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Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
380
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Azure Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (11th)
SonicWall NSv
Ranking in Firewalls
36th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.2%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 2.2%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
AnvarSadique - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy setup and effective traffic routing enhance security
In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls. However, the functional aspects of Azure Firewall met our needs. While I found the interface not particularly user-friendly, this is a common issue across vendors.
Sileesh Sivadasan - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps small businesses expand branches more easily
The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support. If I want to talk to a customer executive, they ask many trivial questions. Even if I explain that I am asking for a Dell partner, they still ask specific questions, and they will explain many unnecessary questions.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate helps improve my organization since it's quick and easy to install, and we don't have to call support frequently."
"The network security and cloud security are most valuable."
"They are very affordable compared to Palo Alto and other vendors, offering a great solution for networking and SD-WAN with extremely good protection."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is security. They are known for efficiency and are on the top of Gartner Quadrant reviews. Fortinet FortiGate has an easy-to-use platform with a good graphical interface. The configuration is simple and the solution provides an overall good layer of security."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use."
"With Fortinet FortiGate, we improved security significantly."
"The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."
"Microsoft's technical support is very good. They're quite knowledgable and responsive."
"The SIEM that Azure Firewall provides us is very robust."
"Azure Firewall's feature that I have found most valuable is its scalability."
"The firewall policy control, URL content control, and antivirus are all the most valuable aspects. Threat prevention is as well quite good."
"The features of Azure Firewall that I find most valuable include DNS inspection, forward proxy, and security, particularly on the edge."
"The Layer four features are okay and meet my business needs."
"We use the solution for application and server deployment."
"All its features are good. That's why we recommend it."
"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."
"Out of ten, I would rate the solution at an eight."
"We are very impressed with it."
"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."
"The product helps improve our security."
"I would rate the overall product a nine out of ten."
"The security of this system is fantastic, including the IPS and IDS."
"One of the standout features of SonicWall is its simplicity in creating and managing rules."
 

Cons

"They could simplify their deployment process, especially when customers have existing devices."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve the user interface. There should be more functionality and options through the GUI."
"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."
"FortiGate can only retain logs for 24 hours or 7 days. I'm not sure if it holds them for a longer period, such as for a month. It will be useful for assessing our strategy and monitoring our environment without investing in FortiGate Analyzer. It would be beneficial if Fortinet could enhance the FortiGate by providing more statistical and monitoring views for a longer timeframe, rather than requiring access to FortiGate Analyzer."
"There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."
"Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."
"Right now, with Azure Firewall, we cannot have a normal inbound traffic flow. For inbound, Microsoft suggests using application gateways, so the options are very limited. I cannot use this firewall as an intermediate firewall because of the limitations, and I cannot point routing to another firewall. So if I want to use back-to-back firewall architecture in my environment, I cannot use Azure Firewall for that type of configuration either."
"The product could be made more customizable."
"In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls."
"Azure Firewall has limited visibility for IDPS, no TLS inspection, no app ID, no user ID, no content ID, no device ID. There is no antivirus or anti-spyware. Azure Firewall doesn't scan traffic for malware unless it triggers an IDPS signature. There is no sandbox or machine learning functionality, meaning we are not protected from Zero-day threats. There is no DNS security and limited web categories."
"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."
"The solution should incorporate features similar to competitors like split tunneling."
"For larger enterprises, they need to adjust the scalability."
"I would appreciate it if Azure Firewall included built-in VPN capabilities."
"The engine provided initially was quite heavy, creating a trade-off between software and hardware-based threat management."
"The price is a significant factor."
"We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution."
"The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support."
"It has been brought to our attention by a few customers that they are dissatisfied with the fact that our virtualized service is only offered as a subscription option on the cloud. However, it is worth noting that many other similar services are also offered through a subscription model on the cloud and not through perpetual licensing. It is unclear why these customers would have an issue with this subscription service when so many others are utilizing similar methods."
"Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details. At present, they do not provide detailed reports compared to other products."
"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."
"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."
"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."
"Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive."
"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."
"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."
"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."
"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."
"This is not a cheap solution but it isn't expensive, either. It's a good solution for the right price."
"Before choosing this solution, we evaluated others, and we found this to be the most cost-effective."
"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"It is expensive, especially with the premium functions. For one of the clients, it was very expensive. You have to use it more at an enterprise level, and there, it was not at an enterprise level. So, it was very costly, but security-wise, it was a very wise decision to use it that way."
"The licensing module is good."
"I rate the product pricing a five out of ten."
"Azure Firewalls operate on a pay-as-you-go model, similar to cloud services."
"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."
"Azure Firewall comes with Azure native services. We did not buy any kind of license for it. Whether you have a free subscription or a pay-as-you-go model, you can deploy the Azure Firewall service... The amount that you use will determine how much you pay."
"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."
"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."
"We are currently using the trial version."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."
"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
28%
Retailer
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Real Estate/Law Firm
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 ...
What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?
The product helps improve our security.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?
I am somewhat satisfied with the price for SonicWall NSv, rating it as eight because, compared to other products, the...
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?
Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details. At present, they do not prov...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
SonicWall Network Security Virtual
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Information Not Available
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
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