Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Smoothwall UTM

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Secure Firewall
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Secure Firewall delivers comprehensive threat protection for modern, distributed networks. Built to support hybrid workforces and multicloud environments, it enables Zero Trust access, application visibility, and secure remote connectivity. With integration across the Cisco Secure portfolio, including SecureX and Talos threat intelligence, the firewall powers organizations to detect and stop more sophisticated threats. Centralized management simplifies policy enforcement, orchestration,…N/A
Smoothwall UTM
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Smoothwall UTM is a firewall security suite for educational environments. It includes the standard firewall services, as well as load balancing, and has hardware and software deployment options.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Features
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Secure Firewall
8.2
197 Ratings
5% below category average
Smoothwall UTM
9.3
1 Ratings
8% above category average
Identification Technologies8.1178 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.8176 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Content Inspection8.3176 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Policy-based Controls8.5184 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP7.9157 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Firewall Management Console8.0183 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Reporting and Logging7.7185 Ratings9.01 Ratings
VPN8.7165 Ratings10.01 Ratings
High Availability8.9178 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Stateful Inspection8.8172 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Proxy Server7.895 Ratings9.01 Ratings
User Ratings
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(204 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.3
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.5
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(131 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.8
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.4
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Secure FirewallSmoothwall UTM
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Much of my reason is because Cisco Secure Firewall really is better, in my opinion, than the competition. The only exception would possibly be Palo Alto. I have worked with the other brands, and I prefer Cisco Secure Firewall Firepower. I have had problems with configuration and upgrades; it seems like I always find the unpublished bugs. Everyone has their problems, but Cisco TAC has really failed me lately, and I think the quality of support has gone down significantly since COVID.
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Smoothwall
After a year of using the Smoothwall UTM Firewall solution, we can say that it is a secure solution, it offers a graphical interface for configuration and access with easy understanding and usability, the security features and blocking of url and applications work very well and also protects against malware and ransomware. For small and even intermediate scenarios I recommend it, but not for very large scenarios. Licenses can be renewed and are priced very well compared to competitors.
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Pros
Cisco
  • Cisco's firewall actually does its job of blocking what it is supposed to block. We had an old Firewall that led to slippages. Cisco catches 97% of malware and vulnerabilities during testing. For Coitiar, that means an engineer who clicks a link with malware is handled quickly.
  • We actually tested if failovers would affect running sessions. We pulled our primary unit during a certification submission period. The firewall just switched, and the connection kept running.
  • The AI assistant in policy management is excellent, and for our lean team, it makes the whole process easy and efficient. I don't have to audit 200 policies manually; the AI steps in and does its thing.
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Smoothwall
  • easy to manage by its web platform that allows quick access to system functions
  • allows the administration of the company's network by creating IP navigation permissions to prevent access to unprotected pages
  • this system can be installed on computers with very few resources and even with old equipment just by adapting an additional network card. This is helpful for companies that are starting and do not have much capital to invest but need to protect their systems
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Cons
Cisco
  • I mean I think a lot of the technology with managing them is getting better. There's a few cons to the new firewall management console. You can't sort through routes or I think you can with interfaces now, but there's a few caveats that they haven't really worked out yet, but they're implementing AI into it, so it's getting to be a lot easier to use.
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Smoothwall
  • Rare problems have been noticed when there are many connections at the same time.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
It works really well. We can do most anything we want or need to with it, and you don’t have to have a doctorate or multiple certs to necessarily figure it out. The thing that would probably have to happen to make us switch would be if we just got priced out - Cisco’s more powerful and higher bandwidth models cost a pretty penny.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
i think overall after ALOT of tac cases it works allright now. But still have alot of issues if you use cloud based mangement. fx, if you open 2 windows of access policys, both of the pages, rules starte to jump form side to side. if you then open one more list, its start to jump even faster. if you close the 2 of them, its back to normal. ALSO the extended access lists for VPN, SUCKS. Its the tiniest window when opening the editor, and you are not able to give the rules names, Which means finding and editing rules SUCKS, its a horrible experience, and eveytime we have to we want to yell :P
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
Rationale:


Strengths:


High availability (HA) and failover configurations ensure continuous operation during hardware or network issues.


Minimal unplanned outages reported; system remains responsive under full inspection load.


Centralized monitoring and proactive alerts help prevent downtime.




Minor Considerations:


Occasional maintenance windows or updates may require brief service interruptions.


Complex integrations with other systems may sometimes require extra attention to maintain uptime.




Overall, Cisco Secure Firewall is highly available and dependable, supporting business continuity and operational resilience.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
We have not had any performance issues with Cisco Secure Firewall, even with DPI and IPS enabled, we have not seen a performance hit. Emoployes have not complained about any slow network speeds that could have been attributed to the secure firewall it has always been something else within the office network.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Firewall support is professional just like any other technology Cisco sells. From answering simple questions to bringing out outages affecting a large population of our workforce, Cisco support is always courteous, professional, and communicates with our team to keep our request on their radar. Some of the brightest people I've met are from Cisco support both in IQ and EQ which shows the talent Cisco is able to onboard to their team.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Cisco
very good
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Cisco
was a good training but questions was answered not so good. Training was "Fundamentals of Cisco Firewall Threat Defense and Intrusion Prevention (SFWIPF)".
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
Our initial implementation was aided by Cisco's professional services and was excellent. The engineer was very knowledgeable and helped us work through issues while building out our new internet security edge Part of this involved tools to migrate the firewall configuration from old to new.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Cisco Secure Firewall works better with the Cisco ecosystem when we can utilize it and feels beefy enough when we utilize it in the data center. The Fortinet we have found are great, small cost boxes for remote offices with a better UI then Cisco Secure Firewalls. The feature set included with the firewalls feels similar from a security point of view.
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Smoothwall
Smoothwall is a system that is cheaper than just a free license due to being a Linux distribution. Simplewall is a bit more for robust equipment or large networks.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cisco
A solid, realistic rating most people give for Cisco Secure Firewall pricing is 7 or 8 out of 10 (because the product is strong but licensing can be a bit complex)
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Cisco
Cisco Secure Firewall has never given us any trouble, it has stayed up at all times, upgrading the appliance has also become much simpler. We operate the appliance in a HA pair, so 0% downtime within our organisation. During switchover while upgrading, not a single packet seems to get lost, so this has been a very valuable asset to our company.
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Cisco
was not involved
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Smoothwall
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Cisco Secure Firewall gives details on the possible intrusions attempts that are occurring on the network, which gives stakeholders confidence that the network is being protected.
  • Cisco's reputation as a longstanding network leader provides the trust that is needed in keeping networks secure.
  • The wide variety of tools and features that Cisco Secure Firewall provides allows business owners to plan for changes that can occur in the network as Cisco is able to adapt to the different needs.
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Smoothwall
  • Internal network security and intruder protection for a cost-effective solution.
  • The solution contributed and greatly reduced malware attacks and ddos ​​attacks.
  • Reports allowed more accurate analysis.
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ScreenShots

Cisco Secure Firewall Screenshots

Screenshot of Cisco Secure 1200 Series Firewall FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 1200 Stack FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 Series