Hillstone E-Series vs Sophos Firewall comparison

Hillstone Networks and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Hillstone Networks is ranked #39 with an average rating of 8.0, while Sophos is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. Hillstone Networks holds a 0.4% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sophos’s 9.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hillstone Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

Sophos Firewall and Hillstone E-Series compete in the network security category. Based on the comparison, Sophos Firewall has the upper hand in features and customization, while Hillstone E-Series is noted for hardware efficiency.

Features: Sophos Firewall includes web and application filtering, IPS, and integrated email security with encryption, offering better customization and cloud management. Hillstone E-Series excels in hardware efficiency, threat protection, and operates without needing third-party switches.

Room for Improvement: Sophos Firewall users call for better reporting, enhanced IP management, and more intuitive support documentation. Hillstone E-Series users desire deeper reporting and improved technical support. Rule management and support enhancements are broadly suggested.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos Firewall provides versatile deployment in hybrid and cloud environments but has mixed reviews on support. Hillstone E-Series offers both on-premises and public cloud deployment, with generally satisfactory support but room for improvement in localized assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Sophos Firewall offers competitive pricing with flexible options, bundling features within licenses. However, some find the licensing fees high. Hillstone E-Series is economically appealing for budget-sensitive clients. Both show positive ROI through reduced costs and improved security efficiency, though Sophos may have higher initial expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed Hillstone E-Series vs. Sophos Firewall Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone E-Series vs. Sophos Firewall

February 2026

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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 February 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 9.8%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.7%
Sophos Firewall	9.8%
Hillstone E-Series	0.4%
Other	71.1%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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TahirMahmood

IT Manager at Zubair Feeds

Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

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Nassif Kaleny

IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.

Dynamic web and mail filtering contribute to improved security measures

The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

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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

"The main benefit is the grouping of our security monitoring."

"It is a one box solution, which covers most of the edge device’s requirements."

"The product is scalable."

"Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use."

"The ECC management and the GUI that offers single interface management are the most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate."

"Good load balancing feature."

"It's very easy to set up, it's very easy to make policies and, for an organization, that means you don't need IT expert in firewalls. You just need to have somebody who knows a little bit of IT, and that's it. With other products, you need someone with a "Masters" degree in firewalls."

"Scaling-wise, there have been no problems with Fortinet FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."

"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."

"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."

"Five out of five ROI."

"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."

"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."

"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."

"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

"I rate Sophos support 10 out of 10. When my device was freezing, I contacted them, and sent me a replacement. It only took a couple of days for Sophos to ship the device to Kenya. I didn't have a redundant device, so it was urgent."

"Sophos XG uses AI effectively to enhance threat detection and response, securing from AI at the packet level."

"The solution is very user-friendly, and the GUI is so good that I don't have to use the CLI. This eliminates the need for typing; clicking allows me to get to what I'm looking for."

"This is a very stable solution."

"The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are a set of functionalities that are quite commendable, they call it synchronized security, where all the solutions share defense lines with each other."

"I highly recommend using Sophos XG for enhanced security purposes and organizational structure implementation."

"All of the features are amazing, especially Sandstorm, which prevents bad traffic or downloaded files from reaching our customers' and partners' networks."

"The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection, and antivirus."

More Sophos Firewall pros

Cons

"Fortinet should improve its software, as we are seeing lots of firmware versions generated for each vulnerability issue. It becomes difficult for us to keep updating the firmware frequently due to bugs."

"From a support perspective, I had more issues that I didn't think the person on my case handled the way I was expecting. We called them for a geolocation issue and we didn't get any proper assistance."

"The dashboard is not user friendly so is a bit complicated."

"It would be good if they had fewer updates."

"There are no areas that need improvement at this point in time."

"The inability to change passwords when using FortiGate firewall and relying on a local FortiGate database for account creation can be problematic, particularly in non-Active Directory setups."

"They could do more work on FortiAnalyzer in terms of the data and the information coming from it."

"The main thing they have to improve in Fortinet FortiGate is the technical support; the rest of the features are good enough. We can handle them, but sometimes you really need support, and in that case, we are not getting it at the proper time."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."

"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."

