SonicWall TZ vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2023
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
306
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (1st)
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Firebox
Ranking in Firewalls
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Firewalls category, the market share of Fortinet FortiGate is 22.9% and it increased by 13.2% compared to the previous year. The market share of SonicWall TZ is 3.0% and it increased by 28.0% compared to the previous year. The market share of WatchGuard Firebox is 4.1% and it increased by 30.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
Unique Categories:
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
21.5%
WAN Edge
24.4%
No other categories found
Unified Threat Management (UTM)
18.3%
 

Featured Reviews

JM
Feb 3, 2022
An easy-to-use product that does a lot for you and allows you to be independent
It does a lot for you for intrusion protection and as an antivirus. The threat management bundle is worth the money. You don't need another company to monitor your web traffic for you. You can do everything yourself on the firewall. You restrict your own black list for people on the firewall. You don't need to pay some other company for another product to do that for you. The firewall can do that for you. So, it's an easy-to-use product for people to be independent. They don't need to rely on other vendors to do what the firewall can do. They can do everything. The GUI is good. I'm really happy with the ease of use of the firewall. Fortinet's support is also great.
SN
Feb 7, 2022
Multifeatured firewall solution with a user-friendly interface, high availability, scalability, and stability
Support for SonicWall TZ needs improvement, particularly the time it takes before you're able to speak to a support person, e.g. you have to wait for at least 30 minutes on the phone, and this needs to be improved. This is an affordable solution, but a competitor like Sophos can give SonicWall a run for their money. Sophos and Fortinet are major competitors of SonicWall, and the way they package their solutions, especially Sophos, they're cheaper, so for some customers who aren't technical, they will just run to these competitors because they're cheaper. However, once you explain to the customer that this is the situation, mostly we're able to win the business for SonicWall. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of SonicWall TZ is enhanced automation.
MS
Jan 12, 2023
It's easy to connect to the VPN and allows remote work
Our primary use cases for WatchGuard Firebox are routing and VPN, including the integrated firewall. We do not use the SSO system or any other router features WatchGuard Firebox was able to help our organization during the pandemic as we were obligated to work from home. We were working remotely,…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is quite easy to handle."
"I am "headache free" that I don't have to categorize all the websites and that security has been pre categorized by the people, and that the services are getting updated. At least one part of my problem is over."
"The technical support in our region is excellent."
"We use a southern institution that's audited for IT security and the reporting that automatically comes off the unit makes it much easier to meet compliance standards and makes it easier as far as the amount of time that has to be spent to compile that information. If you get your reporting set up correctly when you initially set it up, you just select the one you want and hit print. The auditing trail on it is the best feature."
"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."
"Overall, the pricing of the solution is very good. The product offers good value."
"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the APIs. They are the most widely known."
"Content filtering and application rules are the most valuable features. It is also easy to configure."
"SonicWall TZ is very user-friendly and has network MAC binding. Additionally, the firewall works well."
"Ease of management and the VPN integration."
"The most common feature in the firewall, apart from that traditional firewall, would be the security services, like application control, URL filtering, Gateway Anti-Virus, and IPS protection. These are the essential features in the firewalls which I think, has to be enabled and properly used at every network infrastructure."
"The performance has been very good. Overall, the solution is quite stable."
"With the main firewall routing there, we can do connectivity point-to-point. On the low bandwidth we can connect in all the branches with my corporate office."
"SonicWall TZ think it's a good, solid, and stable product."
"The most valuable feature is the protection available, and then ease of use and flexibility."
"It's pretty simple to understand when you want to do any diagnostics on your network. If you want to go in and see what packages are having trouble getting through, what's being held, stalled, etc., it's very easy to use in that way."
"The most valuable feature is the NAT-ing, the IP addresses... We can direct the traffic where it needs to go. We can control the traffic."
"It's very easy to use, especially compared to similar products. A lot more users use the WatchGuard appliance now than use the SonicWall appliance because of the ease of usability."
"The most valuable feature of WatchGuard Firebox is the VPN. It's easy to connect to the VPN."
"Simple to move settings between WatchGuard boxes."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the FireWall features. The management side of WatchGuard is quite easy because it supports two ways to manage it - by the web and the other one they call WatchGuard systems manager. I used to be familiar with WSM only, but they improved their GUI in the web browser and now it is much easier to do it within the web browser."
"WatchGuard Firebox is easy to configure and has a nice user interface."
"The most valuable feature is the GUI, especially the real-time bandwidth usage report. Also, its integration with WiFi access points is nice."
 

