Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max) vs Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max (UDM-Pro-Max): Specs & Price Comparison

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max)

★ 4.9 Value Score

Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti in the sources reviewed
Threat Prevention Throughput: 2.3 Gbps IDS/IPS per Ubiquiti spec page (older listings show 1.5 Gbps)
IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; third-party reviews report about 800-1,000 Mbps for WireGuard and 300-400 Mbps for OpenVPN
Max Sessions: Not published in the sources reviewed
New Sessions/sec: Not published in the sources reviewed
Interfaces: 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 WAN, 4x GbE RJ45 LAN (one LAN port can be reconfigured as a second WAN for multi-WAN)
Form Factor: Compact desktop; UCG-Max-NS variant includes 512GB NVMe storage

✔ Pros: Low entry price at $199 MSRP; Compact desktop form factor; Five-port layout with multi-WAN support via a reconfigurable LAN port; Runs UniFi OS with integrated IDS/IPS, site-to-site and remote VPN options (IPsec, WireGuard, OpenVPN, L2TP); Manages 30+ UniFi devices and 300+ clients per Ubiquiti listing
✘ Cons: Routing and IPS throughput (2.3 Gbps) is modest for multi-gigabit WANs with inspection enabled; Published throughput figures conflict across sources (1.5 vs 2.3 Gbps IPS, varying VPN numbers); Only one 2.5GbE port, with the remaining ports at 1GbE; Vendor does not publish IPsec tunnel, session, or new-connection limits; Some resellers list prices well above MSRP (one US listing at $394.79)
Est. Price: $199 - $279

Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max (UDM-Pro-Max)

★ 3.6 Value Score

Firewall Throughput: 9.8 Gbps basic firewall (measured in a third-party lab review, ifeeltech.com; not a Ubiquiti-published figure)
Threat Prevention Throughput: 5.0 Gbps IDS/IPS enabled (vendor-rated, confirmed in third-party lab testing); 4.2 Gbps with full security profile; 3.8 Gbps under max load
IPsec VPN Throughput: 1.8-2.2 Gbps site-to-site IPsec (third-party measurement, test conditions not stated); WireGuard 2.5+ Gbps; L2TP 800-1,200 Mbps
Max Sessions: Not published by Ubiquiti
New Sessions/sec: Not published by Ubiquiti
Interfaces: 1x 10GbE SFP+ and 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 default WAN (up to 8 WAN ports configurable); 8x 1GbE RJ45 LAN; 2x 10GbE SFP+; 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 (1 GbE, 2.5 GbE and 10 GbE ports listed in the datasheet, total 9 ports plus 2x SFP+)
Form Factor: 1U rack-mount, 442.4 x 43.7 x 285.6 mm, 4.7 kg; 1.3-inch touchscreen LCM; 2x 3.5-inch NVR HDD bays
CPU / RAM: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 @ 2.0 GHz; 8 GB RAM; 32 GB eMMC plus 128 GB SSD
Max Power Consumption: 60 W maximum; 100 W internal AC/DC supply
Scale: 200+ managed UniFi devices; 2,000+ simultaneous connected users; 150 access hubs; 50 HD / 25 2K / 15 4K cameras; 4,000-entry MAC table
Redundancy: Shadow Mode (VRRP), gateway failover, DC power backup input (USP-RPS)

✔ Pros: Multi-gigabit WAN with a 10GbE SFP+ port and a 2.5GbE port by default; 5 Gbps IDS/IPS rating is vendor-rated and lab-confirmed; Rack-mount 1U form factor with built-in NVR storage bays for UniFi Protect surveillance; Supports 200+ managed UniFi devices and 2,000+ simultaneous clients; Redundancy options including VRRP Shadow Mode, gateway failover and DC power backup; Lower list price ($599 USD) than many enterprise firewalls with similar IPS throughput
✘ Cons: Ubiquiti does not publish firewall-throughput figures for sessions per second or concurrent sessions, so buyers must rely on third-party data; VPN throughput figures come from third-party testing with no stated conditions; ARM Cortex-A57 CPU lacks PPPoE offloading, so PPPoE with IPS may be slower; Reported IPS throughput (5 Gbps) is well below multi-gig enterprise firewalls; Port roles differ across retailer listings (the 10GbE SFP+ may be WAN or LAN), so the default configuration should be verified before purchase; HDDs for NVR storage are not included and add roughly $140-280
Est. Price: $599 - $894

PACKETPERF