"The tool only had some memory-related problems."

"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

"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."

"The areas needing improvement are support and configuration. The delays in technical support can be handled better."

"I would like to have more artificial intelligence in the web monitoring service that comes with it. It should alert us when particular events happen. It has already got some of that. I know that it is more of a service, and Sophos is already looking at it. It is called SIEM."

"The SD-WAN feature isn't very good. It's there, but it doesn't work properly."

"Sophos XG's web server protection and log viewer could improve. They should also introduce sandboxing."

"All the security features could be better."

"They need intelligent reporting, not just your simple, standard reports."

"There should be web caching to improve bandwidth utilization. It should have a very good caching feature. That's because we are in a very poor continent, and the connectivity cost is very high. We have low bandwidth, and the intensive usage of bandwidth is not easy here in Africa. If they improve services for web caching, it would be better."

More Sophos Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"Its pricing is fine. It is on a yearly basis. Other than the licensing fee, there is no extra fee."

"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."

"The price range is quite acceptable and normal."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall costs our company around $12000 per year."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."

"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."

"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."

"The price is fair."

"The hardware is inexpensive but the license is expensive."

"I've had schools running different firewalls with subscriptions and different web filters with subscriptions, and I've found that it is less expensive for smaller schools to run the Sophos XG with its unified threat management instead of multiple appliances."

"There is a license required for this solution that is priced well and all the features are included."

"It is fairly priced."

"The price of Sophos XGS depends on the type of license. However, the licensing cost is approximately 60 percent of the total cost."

"For licensing the XG 210, we paid approximately $3000 for three years. There are no additional fees on top of this."

"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."

More Sophos Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	204
Midsize Enterprise	62
Large Enterprise	53

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the fire...

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What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?

I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features w...

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What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?

Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I ha...

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Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...

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What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?

Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Fact...

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What do you like most about Sophos XG?

IPS works smoothly.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 18% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

A10 Networks Thunder CFW vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 4% of the time

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OPNsense vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

February 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

February 2026

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Firewall

January 2026

Download Sophos Firewall product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Sophos XG, Sophos XGS

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Hillstone E-Series is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It offers a range of features including a firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private network (VPN), and application control.

With its advanced threat intelligence capabilities, E-Series can detect and prevent sophisticated attacks, ensuring the security of critical data and systems. It also provides granular control over applications, allowing organizations to enforce policies and optimize network performance.

E-Series is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized management console. It offers high-performance throughput and scalability, making it suitable for small businesses to large enterprises. With its robust security features and ease of use, Hillstone E-Series is an ideal choice for organizations looking to enhance their network security posture.

Hillstone Networks

Sophos Firewall provides comprehensive network security with web filtering, VPN capabilities, and cloud integration. Users highlight its effective threat prevention and flexibility for customizable policies, enhancing network visibility and management.

Renowned for its robust security, Sophos Firewall simplifies network protection through advanced features like intrusion prevention and endpoint protection integration. Its user-friendly interface allows seamless remote management and tailored rule creation, making it ideal for varied environments like healthcare and education. While the system excels in threat detection, areas such as interface navigation, support response times, and VPN integration face challenges. Enhanced reporting and bandwidth management are essential for improved performance.

What are the standout features of Sophos Firewall?

Web and Application Filter: Secure browsing with advanced filtering options.
VPN Capabilities: Facilitates secure remote access and connectivity.
Cloud Integration: Seamless collaboration with cloud platforms.
Intrusion Prevention: Robust threat detection and prevention features.
Comprehensive Reporting: Detailed insights into network activities.

What benefits and ROI should users expect in reviews?

Enhanced Security: Comprehensive protection against diverse cyber threats.
Increased Flexibility: Tailor rules and policies to meet specific organizational criteria.
Improved Network Visibility: Better oversight and threat detection across networks.
Efficient Management: Simplifies remote and centralized firewall administration.

Industries such as healthcare, education, and finance implement Sophos Firewall for secure VPNs, improved threat management, and effective traffic monitoring. Its load balancing and email security features support compliance and governance, ensuring robust protection tailored to sector-specific requirements.

Sophos

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

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone E-Series vs. Sophos Firewall

February 2026

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