Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Netgate and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Netgate is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8, while SonicWall is ranked #35 with an average rating of 8.0. Netgate holds a 17.6% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Netgate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Netgate pfSense and SonicWall NSv are network security solutions. User reviews indicate Netgate pfSense is superior in pricing and support, while SonicWall NSv stands out for advanced features.

Features:Netgate pfSense offers comprehensive open-source firewall features, robust VPN capabilities, and highly customizable options. SonicWall NSv includes advanced threat protection, deep packet inspection, and integrated VPN services. Users value SonicWall NSv’s extensive feature set over Netgate pfSense’s customizability.

Room for Improvement:Netgate pfSense needs more intuitive documentation, better default configurations, and improved user interface. SonicWall NSv needs enhanced performance under heavy traffic, reduced false positives in threat detection, and simplified configuration processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Netgate pfSense is known for its straightforward deployment and solid customer support. SonicWall NSv has a steeper learning curve but benefits from supportive vendor engagement. Netgate pfSense is often perceived as easier to deploy with better support.

Pricing and ROI:Netgate pfSense is praised for cost-effectiveness, lower setup costs, and quicker ROI. SonicWall NSv is more expensive, yet users find the advanced features worth the extra cost. Netgate pfSense offers better pricing and faster ROI, whereas SonicWall NSv justifies its higher price with superior capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSv

January 2025

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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 January 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.3%, up from 17.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 17.6%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

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.

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Vincent Hamm

CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.

I appreciate the depth of what the solution can do and the simplicity of the initial setup

We do a lot of managed services and are currently trying to get people off of L2TP VPN. Apparently, we can download a mobile config file from a configured NetGate device, and we're primarily Apple. We've experimented with it on a device that's not a production device, and we can't seem to get the phase one IPSec set correctly so that the Apple config will accept it. We've tried looking at the documentation but haven't found anything. While it's not the highest priority, it is rather frustrating. We'd like to do this, and the feature is right there, but we can't get it configured. We certainly don't want to try it on a production machine because it will break the current VPN. I would like to download the Apple mobile config so that I can tell it to configure my VPN connection to do that. We have some cross-platform things. So there's also a Windows VPN. You can download a script or a PowerShell, put it on a Windows machine, and it can connect to the VPN. It would be nice if I could say I want Mac only, Windows only, or both. I wish it could configure the IPSec phase one and phase two, or at least give me solid instructions on how to configure that. It doesn't supply out-of-the-box visibility to drive decisions. You get 75 log lines, so if you're trying to troubleshoot something, you have to look at one log and then another. It integrates with SysLog systems, but our customers are not at the level where they want to pay for some third-party SysLog system. Usually, we can get things taken care of fairly quickly. I would like to have the ability to control all my devices from one place. With Ubiquiti, you can get a controller that allows you to control all of your Wi-Fi devices, switches, and routers. From one area, you can switch to that customer and see what's happening in their environment. That's not part of pfSense. I understand why it's not because pfSense is open source and community supported. That's something that someone in the community needs to pick up and run with. It's not something the pfSense can easily implement. If they could, that'd be great.

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Sumesh Panikkar

Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer at Khansaheb

Provides effective threat prevention and helps improve security

We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution. If I use NSv 400, I can't upgrade to the next generation. We cannot upgrade the VM to the next generation. We have to rebuild a new VM and copy the configurations. We cannot upgrade straightaway. The solution must allow us to upgrade the same machine to a newer version without many changes.

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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

"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."

"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."

"The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."

"It's inexpensive compared to some of the other technology out there."

"The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."

"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."

"It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user friendly."

"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Super easy to manage. Anyone who has been working with firewalls can handle it."

"Its reliability and cost-effectiveness stand out."

"The scalability is very good, where you can do an HA configuration and then bring in another box, if necessary."

"The solution is fairly scalable when it comes to integrating with other applications and data sets."

"My favorite thing about pfSense is its overall stability of the product. It's rock solid and low maintenance. I like that aspect. It doesn't cost much, and it's feature-rich, including mobile VPN, pfBlocker, and IPS."

"Great extensibility of the platform."

"The visibility in pfSense helps optimize performance."

"The most valuable features of pfSense are the high availability that easily allows failover to a backup unit and the Snort integration with pfSense and WireGuard."

More Netgate pfSense pros

"One of the standout features of SonicWall is its simplicity in creating and managing rules."

"The security of this system is fantastic, including the IPS and IDS."

"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."

"The product helps improve our security."

"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."

"The customization of firewall rules provides great value to our customers as it allows them to lock things up in the way that they desire. When it is used for internal access, with a VPN in place for remote workers, the firewalling services provided by Azure, such as the default services that can be turned on, are applied. However, the use of a software-based virtual firewall gives us greater flexibility in introducing security controls for customers who are publishing applications that are publicly accessible from the public cloud. This virtual firewall provides an additional layer of security and more extensive security control options to ensure the protection of our customers' valuable information and assets."

"SonicWall NSV is easy to use, and you can use it to manage the logs easily."

Cons

"The support system could be improved."

"The logging details need to be improved."

"Fortinet FortiGate can be integrated with different platforms. They have integrations in place, but I can't say they're 100%."

"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."

"Scalability for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be improved. SD-WAN security for this solution also needs some improvement."

"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."

"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."

"The inability to scale the FortiAnalyzer to match our growth necessitates the purchase of new hardware."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The hotspot and the portal feature in this solution are not stable for WiFi access. We use it at least once or twice every day and it crashes. Some modules can be better by improving detection and having new updates. Additionally, we have some issues with clustering and load balancing that could improve."

