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SonicWall NSSP vs SonicWall NSa comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSSP
Ranking in Firewalls
39th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSSP is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Vijay Mohan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a simple console to manage multiple branches and content filtering
The centralized console is great for managing multiple branches. It's a very simple console to connect all three of our branches in the US and India. We connect through three firewalls in a single console and manage any policy. So, if we need to change a policy, the global admin can connect from anywhere and easily make changes. Log usage is also very easy. The threat prevention capabilities are very good. Preventing the latest threats is very easy. You can define rules, and it automatically alerts you. For example, if there's a sudden increase in malicious spam, it will notify you immediately.
Lenin Christopher - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security with advanced threat protection and superior support
We serve as an integrator for SonicWall, deploying this solution for customers in the media and entertainment, banking, and finance sectors. We use SonicWall to protect their environments against digital attacks SonicWall has helped us deliver security solutions effectively, particularly in…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use a southern institution that's audited for IT security and the reporting that automatically comes off the unit makes it much easier to meet compliance standards and makes it easier as far as the amount of time that has to be spent to compile that information. If you get your reporting set up correctly when you initially set it up, you just select the one you want and hit print. The auditing trail on it is the best feature."
"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."
"The multi-tenancy feature is most valuable. It integrates very well with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer."
"The FortiGate controls the user's activities and maximizes my bandwidth use overall."
"The solution is stable."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."
"The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface."
"I think that the UTM features are the most value, as it truly protects my infrastructure."
"Overall SonicWall NSa is a good solution for our use case."
"The tool's most valuable feature is application security. I am satisfied with its threat-prevention capabilities and have no issues with its incident response rate. We have no issues with its integration."
"It has a very good user interface."
"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."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The most valuable features are that it is reasonably-priced and works well."
"When I switched from Fortinet to SonicWall, the number of network attacks significantly decreased."
"Easy to scale solution that provides advanced threat protection. Their technical support is very good, very knowledgeable, and easy to reach."
"The solution's pricing is good."
"SonicWall has helped us deliver security solutions effectively, particularly in threat prevention and content filtering."
"SonicWall NSSP is stable and scalable too."
"The VPN functionality is really good. Overall, the whole device is very easy to manage. The software that comes with it is also good."
"The product's most valuable features are simplicity and comprehensive protection capabilities, including load balancing, IPS, antivirus, and web filtering."
"It has been delivering results efficiently. Its configurations and updates have been easy. It is also user-friendly."
"I like the filtering feature, which provides easy access. The SSL certification feature is also nice. The solution enhanced our security posture."
 

Cons

"The routing capability on the FortiGate devices has room for improvement."
"The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now."
"We had a minor problem where there was a major system upgrade on the hardware platfrom and the Mac client was not available as soon as it might have been. The PC client was available immediately, but we had to wait a month or so, before there was a mac client. I was slightly irritated that it was not ready on time, but it was eventually resolved."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"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."
"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"
"It doesn't require much improvement. The only improvement area is that cloud reporting, assessment reporting, and other reporting features should be available with the subscription. They should provide reporting features with the subscription base, which is currently not there. We bought the reporting tool, but there are some complications. They have made some changes to the application, and now the reporting management is completely on the cloud."
"They are not ready for managed security services. Their Cloud GMS product is weak, barely out of beta (buggy)."
"My company can't connect directly with SonicWall's support team, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The product could expand its throughput capacity."
"The product has a lot of bugs, actually. We are facing some issues with this product. The DPI SSL feature which is there, it is not working properly."
"Initially, it may be difficult for some people to learn and become acquainted with it."
"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."
"It would help us a lot of SonicWall sent us more information about the latest updates and things that are changing."
"The product needs improvement for phishing emails."
"No security product is foolproof against hackers, intruders, and other such things. As a security product, they have to keep pace in terms of protection from new hackers and intruders."
"The user interface, the GUI, could be improved."
"The solution's stability and scalability also need improvement."
"The EDR and XDR capabilities of SonicWall need to be improved."
"The platform could benefit from an improved marketing strategy."
"Its reporting functions can be improved. It has decent reporting, but you got to pay a lot more money for it. That's where it begins to fall apart. It comes with minimal zero reporting unless you buy some extra modules. With those extra modules, you can get all the data, but it takes a while to put together what you need for your customer. It is for technical people, but there is no executive summary of the reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."
"It's expensive, but compared to the competition it's okay."
"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."
"It's very affordable."
"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."
"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."
"SonicWall is not an expensive solution."
"The CPUs are not able to compete with a similar price point to the Fortinet, WatchGuard, or Palo Alto product."
"SonicWall NSa's pricing is subscription-based and I rate it a six out of ten."
"It's become difficult to get the best price from SonicWall."
"SonicWall still is only a dollar or Euro per gigabit. This means, of the IPsec, it's the cheapest solution."
"Its price is okay."
"NSa is not expensive, not high. It's at a moderate or medium level."
"The price is reasonable for what it does."
"The pricing is cheap, and that's where, you know, the some of the organization goes for the SonicWall."
"The setup costs and licensing are reasonable, and the solution provides good value for its features."
"For SonicWall NSSP high availability, active/passive, you need to buy one license, and so you get much more value for money."
"You got to buy some VPN licenses, and there might be a $40 to $50 one-time license fee per current user. There are different layers. They have several different levels of event security software and depending on the model, it seems to come out to be $1 to $2 a day. So, if you bought a three-year license, it is going to be anywhere from $900 to $1800 depending on the bundle and model that you buy."
"I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

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 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?
I would rate the price of the product as seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
There are some aspects of the dashboard configuration or customization that could be improved.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSSP?
SonicWall is a rather expensive solution with a rating of eight out of ten regarding its pricing. Despite being expen...
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSSP?
The EDR and XDR capabilities of SonicWall need to be improved. When compared to a brand like SentinelOne, SonicWall s...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
SonicWall Network Security Services Platform
 

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
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
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall NSSP vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.