Cisco Secure Firewall vs Instart Web Performance (Legacy): Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Cisco Secure Firewall

Enterprise security teams with hybrid infrastructure need Cisco Secure Firewall primarily for its centralized management across on-premises and cloud deployments without requiring separate control planes. The platform scores strong on NIST PR.IR infrastructure resilience, meaning it actually enforces your risk strategy rather than just blocking traffic, and supports regulatory compliance reporting out of the box. Skip this if your organization runs primarily cloud-native workloads and wants a lightweight, API-first alternative; Cisco's strength is in managing complex hybrid networks, not replacing cloud-native security layers.

Instart Web Performance (Legacy)

Mid-market and enterprise teams managing high-traffic web applications will get the most from Instart Web Performance (Legacy) if they need DDoS and bot mitigation bundled with performance optimization on a single cloud platform. The solution covers continuous monitoring and platform security controls across the NIST CSF, making it suitable for organizations that can't afford application slowdown from security enforcement. Skip this if your priority is detecting sophisticated application-layer attacks; Instart's strength is filtering volumetric threats and keeping sites fast under load, not hunting advanced threats.