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Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA comparison

Citrix and SonicWall are both solutions in the Universal Access Gateways category. Citrix is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.1, while SonicWall is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.7. Citrix holds a 50.0% mindshare in UAG, compared to SonicWall’s 50.0% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.
Citrix Gateway
Read 38 Citrix Gateway reviews
  • 1,991 Views
  • 60 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
SonicWall SMA
Read 15 SonicWall SMA reviews
  • 966 Views
  • 68 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

SonicWall SMA and Citrix Gateway are secure remote access solutions. Citrix Gateway appears to have the upper hand due to its extensive features and application compatibility.

Features: SonicWall SMA is known for its robust threat detection, easy configuration, and comprehensive security technologies. Citrix Gateway offers extensive application integration capabilities, streamlined user experience, and high performance even under large user loads.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall SMA could enhance integration with additional platforms, improve scalability, and refine its user interface. Citrix Gateway may benefit from simplifying its deployment process, reducing its complexity, and potentially lowering its initial costs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall SMA is simple to deploy and supported by responsive customer service, making it user-friendly. Citrix Gateway, while more complex to deploy, offers reliable support that helps navigate its detailed setup process, balancing complexity with effective assistance.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall SMA provides competitive pricing with a good return on investment, particularly attractive for small to medium-sized enterprises. Citrix Gateway has higher initial costs but promises greater ROI through its comprehensive feature set and scalability, appealing more to organizations seeking long-term value.

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To learn more, read our detailed Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA Report (Updated: August 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA
August 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

Citrix Gateway
Ranking in Universal Access Gateways
1st
Ranking in SSL VPN
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Universal Access Gateways
2nd
Ranking in SSL VPN
7th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
18th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Universal Access Gateways category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 50.0%, up from 44.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 50.0%, up from 41.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Universal Access Gateways Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix Gateway50.0%
SonicWall SMA50.0%
Universal Access Gateways
 

Featured Reviews

VivekKumar10 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure remote access and load balancing with enhanced protection features
I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet. Key features include load balancing, dual-factor authentication, clientless VPN, and Web Application Firewall (WAF). The product effectively helps me protect the organization's network from potential threats, thereby securing our environment from hackers and ransomware attacks.
Read full review
Maheshbabu T - PeerSpot reviewer
It allows us to provide CML-based access to any user, but the reporting could be better
I rate SonicWall SMA seven out of 10. If you're planning to implement this solution, I suggest checking the version to ensure it's compatible with your other technology. I say go for it if it's suitable for your use case. Multifactor authentication technologies are built into the product, whereas some products lack multifactor authentication. We need only one or two. They provide authentication, gateway integration, OTP integration, etc.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is straightforward."
"The solution is stable."
"What I find most valuable about this solution, is that it runs seamlessly."
"We have users in a remote environment that might require to access the service."
"The solution is scalable."
"If you need to share resources across a corporation, I would recommend this solution."
"These days, I find Citrix products to be very stable, and there is no need to struggle with them."
"The session monitoring capability is good."
More Citrix Gateway pros
"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."
"I am very satisfied with the technical support."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."
"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"SonicWall SMA has the most valuable feature of proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP."
"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."
More SonicWall SMA pros
 

Cons

"As Citrix Gateway is a third party solution, we wish to have one which is more integrated and involves less administration."
"The solution can be a bit pricey."
"I would like to see improved logging because it doesn't keep much information for the session monitoring or historical sessions."
"The solution has unnecessary limitations."
"Their VAS product should be more productive because right now, we are using other VAS solutions but not using this one."
"The product should be more secure."
"The first level support is very poor."
"The dashboard or interface should be more clear in reporting issues. Integration with other applications should be more user-friendly."
More Citrix Gateway cons
"User interface could be improved."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."
"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."
"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."
"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."
"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"SonicWall SMA is difficult to use and it does not provide easy access to different parts of the network."
"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."
More SonicWall SMA cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."
"Citrix is quite expensive."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"
"The price could be lower."
"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
More Citrix Gateway pricing and cost advice
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Gateway?
We can maintain our systems using the solution.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model. It is seen as a premium product compared to competitors like F5, and ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
In the past, I submitted some support tickets, and while the support did resolve the problems, the time taken was sometimes long. They can perhaps improve the time for solutions in the support tick...
See all answers
What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?
Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?
The pricing for the solution could be a lot less.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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OpenVPN Access Server Enterprise vs Citrix Gateway
Compared 14% of the time
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Compared 10% of the time
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Compared 3% of the time
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Compared 17% of the time
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Compared 17% of the time
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Compared 15% of the time
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Ivanti Secure Access vs SonicWall SMA
Compared 11% of the time
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SonicWall SMA Logo
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SonicWall SMA
Compared 10% of the time
More SonicWall SMA Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Citrix Gateway
August 2025
Citrix Gateway reportDownload Citrix Gateway product report
Buyer's Guide
SonicWall SMA
August 2025
SonicWall SMA reportDownload SonicWall SMA product report
 

Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

Citrix Gateway is a customer-managed solution that can be deployed on premises or on any public cloud, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. Citrix Gateway provides users with secure access and single sign-on to all the virtual, SaaS and web applications they need to be productive.


Citrix
SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.
SonicWall
 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Buyer's Guide
Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA
August 2025
Free Report: Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA
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