Cisco Secure Firewall vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Cisco and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3, while SonicWall is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.9. Cisco holds a 5.6% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Cisco Secure Firewall and SonicWall TZ both compete in the network security category. Cisco Secure Firewall seems to have the upper hand with its extensive features and stronger enterprise solutions, whereas SonicWall TZ provides a cost-effective option for smaller setups.

Features: Cisco Secure Firewall provides robust firewalling, advanced threat protection, VPN functionality, and high availability. It is known for its extensive security and network options that cater to enterprise-level requirements. SonicWall TZ offers strong intrusion prevention, unified threat management, and effective content filtering, particularly advantageous for small to medium businesses.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Firewall faces challenges with its complex interface and costly licensing, often requiring experienced users to navigate effectively. SonicWall TZ could enhance its graphical user interface, network monitoring capabilities, and increase the responsiveness of its customer support to serve users better.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Cisco Secure Firewall and SonicWall TZ offer on-premises and cloud deployment options. Cisco is noted for knowledgeable but sometimes slow support responses, while SonicWall users experience manageable deployments but suggest the need for improvements in the promptness and effectiveness of technical support.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall is perceived as expensive with intricate licensing but is viewed as a worthwhile investment for advanced features and strong support, ideal for larger enterprises prioritizing advanced capabilities. SonicWall TZ is praised for competitive pricing and cost control, though its attractive affordability can be offset by higher licensing and subscription fees in certain scenarios.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall TZ Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall TZ

March 2025

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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

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 Cisco Secure Firewall is 5.6%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

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.

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Maharajan S

VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

Enhances security with precise access control but has integration challenges

Overall, I would rate the product six out of ten. Because of the support and cost, I moved away from Cisco, but otherwise, it is a good product. Recommendation depends on the requirement. If lacking a proper team and being dependent on the OEM and partner, Cisco is not suitable. However, if the team is qualified with Cisco-certified people and the requirement is a big network, it can be considered. In today's hybrid work world, having an expanded gateway is more typical than having a single one. Thus, Cisco is unlikely to be recommended for a hybrid requirement unless in-house skills align. Otherwise, depending on partners and Cisco, it can be a risk. I rate the overall solution six out of ten.

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Rias Majeed

CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC

Robust VPN integration stands out despite needing enhanced vendor compatibility

The integrated VPN functionality is working well with the global VPN client, which is a fast client, though it comes at a cost. SonicWall TZ is functional depending on the service level taken by the user. For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well. Despite lacking certain features, it is still considered a good product. The appliance itself is functional and stable, offering integrated solutions.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."

"Fortinet FortiGate appears to be scalable."

"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."

"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."

"The solution is highly scalable because they have devices that can handle a large amount of traffic."

"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."

"The signature database and zero-day detection are Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features."

"It is a good source for firewall protection."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"We have not had to deal with stability issues."

"A good intrusion prevention system and filtering."

"We use the solution for deep packet inspection, Internet Edge functionality, IDS, and IDP."

"The most valuable feature is the access control list (ACL)."

"It's pretty reliable and allows for isolation capabilities within the network."

"For business purposes, it's a very detailed solution, which is it's greatest benefit, as you can get almost any piece of information you need from the solution. It allows for admins to be able to troubleshoot pretty easily."

"It allowed us to consolidating multiple security devices into a single appliance."

"Web filtering is a big improvement for us. The previous version we used, the AC520, did not have that feature included. It was not very easy for us, especially because the environment had to be isolated and we needed to get updates from outside, such as Windows patches. That feature has really helped us when we are going outside to pull those patches."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pros

"I have found the stability of this product to be excellent."

"We use the content filter quite a lot because it's an office setting. During working hours, we like to censor the sites users can visit so it increases productivity. Therefore, the content filter has been good for us."

"We like their interface very much. It's pretty easy to use."

"Its user interface and simplicity are the most favorite parts for our clients. They find it stable and easy to use. Its performance is also good."

"It is a scalable solution."

"The advanced gateway security features such as web filter, application control filter, IPS, ideas, gateway antivirus, anti-spyware, and botnet filter are valuable."

"The installation is straightforward and took approximately 30 minutes."

"No negative impression of the scalability."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"The feedback that I have received is that the performance could be better, and the user experience is not as good compared to a previous solution we used. It could be more user-friendly. Of course, it still works fine for our operations."

"Palo Alto has a feature called WildFire Analysis that is unavailable in FortiGate. WildFire is better than a sandbox because it can address zero-day threats and vulnerabilities. It can immediately identify zero-day threats from the cloud."

"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."

"Regarding challenges, customers initially faced issues like internet dropping, but after firmware upgrades, everything worked well."

"We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."

"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."

"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."

"I need user-behavior analytics, to find threat scenarios from inside the organization, insider attacks. That would be very helpful for us. In addition, I would like next-generation features for small and medium businesses. These businesses require UTM, all in one product. Fortinet must include it."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"It would be great if some of the load times were faster."

"It should have packets, deep level inspections and controls, like the features which other IPS solutions used to have."

"You shouldn't have to use the ASDM to help manage the client."

