SonicWall TZ vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

SonicWall and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. SonicWall is ranked #20 with an average rating of 9.0, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.6. SonicWall holds a 2.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of SonicWall users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

SonicWall TZ and Zscaler Cloud Firewall are competitors in the network security category, offering features that cater to different organizational needs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall appears to have the upper hand in cloud-based services, with enhanced scalability and advanced security features such as CASB and DLP.

Features: SonicWall TZ provides strong network protection with features like VPN support, content filtering, and high security coverage through various models. It offers user-friendly management and high throughput. Zscaler Cloud Firewall delivers advanced cloud security services with features like sandboxing, URL filtering, data leak prevention, and seamless scalability through its cloud architecture.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ can improve the user interface and reporting, and enhance mail security and DPI SSL Inspection performance. Better hardware updates and less Dell influence are suggested for improved performance. Zscaler Cloud Firewall could enhance compatibility with legacy systems and provide more customization similar to on-premises solutions, alongside better user-based policy implementation and enhanced data center coverage for traffic filtering.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ supports on-premises deployment, offering robust local control but often requiring a more extensive initial setup. Customer service is generally good, although support wait times and technical expertise can vary. Zscaler Cloud Firewall, being cloud-centric, provides a smoother deployment with minimal hardware needs but faces challenges in support consistency and geographical service availability. Cloud-based operations demand specific support improvements to meet customer expectations.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ has a flexible pricing model beneficial for small businesses, despite additional costs for licenses and support. The pricing is competitive but may dissuade smaller users due to higher costs than some alternatives. Zscaler Cloud Firewall's pricing reflects its comprehensive cloud services, offering different tiers to accommodate customer choice. Despite being seen as expensive compared to on-premise offerings, it ensures returns by preventing security breaches and maintaining operational continuity.

To learn more, read our detailed SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 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 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 TZ is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% 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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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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Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Though it helps deal with web traffic or any malicious traffic, it needs to work on its DC performance issues

The product's initial setup phase is moderate in level, so it is neither very complex nor very easy. For the deployment, my company first needs to gather all the requirements of the users and the domain names and consider how many users there are in the company. In the implementation and planning part, my company needs to consider what kind of policies we will create while ensuring that the policies are created based on the requirements of the users. There is a need to segregate the users' requirements since there are separate departments in the company, like the HR department, sales department, IT department, and manufacturing department, so that our company can create policies depending on their requirements. On-site, if you want a GRE tunnel, our company can handle GRE tunnel traffic routing and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, after which Zscaler will take action based on the policies created by our organization. For the deployments and maintenance, a team of five members consisting of two managers and three engineers is required.

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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

"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."

"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."

"Provides good firewall security and has great VPN features."

"The ability to set up remote systems is the most valuable feature."

"The price-to-performance ratio for using Fortinet FortiGate is always better compared to any other competitor, so they are rated better than the likes of Check Point or Palo Alto."

"Fortinet FortiGate has a threat detection capacity compared to other vendors."

"The pricing is excellent. It's much less expensive than Cisco."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is URL filtering."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"We are able to block whatever we want to block by using this product. It provides all required security features, such as content filtering, VPN, in one box. Before switching to SonicWall, we had specified all required features."

"Access restriction and IP whitelisting are the most valuable features."

"The solution boasts good performance and is easy to use."

"It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is good for protecting the business from being compromised. Its port protection is very good."

"SonicWall TZ think it's a good, solid, and stable product."

"Good site categorization and application controls."

"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."

"The scalability of SonicWall TZ is good and easy to add users."

More SonicWall TZ pros

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"Zscaler provides effective protection against various cyber threats ensuring a safe environment"

"It helps a lot of companies to reduce their downtime. Also, It helps businesses in terms of being secured and protected from any threats."

"Once you have Zscaler running you have access to configure it however you want."

"The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution."

"Zscaler is still a very good product."

"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall understands the applications in the current generation and adapts to the present generation cloud applications."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."

"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."

"Fortinet needs more memory to save the log files. We need it to save the logs on the hardware and not in the cloud. I know this feature is available in FortiCloud, but if we need this log locally, it is not available."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution. However, my issue is the performance only. When I use all the profiles, this affects the performance. From the beginning, I should have had a better sizing of the box."

"The solution could be improved by addressing limited local reporting. It requires obtaining the FortiAnalyzer for proper visibility because you can't do much from a reporting perspective with just the firewall alone."

"Its pricing can be better."

"Fortinet Fortigate could benefit by simplifying some of their processes."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The monitoring is a little bit confusing."

"They should consider working a bit more on their ransomware application."

"The log sections could be done more clearly."

"An additional feature that I would like to see is reporting that includes metrics to give me more information about the number of viruses that it has actually detected and interrupted."

"The price could be better for us in Bolivia."

"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."

"If the operation increases and the bandwidth consumption increases, it does not perform as per the expectations."

"I currently have two of the issues from SonicWall. One issue is that the IP is not the public IP. Sometimes it moves to an alternate source and I have to refresh the new IP then we can go on."

More SonicWall TZ cons

"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"

"Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP."

"It would be nice to have some sort of a form factor, a physical form factor perhaps, or virtual machine that you could install on devices or on a cloud, and have some cloud computing."

"Because it's on cloud, it doesn't allow application of extra settings."

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"It would be better if they improved their policy, package visibility, and flexibility while we're creating rules for inspection. It could also be cheaper or more things could be included in the basic package. In the next release, I would like better coverage in the Asia Pacific region and better quality of service."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I had to pay for the license for the firewall, but it is guaranteed to have updates. I expect a good service for it. It was about €1000 for a year, and there was no additional cost."

"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."

"The price is highly competitive when compared to other brands that offer similar functionality."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."

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

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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

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

"Its pricing is okay as compared to other solutions."

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

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

"The solution is expensive."

"I give the price an eight out of ten."

"The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"There are different subscription models available."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

21%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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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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?

The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required ...

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Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

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What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need ...

See all answers

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 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 18% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 17% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Multicloud Defense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

March 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

March 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

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

Dell SonicWALL TZ

No data available

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.

Fortinet

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.

SonicWall

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

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

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 2025

Free Report: SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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