto can enhance and enlarge their portfolio with SIEM solutions. They already have an endpoint protection solution, SOAR solution, that's fine. But when it comes to standalone IDS/IPS solution or email security solution, for example, we don't have any product in that category for Palo Alto."

"I had opened a case before with the tool because I could not create a wildcard for the security address. We can create wildcards for security addresses in Fortinet, but this feature doesn't exist in the product."

"However, they are expensive and there might be some sticker shock if you just looked at them for the price."

"Palo Alto can improve the web application firewall (WAF) feature at layer 7."

"The product's gateway services can be improved."

"There is room for improvement in streamlining this process for smoother transitions."

"The product's high prices are an area of concern where improvements are required."

"I experienced some problems with AWS cloud parameters connected to Palo Alto firewall."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series cons

"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."

"Not all the fields are activated yet and we were informed that it will take at least one month."

"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."

"This is not a next-generation firewall."

"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."

"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."

"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."

"The product must improve its pricing."

More Stormshield Network Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When you look at these end security systems and firewalls, these firewalls even five years ago were $50,000 or perhaps $25,000 to implement in some types of customer sites. Now we're talking about tools that are $1,000. In this case, it might have been $500 or something like that."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."

"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."

"The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."

"When I look around at other products, such as Sophos, Fortinet FortiGate is 20% to 30% more expensive with our current cost."

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Palo Alto Networks PA-Series's price is much higher than other firewall brands."

"The product is offered to users at high prices compared to the pricing model of the other vendors in the market."

"With Palo Alto, even when you enable all the modules, it still provides the exact throughput they advertise."

"The tool's pricing was reasonable when we bought the product. We pay around 60,000 dollars per year."

"The solution's pricing is high compared to that of Cisco and Fortinet."

"This product has an affordable and reasonable price point."

"The prices are pretty high, definitely on the upper end."

"From my perspective, managing the price is important, especially because we're a small business. For larger organizations like Barclays, we provide our requirements to the client, and they place the order on BigFix. It's their responsibility to consider their budget and make decisions accordingly. We appreciate the features we get, but the cost-sharing still depends on the client."

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series pricing and cost advice

"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."

"The pricing could be better."

"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."

"I think the price is good."

"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."

"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."

"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Comms Service Provider

17%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

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...

See all answers

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...

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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 ...

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What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

The reporting feature and application ID functionality within Palo Alto Networks PA-Series are incredibly valuable to...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

Regarding value for money, we brought this Palo Alto Networks PA-Series firewall last month, and we have taken up to ...

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What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?

The areas that could be improved with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series include price. My experience with the price of the...

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What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?

The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Compared 3% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks PA-Series Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 7% of the time

Zyxel Unified Security Gateway vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 3% of the time

More Stormshield Network Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

February 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

January 2026

Download Palo Alto Networks PA-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Stormshield Network Security

January 2026

Download Stormshield Network Security product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

NETASQ Firewalls

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is essential for firewall implementation, perimeter defense, securing infrastructure boundaries, web filtering, VPN, and threat prevention. Organizations deploy it for secure cloud connections, internet security, and managing network devices.

Companies trust Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to protect corporate networks from external threats, control traffic between networks, and meet regulatory compliance. Integrating well with applications, it offers centralized management and advanced security features such as IDS, IPS, and GlobalProtect. It ensures stable performance, application-based policy enforcement, and decryption of SSL traffic while providing efficient resource usage and comprehensive logging.

What are the key features?

Stability: Reliable performance for continuous protection.
App-ID: Application-based policy enforcement.
URL Filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.
Security Controls: Comprehensive threat prevention mechanisms.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management and operations.
Efficient Resource Usage: Optimized for minimal resource consumption.
Reporting: Detailed logs and analytics for better insights.
Antivirus: Protects against malware and viruses.
WildFire: Advanced threat prevention with machine learning AI.
Protocol Anomaly Detection: Identifies unusual network behavior.
SSL Decryption: Ensures secure traffic inspection.
Encryption: Safeguards sensitive data.
VPN Capabilities: Secure remote access for users.
Active Directory Integration: Streamlines user authentication.
Quality of Service (QoS): Manages network traffic efficiently.

What benefits should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security: Superior threat prevention and detection.
Centralized Management: Streamlined control of network devices.
Regulatory Compliance: Assists in meeting legal requirements.
Operational Efficiency: Reduced resource usage and downtime.
Comprehensive Reporting: Complete visibility into network activities.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands.
User Accessibility: Simplifies secure access for remote employees.

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is implemented across industries like healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing. In healthcare, it ensures patient data protection and compliance with HIPAA. Financial institutions utilize it to secure transactions and meet regulatory standards. Retailers benefit from protecting customer information and securing online payments. Manufacturing companies deploy it to safeguard intellectual property and control plant floor operations.

Palo Alto Networks

NETASQ's integrated intrusion prevention engine uses protocol conformity analysis, application filtering and antivirus analysis to inspect authorized traffic flows and strengthen application security. NETASQ enables you to establish and configure user-based security policies, giving you greater control over which network resources each user is authorized to access.

Stormshield

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

ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security

February 2026

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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