Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Forcepoint and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Forcepoint is ranked #28 with an average rating of 7.0, while SonicWall is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.8. Forcepoint holds a 0.5% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Forcepoint 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

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and SonicWall NSv are two competing products in network security. SonicWall NSv is favored for its features, while Forcepoint is rated higher in pricing and support.

Features: Forcepoint offers centralized management, advanced threat protection, and competitive pricing. SonicWall NSv provides robust security features, high efficiency in virtual environments, and superior overall features.

Room for Improvement: Forcepoint needs better VPN performance, more documentation, and improved reporting tools. SonicWall NSv requires better reporting tools, enhanced performance under heavy traffic, and more responsive customer support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Forcepoint is straightforward to deploy with responsive customer service. SonicWall NSv is also easy to deploy, but its customer support has mixed reviews.

Pricing and ROI: Forcepoint stands out for its competitive pricing and solid ROI. SonicWall NSv is considered costly, but users find its advanced features justify the price.

To learn more, read our detailed Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

July 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 August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 0.5%, up from 0.3% 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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OusaidAbaz

Security Network Architect at Inmac

Provides decent protection for the LAN but complicated interface

We had some licensing issues with its web filtering capabilities. That's why we migrated our web filtering to Cisco Umbrella. Moreover, the interface is complicated. It's difficult to locate all the necessary menus and functions. For example, one of the many issues is with SSH. Even now, we haven't successfully opened the port to connect using SSH mode when we want to change the configuration. It's like a black box—not very open to changes and customization. It's simply not easy to configure. There are other problems, too. For example regarding Forcepoint's Websense component. We had a lot of problems managing the web settings within Websense. That's why we migrated to Cisco Umbrella for cloud-based web filtering. It's not that Forcepoint is inherently bad. The issue is that it's not user-friendly. It is not easy to use. The developers need to redesign the interface (GUI) for better management. It is very difficult to manage. For example, simple actions require too many clicks compared to FortiGate or Palo Alto. That's the main problem.

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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

"Fortinet FortiGate is pretty robust. The updates and firmware releases are pretty timely. They have a good product revision and review system, so they are constantly reviewing their configuration and the different mechanisms that are used on Fortinet FortiGate."

"The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."

"It's user-friendly and easy to operate."

"The solution has improved my organization significantly, with impactful capabilities such as sandboxing and cloud solutions, such as XDR, MDR, and EDR."

"The initial setup is easy."

"One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."

"The price-to-performance ratio for using Fortinet FortiGate is always better compared to any other competitor, so they are rated better than the likes of Check Point or Palo Alto."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"With Forcepoint, this process is simplified compared to others like Fortinet."

"The Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a scalable product."

"It is a scalable solution."

"I have two offices, and I can route the internet of both offices using the same product. The connectivity is great."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support."

"The most valuable feature is the console management."

"The people we deal with is a local partner in Cambodia and we can get good support from them."

"It provides decent protection for the LAN, especially in run mode."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pros

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

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

"SonicWall excelled in threat management, evident in how users handled it effectively."

"The product helps improve our security."

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

"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."

"We are very impressed with it."

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

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."

"Fortinet FortiGate can be integrated with different platforms. They have integrations in place, but I can't say they're 100%."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding enhancements to FortiMail, FortiSOAR, and FortiDeceptor."

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet FortiGate as a five because it is not as strong as Cisco. Additionally, the turnaround time is very high compared to Cisco."

"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."

"I prefer Palo Alto over Fortinet FortiGate. Its IPS engine is not better than the Palo Alto version. The monitoring tool needs improvement, and the syslog configuration needs enhancement."

"Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use."

"The cloud features can be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"They should have a local vendor who can provide support. Most of the support is overseas, so the time zones can be a problem."

"It's a complicated firewall. Until you come to know the firewall inducers, most people don't like the firewall because the components for the firewall are a little bit complex. User-friendliness is a little bit tough. It needs to be user-friendly when creating policies, and pushing policies. Committing takes more time compared to Palo Alto."

"The network interface could be better, and it could be cheaper."

"This solution would be improved with the inclusion of custom reporting."

"It is really hard to work with their customer support. For example, unlike Fortinet where you can escalate an issue and quickly get responses from the development team, Forcepoint's process seems slow and challenging."

"The company should update the URL filtering database. They need to enhance the URL filtering and make it easier to customize."

"The endpoint protection capabilities of the product are an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The interface is complicated. It's difficult to locate all the necessary menus and functions."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall cons

"The price is a significant factor."

"SonicWall NSV's SSL VPN could increase its number of users to 100-plus users."

"There are limitations to bandwidth management."

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

"I would like to see the reporting opened up and have several more opportunities for automatic reports."

"It has been brought to our attention by a few customers that they are dissatisfied with the fact that our virtualized service is only offered as a subscription option on the cloud. However, it is worth noting that many other similar services are also offered through a subscription model on the cloud and not through perpetual licensing. It is unclear why these customers would have an issue with this subscription service when so many others are utilizing similar methods."

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

"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

"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."

"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."

"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."

"No comment."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"The price could be lower."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Forcepoint is very expensive but it's really secure."

"We would love to take other solution from Forcepoint, but unfortunately the price is too high. That's why we are not considering using Forcepoing for our proxy and DLB. They have a very good DLB, but the matter in the end is the cost."

"The training that they offer to their end-customers. It's quite expensive, I believe it costs roughly $11,000"

"There is a license required to use this solution and we can purchase it for one, two, three, or five years."

"Everything in Forcepoint comes with an individual license, which is kind of a problem. In our last meeting, they said that it may change at the beginning of 2021, and they will try to merge some licenses together. Customers will get more features than what they got previously. We will wait and see."

"It is expensive."

"The cost is fair, but it could be improved."

"We have just a subscription for the cloud, and this license is great. The license is so good."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pricing and cost advice

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

"The tool is moderately priced."

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

"We are currently using the trial version."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

27%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Performing Arts

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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What do you like most about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The licensing model is dependent on negotiation skills, but there is room for improvement. The costs can be high sinc...

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What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The licensing model should be more flexible. I recommend that additional features be included in a single license to ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 19% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XG vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Rapid7 InsightIDR vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Competitors

Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 25% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 24% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 20% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 10% of the time

More SonicWall NSv Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

August 2025

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall report

Download Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

August 2025

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

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

Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform

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

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a versatile and comprehensive solution for perimeter security, offering features such as SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and cloud or on-premises subscription keys. It is preferred by many clients over Cisco and is used for obligation redundancy, VPN access, and as the main point of security in infrastructure.

The product is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, complete feature set, scalability, and central management capabilities. Other valuable features include IPS, firewall, sandbox, application control, filtering, security management center, connectivity, and integration capabilities.

Forcepoint

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

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

July 2025

Free Report: Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

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