OPNsense vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM comparison

OPNsense and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 97% of OPNsense users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between OPNsense and Sophos Cyberoam UTM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed OPNsense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM

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

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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Eddy Ramirez

IT Security Director at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Good interface and firewall capabilities and overall easy to use

The security has improved as we can isolate the network. We can do attrition prevention via a tool that comes with the solution. We can have a VPN solution in place for those that work from home, outside the network, in a secure manner. We also like that it offers good authentication. It offers radius-based authentication, which has been useful for the company. The main platform is under the Open VPN firewall. The solution has high availability. When we have different ISPs, we can actually load balance those links or actually put some priority or even classify the traffic that might go into one ISP or another.

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Kiarash Heydari

Information security manager at asa com

Stable and has a straightforward setup; reporting is fast and easy

Sophos Cyberoam UTM has room for improvement in specific rules-based objects and redesign. The solution also needs to improve in adding rules and policies, including renewing and finding policies. The Sophos team should make Sophos Cyberoam UTM policies and rules better and more useful than the old ones because that can be difficult and confusing sometimes. For example, adding policies or rules can be confusing, and that can be risky. To improve Sophos Cyberoam UTM, Sophos should add an IPS or IDS signature feature in the current plans offered to customers. Upgrading or patching the solution can be slow, so that's another area for improvement. In the next version of Sophos Cyberoam UTM, I want it to have an appliance management feature, similar to what's in FortiManager, where you can connect all appliances and manage the devices because that would be easier in terms of reporting.

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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

"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."

"The solution is highly scalable because they have devices that can handle a large amount of traffic."

"The license management is very valuable. You can get a new license each year, or you can enroll every two to four years. You can get the logs, and you will get the information on the risk in your network and the entire organization. With this information, you can take action on your actives, computers, or devices. You can bring your own device as an SSE."

"Fortinet FortiGate appears to be scalable."

"Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible."

"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."

"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."

"The initial setup is easy."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The system in general is quite flexible."

"It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."

"The solution has high availability."

"It's more secure and more reliable."

"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."

"It's open source."

"It has an open license. It works very well, and there is an update every month."

"The tool's integration is more like a button press."

More OPNsense pros

"The solution is easy to use."

"Bandwidth Management and aggregation. It is valuable for combining two ISPs. Switching to a secondary/redundant ISP is thus seamless, in the event that the primary ISP goes down. The Bandwidth Management is also valuable for limiting heavy downloaders that may impact negatively on the experience of other users."

"The tool is stable."

"The solution is excellent for web and application filtering and remote access with the VPN."

"Having a firewall solution with a data quota is very important when the bandwidth is limited, which really distinguishes it from other products."

"Technical support is excellent."

"Cyberoam UTM's most valuable feature is that it can be configured any way you like."

"The most valuable feature of Sophos Cyberoam UTM is the SD-WAN gateway."

More Sophos Cyberoam UTM pros

Cons

"Web security solutions can be improved."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."

"Technical support for this solution can be improved."

"I would like to see more advanced developments of a wireless controller in the future."

"The platform's interface could improve."

"The solution needs to improve its integration with cybersecurity."

"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."

"Fortinet currently has many products bundled with FortiGate including the basic firewall and load balancer, and I think that that they need to have separate product portfolios for each of these specialized services."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."

"There should be more technical documentation."

"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."

"The logging could improve in OPNsense."

"pfSense has better performance and quicker updates."

"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."

"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."

"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."

More OPNsense cons

"Smaller CR15 units don’t have a hard disc or built in IView software. These units could do with that feature."

"They could improve the product by enhancing hardware reliability, addressing occasional memory overflow issues, and improving scalability without compromising performance."

"The solution had a feature to import users from a CSV file. However, the latest version does not have that option."

"We have had some issues with technical support, which is an area that needs improvement."

"VPN configuration is not very swift."

"The solution is at its end of life and some of the appliances are finishing."

"The product had a hang issue. We needed to reboot, recreate the image, and reconfigure the previous image because the product hanged frequently."

"I would like to see real-time alerts on traffic insights."

More Sophos Cyberoam UTM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its licenses cost the same for different subscription plans."

"We pay for the solution annually."

"Our licensing costs are on a yearly basis."

"Its price is affordable and lesser than Cisco. Cisco is expensive. In terms of licensing, there is only one issue. If a customer's license has expired a month ago and they do the renewal after one month, Fortinet renews the license from the start of the previous month. The activation of the product is done from the previous month, not from the date of renewal. The customers usually shout and complain that because they are paying today, the renewal should start from today. The support contract renewals or licensing should be renewed from the date of renewal, but Fortinet starts from the day it had expired. It is a loss for customers. They might have had some problems because of which they did not take the license one month before. Fortinet should work on this. Cisco doesn't do this. Cisco always starts from the day they apply for the license."

