A ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer alternative built on configuration truth.
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer is a log-driven product: it ingests firewall syslogs and reports on traffic, bandwidth, and rule usage. SAMURAI works from the other side of the problem. It reads configuration state itself over native APIs and SSH, so you see security policies, NAT rules, objects, and VPNs across Palo Alto, FortiGate, and Cisco FMC exactly as they are, with every change detected and attributed to the admin who made it, plus the routers, switches, ACI fabrics, ISE, and vCenter around your firewalls.
Updated June 2026
What configuration-first buys you
Policies as they actually are
Live security policy, NAT, and object visibility read from the device, not inferred from logs. Objects resolve recursively to real protocols and ports.
Change detection with attribution
Snapshot-based diffs catch every configuration change, including ones that never produce a log line, and attribute them to the admin.
The whole estate, not just firewalls
Routers, switches, Cisco ACI fabrics, ISE TrustSec, and VMware vCenter in the same dashboard: nine device types.
Endpoint discovery built in
Endpoints correlated from MAC tables, ARP, DHCP snooping, CDP/LLDP, 802.1X, and an offline IEEE OUI database.
Path tracing with ACL evaluation
Hop-by-hop traffic simulation shows which rule permits or denies a flow at every hop, across vendors.
One container, minutes to deploy
One docker run on a single VM. Self-hosted, air-gap friendly, no telemetry.
SAMURAI vs ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
These tools answer different questions. ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer answers "what traffic crossed my firewalls?" from logs. SAMURAI answers "what does the configuration say, what changed, and who changed it?" from device state.
Data source
SAMURAI
Configuration state read over native APIs and SSH
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Firewall syslog ingestion and reporting
Core strength
SAMURAI
Policy, NAT, object, and VPN truth with change attribution
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Traffic, bandwidth, and rule-usage analytics from logs
Scope
SAMURAI
Firewalls plus routers, switches, ACI, ISE, and vCenter
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Firewall and proxy log analytics
Deployment
SAMURAI
Single self-hosted Docker container, air-gap capable
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Windows or Linux server installation
Honestly: if your main need is bandwidth reports and log-based traffic analytics, ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer does that well at a fair price. If you need to know what the configuration says and who changed it, across more than just firewalls, that is what SAMURAI is built for. Some teams run both.
Frequently asked questions
Is SAMURAI a replacement for ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer?
They work on different data planes. If you bought it for traffic and bandwidth reports from logs, SAMURAI is a complement, not a replacement. If you bought it hoping to see policies, objects, and configuration changes across vendors, SAMURAI is the purpose-built alternative.
Does SAMURAI analyze firewall logs?
SAMURAI ingests syslog for its event stream, but its analysis works from configuration state read over native APIs, not from log mining. For deep log-based traffic analytics, pair it with a log platform.
Which firewall vendors does SAMURAI cover?
Palo Alto Networks (PAN-OS), Fortinet FortiGate (FortiOS), and Cisco Secure Firewall (FMC/FTD), plus ACL visibility on Cisco routers, switches, and ACI fabrics.
How does SAMURAI pricing compare to ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer?
ManageEngine licenses Firewall Analyzer by monitored device tiers. SAMURAI is licensed per deployment, sized by device count — no per-user seats and no log-volume metering. A free test license is available on the Docker Hub page, and production quotes typically arrive within 24 hours via the contact form.
How do I deploy it?
A single docker run. The image is published on Docker Hub (beyrak44/samurai); a typical deployment is serving data in about five minutes, fully self-hosted.