Azure Firewall vs. Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Firewall
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Azure Firewall is a managed cloud-based network security service that protects Azure Virtual Network resources.
$0.02
Per GB Processed
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Palo Alto next-generation firewalls classify all traffic, including encrypted and internal traffic, based on application, application function, user and content. Users can create security policies to enable only authorized users to run sanctioned applications.N/A
Pricing
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Editions & Modules
Data Processing
$.016
Per GB Processed
Deployment
$1.25
Per Deployment Hour
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure FirewallNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Top Pros
Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Azure Firewall
8.0
1 Ratings
6% below category average
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
9.4
21 Ratings
10% above category average
Identification Technologies8.01 Ratings9.921 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.01 Ratings9.021 Ratings
Content Inspection7.01 Ratings9.921 Ratings
Policy-based Controls9.01 Ratings10.021 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP8.01 Ratings9.920 Ratings
Firewall Management Console9.01 Ratings10.021 Ratings
Reporting and Logging7.01 Ratings7.621 Ratings
VPN8.01 Ratings8.421 Ratings
High Availability9.01 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Stateful Inspection8.01 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings8.810 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Sophos UTM
Sophos UTM
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.5
(37 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(9 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure FirewallPalo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Azure Firewall is well suited for most mid sized and large sized companies that deal with thousands of users within multiple environments. Azure Firewall allows you to protect business assets by preventing malicious attacks from entering the network. Azure Firewall would be less suited for a small company that does not use a vpn or have users outside of the office as something smaller would be more appropriate.
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Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto firewall only affords by Large level infrastructure having a budget for Security Prospect. I will recommend it for the Card information industry & Confidential data solutions. Because it provides a bucket of security features that are not easily vulnerable.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Azure Fire wall is easy to use
  • Azure fire wall is easy to set up
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Palo Alto Networks
  • The PA handles VPN connectivity without missing a beat. We have multiple VPN tunnels in use for redundancy to cloud-based services.
  • The PA has great functionality in supporting failover internet connections, again with the ability to have multiple paths out to our cloud-based services.
  • The PA is updated on the regular with various security updates, we are not concerned with the firewall's ability to see what packets are really flowing across the network. Being able to see beyond just IP and port requests lets you know things are locked down better than traditional firewalls.
  • It is a great overall kit, with URL filtering and other services that fill in the gaps between other solutions without breaking the bank.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Azure Fire wall pricing may not always be competitive
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Palo Alto Networks
  • Our specific model is a bit slow and outdated and takes up to 10 minutes to commit a configuration change.
  • Nested security rules would be helpful instead of a linear approach. But rule creation in general is very simple.
  • Documentation gives a very straight forward answer to some items but is very vague in others.
  • Support could be a little better. An issue we had a tech was insistent it was the "other guy" and it ended up being the very latest PAN OS upgrade.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Palo Alto Networks
The PA5220s have far exceeded what we have expected out of them. It was a bit of a learning curve coming from another vendor, but everything falls into place now with ease. The capabilities of the solution still surprise us, allowing us to remove other costly hardware and providing a single point of management needed
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Palo Alto Networks
In my opinion, the Palo Alto Firewall is the simplest firewall in terms of management interfaces; though it has more advanced options that apply to more advanced use cases. Configuring basic features on the firewall is nearly self-explanatory; configuring more advanced features can be met with very thorough vendor documentation.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Palo Alto Networks
We've run into a couple undocumented bugs, but that seems to happen with every brand and technology. Any time we've had to engage Palo Alto support they've always been professional, knowledgeable and prompt. In almost all cases we've been able to resolve our issues without having to escalate our tickets.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Azure Firewall is a very competitive product that exceeds or meets the competitions offerings and is able to effectively manage a company network and securely lock down the domain environment with seamless integration and easy to use tools while offering great support assistance. We selected Azure Firewall because the customer service that comes with the product is second to none and allows us to keep maximum uptime to protect our assets.
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Palo Alto Networks
No one can say any other companies in this time is better than Palo Alto Networks Next-Generatoin Firewalls. Palo Alto offers very advanced features which protect you[r] organization. Advanced malware protection, anti spam, lots of other threats.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Azure Firewall decreased our overhead by over 7%
  • Azure fire wall has increased efficiency within the security department
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Palo Alto Networks
  • Overall, even though the device is very expensive (both hardware and licensing), the product does produce a decent ROI, given that one (or HA pair) of devices can do so many things, such as anti-virus, anti-malware, URL filtering, SSL decryption, SSL VPN, routing, etc.
  • There will definitely be sticker shock when you're renewal comes up annually (or after 3 years), so be sure to look very carefully at the recurring costs of this product, with respect to licensing and hardware/software maintenance.
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