Sangfor NGAF vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Sangfor and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Sangfor is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.9, while SonicWall is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.9. Sangfor holds a 1.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Sangfor 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 Jan 5, 2025

SonicWall TZ and Sangfor NGAF compete in the network security products category with strengths in varied areas. SonicWall TZ seems to have the upper hand due to its balance of cost-effectiveness and comprehensive security features.

Features: SonicWall TZ provides ease of configuration for firewall policies, routing, and VPN setup. It offers high availability units at a reduced cost and advanced security with deep packet inspection and application control. Sangfor NGAF is valued for its affordable and easy-to-use design, combining firewall and web application firewall functionalities with robust application control and efficient intrusion detection.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ users highlight the need for better reporting, GUI simplification, and enhanced content filtering, along with support issues. Sangfor NGAF users express challenges with the UI, deployment complexity, and seek better reporting and hardware scalability options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ is flexible across on-premises, public, and hybrid cloud environments, with noted lengthy support response times. Sangfor NGAF enjoys positive feedback for straightforward deployment and efficient support, though both face mixed reactions regarding technical support quality.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ offers competitive pricing with options and promotions, appealing to small to medium-sized businesses, with noted potential increased subscriptions offset by significant ROI. Sangfor NGAF's affordability and competitive pricing are appreciated, yet concerns about future price increases exist. Both products deliver positive ROI impacts, with SonicWall TZ noted for feature-rich offerings at economical costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall TZ Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall TZ

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 Sangfor NGAF is 1.2%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 2.7%, up from 2.2% 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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Zaid Farooqui

CIO at Indus Motor Company

Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support

We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.

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Rias Majeed

CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC

Robust VPN integration stands out despite needing enhanced vendor compatibility

The integrated VPN functionality is working well with the global VPN client, which is a fast client, though it comes at a cost. SonicWall TZ is functional depending on the service level taken by the user. For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well. Despite lacking certain features, it is still considered a good product. The appliance itself is functional and stable, offering integrated solutions.

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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

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

"One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The solution is scalable."

"Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."

"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."

"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."

"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It enables us to not only detect but also prevent various types of incoming threats, allowing us to take appropriate corrective actions and exercise control over the network."

"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."

"We've found the technical support to be helpful."

"Technical support is very good."

"Sangfor's tech features and technologies are more powerful than those of the other solution providers in terms of security. They also have big solutions in terms of cybersecurity."

"Sangfor NGAF works accordingly with our customers. The solution has good performance, easy to use, and integrates well with the endpoints."

"In terms of the most valuable features, the IPS report is quick and updated. Performance is also valuable."

"Sangfor is a good solution that provides a WAF and firewall solution. Most other vendors, like Sophos and Fortinet and Cisco, only provide one solution. That's a valuable feature of Sangfor."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

"It is very stable with no issues. The firewall's been up for the past 35 days non-stop. It's performed great. It has performed as it should perform."

"I like the firewall product, the security server, and the content filter."

"Customer service is excellent."

"It is a scalable solution."

"It's a very cost-effective solution."

"The most valuable features have been content filtering, and the interface is easy to navigate and to use."

"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."

"Good VPN connection."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the protection, it did not prevent us from being attacked. Additionally, Fortinet FortiGate could provide more features for WAF devices. I should not have to purchase two solutions, it would be a benefit to combine these features into one solution."

"Fortinet FortiGate can improve by integrating the web application firewall and the DDoS protection part of the solution. Having a WAF feature, web application firewall, and proxy together would be a good benefit."

"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."

"I would like to see improvements in the support from Fortinet. Here in the Philippines, whenever we have problems with a Fortinet product, we mostly ask for support from distributors and resellers and not directly from Fortinet."

"It should be more stable. There should be full integration within Fortinet products themselves as well as with other third-party products. Especially when you're not dealing with SIEM and the correlation of the security box, we want Fortinet to be able to share that information with as many other products as it can."

"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"I believe that IAM and NGFW need to merge into a single box, instead of there being two separate box solutions."

"The product must provide more IPS features."

"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."

"It does not offer any recommendations on how to mitigate or control attacks."

"Sangfor could improve their interface capacity on the 5100 series model and upgrade their hardware from one gig to 10 gig. This would improve the overall throughput."

"They need to improve their research team and they need to study their data to analyze it and build the product."

"The setup phase is quite complex."

"I feel Sangfor should follow the hierarchy and close deals via resellers instead of closing it all with their own team."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."

"The log analyzer in SonicWall TZ is something that they need to improve upon."

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

"In an upcoming release, SonicWall could improve by adding cloud management for all devices for free or at a nominal cost. Currently, they have a cloud management platform but is not free. We have the MySonicWall portal for purchasing from them for software updates and renewals."

"The market seems to be going to a cloud-supported, new generation of firewall products. I think that's probably going to be important to us, the next time around."

"The lack of support is having me look into other solutions to replace SonicWALL."

"You need to be a certificate holder to set it up and configure it. It's really important because it looks easy, but it is complex. You need to have the knowledge and experience. But this is normal for technical products. It's not a product for regular user. It's for technical people. You need to have skills."

"Sometimes there is a glitch between the network connection. Last time, something happened on our IP phone, the SonicWall team did some updates to fix the issue. However, glitches happen very rarely. I did not experience any other types of problems."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW."

"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."

"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."

"The license is too expensive to renew. The license renewal process is also complex."

"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."

"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."

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as three out of ten."

"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"Sangfor is cheaper than competing vendors."

"In my opinion, the price of the tool is good in the Pakistani market. We can easily get discounts if needed."

"Sangfor NGAF is a cheaply priced product, especially if I consider the previous product that was used in my company."

"The product is very cost-effective compared to other brands or vendors."

"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

"The prices are expensive."

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

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

"We have to pay yearly. Its licensing can be improved, and they should provide more features, such as AV, email filtering, and so on with the basic subscription."

"The license that we purchased is good for three years."

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

"The firewall with the servers costs about 80 pounds a month. We get the device, and it is replaced every two or three years."

"The price of SonicWall TZ is good for medium-sized companies."

More SonicWall TZ 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

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

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...

See all answers

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 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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?

The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?

The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardwa...

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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...

See all answers

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?

The pricing of SonicWall TZ is reasonable. I would also position its pricing as a three, where one is the lowest pric...

See all answers

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

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Sophos XG vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 16% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 3% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 16% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 1% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

December 2024

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

December 2024

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

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

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

Dell SonicWALL TZ

Learn More

Fortinet

Sangfor

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.

Sangfor Next Generation Firewall (also known as NGAF) is a converged security solution providing protection against advanced threat, malware, viruses, ransomware and web-based attacks using integrated security features like firewall, IPS, anti-virus, anti-malware, APT, URL filtering, Cloud Sandbox, and WAF. As the world's first AI-enabled and fully integrated Next Generation Firewall & Web Application Firewall (WAF), NGAF offering the security visibility, real-time detection and response, simplified operation and maintenance and high-performance application layer security needed to operate an enterprise network in total security. Tested and proven to provide cutting-edge network security by ICSA Labs and endorsed by Gartner Inc., NGAF harnesses the power of Sangfor’s Neural-X threat intelligence and analytics platform and Engine Zero’s innovative malware detection to provide next-generation protection for today’s enterprise.

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

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall TZ

January 2025

Free Report: Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall TZ

Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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