Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs. SonicWall Netextender

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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

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall Netextender

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

10th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 4.0%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 2.7%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway	4.0%
SonicWall Netextender	2.7%
Other	93.3%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

Srinivas A

Director- Head of DevOps, security, and Complaince at Rightdata

Secure data links from on-premise sources have enabled private access to client databases

The best feature of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is its sophisticated security mechanism for transmitting data between on-premise to Azure or Azure to Azure. The process of building the VPN gateway is user-friendly, making it easy to configure. Additionally, it supports various options to establish connections between on-premise to Azure or other sources to targets. Using pfSense as a firewall and VPN at our on-premise allows us to establish connections between Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and our on-premise pfSense VPN easily. This streamlined connection process occurs within a few steps. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway has positively impacted our organization because it is core to our system and crucial for establishing private connections to our customer's data sources. Their databases lie in a private network with no communication with the outside world. Our customers trust Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, and by extension, trust us because of this efficient networking establishment process.

Read full review

Rich Darress

Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech

Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance

When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best feature is the ability to connect from anywhere."

"Security and communications are the most vital features"

"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway has positively impacted our organization because it is core to our system and crucial for establishing private connections to our customer's data sources."

"The most valuable feature is the networking. I didn't have a good experience with the networking that Sophos has."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is its performance. It is very fast."

"It works perfectly for me. It is very user-friendly in terms of the configuration and the setup process."

"All of our offices are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway; the solution is scalable."

"The interoperability with various firewall and access gateway vendors is one of this solution's most valuable features."

More Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway pros

"When we started to change from IPsec-type clients that were predominantly built right into the firewalls to this approach or deployment style for SSL VPN, the amount of time that our techs spent helping people with VPN issues was probably cut by more than half."

"One of the most valuable features of SonicWall Netextender is the integration of VPN accounts with Microsoft Identity Management, which enables us to enforce secure access through Microsoft Intune and conditional access policies. This helps ensure that only authorized individuals are able to access the VPN, rather than anyone with knowledge of a password."

"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."

"My company opted for this solution because it can individually perform. Basically, we don't require load balancers and all those additional feature sets or additional devices that might be required. The solution can handle the certificate, DNS queries, and all that stuff individually."

"The SSL-VPN encryption has been fantastic for my organization's data confidentiality and integrity; we've done extensive testing with third-party cybersecurity testing while connected and it has passed with flying colors."

"I found nothing of value in this solution."

"The solution provides high availability."

"The product has two-factor authentication."

More SonicWall Netextender pros

Cons

"The stability could be improved."

"The product must provide a single sign-on."

"The marketing material in the portal is not very user-friendly."

"The monitoring part needs to be improved."

"I would like for them to improve the troubleshooting features. We have some problems with traffic and I can't identify where the problem is coming from."

"Make it completely routable, for example, if I have a gateway, I should be able to connect to whatever network I want on either side of the gateway, and the gateway should figure out which packet goes where."

"The connectivity should be faster."

"I would like for them to improve the troubleshooting features. We have some problems with traffic and I can't identify where the problem is coming from. I have to open a ticket with support until it gets resolved. Microsoft doesn't offer enough tools to resolve the issue."

More Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway cons

"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."

"The product does not work well."

"The UI could be a little better."

"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."

"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."

"The solution takes more bandwidth these days and it would be helpful if that was reduced."

"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."

"There must be multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."

More SonicWall Netextender cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product costs us $140 to $180 per month."

"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is the cheapest way for us to connect to our cloud infrastructure. Other solutions, such as ExpressRoute are very expensive."

"There is a monthly license and the price depends on how many users are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The price could be less expensive."

"Payment for licensing the solution is part of the operating model. So, one needs to keep on paying while consuming the solution. In short, the payment is based on the solution's capacity."

"The cost could be lower."

"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."

"It's an expensive product"

"The costs are quite high."

More Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway pricing and cost advice

"The solution has a pretty good price."

"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."

"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."

"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."

"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."

"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."

"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?

The solution is user-friendly.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?

The logging mechanism could use improvement. More detailed logging would help in troubleshooting any failures during connection establishment or monitoring Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. Otherwise, e...

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?

For those considering using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, read the documentation thoroughly. Create an Excel sheet outlining tasks for both the source and target sides, especially when establishing ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?

The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...

What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?

SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...

What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?

Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...

OpenVPN Access Server vs Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 26% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway

Download Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway product report

SonicWall Netextender

Download SonicWall Netextender product report

Also Known As

MS Azure VPN Gateway

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway enables secure cloud connectivity through scalable and reliable VPN solutions. It provides seamless integration with Microsoft's tools, ensuring high performance, availability, and security for businesses needing secure hybrid networking.

Leveraging Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, businesses benefit from secure site-to-site connections between on-premise networks and Azure cloud environments. It supports high availability and robust encryption for secure data management. Azure's advanced security measures, including IPSec, ensure safe data transmission. The service is designed for scalability, user-friendliness, and effective workload management across SKUs, enhancing its value for enterprises seeking efficient cloud networking.

What are the key features of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?

Cloud Accessibility: Ensures seamless connectivity to Azure environments.
High Availability: Provides reliable network performance.
Security and Encryption: Uses IPSec for secure connections.
BGP Protocol Support: Facilitates dynamic routing.
Integration: Compatible with Microsoft's monitoring and management tools.
Redundancy: Offers backup for uninterrupted service.
Flexibility: Manages workloads across SKUs and locations effectively.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Cost-Effectiveness: Reduces the need for physical hardware.
Network Security: Protects data with innovative security features.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs.
Ease of Use: Streamlines management and monitoring processes.
Seamless Integration: Works well with existing Microsoft infrastructure.

Organizations across industries implement Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway to create secure connections for CRM, ERP databases, and financial systems. It is vital for hybrid networking, linking data centers to cloud resources, and enabling remote user VPN profiles for secure management of virtual network infrastructures.

Microsoft

SonicWall Netextender provides affordable and stable VPN connections with a focus on secure access through features like multifactor authentication and integration with Microsoft services, ensuring reliable remote connectivity.

SonicWall Netextender is a robust tool for managing VPN accounts securely while offering remote access integration with Microsoft solutions like Intune. It supports industries such as healthcare, education, and insurance, catering to remote work and hybrid arrangements. Its comprehensive documentation aids in efficient configuring and minimal latency, although it faces challenges with Mac OS support, outdated interfaces, and high bandwidth usage. Enhanced SaaS functionalities and improved support for AI features are sought after improvements.

What are SonicWall Netextender's key features?

Cost-effectiveness: Provides a budget-friendly solution for enterprise VPN connections.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing organizational needs.
SSL-VPN Encryption: Utilizes advanced encryption for data security.
Microsoft Integration: Seamlessly connects with Microsoft Intune and Identity Management.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Remote Access Security: Maintains security with multifactor authentication.
Ease of Use: Detailed documentation facilitates easy setup and management.
High Availability: Supports stable connections with minimal downtime.
Efficiency: Helpful in managing VPN accounts and access control.

SonicWall Netextender is utilized in industries such as healthcare, education, and insurance to enable remote work and access to office resources. Its integration with Microsoft 365 supports file transfers and remote management of hybrid work environments, although some find it costly compared to free options.

SonicWall

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs. SonicWall Netextender