Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls
Firewall software
Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS)
Network security software
Business security software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) are network security appliances and virtual firewalls that provide application-aware traffic control, threat prevention, and URL/content controls at network boundaries and internal segmentation points. They are used by security and network teams to enforce policy, inspect traffic, and reduce exposure to known and unknown threats across data centers, branch locations, and cloud environments. The product line supports centralized management and policy workflows and integrates firewalling with intrusion prevention and malware prevention capabilities.
Application- and identity-based policy
The platform supports policy controls based on applications, users, and content types rather than only IP addresses and ports. This helps teams write rules that align to business services and reduces reliance on broad network objects. It is particularly useful for environments where SaaS and encrypted web traffic dominate and where segmentation policies need to remain readable over time.
Integrated threat prevention stack
The NGFW combines firewalling with intrusion prevention, anti-malware controls, and URL filtering in a single enforcement point. This reduces the need to chain multiple inline devices for common perimeter and segmentation use cases. It also enables consistent enforcement across sites when deployed as hardware appliances and as virtual form factors.
Centralized management and logging
The product supports centralized configuration, policy management, and log collection for multiple firewalls. This helps standardize rulebases across locations and simplifies operational tasks such as policy review and change control. Centralized visibility also supports incident triage by correlating traffic, threat, and policy events from many enforcement points.
High cost at scale
Total cost can be significant when factoring in hardware sizing, subscriptions for threat prevention features, and support. Organizations with many sites or high-throughput requirements may need higher-tier models and additional licenses. Budget constraints can push teams to limit inspection features or reduce deployment coverage.
Operational complexity for tuning
Achieving strong security outcomes often requires careful policy design, SSL/TLS decryption planning, and ongoing tuning of threat and URL controls. Misconfiguration can lead to application breakage or excessive false positives that increase operational workload. Teams typically need experienced administrators to maintain rule hygiene and performance over time.
Performance depends on features enabled
Throughput and latency can vary materially depending on which inspection features are enabled (for example, IPS, malware scanning, and decryption). This can require re-sizing or redesigning traffic paths as security requirements expand. In high-bandwidth environments, feature enablement decisions may involve trade-offs between depth of inspection and capacity.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| PA-Series hardware (PA-400, PA-1400, PA-3200, PA-5200, PA-5400/5450, PA-7000 family, etc.) | Contact sales / Custom pricing | Physical NGFW appliances sold per model; vendor lists models and capabilities but does not publish list prices. Hardware purchases commonly include separate subscription SKUs for security services (Threat Prevention, WildFire, Advanced URL Filtering, DNS Security, IoT, SD-WAN). Some PA-Series models are offered with use-case subscription bundles (Professional/Pro and Enterprise/Ent) containing different sets of service SKUs. |
| VM-Series (virtual firewall) | Contact sales / Marketplace pay-as-you-go pricing (varies by cloud marketplace) | Virtualized NGFW for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, VMware ESXi, KVM. Available as BYOL (bring-your-own-license) or via cloud marketplace pay-as-you-go listings. |
Usage-based / cloud-managed (Cloud NGFW for AWS / Azure)
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (hourly + per-GB traffic processing; add-on security services billed on top of base rate). Vendor provides a Cloud NGFW Credit/Price estimator on the official site to calculate estimated hourly and per-GB charges.
Free tier/trial: 30-day free trial available for Cloud NGFW (Azure/AWS/Azure) and 15–30 day free trials for VM-Series depending on cloud/virtual environment.
Example costs: No fixed example prices are published on the vendor site for base hourly or per-GB rates (customers are directed to Marketplace listings or the on-site estimator/contracting for concrete pricing).
Discount options: Palo Alto Networks documents that customers can procure Cloud NGFW credits directly from Palo Alto Networks or partners, and that enterprise/contract pricing and private offers are available by contacting sales.
Seller details
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
Santa Clara, CA, USA
2005
Public
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/
https://x.com/PaloAltoNtwks
https://www.linkedin.com/company/palo-alto-networks/
