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Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs SonicWall NSSP 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective security with quick deployment, improving efficiency, reducing downtime, and providing a strong return on investment.
Sentiment score
7.1
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall enhances network security and performance with effective spam blocking, easy maintenance, and free upgrade options.
Sentiment score
1.0
SonicWall NSSP improved network security, reduced threat management time, increased efficiency, and provided significant cost savings and robust support.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate support is mostly praised for responsiveness and knowledge, though inconsistencies exist in complex cases or regions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall's customer service is accessible and knowledgeable, though support quality varies due to language and documentation issues.
Sentiment score
5.0
SonicWall NSSP customer support receives mixed reviews, praised for effectiveness by some, while others cite response issues.
They offer very accurate solutions.
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.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
Barracuda's partner support is better than the majority, and it stands out as one of their strengths.
The overall security has been satisfactory, with no breaches.
The technical support from Barracuda is very good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers scalability and easy integration for diverse environments, catering to businesses from small to large enterprises.
Sentiment score
7.8
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers excellent scalability and management for various business sizes, though future capacity planning is advised.
Sentiment score
5.5
SonicWall NSSP is scalable for SMBs, though some organizations require upgrades for improved capacity and adaptability.
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.
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.
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.
When positioning into customers, some larger enterprise customers tend to move towards one of the top three: either Cisco, Fortinet, or Palo Alto.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is highly stable and reliable, excelling in continuous operation with effective network management, despite occasional update issues.
Sentiment score
8.2
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is highly reliable and stable, with effective support and improved performance, despite minor bugs and past issues.
Sentiment score
3.3
SonicWall NSSP is highly stable, with minimal issues reported and excellent handling of power and firmware updates.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
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.
We have very few issues with Barracuda Firewall, even in the case of zero-day vulnerabilities.
Version 8.0 had issues, but the newer version 9.0 seems to have improved performance regarding these issues.
In 30 years, only three to four boxes out of 1,000 to 2,000 boxes have had issues.
 

Room For Improvement

Users express concern over Fortinet FortiGate's interface stability, functionality, performance issues, and call for improved support and features.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall suffers from complex usability, unclear manuals, limited reporting, challenging licensing, high pricing, and VPN issues.
SonicWall NSSP requires UI improvements, better marketing, enhanced EDR/XDR features, more stable performance, and less costly reporting.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
Integration with AI would be helpful as modern attacks often utilize AI.
It would be beneficial to merge the existing application policy with the main policy into a single unified policy to improve manageability.
Some licensing aspects are challenging; for example, if you're using an active-passive setup, you have to license both firewalls.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers high initial costs but competitive pricing, valued features, and flexible licensing compared to competitors.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is cost-effective with transparent licensing, offering significant savings and includes a four-year replacement program.
SonicWall NSSP pricing varies by location and licensing, with import taxes impacting costs, but features and support are valued.
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.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
It is about 20% cheaper.
The license price of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is lower than others, and maintenance or support is included.
It is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive option available.
When purchasing through local distributors such as ScanSource or Tech Data, they incur around 100% in taxes just for import procedures.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust, affordable security with user-friendly interface, centralized management, and efficient SD-WAN capabilities.
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall offers robust security and seamless integration, ideal for efficient network management with advanced features and centralized control.
SonicWall NSSP offers robust security features, user-friendly management, and favorable pricing, enhancing protection with advanced threat prevention tools.
In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.
FortiGate has helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that might disrupt our client's production.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
This integration helps secure our data and applications from attackers trying to gain access and detect malicious activity.
The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall include antivirus protection, anti-DDoS, and IPS.
The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are its next-generation capabilities such as URL filtering and application control.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
575
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 (2nd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
25th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (11th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (20th), IoT Security (6th), WAN Edge (10th)
SonicWall NSSP
Ranking in Firewalls
34th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.4%, up from 19.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSSP is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate20.4%
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall0.5%
SonicWall NSSP0.1%
Other79.0%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
RobertSmith15 - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures data security with advanced intrusion prevention and 24/7 monitoring
I rate the initial setup as ten out of ten. It is straightforward to set up a CloudGen file, taking a couple of hours. Once we have the configuration agreed with the customer, the setup and onboarding are completed within a few hours. We receive the box from Barracuda or from our stores, pre-stage it into our network for initial configuration and Soak testing to ensure functionality. The customer can install it at their location, or we do it on their behalf. We run the firewall in simulation mode to observe traffic and ensure service transition is effective. After confirming functionality with the customer, we transition to a live service.
Winsley De Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Long-term reliability and efficient customer support elevate user experience
The best features with the SonicWall NSSP firewall are safety and stability. The most defining aspect I can share is that if you try to find firmware, a pirate firmware for Fortinet on the internet, you're going to find it in Russia or elsewhere. However, try to find SonicWall NSSP firmware and you will never find it anywhere. Nobody shares it. I have my internal library for old and deactivated firewalls, but we don't share with anyone. This is very significant because anyone claiming to have hacked SonicWall NSSP firmware is incorrect. With Fortinet, it's different. It's a very nice product. For the customers and clients, it's transparent. We have rules, and they are very strict. Any bad sites or blocklist sites are blocked, and users don't complain. They are used to our controls. We have a standard package for our customers that's the same in every company. When customers buy it, they must accept it. If they don't accept the package we offer as a consulting company, we don't sell. It's a yes or no situation with no options. All our customers have the same scenario and configuration, with very minor exceptions.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
8%
Government
8%
Construction Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business350
Midsize Enterprise130
Large Enterprise187
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise2
 

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 ...
What do you like most about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
The encryption and the security standards are valuable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
The license price of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is lower than others, and maintenance or support is included.
What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others. It is a bit complicated and could be ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSSP?
The pricing and licensing of the SonicWall NSSP firewall is not too expensive, being comparable to competitors. The c...
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSSP?
They need to conduct more marketing campaigns because here in Brazil, when people mention firewalls, Fortinet has mas...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall NSSP?
I have experience with SonicWall NSSP Firewall, having dealt with NSA firewalls throughout the last 30 years. We're s...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls
SonicWall Network Security Services Platform
 

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
ARZ, Bauer, CBCX Technologies, Diamant-groep, Eissmann Group Automotive, European Youth Olympics, Exalo Drilling, FineLine Technologies, Geocell, Grimaldi, Infront Sports & Media, Odlo, Schenker Deutschland AG, Tilak, Verbandsgeneinde Zell, Conservas El Cidacos S.A., Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medicine Management, Erwin Muller GmbH, Info-Tech: NGF is Champion, Schoellerbank, IZB Informatik-Zentrum, RHI AG, Berglandmilch, Antenne Bayern, Sanochemia
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs. SonicWall NSSP and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.