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SonicWall NSa vs Sophos XGS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos XGS
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.5%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XGS is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Swapnil Kulkarni - PeerSpot reviewer
Good user interface, quick configuration modules but faced hardware issues
It could be improved in the reporting format. The way their analysis software is working, they need to improve their reporting. Second, I think they need to improve their security at the endpoint level, in the SD-WAN area. Apart from this, the main drawbacks are their support and hardware failure. In our last four to five years with the NSa 3600, we have faced hardware failure two to three times. Even though they replaced the hardware, we still faced the issue.
MarounAbboud - PeerSpot reviewer
Gives us peace of mind with network security, application control, and web server protection
Having previously worked with the Astaro Security Gateway platform (now called Sophos UTM), I can attest that the configuration and dashboard for this older platform was easier to manage than that of both Sophos XG and XGS. If it were up to me, I would prefer to go back to the older SG dashboard. I am hoping that in future, the dashboard for Sophos XGS will be simpler and easier.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
"The pricing is excellent. It's much less expensive than Cisco."
"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."
"The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the features, like content filtering. The firewall is powerful."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."
"What's most important is the ease of use."
"The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus."
"The firewall feature is most valuable since my work is to analyze if there is any potential attack. SonicWall NSa gives the perfect analysis."
"SonicWall NSA is easy to deploy, easy to maintain, and easy to configure."
"Valuable features include a web filter, DHCP, and monitoring capabilities."
"It has good reporting, the reporting is marvelous."
"It also looks at VPN and site-to-site connections."
"The features I found most valuable are email security and web filtering."
"The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites."
"Our old firewall was running as HA (High Availability) on two different but identical rack mounted servers. Moving to SonicWall allowed the company to move to one unit, yet accommodate more connections because it had sixteen ports and handled fail-over better than the old firewall solution."
"Spam filtering is what I love most about XGS."
"The most valuable features of Sophos XGS for me are XGS IPS, SD-WAN, VPN setup, email protection, and integration with endpoint security."
"The solution is scalable."
"The feature that I find most valuable is the synchronized security option where the endpoint talks to the firewall."
"It’s popular because it’s easy to manage, the cloud console is excellent, and it supports VPNs. It can also integrate with endpoints, though this is optional. Regarding threat intelligence, customers in Central Europe often prefer managing their threat hunting rather than using the more expensive service from Sophos. This feature is handy for large international companies with many employees. Threat intelligence requires separate licensing and is optional. Customers can either manage it themselves or purchase the additional service from Sophos, which includes further actions and is more expensive. Smaller companies often don’t have the budget for this."
"Sophos XGS has very good reporting capabilities and effective IPS signatures based on the latest versions."
"I recommend Sophos XGS because it is easy to use, more secure, and scalable."
"The valuable features of Sophos XGS include network protection, web protection, application control, intrusion detection, and iCentral orchestration."
 

Cons

"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more storage in the hardware for log data."
"I think there could be more QoS features"
"They've become quite expensive."
"It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The detection of malware can improve in SonicWall NSa."
"Competitors provide SSL encryption licenses for free, whereas SonicWall only provides two licenses by default, but you have to pay for the rest of the licenses."
"The cost could be lower. There could also be more flexibility for smaller companies."
"The problem primarily with SonicWall is it's a Unix box. And it's all software, all the activities, blocking, censoring, everything has to happen in the software. If you start hitting the box with a lot of sessions it slows down and that's not what I expect from a firewall."
"It is not scalable. If your enterprise is growing hard then you have to buy another, bigger product. Maybe if you use it virtually it is more scalable."
"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."
"Some of the configurations could be better."
"This product is unable to secure access to endpoints for our external employees."
"Sophos XGS changes every two years, so we must update our knowledge. We can only test it with real requirements or problems to find scalability and reliability. We can't find these in normal testing. We can see reviews based on Gartner reports, but sometimes, we really feel problems. It can create many issues, even compatibility problems with fiber modules. Only system integrators or installers find these problems."
"There could be improvements for IPsec VPN setup."
"They should customers who are facing issues with their product reviews; they found bots in it. If they can do their proper research and use the user analysis and testing, that would greatly help the clients."
"We'd like an interface that can monitor everything."
"All the security features could be better."
"The solution could be easier to manage and configure."
"Sophos XGS could improve the automation system. It could be better if there was some level of automation, attacks automation, meaning if this happens, then it automatically executes a particular process."
"Sophos configurations are a bit complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."
"The pricing of the solution is very competitive."
"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."
"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."
"Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."
"The price could be lower."
"​We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW.​"
"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"While I don't know the exact amount off the top of my head, I would estimate the licensing package was about $15,000 to $20,000 a year."
"Additional resources are too expensive."
"The solution is cheaper than others."
"You need their analyzer to properly generate reports. This is an expensive, licensed feature, with a complex application or appliance back-end."
"The solution is expensive. Its pricing is based on the number of users."
"The price is reasonable for what it does."
"NSa is not expensive, not high. It's at a moderate or medium level."
"SonicWall NSa's pricing is subscription-based and I rate it a six out of ten."
"I would like to see them reduce the price."
"The price of Sophos XGS is less than competitors worldwide. However, in Turkey the solution is expensive."
"The licensing is reasonable. Comparing the cost of Sophos XGS with that of Fortinet or Palto Alto firewalls, for instance, it's not that expensive. However, the overall cost depends on the hardware you're using in addition to the licensing cost."
"It is roughly around $4,000."
"We paid around 17,000 pounds for a three-year package."
"Sophos XGS is a cost-effective solution."
"XGS' price could be lower, though it's moderately priced in the market."
"The pricing for Sophos is much better compared to that of Fortinet and Check Point. On a scale from one to five with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate Sophos' pricing at four. The pricing can be for the hardware appliance and the license, or it can be subscription-based. It can be around 3000 USD up to 25,000 USD per year depending on the model or series of the hardware you choose to buy."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
5%
 

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?
SonicWall is much cheaper compared to Fortinet, particularly regarding renewal and licensing costs.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
I would like more free VPN licenses. It would be beneficial if they could enhance the analytics part. It needs to be ...
What do you like most about Sophos XGS?
The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos XGS?
If the pricing model is more flexible or lower, it would be highly preferable, making it a more competitive option fo...
What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?
The user interface has improved significantly over the past few years, and having a more competitive price model coul...
 

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
No data available
 

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall NSa vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.