"Work through partners for the best pricing."

"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."

"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."

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

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."

"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."

"It costs about $1000."

"It's not expensive."

"It is open source and free."

"Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls. You can have a small instance that could be €80 a month with the hardware underneath. Azure Firewall and FortiGate are out of the question at this price. If you are on a public cloud, you need the underlying infrastructure. Other than that, there is no additional cost. If you have it on-prem, you have to buy the server or the appliance. The hardware cost is replaced with the infrastructure cost in the cloud. You also have costs for the public IPs and underlying VMs, but that's not related to OPNsense. It would be the same for a FortiGate deployment on Azure. You need a FortiGate license, and you need the underlying infrastructure that scales up depending on your needs."

"It is not an expensive product. Basically, I deployed it because it was the fastest solution to satisfy our needs in open source."

"It's a free solution."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

"It is very reasonably priced as compared to other solutions in the market."

"Prices are very high."

"Sophos Cyberoam UTM has many price schemes."

"The solution's pricing is good since it is neither too high nor too low"

"The product’s pricing is expensive."

"I am not happy with the pricing, it could be better."

"There is a license for this solution and it is priced competitively. We paid approximately $2,000 for the license."

"The solution’s pricing is average. The product is worth the money."

More Sophos Cyberoam UTM pricing and cost advice

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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

16%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

30%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Media Company

10%

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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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 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 OPNsense?

What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?

I consider the pricing of OPNsense to be high when compared with other market products. However, as a free firewall p...

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What do you like most about Sophos Cyberoam UTM?

The solution works perfectly without any users.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Cyberoam UTM?

The solution has a reasonable price.

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What needs improvement with Sophos Cyberoam UTM?

They could improve the product by enhancing hardware reliability, addressing occasional memory overflow issues, and i...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 23% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 54% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos XG vs OPNsense

Compared 7% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

Sophos XGS vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM

Compared 26% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM

Compared 14% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM

Compared 10% of the time

More Sophos Cyberoam UTM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

December 2024

Download OPNsense product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Cyberoam UTM

December 2024

Download Sophos Cyberoam UTM product report

Also Known As

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

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Fortinet

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OPNsense

Sophos

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.

OPNsense is widely used for firewall functionalities, intrusion detection, VPN and IPSec, content filtering, securing network traffic, and remote access. It protects internal networks and manages servers securely, suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.

OPNsense is a comprehensive firewall solution leveraging open-source technology. It integrates with third-party modules like WireGuard and CrowdSec, enhancing its security capabilities. Offering on-premises and cloud deployment, it features an intuitive graphical interface, advanced reporting, VPN functionality, IDS/IPS features, and high scalability. Users find it ideal for small businesses and home networks due to its stability and ease of use. Frequent updates and an active community support its continuous improvement. However, it needs advancements in VPN selection, scalability, and technical documentation. Enhanced high availability, threat intelligence, and integration with virtualization platforms are required. User feedback suggests improvements in connectivity, alerting, traffic monitoring, and antivirus protection.

What are the key features of OPNsense?

Strong Firewall: Robust firewall capabilities for securing network traffic.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Effective IDS/IPS for threat mitigation.
VPN Functionality: Comprehensive VPN support including WireGuard.
Content Filtering: DNS-level filtering for enhanced security.
Advanced Reporting: In-depth traffic analysis and reporting features.
High Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
Integration Capabilities: Works with third-party modules like CrowdSec.
Intuitive GUI: User-friendly graphical interface enhances usability.

What benefits should users look for in OPNsense reviews?

Security: High level of protection for internal networks.
Manageability: Easy management of servers and network traffic.
Cost-Effective: Open-source nature reduces costs.
Reliability: Stable performance suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Community Support: Active community and frequent updates.

OPNsense is implemented across various industries to secure network infrastructure and ensure reliable connectivity. In fintech, it safeguards sensitive financial data while maintaining compliance. Educational institutions deploy it to protect student information and enable secure remote learning environments. Healthcare organizations use it to secure patient data and comply with HIPAA regulations. By integrating with tools like WireGuard and CrowdSec, businesses enhance their cybersecurity posture and streamline network management, making OPNsense a versatile choice for diverse operational needs.

Cyberoam Unified Threat Management hardware appliances offer comprehensive security to organizations, ranging from large enterprises to small and branch offices. Multiple security features integrated over a single, Layer 8 Identity-based platform make security simple, yet highly effective.

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.

Gulf Corporation for Technology, Maridive & Oil Services, Fidelity Bank, Petra University, Capital FM Kenya, Safari Park Hotel and Casino, Mayfair Casino, Pacific International Lines, Mozambique Ministry of Education, University of Namibia, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, University of Hawai, New Delhi Municipal Council

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM

January 2025

Free Report: OPNsense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM

Find out what your peers are saying about OPNsense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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