Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Palo Alto Networks and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8, while SonicWall is ranked #10 with an average rating of 9.0. Palo Alto Networks holds a 3.3% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 29, 2024

SonicWall TZ and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are competing products in the network security landscape. Based on user feedback, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls appear to have the upper hand due to their advanced features and performance, although SonicWall TZ is praised for its affordability and customer support.

Features: SonicWall TZ offers ease of use, robust security features, and suitability for small to medium businesses. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide comprehensive threat prevention, advanced visibility, and sophisticated features appealing to larger enterprises.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ users suggest enhancements in reporting tools, faster firmware updates, and more frequent feature releases. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls users mention complexities in setup, the need for extensive training, and occasional high resource usage issues.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ is favored for simpler and faster deployment with strong customer support. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have more complex deployment but offer excellent customer service that mitigates the challenging setup process.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ is considered cost-effective with a quicker return on investment due to lower initial setup costs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have higher setup costs but are valued for their advanced security capabilities and comprehensive protection, offering strong ROI over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall TZ Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall TZ

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

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 Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 3.3%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 2.6%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28

Senior Manager at Cognizant

Sep 25, 2024

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…

Read full review

Simon Webster

Security Architect at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Aug 16, 2022

We get reports back from WildFire on a minute-by-minute basis

The biggest thing that needs to be improved with them is their training. I took a training class for the 8.0 build, then I took it again for the 9.0 and 10 builds. They add new features every time that they do a new major release, but the training doesn't keep up. It is the same basic training that probably was with the 3.0 build, and they just change the screenshots. I would love to see them do some more work since they have all these bells and whistles, but we don't know how to use those features on a large scale. I know this little section here about the firewall, but I know there is a huge amount that still could be done with it. I am not touching enough of it because I just don't know how. It seems like the more I learn about it, the more I learn that there is to learn

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Sathish Ravichandran

Server & Cloud Architect at Icare

Oct 18, 2023

Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services

The multi-core architecture allows the running of multiple instances for checking files, even handling more than 2 GB of data. It has inbuilt reporting features, reducing the cost of external monitoring software. It's well-suited for organizations that need to transfer and scan large files. The scalability is good for small and medium-sized enterprises, but for organizations with more than 200 users, the cost can become a limiting factor. It is more suitable for large enterprises, especially for organizations with over 4,000 users. However, there could be flexibility in licensing, allowing organizations to cater to their specific needs and pay for the features and licenses they require. It can help reduce costs. I rate its scalability a seven out of ten.

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

"Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and affordable."

"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."

"The CLI is robust and powerful, enabling rapid, consistent changes via SSH."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."

"Fortinet FortiGate meets all the security demands of my industry. It covers endpoint security, including web interface, DNS security, and ELP. I'm currently using the latest version. The features that have most improved our network security are Web Control, filtering, application control, IDS, IPS policies, and Deep SSL inspection."

"FortiGate is flexible and easy to use."

"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."

"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The key aspect of this solution that provides the most value is its next-gen capabilities, which represented a significant change for us."

"We have found the application control to be the most valuable feature. Also, Layer 7, because all other products are working up to the maximum capacity. But Palo Alto is benefiting us, especially in application control management. We are able to differentiate between Oracle traffic and SQL traffic."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, combined with Cortex XDR, provide comprehensive threat intelligence and detection capabilities, ensuring superior security coverage."

"The solution is user-friendly. It's secure and easy to understand your network visibility, control the network, and prevent attacks."

"The centralization capability is the most valuable feature of this solution as it enables us to monitor our systems efficiently."

"Operationally, it is easier, and the manageability and their security features are good."

"It is critical that Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls embeds machine learning in the core of the firewall to provide inline, real-time attack prevention. In my environments, we have an integration with a third-party vendor. As soon as there is new information about new threats and the destination that they are trying to reach on any of our network devices, that traffic will be stopped."

"The most valuable features are web filtering and application filtering."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pros

"SonicWall TZ is stable."

"User-friendly firewall solution which scales well, is stable, and has high availability."

"I have found this solution to be easier to use when compared to other products, such as those offered by Cisco."

"With the main firewall routing there, we can do connectivity point-to-point. On the low bandwidth we can connect in all the branches with my corporate office."

"Once it's configured properly, the solution is unbreakable."

"It's a stable solution."

"I find the security we are able to do with the policies to be valuable. The monitoring is valuable as well."

"SonicWall TZ is very user-friendly and has network MAC binding. Additionally, the firewall works well."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall solution and once it's deployed, you can rest assured that your system is secure."

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

"Fortinet needs to overhaul its documentation."

"Its reporting capabilities can be improved. It should have some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and some degree of customization. The basic reporting that it currently has is not sufficient to create more usable reports. It needs some sort of out-of-the-box reporting. They try to make customers purchase FortiAnalyzer for this kind of reporting, which is an additional cost. Other firewall vendors, such as SonicWall and Sophos, provide this sort of reporting without any additional cost."

"The solution could be more secure and stable."

