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OPNsense vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 29, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is responsive and helpful, though technical support experiences vary and can be inconsistent.
Sentiment score
6.3
Many customers use online resources effectively, though some prefer direct local support and a few lack direct support contracts.
No sentiment score available
The response time for a critical priority one issue was over four hours and they only responded because we threatened legal action for them violating our support contract.
They say they will respond in 24 hours, but I have received responses in a maximum of one hour, which is impressive.
The technical support from Fortinet FortiGate is 24 hours a day seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
I know a couple of people on the forum that actually develop the tool, and they are helpful.
Within approximately an hour or two I was receiving a response, I was really impressed with the support.
The heavy part was the Azure part, and we are specialists there.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.6
Fortinet FortiGate needs better documentation, UI, integration, troubleshooting tools, scalability, reporting, and reduced impact on performance and fees.
Sentiment score
5.2
OPNsense users desire VPN improvements, better documentation, advanced tools, enhanced UI, scalability, performance, and faster updates.
No sentiment score available
FortiWAN supports OSPF but does not support the BGP protocol.
Fortinet VPN and DDoS capabilities are great, yet we need to provide a solution that enables CASB and integration to the cloud.
The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate.
Our primary focus is to ensure the protection of customers' and consumers' data and critical IT/Dynamic infrastructure.
For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process.
The problem is integration with a virtual server.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate provides effective scalability and adaptability, though careful budgeting and upgrades are needed for high-demand scenarios.
Sentiment score
8.0
OPNsense is highly scalable, flexible, and effective for both small labs and large enterprises with easy resource provisioning.
No sentiment score available
The devices will usually fail way before reaching the capacity advertised in the data sheets, especially when you activate several of the features the device can handle.
The solution is working and it is still stable even across all of these devices and servers.
We have over 10,000 users behind it.
We only use OPNsense now. We migrated from FortiGate.
It is especially scalable if you use the VM version because you only have to provision more resources.
If a customer is starting in the cloud and has 100 or 200 users, I would always recommend OPNsense.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
7.6
Fortinet FortiGate's initial costs are high, but offers competitive pricing and value compared to Cisco and Palo Alto.
Sentiment score
8.0
OPNsense is a cost-effective, open-source firewall solution with optional paid features, offering affordability compared to Azure Firewall and FortiGate.
No sentiment score available
The cost of the original deployment fell below £5,000, and licenses are priced at around £3,000.
Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment.
Overall, FortiGate is affordable.
There are no licensing costs for OPNsense.
The main cost is the hardware.
I believe that costs between $900 to $1000 a year.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiGate is highly stable and reliable, with improved performance in newer versions, praised for its consistent robustness.
Sentiment score
8.4
OPNsense is praised for stability and reliability, though VPN issues and hardware-dependent stability are noted by some users.
No sentiment score available
All of these issues were resolved in v5.2.
Stability has dramatically improved over the previous main version branch of FortiOS; 5.2.x and 5.4.x are stable enough for critical environments.
Overall, the devices have been very stable.
When I check to see if the second one would take over, it failed.
There are no bugs or glitches.
It appears to be rather reliable, though, with the stated data points above, it is not yet ready for the enterprise yet.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.0
Fortinet FortiGate is valued for its robust security, ease of use, scalability, and comprehensive threat management features.
Sentiment score
8.0
OPNsense is user-friendly, configurable, secure, and cost-effective, offering strong firewall, VPN, reporting, and IDS/IPS features ideal for small businesses.
No sentiment score available
The two most valuable features are VPN and firewalling.
WiFi network for visitors isolated from our corporate WiFi network using only one unit
Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it 'readable'
The most valuable thing about this product is that it is very easy to use.
With the visibility, you can see the data source, data destination, the source port, destination port, protocols, the most used, the malicious files that have been detected and blocked, the countries the customer has visited, and the IPs based on Suricata.
The VPN server feature is the most valuable.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
OPNsense
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.8%, up from 17.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 15.6%, down from 18.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
Akram Zaki Hussein - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support
The interface is user-friendly, but there's room for improvement in terms of intuitiveness. The bundle management aspect requires additional attention to make it more intuitive, especially for inspecting high-level traffic. This is crucial, especially for larger companies where the existing features might not be the most optimal choice, given limitations like printer constraints. For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process. Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine. It would be beneficial if OPNsense supported additional virtualization platforms like Hyper-V from Microsoft and VMware, similar to how Kaspersky has integrated them.
Osama Muhammad - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable, easy to configure firewall with fast, responsive support
The absolute best part of Sangfor NGAF is their support. It's a 24/7 support channel, and the last time I requested their assistance I got a reply within three minutes. They helped solve the problem immediately. Sangfor also gives you a warranty for any issues or defects with their hardware. If you find any issue, they will replace the hardware within five working days. We send any hardware that is faulty to our local country partner and they will do the RMA. When it comes to deployment environments, I like that you have options. If you want a hardware firewall, then you can use their hardware. Conversely, if you want a cloud firewall, then they can provide that, too.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
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 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 ...
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...
What do you like most about OPNsense?
What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?
I've used the free version. My computer with two network cards at home allows me to try as many different software op...
What do you like most about Sangfor NGAF?
I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I comp...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?
There is some difference in terms of pricing compared to Palo Alto. Sangfor NGAF is around 30% to 35% more cost-effec...
What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?
We will probably invest a little more time into the VDI solution - not specifically for security but for desktop comp...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
No data available
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
 

Learn More

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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
1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc.  3. EuroBSDCon  4. Netgate  5. Claranet  6. Voleatech  7. Open Systems AG  8. Securebit AG  9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH  10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH  Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Find out what your peers are saying about OPNsense vs. Sangfor NGAF and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.