"I would like to see more integration with third-party devices in general. There is great integration with Cisco devices, but there's not much integration with third-party devices."

"We have more than one Cisco firewall and it is difficult for me to integrate both on the single UI."

"We would like to see MS Word BPM as a feature."

"If you need to reschedule a call with the support team when you face a new issue with the product, then it may get a bit of a problem to get a hold of someone from the support team of Cisco."

"Setting it up is not as intuitive as other more modern NGFWs."

More Cisco Secure Firewall cons

"The technical support has room for improvement."

"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 products' reporting can be improved."

"Getting support can be slow."

"The solution's antivirus checking could be improved so that we can have a deeper inspection of the packets."

"The interface and technical support are probably the two most important things that I would like SonicWall to improve."

"The solution's pricing could be made cheaper."

"GUI interface could be improved."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."

"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."

"The pricing for the product is alright."

"Its price is affordable and lesser than Cisco. Cisco is expensive. In terms of licensing, there is only one issue. If a customer's license has expired a month ago and they do the renewal after one month, Fortinet renews the license from the start of the previous month. The activation of the product is done from the previous month, not from the date of renewal. The customers usually shout and complain that because they are paying today, the renewal should start from today. The support contract renewals or licensing should be renewed from the date of renewal, but Fortinet starts from the day it had expired. It is a loss for customers. They might have had some problems because of which they did not take the license one month before. Fortinet should work on this. Cisco doesn't do this. Cisco always starts from the day they apply for the license."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Our subscription costs, just for the firewalls, is between $400,000 and $500,000 a year."

"We've gone to all smart licensing, so that works well."

"We are in the process of renewing our three-year license, which costs approximately $24,000 USD for the thirty-six months."

"It is considered on the "high end" of the spectrum."

"When we purchased the firewall, we had to take the security license for IPS, malware protection, and VPN. If we are using high availability, we have to take a license for that. We also have to pay for hardware support and technical support. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."

"I'd say it's probably well-priced."

"Be sure of what features you are going to utilize to add/remove some from new bundles."

"It would be nice if pricing could do more to reflect the economy of the country where the product is being implemented."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"SonicWall has authorized distributors in our country. They have about two or three distributors in the country, so it makes it a bit easier. What we do is to request a quotation from these distributors, then we do a value for money analysis and see which one of them is giving us a competitive price."

"Its price is very high, which makes it difficult to convince the clients to buy this solution."

"The product pricing is relatively good, compared to other products, including the licenses."

"Customers are required to pay for a yearly subscription."

"The license that we purchased is good for three years."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

"I give the price an eight out of ten."

"It is a bit expensive. We have to purchase the license and the reporting part separately, which makes it a bit pricey. This is the main reason why we have thought of moving to another firewall. It would be good if they combine both of these."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user206346

Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting

Mar 11, 2015

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

42%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Competitors

Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 18% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

Sangfor NGAF vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 1% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall

March 2025

Download Cisco Secure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

March 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall

Dell SonicWALL TZ

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Cisco Secure Firewall stands as a robust and adaptable security solution, catering to organizations of all sizes. It's designed to shield networks from a diverse array of cyber threats, such as ransomware, malware, and phishing attacks. Beyond mere protection, it also offers secure access to corporate resources, beneficial for employees, partners, and customers alike. One of its key functions includes network segmentation, which serves to isolate critical assets and minimize the risk of lateral movement within the network.

The core features of Cisco Secure Firewall are multifaceted:

Advanced threat protection is achieved through a combination of intrusion prevention, malware detection, and URL filtering technologies.
For secure access, the firewall presents multiple options, including VPN, remote access, and single sign-on.
Its network segmentation capability is vital in creating barriers within the network to safeguard critical assets.
The firewall is scalable, effectively serving small businesses to large enterprises.
Management is streamlined through Cisco DNA Center, a central management system.

The benefits of deploying Cisco Secure Firewall are substantial. It significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks, thereby enhancing the security posture of an organization. This security also translates into increased productivity, as secure access means uninterrupted work. Compliance with industry regulations is another advantage, as secure access and network segmentation align with many regulatory standards. Additionally, it helps in reducing IT costs by automating security tasks and simplifying management processes.

In practical scenarios, Cisco Secure Firewall finds diverse applications. It's instrumental in protecting branch offices from cyberattacks, securing remote access for various stakeholders, safeguarding cloud workloads, and segmenting networks to isolate sensitive areas.

User reviews from PeerSpot reflect an overall positive experience with the Cisco Secure Firewall. Users appreciate its ease of configuration, good management capabilities, robust protection, user-friendly interface, and scalability. However, some areas for improvement include better integration capabilities with other vendors, maturity, control over bandwidth for end-users, and addressing software bugs.

In summary, Cisco Secure Firewall is a comprehensive, versatile, and reliable security solution that effectively meets the security needs of various organizations. It offers a balance of advanced protection, user-friendly management, and scalability, making it a valuable asset in the realm of network security.

Cisco

The secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.

SonicWall

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

There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall TZ

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall TZ

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