Untangle NG Firewall vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway comparison

Untangle and Zyxel are both solutions in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category. Untangle is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.0, while Zyxel is ranked #14 with an average rating of 6.0. Additionally, 94% of Untangle users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Zyxel users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

Untangle NG Firewall and Zyxel Unified Security Gateway compete in network security solutions. Zyxel appears to have the upper hand with its robust features.

Features: Untangle NG Firewall provides application control, web filtering, and VPN connectivity for network security management. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway offers advanced threat protection, bandwidth management, and wireless connectivity. Zyxel's enhanced security capabilities may outweigh Untangle’s versatility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Untangle NG Firewall has a straightforward deployment model with excellent support, ideal for businesses with limited tech resources. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway, while more complex, provides quality customer support for advanced setups.

Pricing and ROI: Untangle NG Firewall is cost-effective, suitable for small to medium enterprises with solid ROI. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway, although more expensive, offers long-term value with advanced features for larger enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Untangle NG Firewall vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Untangle NG Firewall vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

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

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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MatthewSmith3

Service Delivery Manager at CasCom

Thorough with all-in-one security functions and good affordability

The all-in-one gateway security functions and the ability to install it on generic equipment stand out. The centralized management console is great. I can template my installations and configurations. My ability to monetize it as a gateway security appliance to offer enhanced service offerings allows me to increase our price point. I provide it as a managed device to many of our clients. I take on the initial costs and charge them a monthly fee. They have threat detection.

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Alexander Azikov

It Manager at Diamond Braces

A robust appliance that is reasonably priced and straightforward to set up

Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved. There are two user interface options available, namely the basic and the advanced. The basic UI is not very good and doesn't have a lot of features, although it is fast. The advanced UI allows me to do whatever I want, but this is where the issue of speed exists. At one of our sites, the CPU utilization was very high, and for no reason. Technical support needs to be more responsive to requests.

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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

"I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud."

"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."

"The solution is scalable."

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

"It can expand easily."

"The most valuable features are the possibility of having one fabric for switching on security."

"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."

"The notable features that I have found most valuable are that it includes the antivirus, and also IPS, and even SD-WAN."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"None of my clients has had a ransom or breach using Untangle."

"The most valuable features are IPS, MAPI, NAT, and VPN."

"It is very easy to deploy and monitor. "

"Application Control and filtering features are valuable."

"The product helps small and medium enterprises secure their networks from intrusions. It also has features like DNS blocking."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the content filtering."

"All features are useful. We are using premium features such as bandwidth sharing, failover, web filters, SSL controls, antivirus, and VPN. We use these features to the fullest. These features are available in the paid firewall license, not the free one."

"The web blocking for my clients and the application control are valuable."

More Untangle NG Firewall pros

"The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus."

"The solution can scale well."

"This is a capable appliance and the standard features work well for us."

Cons

"The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."

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

"The platform's interface could improve."

"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."

"Some of the features in the graphical user interface do not work, which requires that we used the command-line-interface."

"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."

"The routing capability on the FortiGate devices has room for improvement."

"NGN, reporting and controls."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Web-filtering policies could be improved."

"We have a minor issue when assigning IP addresses in the ARP tables. You should be able to go into the ARP tables, look at the IP address and say, "Nope, they need to be on this side on this IP address." The ability to set a DHP reservation from the ARP tables would be great. It's no big deal, but it would be nice to have."

"The pricing should be reduced because it is expensive."

"The storage is minimal, so we have to set the system to delete data after seven days."

"It would be much easier if there was a mobile app."

"We seek the availability of the hardware in our region. The hardware-based firewall from Untangle is currently not available in our region. It should have threat protection on a real-time basis. This feature, available in Check Point and Sandstorm kind of scenario, is currently missing in Untangle NG Firewall."

"On their low-end appliance, they could have more memory and the largest storage space. The low-end appliance comes with a too-small hard drive, and it could use a little extra room. It only comes with about 4 gigs or 8 gigs of memory, and the hardware space is only 40 gigs, which is really small."

"For the web filter, I think they can do better especially on the free model."

More Untangle NG Firewall cons

"Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved."

"The product has some scalability and data management issues where improvements are required."

"Sometimes it reboots when you least expect it, and that's the main issue."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."

"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."

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

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."

"The price of FortiGate is good."

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The setup cost is about $2000 to $3000 per year."

"It is not expensive. The best part is that it is based on the pay-per-use kind of scenario. An increase or decrease in the number of people doesn't make any difference. We are really happy about using this particular scenario."

"The solution is fairly priced."

"The tool's pricing is moderate, and licensing costs are yearly."

"Untangle is open-source software. So, you can get it for free. That has been a benefit, especially for the residential users because it is free. The license costs start at $25 a month for some additional features, including higher tiers of security intrusion prevention. The free version comes with intrusion detection, and then the license version has intrusion prevention. It also has some additional things for active directory connectors, etc. It starts at $25 a month to cover 12 devices. Then it goes up from $25 to $50 a month for 12 to 25 devices. That's where it really doesn't scale out per site. If you have a site that has more than 50 devices on it, then Untangle quickly becomes cost prohibitive in comparison to several other competitors."

"It is not expensive. It is cheaper than Fortinet."

"For the home use, it's cheap."

"This is not an expensive product. It is affordable and there are different packages available depending on the features that you need, or the sector that you are in."

