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Palo Alto Networks

Enterprise next-generation firewall platform with advanced threat prevention, application visibility, and centralized management

ToolFirewall & NGFWCloud

Pricing: Custom pricing; contact the vendor.

Reviewed by the Cyber Vendor Guide editorial team against the public sources cited below · Last reviewed September 2026 · How we review listings

What is Palo Alto Networks?

Palo Alto Networks is a widely adopted next-generation firewall (NGFW) platform, providing advanced threat prevention, application-level visibility, and granular policy enforcement across enterprise networks. Its PA-Series hardware appliances and VM-Series virtual firewalls deliver single-pass architecture for high-throughput inspection, integrating intrusion prevention, URL filtering, DNS Security, WildFire sandboxing, and SSL decryption into a unified security platform. Palo Alto's Panorama centralized management console enables consistent policy deployment across thousands of firewalls, while its Strata Cloud Manager extends visibility and AI-driven security operations across distributed environments.

Best for: Enterprise next-generation firewall platform with advanced threat prevention, application visibility, and centralized management

Pros

  • Highly rated threat prevention with consistently top scores in independent testing
  • Deep application-level visibility with App-ID classification of thousands of applications
  • Comprehensive single-pane-of-glass management through Panorama
  • Broad product portfolio spanning hardware, virtual, cloud, and SASE form factors
  • Strong ecosystem integration with SOAR, XDR, and cloud security platforms

Things to check

  • Premium pricing makes it one of the most expensive NGFW options on the market
  • Subscription stacking for Threat Prevention, WildFire, URL Filtering, and DNS Security drives up total cost
  • Complex licensing model requires careful planning to avoid unexpected renewal costs
  • Steep learning curve for administrators new to PAN-OS configuration
  • Hardware refresh cycles and capacity planning can be challenging at scale

Reported in public reviews and vendor documentation. See sources below.

Key Features

Single-pass architecture for high-performance deep packet inspection
App-ID application identification and control
WildFire cloud-based malware sandboxing and analysis
SSL/TLS decryption and inspection at scale
Intrusion prevention system (IPS) with real-time threat signatures
URL filtering and DNS Security for web threat prevention
Panorama centralized management across distributed deployments
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and microsegmentation support

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Sources & references

Where the information on this listing comes from. Always verify pricing and capabilities against the vendor before a purchasing decision.

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Key facts

Pricing
Custom pricing; contact the vendor.
Model
Appliance purchase + annual subscription licenses per feature
Founded
2005
Cloud
Yes
Self-hosted
No
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Where Palo Alto Networks appears

Guides

Shortlists

Certifications

SOC 2+, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, Common Criteria, FIPS 140