6 Best Firewall Appliances in 2025

The history of firewalls is long, starting in the 1980s with basic packet-filtering systems and continually evolving into today’s next-generation firewalls (NGFWs). Modern NGFWs do much more than block traffic—they’re designed to help enterprises combat advanced security threats at the application level through context-aware security features.

The industry has evolved quickly, with hundreds of firewall manufacturers promising the best performance and security features. The truth is, though, not all firewalls are created equal.

To help you navigate the market, we’ve created this article where we’re reviewing the best firewall appliances for enterprises.

In this buyer’s guide, you’ll find:

• List of the best enterprise firewall appliances, backed up by other IT managers
• Features, pricing, and pros and cons of each firewall appliance
• Four key considerations when buying a firewall appliance

Key considerations when selecting an enterprise firewall appliance

Before investing in a firewall appliance for your enterprise, you should have a better understanding of:

• The features of enterprise firewalls
• Pros and cons of in-house vs. managed

We’ve broken down both of these below.

1. Understand the features of enterprise firewall

Enterprise firewall appliances are generally divided into two categories: traditional firewalls and NGFWs (next-generation firewalls).

Features found in traditional firewalls (packet filtering, port-based rules, access control, etc.) are still the backbone of network security. However, most enterprises today rely on next-generation firewalls, which build upon traditional firewall capabilities and are designed to combat today’s advanced digital threats.

To help you understand how enterprise firewalls work (and what features you should prioritize), we’ve created the following overview table, listing traditional and NGFW features: 

The features of traditional firewalls are less advanced, which makes them more affordable. 

However, next-generation firewalls are a must for enterprises that want to protect against modern threats. This makes them a no-brainer despite their higher cost.

2. In-house or managed

With increasing attack surfaces against networks, branch offices, and (oftentimes) outdated infrastructure, organizations are faced with the question of whether to manage firewall appliances in-house or outsource them.

In-house management offers more control but requires dedicated IT staff with deep expertise. Comparatively, managed firewalls come with 24/7 support and monitoring, are subscription-based, and you have access to a team of security professionals. 

Best firewall appliances for enterprises in 2025

To find the best firewall appliances for enterprises, we looked at what other IT managers recommend on platforms like Reddit, Spiceworks, and G2, as well as did our own research.

Based on these factors, we found that the best firewall appliances for enterprises are:

• Palo Alto PA-1410 – Best overall firewall appliance for enterprise branch offices
• Fortinet FortiGate 6500F – Best cost-effective firewall appliance with advanced features
• Watchguard Firebox M390 – Best firewall appliance for solo IT managers
• Palo Alto PA-400 Series – Best firewall appliance for SMBs
• Sophos XGS 2100 – Best firewall appliance for MSPs
• Juniper SRX5400 – Best firewall appliance for large-scale deployments

Below is a detailed review of each of these.

Palo Alto PA-1410 – Best overall firewall appliance for enterprise branch offices

Palo Alto Networks is known as the most trustworthy vendor of firewall appliances, and their Palo Alto PA-1410 model is our top pick for the best firewall appliance for enterprise. It’s ideal for enterprise branch offices that don’t want to sacrifice on quality and want access to the world’s first ML and AI-powered firewall that can detect new risks, learn from them, and stop attacks effectively before they spread.

It’s universally agreed that Palo Alto firewalls aren’t cheap, but you can be sure they will last. The PA-1410 model can handle up to 8.5 Gbps of throughput and nearly a million concurrent sessions. 

Like one IT manager concluded: “Along with Watch Guard, Fortinet, Cisco, etc, if you want a firewall that does it all, and does it well, hands down Palo Alto is the best breed even today. But you are going to pay for it.”

Fortinet FortiGate 200F – Best cost-effective firewall appliance with advanced features

If you need an affordable firewall appliance with advanced features like ZTNA, SSL inspection, SD-WAN, and dynamic segmentation, the Fortinet FortiGate 200F (and other Fortinet firewalls) is hard to beat.

Many IT managers state Fortinet is the second-best firewall manufacturer (behind Palo Alto), but Fortinet offers the best performance per dollar spent. While being more affordable than Palo Alto, users say Fortinet’s cloud management app FortiGuard, has limitations. 

One user compared the two and said, “Choose Fortinet if you need cost-effective solutions with advanced features that come natively (SD-WAN, UTM, etc.). Palo Alto, if you can afford them, since they are very good products.”

WatchGuard Firebox M390 – Best firewall appliance for solo IT managers

If you’re a solo IT person managing 50-300 employees and looking for a firewall, the WatchGuard Firebox M390 is our recommendation. It’s made for SMBs who need an enterprise-grade security firewall without the complexity (and the cost). It works hand-in-hand with the WatchGuard Cloud, which offers 100+ dashboards and reports for quickly seeing anomalies and high-level trends.

One solo IT manager on Reddit asked about replacing Sophos firewalls for an SMB (250 employees, 75 PCs, and seven locations), to which another user replied:

• “Any of the big brands, but I am a big fan of WatchGuard products. For your main office, the Watchguard M390 would be more than enough.”

Palo Alto PA-400 Series – Best firewall appliance for SMBs

If the Palo Alto PA-1400 series is overkill for your organization, we suggest the PA-400 series. It’s a perfect choice for SMBs and distributed enterprise branch offices that are ready to pay big bucks for a reliable firewall that can handle up to 4.6 Gbps of traffic and support 400,000 concurrent sessions.

Compared to other SMB firewalls from Palo Alto, the 400 Series has lower licensing costs. One Reddit user discussed the licensing cost and said:

• “What I haven’t seen in this thread is the licensing cost. The 400 series licensing is much cheaper as well. We have around 70 PA-440s deployed and love them.”

One thing you should keep in mind is that the PA-400 Series doesn’t offer a 10 G interface option. If that’s important for your organization, the PA-850 model is a better alternative.

Sophos XGS 4500 – Best firewall appliance for MSPs

If you’re an MSP looking for a next-gen firewall, the Sophos XGS 4500 is a strong option. The XGS 4500 model offers up to 80 Gbps of firewall throughput, over 30 Gbps of threat protection, and advanced TLS inspection speeds of 10.6 Gbps, making it ideal for environments with high traffic and encrypted workloads.

If the XGS 4500 is an overkill for your needs, there are also XGS 4300, 3300, 3100, 2300, and 2100 models available with less performance and also cheaper.

One reviewer recommended Sophos firewalls and said: “I’m working for an MSP and we’re deploying Sophos firewalls. Reasons are the filtering capabilities customers like to have (although I’m not particularly fond of the configuration interface).”

Juniper SRX5400 – Best firewall appliance for large-scale deployments

The Juniper SRX5400 is designed for large-scale deployments in enterprise data centers, public sector networks, and telecom environments that demand extreme throughput and scalability. With support for up to 3.36 Tbps of firewall throughput, the SRX5400 model is built to handle 80+ million concurrent sessions and complex security policies.

Compared to more popular manufacturers like Palo Alto and Fortinet, Juniper is often thought of as an underdog in the industry. One Reddit user referred to this and said: “We use Juniper and are really happy with them. Running the bigger units like 4K up to 5800. I would say the underdog firewall in the industry.”

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