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Fortinet FortiGate vs Sophos XGS comparison

 

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
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)
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 Sophos XGS is 2.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Q&A Highlights

RS
Dec 13, 2022
 

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.
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

"Whenever I need something, Fortinet improves and updates the software for me."
"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"I'm looking forward to FortiGate's dashboard features, insights, application oversight, and monitoring, which could help us significantly."
"The inspection and web security features are most valuable."
"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"FortiGate has led to a reduction in our security budget."
"The base firewall features are quite valuable to us."
"The UI for Sophos is very simple."
"Sophos XGS's best features are its VPN and ATPR1 cert protection."
"Sophos has a centralized management system where I can manage and control all the Sophos firewalls at the same time."
"The threat management system and VPN are most valuable."
"XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection."
"It is very stable. I have not heard of any issue where clients would have to replace hardware. It's been really stable for a long while."
"I like the Sophos UI. It interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors."
"Sophos XGS' best features are simplicity and its built-in reporting tool."
 

Cons

"We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities."
"With FortiGate, the main complaint that I have heard is about the technical support."
"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."
"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having better visibility. Palo Alto has better visibility."
"There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved."
"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."
"Web security solutions can be improved."
"The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow."
"Support could be improved."
"Sometimes, we haven't received proper support. They couldn't find the solutions that we required. One thing that we need is an NTP server facility. The Sophos XGS device does not have this capacity or this feature."
"There are some bugs relating to the product that allow VPN users to bypass the firewall."
"Sophos XGS could improve the automation system. It could be better if there was some level of automation, attacks automation, meaning if this happens, then it automatically executes a particular process."
"It has recently started to suddenly block and crash."
"The first time a person sets it up, they will need training."
"In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."
"Its pricing is fine. It is on a yearly basis. Other than the licensing fee, there is no extra fee."
"The price of FortiGate is good."
"The pricing of the solution is very competitive."
"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."
"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."
"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."
"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."
"The cost is comparable to other similar solutions."
"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."
"There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution."
"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."
"The price of the solution is reasonable and their target market is small to medium-sized companies."
"I can't recall the exact amount that was paid. It was likely around $12,000 or less - around $4,000 a year."
"Sophos XGS is competitively priced."
"The price of Sophos XGS depends on the type of license. However, the licensing cost is approximately 60 percent of the total cost."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Answers from the Community

RS
Dec 13, 2022
Dec 13, 2022
Hi Rahul, I'm an IT consultant, specializing in networking and firewalls. Actually, I'm implementing Fortigates 100F and Sophos XGS2100 in customers' infrastructures. They are two big advantages for Sophos XGS: 1) The second CPU XStream, dedicated to firewalling and UTM functions, like Web Filtering, Web Application Firewall, IPS, etc.: https://news.sophos.com/en-us/... 2) The Sophos "Synchroni...
2 out of 4 answers
AR
Dec 12, 2022
Hi Rahul, I'm an IT consultant, specializing in networking and firewalls. Actually, I'm implementing Fortigates 100F and Sophos XGS2100 in customers' infrastructures. They are two big advantages for Sophos XGS: 1) The second CPU XStream, dedicated to firewalling and UTM functions, like Web Filtering, Web Application Firewall, IPS, etc.: https://news.sophos.com/en-us/... 2) The Sophos "Synchronized Security", interaction with the client protection, centralized in a cloud console: https://www.sophos.com/en-us/c... With this Xstream processor (ASIC), an XGS2100 is more powerful than a Fortigate 100F...and no way with pricing, Sophos is cheaper. Regards, A.Rastello
Pieter Plas - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 12, 2022
We have a lot of Sophos firewalls in the field. I agree to the answer from Alexandre. The Sophos Firewall is the more powerfull firewall. But maybe it's a good idea to explore the XGS 3100 because of the hardware like 10gbit.With kind regards,
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
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 at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
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 updates that sometimes cause crashes. Improvements to the hardware would be a cri...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet 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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.