Cons

"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."
"I don't really have anything negative to say as far as Fortinet firewalls are concerned. If anything, they can support a user a little bit better. They can stop being so time-sensitive about how much time the support call has taken, and they can help you do it yourself."
"The main aspect of FortiGate that could be improved is load balancing. Our management team does not want to buy another appliance for only load balancing."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."
"There are problems with the custom reporting of the unique traffic. The data is there, but it is too difficult for us to extract."
"They should offer special pricing to premium partners and customers."
"The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now."
"The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed."
"The interface and technical support are probably the two most important things that I would like SonicWall to improve."
"It would be good if Analyzer would be part of the stock license, so even if a layperson is getting the device, he or she doesn't forgets about ordering the Analyzer because it's already there."
"In an upcoming release, SonicWall could improve by adding cloud management for all devices for free or at a nominal cost. Currently, they have a cloud management platform but is not free. We have the MySonicWall portal for purchasing from them for software updates and renewals."
"The areas we would like to see improvement include more features available similar to the equivalent FortiGate appliance, e.g. SSL encryption and inspection. Two-factor authentication capability would be another additional feature that could be included in the next release."
"The quality of tech support can vary."
"Support for SonicWall TZ needs improvement, particularly the time it takes before you're able to speak to a support person, e.g. you have to wait for at least 30 minutes on the phone."
"There can be an improvement in analysis and reporting. We need enhancement on the reporting side."
"Once you start getting into proxy actions and setting up: "Okay, cool. Once this rule gets triggered, what actions have to happen?" I do know a few people who use WatchGuard and they still have to get assistance when they look at that. So I would file that as a con for WatchGuard. Proxy actions can be a little bit complicated."
"In terms of the reporting and management features — and this isn't necessarily a WatchGuard issue, this seems to be more of an industry-wide issue — you get reports, but a lot of times you don't know what you're looking at. You're so overwhelmed with the data. You're getting a lot of stuff that doesn't matter, so it takes time to parse through it, to actually get what you want to know."
"The software base, the management piece that goes onto a server, is not as user-friendly as I would like. There are three different pieces that you have to manage, so it's a little bit convoluted, in my opinion."
"We would like to see granular notification settings and more advanced filtering in traffic monitoring."
"Sometimes I would like to copy a rule set from one box to another box in a direct way. This is a feature that is not present at the moment in WatchGuard."
"It's very hard to get information from their website, for exactly what I need to do. Sometimes I end up having to open a lot of support tickets... It's a navigational issue which makes it hard to find what I'm looking for and it's just so broad."
"We bought Firebox four or five years ago, and with the first version I had to reboot it every two or three months for no apparent reason. We upgraded last year to the M370 and it's been running, but it is rebooting from time to time. I don't know why."
"WatchGuard Firebox could improve the speed of updates, such as new features or improvements. However, they are frequently improving the solution in many areas, such as geo-locations, definitions, and web blocking."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."
"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."
"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."
"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."
"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."
"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."
"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."
"It has a competitive price."
"It is highly priced and has a slow performance compared to other firewalls."
"The price is fair."
"License renewals come in around $35,000 to $45,000."
"Customers are required to pay for a yearly subscription."
"Getting licenses in our country, Ghana, is not easy. Though, once we have them, adding them is quick (about a day)."
"The price is high compared to some other solutions."
"Its pricing is okay as compared to other solutions."
"We have to pay yearly. Its licensing can be improved, and they should provide more features, such as AV, email filtering, and so on with the basic subscription."
"It costs me about $800 a year."
"The cheapest configuration, for maybe five people, is approximately $500."
"We license the WatchGuard Firebox annually. There are different types of subscriptions available. We are paying approximately $15,000 annually. The cost can increase if you purchase different subscriptions."
"As per my knowledge, the product is more affordable than alternatives."
"I usually tell people that it's really affordable as well, particularly compared to Cisco."
"I buy a three-year renewal on the main device, which is usually around $3,000 to $4,000. They usually upgrade the device when I do it. You get a big discount when you do three years."
"Despite the fact that there is always room for improvement, the current pricing of the solution is still lower compared to its competitors."
"WatchGuard had a very competitive price. It was only 10 to 20 percent more than a single instance device but with that extra cost it provided a second load balancing device... unlike other brands whose method of hardware and software licensing would have doubled our cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?
I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with simila...
What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?
The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall TZ?
The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
Dell SonicWALL TZ
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Amazon Web Services 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Cisco 5. Dell 6. HP 7. Oracle 8. Verizon 9. AT&T 10. T-Mobile 11. Sprint 12. Vodafone 13. Orange 14. BT Group 15. Telstra 16. Deutsche Telekom 17. Comcast 18. Time Warner Cable 19. CenturyLink 20. NTT Communications 21. Tata Communications 22. SoftBank 23. China Mobile 24. Singtel 25. Telus 26. Rogers Communications 27. Bell Canada 28. Telkom Indonesia 29. Telkom South Africa 30. Telmex 31. Telia Company 32. Telkom Kenya
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall TZ vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
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