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Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSa comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
Ranking in Firewalls
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.5%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
SHUBHAM BHINGARDE - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool to help businesses create a blockage for external traffic
The tool improved the security in our company's virtualized environment, as it was helpful in creating an additional layer of security for the organization and for the use of the internet. The tool was the most important product to be implemented in the organization. To be able for our organization to build our services, we need to operate inside a certain network while ensuring that the outside traffic gets blocked by using the firewall services from the tool, as it helps to create a secure network inside our company. Without the tool in our organization, our network would have been compromised. The aforementioned area consists of details related to how the tool helps with the workload protection aspect. I recommend the solution to others who plan to use it since it helps in areas where it helps block a particular website with the help of the firewall functionalities that it possesses. The tool also helps block outside traffic, and it is mandatory to implement a firewall as an organization grows for the smooth operations of business. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.
Swapnil Kulkarni - PeerSpot reviewer
Good user interface, quick configuration modules but faced hardware issues
It could be improved in the reporting format. The way their analysis software is working, they need to improve their reporting. Second, I think they need to improve their security at the endpoint level, in the SD-WAN area. Apart from this, the main drawbacks are their support and hardware failure. In our last four to five years with the NSa 3600, we have faced hardware failure two to three times. Even though they replaced the hardware, we still faced the issue.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate has many valuable features, such as IDS, and intrusion detection. It has security features that are in part with the technologies that are available in the market."
"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."
"The initial setup is easy."
"We have found it to be very reliable and that's why our teams and various users in our company use it as our main firewall every day."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."
"The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature."
"The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the features, like content filtering. The firewall is powerful."
"The combination of SD-WAN and VPN capabilities is the most valuable feature."
"The technical support is very good."
"While the stability maybe isn't quite to the level of Cisco, it is a very cost-effective solution. It's cheap compared to Cisco."
"The EPM bundle is a good feature."
"It is a complete package, and it has complete offerings. It fit the needs, and our customer is happy with it."
"We are able to closely monitor the usages of individual users and see their usage habits and other items, including the data itself, which gives us quite a bit of visibility."
"FortiGate is a nice and very good product."
"The product can scale."
"One of the main features is the built-in storage capacity."
"It is a very stable solution."
"We have not found any vulnerabilities since implementing the solution."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"The solution can scale."
"This product is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"SonicWall NSA is easy to deploy, easy to maintain, and easy to configure."
"I really like the performance; there are no delays and no latency, which is a unique quality in firewalls nowadays."
 

Cons

"I don't like that anything more than very basic reporting is not included."
"Currently, without the additional reporting module, we only have access to basic reporting."
"The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement."
"Performance and technical support are the main issues with this solution."
"Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."
"The command line is complicated, and the interface could be better."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more storage in the hardware for log data."
"We'd like more management across other integrations."
"The solution could use very well-defined support for resellers."
"When new versions are deployed they tend to be a little buggy, so they should be more fully tested before release."
"The product needs to focus on cloud-nativeness and pricing."
"FortiGate's application load balancing has to be improved. They need to improve a lot on the load balancing and RAF side. They are far behind Citrix in that regard."
"We encountered scalability issues in IPSec Module. The tunnels freeze sometimes."
"New versions are complicated with a big configuration."
"Integrating multi-factor authentication with FortiGate-VM can be challenging. While multi-factor authentication is important, not all customers have it enabled. Integration with third-party solutions like ManageEngine or Duo can be complex and sometimes problematic during testing."
"Compatibility and integration with other products or vendors such as Cisco SD-WAN products need improvement."
"Needs a more detailed reporting feature."
"The features I would like to see improve are the dashboard and the UI."
"The reporting and monitoring are a bit complex and should be easier in SonicWall NSa because other firewalls I have experienced have been more simple, such as Palo Alto. We are able to receive a clear view of our network. As a general user with little experience, it would be difficult for them to handle."
"SonicWall needs to work on SD-WAN."
"The logging, reporting, and storage capacity size could improve in a future release."
"It would be beneficial if they could enhance the analytics part."
"The cloud services may be in need of some improvement."
"It would help us a lot of SonicWall sent us more information about the latest updates and things that are changing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."
"The pricing is perfect."
"Fortinet has more device options that are affordable for small businesses than Palo Alto, and its enterprise-level models are also cheaper. Palo Alto also has a separate license for VPN connections and SD-WAN, but FortiGate offers these features standard."
"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."
"Easy to understand licensing requirements."
"The price of FortiGate support is too expensive."
"The price is fine."
"There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee."
"​The basic pricing in Austria is OK, but asking for special offers, e.g., NPOs, NGOs, trade up, and/or trade in, is always useful.​"
"The license can be purchased at intervals of one, three, and five years."
"We are on an annual license for this solution and it could be cheaper."
"It is a medium-priced product."
"There is a need to make payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"We pay for a yearly license."
"Of all the firewalls that we compared, FortiGate is the cheapest and most affordable, so we are satisfied with the pricing."
"While I don't know the exact amount off the top of my head, I would estimate the licensing package was about $15,000 to $20,000 a year."
"You need their analyzer to properly generate reports. This is an expensive, licensed feature, with a complex application or appliance back-end."
"The price of SonicWall NSa is expensive."
"Considering the market, I believe that the price of this solution is great."
"The solution is expensive. Its pricing is based on the number of users."
"The return on investment is very good."
"SonicWall NSa's pricing is subscription-based and I rate it a six out of ten."
"SonicWall is not an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
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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 Fortinet FortiGate-VM?
An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.
What do you like most about SonicWall NSa?
The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?
SonicWall is much cheaper compared to Fortinet, particularly regarding renewal and licensing costs.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
I would like more free VPN licenses. It would be beneficial if they could enhance the analytics part. It needs to be ...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
 

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
Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.