Cisco Secure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Cisco and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2, while SonicWall is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.2. Cisco holds a 6.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Cisco Secure Firewall and SonicWall NSv are competitive firewall solutions. Though Cisco is praised for its pricing and customer service, SonicWall NSv is noted for its superior features.

Features: Cisco Secure Firewall offers comprehensive network security features, easy integration capabilities, and effective threat management. SonicWall NSv provides advanced threat detection, high cloud performance, and a robust feature set.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Firewall could improve its configuration options, reporting tools, and user interface. SonicWall NSv needs better documentation, enhanced network policy management, and more intuitive user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Secure Firewall has a straightforward deployment process and excellent customer service. SonicWall NSv has a user-friendly deployment but gets mixed reviews for its customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall is cost-effective with a good ROI, balancing price and performance. SonicWall NSv, although pricier, is seen as a valuable investment for its rich features.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

June 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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 6.0%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

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.

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Phil Shiflett

Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment

Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention

Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.

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Sileesh Sivadasan

Director at Infosec Infra

Helps small businesses expand branches more easily

The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support. If I want to talk to a customer executive, they ask many trivial questions. Even if I explain that I am asking for a Dell partner, they still ask specific questions, and they will explain many unnecessary questions.

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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

"The SD-WAN function is very developed. It has SD-WAN functionality with security features in one device. We can manage from one single console SD-WAN and the security policy."

"Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."

"The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."

"The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."

"Its usability is good. We can easily navigate the system, and we have a very good user experience."

"Fortinet FortiGate helps improve my organization since it's quick and easy to install, and we don't have to call support frequently."

"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"One thing I like about the product is the logging features, the way it logs, the way it forwards the logs in Syslog."

"It helped us a lot with our VPNs for the home office during COVID. There has been more security and flexibility for VPNs and other applications."

"The most valuable features are the IPsec VPN and web filtering."

"The most important feature is its categorization because on the site and social media you are unified in the way they are there."

"The monitoring dashboard is valuable to us for troubleshooting."

"I have found the most valuable feature to be the access control and IPsec VPN."

"The transparency of the single UI to ensure security. A product has to be simple so that an administrator can use it."

"The solution is excellent for enterprise-level networks."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pros

"SonicWall NSV is easy to use, and you can use it to manage the logs easily."

"One of the standout features of SonicWall is its simplicity in creating and managing rules."

"The customization of firewall rules provides great value to our customers as it allows them to lock things up in the way that they desire. When it is used for internal access, with a VPN in place for remote workers, the firewalling services provided by Azure, such as the default services that can be turned on, are applied. However, the use of a software-based virtual firewall gives us greater flexibility in introducing security controls for customers who are publishing applications that are publicly accessible from the public cloud. This virtual firewall provides an additional layer of security and more extensive security control options to ensure the protection of our customers' valuable information and assets."

"For my small NFB banking services, when they are expanding their branches, I could incorporate a little bit easier."

"Out of ten, I would rate the solution at an eight."

"The product helps improve our security."

"The security of this system is fantastic, including the IPS and IDS."

"I would rate the overall product a nine out of ten."

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."

"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the logging and reporting. Additionally, the next-generation application's policies should be improved. When they were released they had bugs."

"At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out."

"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues. Perhaps in the future, we could effectively use both firewalls to increase the throughput. If there are two boxes, they both should be able to work."

"Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."

"They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired."

"Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."

"They could simplify their deployment process, especially when customers have existing devices."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"We're getting support but there's a big delay until we get a response from their technical team. They're in the USA and we're in Africa, so that's the difficulty. When they're in the office, they respond."

"I would like it to be easier to work with and have a better user interface. It is not straightforward. You need to know the Cisco command-line interface."

"If Cisco could stop rebranding, combine all the CLIs/GUIs, and give a consistent experience, this would be great."

"We would like to see MS Word BPM as a feature."

"It needs to provide the next-generation firewall features that other vendors provide, like data analytics, telemetry, and deep packet inspection."

"In Firepower, there is an ability to search and dig into a search, which is nice. However, I'm not a super fan of the way it scrolls. If you want to look at something live, it's a lot different. You're almost waiting. With the ASDM, where it just flows, you can really see it. The second someone clicks something or does something, you'll see it. The refresh rate on the events in Firepower is not as smooth."

"It's not unexpected, but it's a common scenario where customers request dual layers of security. For instance, when dealing with regulatory compliance, especially in financial sectors regulated by entities like the Central Bank, having two distinct units is often mandated. If a client predominantly uses a solution like Palo Alto, they may need to incorporate another vendor such as Cisco or Forti. Importantly, there's a significant disparity in interfaces and management platforms between these vendors, necessitating careful consideration when integrating them into the overall security architecture"

"Cisco should redo their website so it's actually usable in a faster way."