More Untangle NG Firewall pricing and cost advice

"This gateway is pretty cheap."

"The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market."

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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

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

17%

Retailer

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Untangle NG Firewall?

The product helps small and medium enterprises secure their networks from intrusions. It also has features like DNS b...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Untangle NG Firewall?

The setup cost is about $2000 to $3000 per year.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Untangle NG Firewall?

The user interface, training, and general product innovation need improvement. Enhancements could also be made to the...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

If you have very secure data, Zyxel Unified Security Gateway will not be very useful. My company doesn't have to deal...

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

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

OPNsense vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 40% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 14% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XG vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

IPFire vs Untangle NG Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Untangle NG Firewall Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 17% of the time

OPNsense vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 7% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos XG vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

More Zyxel Unified Security Gateway Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Untangle NG Firewall

March 2025

Download Untangle NG Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

March 2025

Download Zyxel Unified Security Gateway product report

Also Known As

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

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

Untangle NG Firewall is an open-source firewall and gateway security platform that helps keep networks safe while accessing the internet. It offers a free core firewall platform with paid add-ons, and a cloud-based management platform with a variety of deployment options for smaller teams. The solution also has a cloud-based management console for remote management that can either be deployed on premises or as SaaS, and virtualized or cloud-based. It also has flexible deployment options, including third-party hardware, as a virtual machine, or as a turnkey appliance. Untangle NG Firewall is ideal for small IT teams with limited budgets.

Untangle NG Firewall Features

Untangle NG Firewall has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Intrusion protection
Threat prevention
Virus blocker
Virus scanner
App control
SSL inspection
Bandwidth control
Reporting
Logs
VPN
Web filter
IDS/IPS
Access controls
Location control
Proxy
Active Directory/LDAP connections

Untangle NG Firewall Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Untangle NG Firewall. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplified network security: Untangle NG Firewall has a single, modular, software platform which simplifies security for all networks and ensures every device is adequately protected.

Visibility: The solution provides a browser-based, responsive, and intuitive interface enabling users to gain visibility quickly into the traffic on the network.

Deep analysis and insights: With the solution, users can see a network’s status at a glance on the dashboard, ensure compliance with full event logs, and get notifications of network anomalies or unusual user behavior with alert rules. In addition, users can gain insights in real time from database-driven reports.

Next-generation filtering: Untangle NG Firewall makes it easy to manage every rogue application, encrypted web request, malware distribution point, and drive-by malvertising attempt.

Connectivity and performance: The solution helps your organization maintain visibility and control over remote workers, branch offices, and guest Wi-Fi to keep users connected and data safe regardless of location or level of access.

Policy creation: Users can create policies by user, group, device, and time in order to control access.

Additional apps: Untangle NG Firewall offers additional apps, allowing organizations to create complete configuration backups to protect against network disruptions.

Reviews from Real Users

Untangle NG Firewall is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it is easy to use, has good features, including VPN, reporting, alerting, and filtering, and can be installed on existing hardware.

“It is very easy to use. The user interface is very straightforward. It may not be as fancy as some of the ones I've seen, but it's very straightforward. It's very easy to find what you need, and it's very easy to get things done,” says Josh E., CEO at DragonTech IT Services, Inc.

Barry A., Owner at ThinkEzIT, says, “It has good VPN features, helpful reporting and alerting, built-in content filtering, and excellent support.”

PeerSpot user Victor O., Director at Kisii County Government, explains, “What I like about this product, which is the reason that we continue to use it, is that you can install the software version on your own hardware. In case there is a problem with the hardware, we can just install the firewall in another machine and restore the configuration.”

Untangle

ZyWALL USG Series delivers high-access quality to help businesses satisfy the demand for always-online communications. For internal deployments, the ZyWALL USG Series provides active-passive High-Availability (HA) service to support device or connection failover.

With Device HA Pro service, the ZyWALL USG Series also supports instant failover, so connections are always maintained when a failover event occurs. For external deployments, the ZyWALL USG Series features multi- WAN load balancing/failover and a comprehensive mobile broadband USB modem support list for WAN backup operations. The ZyWALL USG Series also supports IPSec load balancing and failover, providing additional resilience for mission-critical VPN failover with VTI Interface deployments.

ZyWALL USG110/210/310 thoroughly protects networks with industry-leading firewall, Anti-Malware/ Virus, Anti-Spam, Content Filtering, IDP, and Application Patrol functionality. Regulate unauthorized use of Web applications over your network, such as Facebook, Google apps, and Netflix, among others. Zyxel security measures are enhanced with SSL Inspection, blocking threats hidden in SSL-encrypted connections while facilitating deeper policy enforcement. Furthermore, newly improved Content Filtering 2.0 enhances HTTPS Domain Filter, Browser SafeSearch, and Geo IP Blocking for an array of security enhancements to ensure clean Web connections.

Zyxel

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

North American Stamping Group, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey (CPNJ), Brown County Schools, IN, City of Bridgeton, MO, Lancaster County, SC, Vision Charter School, Clay County Sheriff’s Department, NC, Breakwater School, Boys & Girls Club of Manchester, NH, Admiral Farragut Academy, Flow Companies, No Ordinary Hotel, KECdesign,

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Untangle NG Firewall vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

April 2025

Free Report: Untangle NG Firewall vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Find out what your peers are saying about Untangle NG Firewall vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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