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Azure Firewall vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers high ROI with cost savings, enhanced security, and increased productivity, driving widespread user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
3.0
Azure Firewall provides cost-efficient security for small applications, with varied ROI experiences depending on organizational needs.
Sentiment score
4.2
SonicWall TZ offers quick ROI with low costs, boosts productivity, enhances security, and provides cost-effective benefits for small businesses.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
With Azure Firewall on the cloud, you just need to subscribe to the firewall, configure it, and it will help you protect your environment.
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
That is a reason to buy a firewall, and it is challenging to put a monetary value on security.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate support is generally well-rated for responsiveness and expertise, though experiences vary by region and complexity.
Sentiment score
4.2
Azure Firewall support is generally satisfactory, though some suggest improvements in response time and mention occasional third-party reliance.
Sentiment score
5.0
SonicWall TZ customer service has mixed reviews, praised for availability but criticized for wait times and problem resolution.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
Microsoft provides excellent customer support, especially with premium support plans.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Nevertheless, the final support from Microsoft remains effective.
Information Technology Architect at GMS INC
With Azure products, customer support is really good.
Senior Manager, Information Security at NetSol Technologies Inc.
Customer service is excellent.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
SonicWall Sentry team will manage our firewall.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I would rate SonicWall TZ's technical support as good but not at the level of other enterprise-level firewall vendors out there.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate effectively scales for diverse enterprises, despite occasional hardware limitations and complexities in adding new devices.
Sentiment score
6.4
Azure Firewall efficiently scales with traffic, supports global users, but larger enterprises seek further scaling improvements for extensive demands.
Sentiment score
6.6
SonicWall TZ is scalable for small to medium environments, but accurate sizing and cost concerns are crucial for larger needs.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Based on my experience, I would rate it nine out of ten for scalability.
Cybersecurity Engineer at AXSYS
Azure Firewall is highly scalable, and I would give it a scalability rating of nine out of ten.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
When we started deploying the solution, it was not a mature product at times.
Senior Manager, Information Security at NetSol Technologies Inc.
Whenever we want to change the licensing, we can do it at any time.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
There are some problems with the scalability of SonicWall TZ with the firmware.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is stable, with minor issues mostly resolved by updates, and users rate its stability highly.
Sentiment score
8.5
Azure Firewall is praised for stability and reliability, with users noting high uptimes and positive comparisons to competitors.
Sentiment score
6.5
SonicWall TZ is stable with minor issues; performance improves with updates, though updates can sometimes temporarily affect stability.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The stability of Azure Firewall is excellent.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
For our use case, Azure Firewall is stable enough.
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
In terms of stability, SonicWall doesn't have performance issues.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
SonicWall TZ rates 10 out of 10 for stability.
CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP
SonicWall TZ is definitely stable and offers a good value for money.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users face stability issues, high costs, complex interfaces, and desire improvements in support, integration, and features.
Azure Firewall needs improvements in security, usability, support, pricing, AI integration, and centralized management to match competitors.
SonicWall TZ needs user interface improvements, better threat intelligence, enhanced support, bundled VPN licenses, and stability and performance updates.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
If Azure Firewall can integrate identity features, it will help deliver additional next-generation capabilities.
Solutions Area Lead at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
Improvement in reporting and better visibility into network traffic would also be beneficial.
Cybersecurity Engineer at AXSYS
Azure Firewall could improve its reporting capabilities.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Integration with other vendors, especially with VPNs, can be challenging and requires more effort when configuring.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
SonicWall TZ could benefit from newer technology.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate is cost-effective and flexible compared to competitors, but may be expensive for small businesses.
Enterprise buyers view Azure Firewall's pricing as variable, with flexible pay-as-you-go costs and mixed opinions on affordability.
SonicWall TZ offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, but total costs can rise due to subscriptions and feature add-ons.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The standard functionality for API Management is at a zero level, and then the next level is one.
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
Azure Firewall is quite expensive, with a high cost.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Azure Firewall is subscription-based, which is advantageous as there is no need for upfront payment.
Information Technology Architect at GMS INC
More licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
When comparing similar products across vendors, there may be a small difference in cost.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
I would also position its pricing as a three, where one is the lowest price and ten is the highest.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust security features, user-friendly interface, scalability, affordability, and centralized management, ideal for diverse applications.
Azure Firewall offers comprehensive security, seamless integration, user-friendly management, and advanced features for modern security and compliance needs.
SonicWall TZ provides robust security, user-friendly management, and cost-effective solutions with VPN, filtering, and threat prevention.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
We have to combine multiple features and multiple products, and then we can say that this is more cost-effective and works properly to ensure the security posture of our cloud deployments.
Senior Manager, Information Security at NetSol Technologies Inc.
With Azure Firewall on the cloud, you just need to subscribe to the firewall, configure it, and it will help you protect your environment.
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
The premium version includes all traditional firewall features, reducing the need for separate compute resources.
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
It was beneficial during COVID for remote work through its VPN functionality.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
The advanced gateway security features such as web filter, application control filter, IPS, ideas, gateway antivirus, anti-spyware, and botnet filter are valuable.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
589
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Azure Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (12th)
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Firewall is 2.5%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 2.1%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
Azure Firewall2.5%
SonicWall TZ2.1%
Other77.1%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
AD
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
Has enabled us to manage internal access securely but lacks accessible documentation for deeper integration
We haven't required any support, but overall, Microsoft support is good. Whenever we raise any concern, they are supporting us on time. Currently it is good. We are not a public-facing company; it is a retail company only, so that's why I don't think it is required. We don't have an e-commerce solution on Azure. For that, we are using a different stack for the e-commerce portal, so that is not in Azure. We are only using it for business applications, and I think L3 filtering in network security suffices for our problem currently. Regarding scalability for Azure Firewall, we don't need it here because the request to the application is internal. All are internal users. So there is not much request to get into the application, so scalability is not required for us in the current scenario.
Fernando Kavindra Fernando - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
Web filtering and traffic balancing have improved security for SMBs but threat insight still needs work
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhere in between, so I would not recommend it for a large enterprise-level organization to rely on because it is not at that level. SonicWall TZ's content filtering service is reliable. We have used it, but it is not very reliable compared to brands such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, or Check Point. What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point. Their threat intelligence needs to be improved, as does the GUI, which is not as user-friendly compared to devices such as Fortinet. They could learn from their competitors by making the product more user-friendly. The product interface is not that user-friendly. By adopting a more user-friendly GUI, improving threat intelligence, and enhancing the available guides would be beneficial. In my understanding, in some cases, the KB articles and knowledge articles were not that efficient. They were useful, but they could have been more precise with the knowledge base articles. They need to provide more information about SonicWall TZ, specifically more documentation and more troubleshooting articles. Other than the threat intelligence and the user-friendly GUI, there are no other additional features that I can think of for SonicWall TZ in the future or at least in the next release to make it more competitive.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business363
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise190
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business63
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
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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...
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 is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...
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...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...
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 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 ...
What needs improvement with SonicWall TZ?
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of ot...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

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
Information Not Available
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.