"It would be nice if FortiGate incorporated some built-in endpoint protection features. I would also like a built-in SOC dashboard for managing multiple Fortinet firewalls."

"The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more capabilities for troubleshooting VPN connections. For example, I do get some feedback about the current status, but I could use some history and logging of important events. The information is logged in our Syslog server, but I could use that information from the device. If they could provide a GUI to have some more insight on what's going with my VPN would be useful."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Its stability can be better. Their technical response from the support side can also be better."

"The customer-facing side needs to be improved in terms of the engagement and involvement of support staff."

"I would like to see more in terms of reporting tools and the threat analysis capabilities."

"Enhancements could potentially be made to the firmware to improve its inspectability."

"The bugs can be improved."

"We need better affiliations for profiling the user."

"The functionalities are limited."

"Technical support is an area that could be improved."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls cons

"Its pricing can be better. It is very expensive."

"I can't get the support that I need from SonicWall."

"I expect to see SD-WAN in the tool's next release. The product should implement a content filtering feature. You need to put an agent on the user's laptop device. It would enforce security policies and block sites even if they were off-site. You can block sites from network sites."

"The stability could be a lot better."

"There is a point I don't like about SonicWall in the past and now. Most of the destinations we look at when we're detecting some user using too much bandwidth or something like that, SonicWall just gave us destination IP address, instead of the full qualified domain name. I think that's the most important part that is still missing. I think that's the most important for us."

"The solution's antivirus checking could be improved so that we can have a deeper inspection of the packets."

"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."

"There is still room for improvement, and it's not advisable even if the organization has grown."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The support subscription for the solution is annual. You are paying for support and there are two levels of support, professional and advanced."

"Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment."

"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."

"The Indian market is different than the European and American markets. When you compare they need to be a bit more aggressive on pricing."

"The pricing is flexible."

"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."

"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The solution’s cost is a little high compared to other products."

"Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive compared to other solutions."

"Compared to other firewall solutions, this is an expensive solution."

"This is an expensive product and there is a subscription cost."

"With Palo Alto, the licensing is very straightforward. For example, if you only have a requirement for a firewall, you can go with that. If you want to go with a subscription, you get all the features with it."

"Palo Alto is like Mercedes-Benz. It is quite expensive, but the price is definitely justified."

"Palo Alto is one of the most expensive firewalls in the world. Everyone knows that. But you need at least one layer from Palo Alto to protect your environment because it is the strongest company in the security field."

"I would assume that it's still within mid-range given its company structure and everything else. My guess is it's still okay."

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls pricing and cost advice

"License renewals come in around $35,000 to $45,000."

"It is an expensive solution compared to one of its competitors."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

"The prices are expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"It comes to a range between five hundred to seven hundred dollars."

"The product pricing is relatively good, compared to other products, including the licenses."

"The price is high compared to some other solutions."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Educational Organization

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 a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?

Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

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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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Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?

I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with simila...

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What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?

The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...

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

SonicWall TZ is priced average compared to other products. We usually compare prices from different local suppliers t...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Check Point NGFW vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 15% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 13% of the time

Meraki MX vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 10% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 9% of the time

Sophos XG vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

Compared 9% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Competitors

Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 16% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

November 2024

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls

November 2024

Download Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

October 2024

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

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

Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall

Dell SonicWALL TZ

Learn More

Fortinet

Palo Alto Networks

SonicWall

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate enhances network security, prevents unauthorized access, and offers robust firewall protection. Valued features include advanced threat protection, reliable performance, and a user-friendly interface. It improves efficiency, streamlines processes, and boosts collaboration, providing valuable insights for informed decision-making and growth.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer comprehensive security, including application control, traffic shaping, threat prevention, and load balancing, designed to secure internal networks, perimeter protection, VPN services, and cloud environments.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are a key choice for managing and protecting data centers, securing remote access, network segmentation, malware prevention, and ensuring high availability and performance for business-critical applications. Known for stability and strong security, these firewalls use application-aware identifiers and IPS/IDS subscriptions to offer advanced threat protection. The unified platform facilitates seamless integration, while GlobalProtect and centralized management via Panorama enhance ease of use. However, there are areas for improvement, including pricing strategies, training, user support, and integration with third-party applications.

What are the essential features?

Stability: Reliable performance in different environments.
Application Control: Identifies applications to manage traffic.
Advanced Threat Protection: Includes DNS security, WildFire, and machine learning.
GlobalProtect: Secure remote access for users.
Centralized Management: Managed via the Panorama platform.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Security: Protects against threats with robust features.
User-Friendly: Simplified interface and easy configuration.
High Availability: Ensures performance for critical applications.
Integration: Seamless with existing systems and applications.
Support: Reliable technical support and resources.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls secure sensitive data and meet regulatory requirements. These firewalls help manage large-scale networks in these sectors, providing essential security features and maintaining high-performance standards. They are implemented to ensure compliance, protect patient information, secure financial transactions, and safeguard customer data.

The secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.

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

SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall TZ

October 2024

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall TZ

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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