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Check Point NGFW vs Sophos XGS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

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
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Check Point NGFW
Ranking in Firewalls
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
305
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Sophos XGS
Ranking in Firewalls
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point NGFW is 3.0%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XGS is 2.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined management through dual-interface configuration capabilities with excellent support
We use Check Point NGFW for security purposes. Our clients use it for security reasons, as mentioned during the call The most valuable feature is the availability of two consoles. In the normal GA login, I can create interfaces and configure interface IPs, while in the SmartConsole, I manage the…
Jaffar Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided stability, security, ease of management, and better reporting options
People use Sophos XGS because the overall channel support is very good, so they don't face issues. Additionally, it is competitive in pricing against Fortinet in some cases, especially when considering high availability, email subscriptions, and gateways Sophos XGS has provided stability,…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FortiGate has led to a reduction in our security budget."
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI."
"The main reason why I purchased the particular unit was that it had good reviews and what other people were saying as far as its completeness and its leading capabilities in terms of endpoint security was very good."
"The solution is very user friendly. The user interface in particular is quite nice."
"Offers good security and filtering."
"After introducing this NGFW, we have improved our security posture, and now, have peace of mind."
"When applying application control, we can ensure user access to the internet in accordance with company policy and easy implementation if some users need exception access."
"Being able to access almost everything in one location manage all your gateways and get all your logs is great."
"The product is very user-friendly."
"It provides a central station where it is very easy to deploy our firewall policy in one click to many firewalls. This is one of the leading perks. It saves time by having one central station because I can deploy the same kind of policy to many firewalls at once."
"Check Point NGFW has helped us to significantly reduce our risk of cyberattacks by providing comprehensive protection against a wide range of threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, phishing attacks, and zero-day threats."
"The price point is good."
"The packet inspections have been a strong point. Our identity collectors have also been helpful. In many ways, Check Point has been a step up from our SonicWalls that we had in-house before that. There's a lot of additional flexibility that we didn't have before."
"It's easy to use, and the service is good. If anything goes wrong, their support system is very reliable."
"The solution is stable."
"Sophos XGS' most valuable features are protection and intrusion prevention detection."
"The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are the ease of use and powerful interface."
"I find DLP, API, IP, SDK, and web control to be valuable features."
"It's able to detect cloud applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams and allows traffic shaping based on the application."
"Compared to other products, Sophos XGS is a user-friendly solution."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos XGS is its ease of use."
 

Cons

"It does not have key authentication for admin access."
"I think there could be more QoS features"
"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."
"Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."
"It is stable, but its stability can be improved."
"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the logging and reporting. Additionally, the next-generation application's policies should be improved. When they were released they had bugs."
"I would like to have logs, monitoring, and reporting for a month without extra fees."
"There's always something new that can be added or fixed."
"We looked very closely at ArcSight's solution because it's a multi-vendor solution. With ArcSight we could have Check Point, we could have RSA, we could have any brand and integrate several brands, from a security point of view. With Check Point, you cannot do so, you can integrate with Check Point products."
"It requires enhanced automation tools for regulatory compliance to ease the burden of compliance reporting and auditing."
"Check Point doesn't warn us when rules are about to expire. It was also inconvenient that we had to change hardware when we upgraded. It would be nice if they made the new version compatible with current hardware or if it only required a minor upgrade."
"One of the most complicated aspects is the VPN Configuration, which should be simplified in future releases."
"While not being cheap, their pricing models are competitive. In the pricing structure, however, they need improvement."
"The user interface should be user-friendly"
"Check Point could offer a cloud-managed approach similar to that of Cisco Meraki."
"While the solution is good, we wish to have something that is a bit better, as the threats have evolved over time."
"VPN setup could be improved."
"It would be good if we could do dual customization."
"The threat detection system could be more GUI-based or provide templates for common threats."
"There can be lag time when updating an operating policy."
"I would like to see them in third-party evaluation reports like Gartner, Magic Quadrant, or Forrester to make it easier for us to show our customers that Sophos is a leader in the market."
"Sophos XGS should improve its customer service and educate its implementation partner."
"They should customers who are facing issues with their product reviews; they found bots in it. If they can do their proper research and use the user analysis and testing, that would greatly help the clients."
"The solution could improve inspection processes and troubleshooting for VPNs because this area is very weak."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."
"It was worth the money overall. It's good value."
"We are on an annual license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year."
"The pricing is perfect."
"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."
"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."
"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."
"Maybe the pricing is a bit high but you get the durability and the duration."
"Use the basic sizing tool to do the correct sizing so you don't waste too much money, because it's not a very cheap solution when compared to other vendors."
"The price could be decreased, because the competitors of Check Point Firewall are giving lower prices in comparison."
"Check Point NGFW is much cheaper than other platforms, including Palo Alto. Its scalability, especially with the Maestro solution, is a big advantage. If you're looking for good security at a reasonable price with a good return on investment, I believe Check Point NGFW is the way to go."
"The price of the appliance should be decreased."
"The price may be perceived as relatively high when compared to the features and capabilities they provide."
"Check Point NGFW is expensive."
"The price of Check Point is lower than Palo Alto but higher than Cisco ASA."
"The licensing cost is in the normal range and is not very costly."
"Sophos XGS is a very expensive solution."
"We must purchase separate web server licenses, as they are not included in the regular device license. I would rate the product an eight out of ten in terms of price. It's relatively affordable."
"The price of Sophos XGS is less than competitors worldwide. However, in Turkey the solution is expensive."
"There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution."
"I would like to see them reduce the price."
"Once you pay for the Sophos XGS hardware there is no license required. There are additional costs if you want the support. We have purchased support for three years."
"We paid around 17,000 pounds for a three-year package."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
59%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Government
3%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
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 ...
How does Check Point NGFW compare with Fortinet Fortigate?
I have experience on both from Disti and channel experience. Please find below my comments (nothing new as such). -Ch...
Which would you recommend - Azure Firewall or Check Point NGFW?
Azure Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include integration into the overall ...
What do you like most about Check Point NGFW?
Check Point NGFW provides essential security, featuring no-obligation access for secure connections, strong intrusion...
What do you like most about Sophos XGS?
The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos XGS?
The pricing is justified, and the solution is considered budget-friendly compared to other vendors.
What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?
Hardware stability needs improvement. I have experienced multiple hardware complaints, particularly during firmware u...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
Check Point NG Firewall, Check Point Next Generation Firewall
No data available
 

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
Control Southern, Optimal Media
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point NGFW vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
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