"We're doing a lot of OpenVPN tunnels, and some of the fields in the OpenVPN setup on the server side do not lend themselves to multiple sites. It's kind of ugly. It's a big list of allowed IP addresses. I'd much rather see that via the table individually."

"I think if you have paid for a year of service, it shouldn't matter how many times you need to request to rekey the license as long as it is not every other day."

"pfSense would be much more efficient if it allowed exporting the entire configuration of a device after it's been set up."

"This product needs improvements with respect to reporting and auditing."

"The portal is still not well-tuned. There are still issues regarding implementation and its effectiveness. But besides that, everything else is great, from the purchase to implementation, setup, etc. Only the portal needs a lot of work."

"Network monitoring and device inventory could use some improvements. I'm using SpiceWorks for this because it never really worked in pfSense."

"One area where Netgate could improve is communication with its user base."

More Netgate pfSense cons

"I would like to see the reporting opened up and have several more opportunities for automatic reports."

"It has been brought to our attention by a few customers that they are dissatisfied with the fact that our virtualized service is only offered as a subscription option on the cloud. However, it is worth noting that many other similar services are also offered through a subscription model on the cloud and not through perpetual licensing. It is unclear why these customers would have an issue with this subscription service when so many others are utilizing similar methods."

"SonicWall NSV's SSL VPN could increase its number of users to 100-plus users."

"There are limitations to bandwidth management."

"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."

"We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution."

"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It scales well if you know what to buy from a physical box standpoint. They seem to offer something for every level."

"We pay for the solution annually."

"The price of FortiGate is good."

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

"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."

"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"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."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is an open source firewall."

"I will not call it a cheap tool, but it is very cost-efficient."

"I buy the appliance and accept whatever comes with it, but I am not bought into paid support. When it comes to the pricing of the appliances, they are pretty competitive. The price is pretty competitive."

"It is a free solution."

"pfSense is open-source, but the support is something that the customer pays for."

"pfSense Plus is cost-effective for what we're getting."

"It has almost zero cost, and it is open to us. It runs on a small appliance just for a couple of 100 bucks, and I've never had an appliance burn out on me yet."

"It is an open-source solution."

More Netgate pfSense pricing and cost advice

"We are currently using the trial version."

"The tool is moderately priced."

"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."

"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

24%

Government

Legal Firm

Real Estate/Law Firm

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...

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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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Help me find the best open source router

You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I reco...

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How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?

Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigat...

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What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?

Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...

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What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?

The product helps improve our security.

See all answers

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

The tool is moderately priced. We need to purchase an additional license for NSM. We can manage all the firewalls thr...

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What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?

We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution. If I use NSv 400, I can't upgrade to the next generation. We ca...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 23% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

OPNsense vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 44% of the time

Sophos XG vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 8% of the time

KerioControl vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 3% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 2% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 2% of the time

More Netgate pfSense Competitors

Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 37% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 19% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 19% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 13% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 11% of the time

More SonicWall NSv Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense

January 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

January 2025

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

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SonicWall Network Security Virtual

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Fortinet

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Netgate

SonicWall

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Netgate pfSense is widely leveraged by organizations for its comprehensive capabilities in firewalls, VPN servers, and bandwidth management. It suits LAN, WAN, and DMZ networks, offering secure, scalable, and efficient networking solutions.

Netgate pfSense stands out in diverse environments with its enterprise-grade features and cost-effective operations compared to competitors like Cisco. Deployed as an edge device, it optimizes routing, ad-blocking, content filtering, and traffic shaping. Users benefit from its versatile configurations, robust firewall protection, VPN functionality, and ISP load balancing. The open-source nature allows for extensive customization, integrating plugins like Snort and pfBlockerNG, and compatibility with third-party tools enhances its utility. The intuitive GUI combined with detailed logging and centralized management fortifies network security.

What features define Netgate pfSense?

Firewall: Provides robust network security through advanced filtering and stateful packet inspections.
VPN: Ensures secure remote access with high-performing VPN capabilities.
Load Balancing: Efficiently distributes traffic across multiple ISPs, ensuring uptime and performance.
Customization: Supports various plugins for enhanced functionality, tailor-made to specific needs.
Scalability: Adapts easily to varying network demands, providing high availability and flexibility.

What benefits should be considered for ROI?

Cost-Effectiveness: Delivers premium features at a fraction of the cost of traditional network appliances.
Flexibility: Offers a customizable solution that integrates well with existing infrastructure.
Community Support: Backed by a strong user community offering insights and troubleshooting resources.
Security: Supports VLAN segmentation, enhancing protection and management of network traffic.

Organizations in industries such as finance, healthcare, and education find Netgate pfSense integral due to its advanced security features and cost benefits. Its scalable architecture and strong VPN support are crucial for industries requiring stringent data protection and reliable remote access. The adaptability of pfSense makes it suitable for dynamic environments seeking comprehensive, secure networking solutions.

SonicWall NSV is a software-based virtual firewall that provides additional security for customers with public-facing servers or services on Microsoft Azure. The AGSS Bundle is considered the most valuable feature, providing security services such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI.

Additionally, customization of firewall rules provides great value to customers, allowing them to lock things up in the way they desire. SonicWall NSV offers extensive security control options to protect customers' valuable information and assets.

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

Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring

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Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSv

January 2025

Free Report: Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSv

Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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