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Sophos XG vs Sophos XGS 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:
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is praised for problem-solving but criticized for inconsistent response times and language barriers.
Sentiment score
6.1
Sophos XG support is mixed, with varying expertise and response times, though local distributor support is valued.
Sentiment score
6.5
Sophos XGS support receives mixed feedback; praised for responsiveness but criticized for delays, expertise, and language barriers.
The response time for a critical priority one issue was over four hours and they only responded because we threatened legal action for them violating our support contract.
They say they will respond in 24 hours, but I have received responses in a maximum of one hour, which is impressive.
The technical support from Fortinet FortiGate is 24 hours a day seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
Sophos provides online documentation which is very user friendly.
We are also trying to keep up on how the hackers work because we are working with different associations of security worldwide.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Sophos support a ten.
Any issues are quickly addressed by their support team, which is not common among all OEM manufacturers.
The response time from Sophos technical support can be slow in most cases, which can be challenging.
Technical support from Sophos is always available.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.6
Fortinet FortiGate needs improvements in stability, usability, integration, cost-effectiveness, and documentation for enhanced user satisfaction and performance.
Sentiment score
4.3
Sophos XG needs an improved interface, better VPN stability, enhanced support, and more detailed security and licensing transparency.
Sentiment score
4.3
Sophos XGS requires better integration, improved UI, enhanced support, efficiency, scalability, cost management, and automation for enterprise needs.
FortiWAN supports OSPF but does not support the BGP protocol.
Fortinet VPN and DDoS capabilities are great, yet we need to provide a solution that enables CASB and integration to the cloud.
The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate.
The developers should test everything after any update to ensure that bugs don't come through with the update.
There are times that I really want to know which user or which IP is causing a problem.
If they could incorporate some user profiling and present the analytics of the login user usage patterns, or a typical proper management dashboard to take a decision on the firewall rules, that would be useful.
It would be beneficial if Sophos XGS offered an end-to-end solution with competitive pricing.
After version 18.5, creating a NAT rule has become more complex, requiring the creation of a separate policy and an additional component.
Their pricing strategy creates difficulty due to high availability, causing price undercutting without maintaining regular margins.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable, flexible, and adaptable, though some face hardware upgrades and licensing challenges during deployment sizes.
Sentiment score
7.2
Sophos XG is scalable but larger organizations may need hardware upgrades; suitable for small to medium enterprises with planning.
Sentiment score
6.8
Sophos XGS provides flexibility and scalability but may require extra hardware for larger expansions, with varied user experiences.
The devices will usually fail way before reaching the capacity advertised in the data sheets, especially when you activate several of the features the device can handle.
The solution is working and it is still stable even across all of these devices and servers.
We have over 10,000 users behind it.
In other words it doesn't have that modularity feature.
We do have plans to increase usage because we are growing our projects around the world to countries like the US, Germany, Pakistan, India, UAE (Dubai) and Egypt.
You've got to define the criteria in terms of what you're trying to protect, the number of users, the bandwidth that is going through it, the speed, etc.
I would rate its scalability seven out of ten since modules can be added.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiGate offers competitive pricing with varied costs; affordable long-term licenses, though renewal complexity can accumulate costs.
Sentiment score
7.1
Sophos XG offers competitive pricing, appealing to small and medium enterprises, and is often cheaper than rivals like FortiGate.
Sentiment score
6.6
Sophos XGS offers competitive pricing with costs influenced by model and features, appealing to small and medium enterprises.
The cost of the original deployment fell below £5,000, and licenses are priced at around £3,000.
Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment.
Overall, FortiGate is affordable.
One way they are doing this is by having an aggressive pricing policy.
There are no additional fees on top of this.
The option to get a combo with hardware means the software portion is mostly free, and then you pay upfront for the three-year license for everything.
The last instance I purchased was for three years, around $3,700 for SDG 125.
pricing is rated eight out of ten, indicating that it may be relatively expensive.
Sophos XGS is quite expensive, potentially a nine out of ten in terms of cost.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability and reliability, with occasional issues improved by updates and configurations.
Sentiment score
8.0
Sophos XG is praised for its reliability and stable performance, with effective support and occasional firmware update concerns.
Sentiment score
7.6
Sophos XGS is praised for its stability, reliability, and performance, with minor issues quickly resolved and high user ratings.
All of these issues were resolved in v5.2.
Stability has dramatically improved over the previous main version branch of FortiOS; 5.2.x and 5.4.x are stable enough for critical environments.
Overall, the devices have been very stable.
Sophos' support is very good to correct quickly, ASAP.
There isn't crashing or freezing.
It may be possible to implement a second device in a fail-over cluster and this would avoid such a problem as then if one device fails in the updating process, the other device could take over.
It is rated at nine out of ten for stability and is very reliable.
When Sophos introduced firmware version twenty, there was a bug in DCC.
The solution is very stable as long as there's no power outage or similar interruption.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.0
Fortinet FortiGate offers advanced security features, user-friendly configuration, and comprehensive management tools, valued for robust protection and flexibility.
Sentiment score
8.2
Sophos XG delivers advanced security, scalability, and user-friendly management for medium enterprises with comprehensive network activity views.
Sentiment score
8.2
Sophos XGS offers fast processing, easy management, cost-effectiveness, and robust integration, providing comprehensive security and user-friendly network protection.
The two most valuable features are VPN and firewalling.
WiFi network for visitors isolated from our corporate WiFi network using only one unit
Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it 'readable'
Anti-malware: Sophos XG comes with two anti-malware engines: its own and Avira, making the UTM more effective at catching malicious code.
If my file is getting infected, I get to know from a single pane point of view.
The user interface is very user-friendly, so it's very easy for the administrator to make any policy changes.
It's able to detect cloud applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams and allows traffic shaping based on the application.
The threat detection capabilities are effective, especially against CNC and certain viruses not coming through emails.
Sophos XGS is cost effective and provides all necessary security features and throughput.
 

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)
Sophos XG
Ranking in Firewalls
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
198
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 Sophos XG is 11.7%, up from 9.1% 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…
Akshit Chhokar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good performance but needs to improve on the flexibility part
The product has improved the security posture. Sophos XG provides features that are almost the same as those Cisco Firepower devices provide. I would say that a couple of features in Sophos XG are the same as the ones provided by other Cisco devices, which are top-notch. The management tools or log-related solutions that are presented with Sophos are okay but not top-notch when it comes to Cisco. I rate the reporting and visibility tools in Sophos XG a six out of ten compared to Cisco. Sophos xG's integration capabilities do not apply to a limited number of security tools. Cisco provides integration capabilities with many products, while Sophos XG offers integration with a limited number of products. Cisco provides integration capability with almost any tool that is present in the world. Cisco works day and night to ensure that it provides good integration capabilities with the solutions. I recommend the tool to those who plan to use it, especially if you own a very small office where you don't need a product with too many functionalities. I rate the tool a seven out of ten.
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.
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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
17%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
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 ...
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Fact...
What Is The Biggest Difference Between Sophos UTM and Sophos XG?
The Sophos UTM is a UTM and Sophos XG is the NGFW. First, you must know about the difference between a UTM and NGFW. ...
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
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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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos XG vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.