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Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Sophos XGS 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
Sophos XGS
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
81
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 Sophos XGS is 1.7%, up from 0.8% 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.
MarounAbboud - PeerSpot reviewer
Gives us peace of mind with network security, application control, and web server protection
Having previously worked with the Astaro Security Gateway platform (now called Sophos UTM), I can attest that the configuration and dashboard for this older platform was easier to manage than that of both Sophos XG and XGS. If it were up to me, I would prefer to go back to the older SG dashboard. I am hoping that in future, the dashboard for Sophos XGS will be simpler and easier.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the possibility of having one fabric for switching on security."
"The most valuable feature of the solution revolves around SSL VPN."
"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."
"The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers."
"FortiGate SD-WAN facilitated a smooth transition for our customers between their two internet service providers, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity without any downtime."
"The stability and scalability of this solution are satisfactory. Its SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering features are very useful."
"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."
"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."
"The product is easy to implement."
"The most valuable features are the SD-WAN and the web filtering applications control."
"The most valuable feature is the UTM, which gives them an advantage over other firewalls."
"Initial setup is very straightforward with a wizard, if needed."
"Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware."
"The interface is decent."
"It’s easy to integrate the solution with our network infrastructure."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the ease of use, IPS system, application filter, web filtering, and email security. Additionally, there is a migration tool that other vendors do not provide. We only need to upload the configuration file to the tool, and it converts everything, except the passwords, and gives us the new configuration, which we can directly upload on the firewall. This migration process takes a maximum of 15 minutes."
"Sophos XGS is profound as a firewall and security product."
"It's much faster than the previous firewall, so you can do the work faster."
"It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team."
"Sophos XGS's most valuable feature is content filtering."
"There are good KCL rules and policies as well as NATing rules."
"Setup was straightforward. One person is enough for deployment."
"It offers an easy initial implementation."
"The most effective feature in enhancing our network security is the threat intelligence capability."
 

Cons

"The reports are very basic."
"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."
"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."
"Fortinet should focus on enhancing the capabilities of FortiGate by consolidating its various products, such as FortiGate Cloud, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer."
"FortiGate support could do some improvements on their IPv6 configuration. Right now it's still in the very early stage for utilizing in an enterprise level network environment."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"Fortinet Fortigate could benefit by simplifying some of their processes."
"Its reporting and pricing need improvement."
"Now they do have the ability to pop up a command line, which is nice, however, the fact that you can't do everything within the GUI is probably a problem."
"We have encountered certain issues with the bandwidth in respect of the security layer."
"The price is sometimes very expensive.​"
"They could provide more integration options with different platforms."
"We have lost some information and we do not know how that happened through the solution. So that needs improvement."
"Improvements are needed for the responsive UI and JIT traffic reporting."
"It needs an Application Inspection."
"Technical support could be better."
"We'd like an interface that can monitor everything."
"Support is great, however, it can always be improved."
"I feel Sophos should add more telemetry data to its products...Right now, I think there are only less than a dozen vendors or OEMs supported by Sophos."
"There are issues with some designs being able to work on high availability."
"I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time."
"What could be improved in Sophos XGS is its connectivity with Azure AD. It's best if it could work directly without using any servers locally, or in the data center, and this functionality should be made available in this product."
"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."
"In the new release 19, there should be the implementation of a cloud service that you can use to set up the IPSec tunnels, and the SD-WAN from the WAN dashboard, and then you can push that configuration out to every firewall that you have."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of FortiGate is reasonable as I plan to buy new switches. The initial gadgets are already booted, and the pricing seems normal on the market. As for additional costs, I haven't subscribed to many extra features, so I'm only using what I need. Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us."
"The price range is quite acceptable and normal."
"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."
"The price could be lower."
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"The price is fair compared to the other competitors."
"Its licenses cost the same for different subscription plans."
"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."
"The best part of Fortinet is the license is bundled together, so it is easy to use and apply."
"The price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions."
"It is an expensive solution if you are migrating from an open source solution."
"The license can be purchased at intervals of one, three, and five years."
"The price: It is a bit higher than the other competitors. This is why I started to look at other brands."
"The customer must buy his own license."
"It is a medium-priced product."
"The cost of this product is too high."
"The pricing for Sophos XGS is reasonable."
"Sophos XGS costs around $6,000 for a basic license."
"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."
"The license for Sophos XGS is for three years, paid on a yearly basis. Everything is included with the license; there are no additional fees."
"It's highly effective and well-suited for medium and small companies. The pricing is attractive, and our customers find it suitable for regular license renewals."
"XGS' price could be lower, though it's moderately priced in the market."
"Sophos XGS is a cost-effective 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
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
5%
 

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 ...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...
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 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?
If the pricing model is more flexible or lower, it would be highly preferable, making it a more competitive option fo...
What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?
The user interface has improved significantly over the past few years, and having a more competitive price model coul...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
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
Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.