# Palo Alto Networks NGFW: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 59 judge labels across 1 category by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/palo-alto-networks-ngfw

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Next-generation firewalls](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/next-generation-firewalls/index.md) | 8% | 2 | 20% | 59 |

## What the models said for it

- "Fortinet and Palo Alto are the most common choices — Fortinet for price-performance, Palo Alto for maximum security effectiveness and control" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Firewalls)
- "strongest reputation for security depth, threat prevention, and a broad platform approach centered on AI-driven inspection and Zero Trust" (GPT-5.4 mini, Firewalls)
- "Market leader, known for strong AI/ML threat detection... Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Check Point are generally considered the top leaders" (Mistral Small, Firewalls)
- "Widely considered a leader in the NGFW space, offering comprehensive threat intelligence and advanced threat prevention capabilities." (MiniMax M2.5, Firewalls)

## And against it

- "Avoid high-end like Palo Alto or full Cisco Secure Firewall unless scaled down" (Grok 4.20, Firewalls)
- "Avoid Palo Alto Networks if budget is your primary constraint" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, Firewalls)
- "Typically higher hardware and subscription costs. More complex management (Panorama) and steeper learning curve. Overkill for many mid‑size B2B organizations" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Firewalls)
- "Generally a market leader with strong security efficacy, but not immune: Has had notable vulnerabilities ... and high costs for licenses/subscriptions." (Grok 4.20, Firewalls)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Mistral Small | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Kimi K2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Palo Alto Networks NGFW, from 132 of the 164 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- fortinet.com: 83
- checkpoint.com: 74
- paloaltonetworks.com: 42 (its own site)
- reddit.com: 33
- cybersecuritynews.com: 32
- cyberpress.org: 30
- cisco.com: 25
- techtarget.com: 25
- gane.ai/index: 23
- gbhackers.com: 23

### Pages cited

- https://fortinet.com/products/next-generation-firewall: 31
- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-next-generation-firewall: 30
- https://checkpoint.com/comparison/top-4-ngfw-compared: 29
- https://cyberpress.org/best-next-generation-firewall-ngfw-solutions-for-every-business-size: 29
- https://gbhackers.com/ngfw-solutions-compared-features-pricing: 22
- https://checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/tools-vendors/top-enterprise-firewalls-solutions-in-2026: 21
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/next-gen-firewalls: 19
- https://fortinet.com/products/next-generation-firewall/fortigate-vs-pan: 19

## In its own words

What Palo Alto Networks NGFW's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Best-in-Class Cloud Network Security (https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/cloud-ngfw)
- For: NGFW (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager) (https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/ngfw/networking/network-profiles)
- Price stated: Estimate pricing (https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/cloud-ngfw)
- Free plan or trial: Start free trial (https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/cloud-ngfw)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.