Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Sophos XGS comparison

Sponsored
 

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
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
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
120
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
82
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.7%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.8%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XGS is 2.0%, 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.
Pietro Di Blasi - PeerSpot reviewer
Organize networks efficiently while benefiting from strong reliability and support
The main use is for clients who are migrating to the cloud. We started this journey during the pandemic, and the main case is with clients who are moving to either a private or a public cloud The solution allows us to organize our networks and access within one vendor, using an integrated…
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

"The GUI is good."
"Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."
"The most valuable feature is the web filter."
"The payment function for applications is good."
"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics."
"Our project needs to link two sides through the internet. One of these was in Cairo and the other in another city. We used FortiGate as the integrating solution between the two locations, i.e. the Fortinet 30E & 100E."
"The most valuables features are the ease of use and deployment."
"The pricing of the solution is good."
"The standard features, including the filtering, are quite good. All the basic features are pretty useful for us."
"The most valuable features we have found to be the VPN, ease of use, and overall simplicity."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are its flexibility and scalability. This solution is available as a license, which allows us to activate it based on the specific needs of the customer. This gives us and the customer a great deal of versatility and customization options."
"It is scalable because it is a virtual appliance. You can probably scale it up more."
"The most valuable feature is that its IPsec works perfectly."
"Technical support is very helpful."
"The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are its integration into Software Central and its threat intelligence capability."
"Sophos has a centralized management system where I can manage and control all the Sophos firewalls at the same time."
"The solution is easy to use and configure, once you know how to apply the policies."
"Sophos XGS's best features are its VPN and ATPR1 cert protection."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos is the VPN solution. I also value their threat management, IPS IDS features and login features with single sign-on."
"It provides good protection services."
"XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection."
"The solution's most valuable features are IPS, IDS, and web application security."
 

Cons

"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."
"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."
"Cisco Meraki products are rising very quickly in the cloud and the connected era. Meraki products offer much better ROI, upgradability, and manageability."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."
"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"Web security solutions can be improved."
"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."
"We'd like to have more customization and easier customization of policies."
"It has a monitoring tool, but it could be improved."
"The partner support is quite low, and the end-user support is delayed at levels L2 and L3. L1 support is quick."
"The pricing is expensive."
"The stability could be improved. I find Cisco to be more stable than Fortigate, which is I major differentiator between the two."
"There are certain GUI features that should be present but are not."
"The users must buy FortiSIEM to get advanced analytics."
"Interoperability could be improved."
"The VPN capability needs some improvement in Sophos XGS."
"Deployment could be easier."
"The SD-WAN feature isn't very good. It's there, but it doesn't work properly."
"I rate Sophos' support five out of 10. It's sometimes difficult to contact them, and finding a solution is not easy."
"Sophos XGS would benefit from further development in the SD-WAN area."
"The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow."
"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."
"Sophos XGS could improve by having better integration with Active Directory."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."
"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."
"The price of FortiGate is average and I would say that based on the top five products available on the market, it is in the affordable range."
"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."
"It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products. The return on investment is also good. If you compare the return of investment and money that you are spending on this product with Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, and other solutions, the investment is very less. We are happy with this solution. The optional licenses are there, and you can choose which one you want and which one to avoid."
"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."
"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."
"We can tailor the suitable license for the customer, whether they require UTB or enterprise features. The options are flexible based on their needs."
"The price falls somewhere in the middle; it's neither cheap nor expensive."
"There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee."
"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."
"On a scale of one to ten, where ten is very expensive, I rate the solution around two or three. I think the solution's prices are okay, considering the services and features they offer."
"There is no additional cost. Once you get the licensing fee, you're good."
"The price: It is a bit higher than the other competitors. This is why I started to look at other brands."
"We pay about $150."
"The price of the solution is reasonable and their target market is small to medium-sized companies."
"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."
"I live in Bolivia and the price of Sophos XGS is high. However, they have adjusted their price a little over the past while but the price could still be less expensive to be affordable."
"XGS' price could be lower, though it's moderately priced in the market."
"The licensing is reasonable. Comparing the cost of Sophos XGS with that of Fortinet or Palto Alto firewalls, for instance, it's not that expensive. However, the overall cost depends on the hardware you're using in addition to the licensing cost."
"Sophos XGS is a cost-effective solution."
"There are additional costs involved apart from the licenses."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
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?
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
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: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.