Networking · alternatives
Alternatives to Palo Alto Networks
24 networking tools sit alongside Palo Alto Networks in this directory. Below is what separates each from Palo Alto Networks on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 16
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Palo Alto Networks starts at
- On request
Why people look past Palo Alto Networks
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Palo Alto Networks entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Palo Alto Networks carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 16 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
Palo Alto Networks publishes a single plan, Enterprise at On request. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Sold on a open-source model rather than subscription.
The web performance and security company
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
Service discovery, networking, and security
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where Palo Alto Networks does not.
- Sold on a open-source model rather than subscription.
Observability and Data Visualization
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Publishes an entry price of $19/month, where Palo Alto Networks does not.
- Sold on a usage-based model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Palo Alto Networks's 1.
Open source infrastructure monitoring, free at its core, with paid support and modules sold separately by Icinga GmbH
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Sold on a Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately model rather than subscription.
- 2 tiers to Palo Alto Networks's 1.
Free, community-driven network monitoring with commercial support sold by a third-party partner, not the project itself
- Can be used without paying; Palo Alto Networks cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner model rather than subscription.
Every Palo Alto Networks alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks (this page) | On request | Subscription | 1 | |
| PrometheusOpen source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| CloudflareThe web performance and security company | Free | Freemium | - | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| ConsulService discovery, networking, and security | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| GrafanaObservability and Data Visualization | Free, then $19/month | Usage-based | 3 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Icinga | Free | Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| LibreNMS | Free | Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| ZeroTier | Free | Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month | 3 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| pfSense | Free | Open source Community Edition, free; commercial Plus edition sold separately by Netgate | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| OpenVPN | Free | Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection | 3 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Catchpoint | Free | Free tier plus published entry tiers, enterprise quote-only | 4 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| NetBird | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Nebula | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Headscale | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Twingate | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Zabbix | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Netdata | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Domotz | On request | Per collector or per managed device per month | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Juniper Mist | On request | Quote, hardware plus required Wi-Fi Assurance subscription | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Auvik | On request | Quote, per managed device | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Kentik | On request | Annual contract only, per tier | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| Cisco Meraki | On request | Quote, hardware plus mandatory recurring licence | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| PRTG Network Monitor | On request | Per sensor tier, billed monthly on an annual contract | 5 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| ThousandEyes | On request | Quote, unit-based consumption on annual or prepaid contracts | 1 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
| MikroTik RouterOS | On request | One-time purchase, per licence level | 2 | vs Palo Alto Networks |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Palo Alto Networks badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (16)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Prometheus , Free
- Cloudflare , Free
- Consul , Free
- Grafana , Free, then $19/month
- Icinga , Free
- LibreNMS , Free
- ZeroTier , Free
- pfSense , Free
What you would be giving up
Palo Alto Networks is most often brought in for enterprise network security and threat protection, cloud-native application protection, identity and access security, security operations and incident response. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Palo Alto Networks is broadly right and the question is cost, the Palo Alto Networks pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Networking category lists everything the directory holds, and best networking tools ranks them.
Palo Alto Networks runs on cloud, on-premises, hybrid. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Palo Alto Networks alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Palo Alto Networks?
- 24 other networking tools are listed in this directory, led by Prometheus, Cloudflare, Consul, Grafana. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Palo Alto Networks?
- 16 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Prometheus, Cloudflare, Consul, Grafana, Icinga.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Palo Alto Networks?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Palo Alto Networks?
- Palo Alto Networks is most often brought in for enterprise network security and threat protection, cloud-native application protection, identity and access security, security operations and incident response. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Palo Alto Networks?
- Prometheus, Consul are recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Palo Alto Networks alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Networking, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Palo Alto Networks against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Palo Alto Networks covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every networking tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Networking category, 24 tools beside Palo Alto Networks. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.