Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
309
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (1st)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (11th)
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 22.6%, up from 20.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 0.9%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 3.0%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
Unique Categories:
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
21.5%
WAN Edge
24.4%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
0.7%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

WA
Sep 29, 2023
Nice GUI, easy to configure, and has a reasonably priced licensing model
I primarily administrate the solution as a firewall. It's a perimeter solution. We filter content in order to ensure protection. We use it to publish services on-premises The GUI is good. It's a basic firewall and it's a simple configuration. It can be ported very easily to our unit. All of the…
SS
Nov 9, 2021
User-friendly interface, easy to monitor, and has a single pane of glass for reporting
The VM-Series enables us to extend consistent next-generation protection across different infrastructures with a unified policy model, which makes it very easy for us. It is very important that we have this single pane for monitoring all of the network resources and multiple devices because, today, it's a complex environment where you have to take care of many devices. This solution makes it very easy to quickly migrate workloads to the cloud. Since we updated the system, the network has been very stable. Previously, there were issues with traffic throughput. With the improved visibility we now have, the traffic is being properly monitored, which means that we are better able to manage it. These are improvements that we saw very quickly.
SN
Feb 7, 2022
Multifeatured firewall solution with a user-friendly interface, high availability, scalability, and stability
Support for SonicWall TZ needs improvement, particularly the time it takes before you're able to speak to a support person, e.g. you have to wait for at least 30 minutes on the phone, and this needs to be improved. This is an affordable solution, but a competitor like Sophos can give SonicWall a run for their money. Sophos and Fortinet are major competitors of SonicWall, and the way they package their solutions, especially Sophos, they're cheaper, so for some customers who aren't technical, they will just run to these competitors because they're cheaper. However, once you explain to the customer that this is the situation, mostly we're able to win the business for SonicWall. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of SonicWall TZ is enhanced automation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is load balancing. It can provide central management and VPNA. Additionally, it has enhanced our security environment."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"It has improved our security capabilities."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"It enables our organization to become more productive. Also, it protects our NEtWare from viruses and malware."
"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."
"The most valuable feature is the CLI."
"The most valuable features are security and support."
"The interface with Panorama makes it very easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is that you can control your traffic flowing out and coming it, allowing you to apply malware and threat protection, as well as vulnerability checks."
"They now know the details about their network traffic that they did not know before: Applications that they are using and some application they did not know they were using."
"App-ID and User-ID have repeatedly shown value in securing business critical systems."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is very easy to use."
"I like the UI. Most things are accessible from the user interface and it is quite user-friendly. With respect to both VM-based firewalls and physical firewalls, it's easy to create updates."
"It's been very easy to implement and deploy."
"The site-to-site VPN connections, content filtering, and in our current remote working situation, SSL VPN remote desktop connectivity are the most valuable features."
"I have found the stability of this product to be excellent."
"The feature with SonicWall that I have found most valuable is that all the models have the same interface. We don't need to learn different interfaces in the smaller or bigger models."
"With the main firewall routing there, we can do connectivity point-to-point. On the low bandwidth we can connect in all the branches with my corporate office."
"It's a stable solution."
"Once it's configured properly, the solution is unbreakable."
"Content filtering and application rules are the most valuable features. It is also easy to configure."
 

Cons

"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
"I could not configure sFlow from the FortiGate graphical user interface. I realized that the sFlow configuration is available only from the CLI, and discovered that sFlow is not supported on virtual interfaces, such as VDOM links, IPsec, or GRE."
"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."
"The improvement is related to logs. Instead of the CLI, we should be able to have more insights into the logs of the firewall in the GUI."
"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."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."
"I don't like that anything more than very basic reporting is not included."
"The support we receive when we need to upgrade is not satisfactory and has room for improvement."
"The solution needs to have more easily searchable details or documentation about it online, so it's easier to Google if you have queries."
"Palo Alto is that it is really bad when it comes to technical support."
"It has to be more scalable for the deployment of VMs on the cloud."
"The one issue that I didn't like is that the SNMP integration with interfaces didn't record the interface counters."
"The solution must improve Zero Trust integration and use cases."
"Palo Alto should update their documentation to make it more readable and provide easier-to-follow instructions through videos."
"AWS doesn't integrate well with third-party firewalls."
"The interface is all Java-based. I would prefer an HTML5 interface."
"GUI interface could be improved."
"The log sections could be done more clearly."
"The user support could be improved because you have to go outside to get that kind of support."
"I think content filtering is the area this product should improve. It's a little tricky to get put in correctly."
"The technical support has room for improvement."
"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."
"The solution's pricing could be made cheaper."
"It could probably be more user-friendly, and it could be more scalable with releases and subscriptions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."
"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."
"We have the full license that included all of the features and support."
"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."
"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"It has a competitive price."
"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."
"Palo Alto can be as much as two times the price of competing products that have twice the capabilities."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is notably cheaper than other firewall vendors, except Fortigate."
"It is a little bit of crazy if you compare it to Vanguard, Sophos, or even Cisco. The newest version of Cisco, the Next-Generation Firewall of Cisco, is less expensive than Palo Alto. It is more comparable to Check Point."
"Purchasing on the AWS Marketplace was simple, effective, and easy."
"The cost of this product varies from customer to customer and the relationship with IBM, including how many offerings from IBM are already being used."
"The solution is expensive. I rate its pricing a three out of ten."
"Palo Alto is more expensive than other products."
"Palo Alto definitely needs to be more competitive compared to other products. The problem that I have faced is that the price of licensing is very high and not very competitive."
"Licensing costs have been around $2,000. There are no other costs above the standard licensing fees."
"I give the price an eight out of ten."
"It is an expensive solution compared to one of its competitors."
"The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive."
"The price is fair."
"The pricing was a factor for us, and we felt that the price was good."
"It comes to a range between five hundred to seven hundred dollars."
"Its price is very high, which makes it difficult to convince the clients to buy this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

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 ...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
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...
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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall TZ?
The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Amazon Web Services 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Cisco 5. Dell 6. HP 7. Oracle 8. Verizon 9. AT&T 10. T-Mobile 11. Sprint 12. Vodafone 13. Orange 14. BT Group 15. Telstra 16. Deutsche Telekom 17. Comcast 18. Time Warner Cable 19. CenturyLink 20. NTT Communications 21. Tata Communications 22. SoftBank 23. China Mobile 24. Singtel 25. Telus 26. Rogers Communications 27. Bell Canada 28. Telkom Indonesia 29. Telkom South Africa 30. Telmex 31. Telia Company 32. Telkom Kenya
Warren Rogers Associates
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.