More Cisco Secure Firewall cons

"We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution."

"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."

"Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details. At present, they do not provide detailed reports compared to other products."

"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."

"There are limitations to bandwidth management."

"The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support."

"The price is a significant factor."

"The engine provided initially was quite heavy, creating a trade-off between software and hardware-based threat management."

More SonicWall NSv cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate is expensive."

"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."

"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"It is cheaper and more competitive compared to other options. For example, when comparing Palo Alto products to others, Palo Alto tends to be more expensive. If you compare Cisco's platform, including Cisco Meraki, with Fortinet products, you'll notice that Cisco's offerings are generally higher priced than Fortinet's firewall solutions."

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."

"The support subscription for the solution is annual. You are paying for support and there are two levels of support, professional and advanced."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"We're using the smart license for this firewall. The models that we have require licensing for remote access."

"The solution was chosen because of its price compared to other similar solutions."

"Always consider what you might need to reduce your wasted time and invest it in other solutions."

"It definitely competes with the other vendors in the market."

"Some of our customers would be more likely to standardize on Cisco equipment if the cost was lower because a lot of people install cheap equipment."

"There are additional implementation and validation costs."

"I'd say it's probably well-priced."

"The pricing of Cisco firewalls, in the security market, is fair."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."

"We are currently using the trial version."

"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."

"The tool is moderately priced."

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Comparison Review

it_user206346

Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting

Mar 11, 2015

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

41%

Computer Software Company

14%

University

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

27%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Retailer

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

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Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?

One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...

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How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?

It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...

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Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...

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What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?

The product helps improve our security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?

I am somewhat satisfied with the price for SonicWall NSv, rating it as eight because, compared to other products, the...

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What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?

Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details. At present, they do not prov...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Meraki MX vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Competitors

Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 26% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 24% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 19% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 11% of the time

More SonicWall NSv Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall

June 2025

Download Cisco Secure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

May 2025

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

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

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall

SonicWall Network Security Virtual

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

Cisco Secure Firewall stands as a robust and adaptable security solution, catering to organizations of all sizes. It's designed to shield networks from a diverse array of cyber threats, such as ransomware, malware, and phishing attacks. Beyond mere protection, it also offers secure access to corporate resources, beneficial for employees, partners, and customers alike. One of its key functions includes network segmentation, which serves to isolate critical assets and minimize the risk of lateral movement within the network.

The core features of Cisco Secure Firewall are multifaceted:

Advanced threat protection is achieved through a combination of intrusion prevention, malware detection, and URL filtering technologies.
For secure access, the firewall presents multiple options, including VPN, remote access, and single sign-on.
Its network segmentation capability is vital in creating barriers within the network to safeguard critical assets.
The firewall is scalable, effectively serving small businesses to large enterprises.
Management is streamlined through Cisco DNA Center, a central management system.

The benefits of deploying Cisco Secure Firewall are substantial. It significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks, thereby enhancing the security posture of an organization. This security also translates into increased productivity, as secure access means uninterrupted work. Compliance with industry regulations is another advantage, as secure access and network segmentation align with many regulatory standards. Additionally, it helps in reducing IT costs by automating security tasks and simplifying management processes.

In practical scenarios, Cisco Secure Firewall finds diverse applications. It's instrumental in protecting branch offices from cyberattacks, securing remote access for various stakeholders, safeguarding cloud workloads, and segmenting networks to isolate sensitive areas.

User reviews from PeerSpot reflect an overall positive experience with the Cisco Secure Firewall. Users appreciate its ease of configuration, good management capabilities, robust protection, user-friendly interface, and scalability. However, some areas for improvement include better integration capabilities with other vendors, maturity, control over bandwidth for end-users, and addressing software bugs.

In summary, Cisco Secure Firewall is a comprehensive, versatile, and reliable security solution that effectively meets the security needs of various organizations. It offers a balance of advanced protection, user-friendly management, and scalability, making it a valuable asset in the realm of network security.

Cisco

SonicWall NSV is a software-based virtual firewall that provides additional security for customers with public-facing servers or services on Microsoft Azure. The AGSS Bundle is considered the most valuable feature, providing security services such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI.

Additionally, customization of firewall rules provides great value to customers, allowing them to lock things up in the way they desire. SonicWall NSV offers extensive security control options to protect customers' valuable information and assets.

SonicWall

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

There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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