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Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs SonicWall NSa comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd)
SonicWall NSa
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Palo Alto Networks WildFire is designed for Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and holds a mindshare of 13.2%, up 12.1% compared to last year.
SonicWall NSa, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 1.5% mindshare, up 1.2% since last year.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Mario Lacroix - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 11, 2024
Provides seamless automation functionality and has a straightforward setup process
We use the product to enhance threat detection and response. We utilize it as part of a broader security ecosystem to monitor and block potential cyber threats. Our environment includes multiple financial clients and has tailored rules for specific needs, such as anti-fraud measures. The solution…
Swapnil Kulkarni - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 29, 2024
Good user interface, quick configuration modules but faced hardware issues
I use it for security purposes. To secure our network from outside the network. It is our gateway security solution where we can identify and filter out all the networks that come from outside of our network.  SonicWall NSa 3600 model has a very good user interface, and with its quick…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are multiple features like management, intrusion prevention (IPS), URL filtering, anti-spam, and antivirus."
"Stability is never a concern."
"The analysis is very fast."
"It is stable and pretty much scalable."
"They have many different options with Palo Alto WildFire and the set-up is quick. If you have all the details in hand, it does not take more than 15 minutes to deploy a firewall."
"It has a user-friendly interface."
"WildFire's application encryption is useful."
"It catches modified signatures of known viruses."
"The most valuable feature of SonicWall NSa is the control aspect of the solution."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"What I like best about SonicWall NSa is the security it offers compared to other solutions in the market. Its reduction rate is also better than others."
"SonicWall has USCS and anti-virus at the gateway level. Everything is filtered, and if it detects an intruder, it drops the line."
"The filtering is excellent."
"Deep packet inspection and intelligent application control are the most valuable features. It is a very updated solution. It is very current as compared to other brands and vendors."
"SonicWall provides endpoint security with advanced protection. Moreover, SonicWall includes access points and additional features."
"The DPI-SSL is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's handy."
 

Cons

"The support is good but they could be faster."
"The configuration should be made a little bit easier. I understand why it is as it is, but there should be a way to make it easier from the user side."
"Palo Alto doesn't do much to support the on-premise version. It wants too much self-support for the on-premise version of WildFire."
"The deployment model could be better."
"The initial setup was complex."
"The size of Palo Alto's cloud is big but it could be easier to use from a product management perspective."
"There are more specialized solutions that compete with Wildfire. Therefore, they need to work on their machine learning and AI to be more competitive."
"The system uptime data is unavailable"
"A room for improvement in SonicWall NSa is the log server because it could be more user-friendly compared to Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. My company has many rule sets up for review, so sometimes, my team needs to use Excel for filtering, but the UI cannot support the Excel function."
"Overall, Im satisfied with SonicWall NSa, but it would be better if they could add a small terminal to each device. This would help me deal with certain issues by running a small bot onto any PC."
"We also need to increase the throughput because the other devices are slower. The throughput will become slow. Since we're using VoIP, it tends to affect the voice quality. Even if you're using a quality service, it tends to decrease."
"The ongoing service fees are high."
"SonicWall NSa doesn't have a proxy. It also needs a quota management feature in specific scenarios where you must limit user bandwidth for a particular day."
"We have security as a service, and they make recommendations about adding to the denylist and other things. That part could be more accessible and more user-friendly. I'd like to see SonicWall add a user-friendly interface where our internal team can drag and drop everything."
"We have used other solutions such as pfSense and Linux native firewalls. I prefer SonicWall NSa but if you are going to use something for an enterprise you need another solution."
"Potential improvement around the associated VPN cost"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive, a feature more accessible to enterprise class customers, but provides an enhanced possibility that Zero- or near-Zero-day threats may be identified and mitigated. The cost of the product weighed against the potential impact of even one successful crypto malware-type exploit may justify the expense."
"The solution is worth its price"
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"WildFire is a little bit pricey. Sometimes it's difficult to sell it to customers at the current price."
"It's comparable to what the competition is. It is probably a little lesser than what the competition is because, as a state government, we go for whatever the lowest cost is."
"There are different types of licenses."
"The solution is a bit expensive. You pay for security."
"The pricing is affordable and fixed."
"SonicWall NSa's pricing is subscription-based and I rate it a six out of ten."
"The price is high. I would rate it four to five out of ten."
"We are on a three-year license for the solution. The price is inexpensive compared to other solutions."
"Its price is okay."
"There are different pricing models for SonicWall NSa."
"The price is reasonable for what it does."
"A firewall doing anti-spam might be a low cost solution, but it is not your best strategy."
"The solution is expensive. Its pricing is based on the number of users."
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSa?
The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?
Pricing is reasonable. I would rate it seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
Certain features like SD-WAN are sometimes confusing to configure. One important feature that should be provided by default is SSL VPN, without needing a separate license.
 

Also Known As

No data available
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and others in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.