Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv

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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 Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 0.4%, 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

"It is a safe product."

"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."

"The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."

"The most useful functionality of Fortinet FortiGate is the user interface, multiple engines, and their cloud with the latest integrations. Additionally, the Security Fabric tool is very good."

"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."

"Run Script is the best tool to use in Fortinet FortiGate with multiple environments."

"It can expand easily."

"The primary feature I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is the ease of setup."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"We find the product to be stable and reliable in terms of performance."

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

"The initial setup is very easy."

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

"Forcepoint is a complete package because it has network and systems applications. Other firewalls are only for the network."

"The VPN is great."

"I like the Firewall and the IPS."

"Next Generation Firewall's best feature is that it can be managed on one platform."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pros

"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."

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

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

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

"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."

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

"We are very impressed with it."

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."

"In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big."

"FortiManager has not been my favorite. I don't use it and cannot say I really care for FortiManager for managing the firewalls."

"There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."

"I believe there is room for improvement in machine learning and AI in Fortinet FortiGate."

"The ease of use could be improved."

"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."

"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Its interface is complex when compared with a firewall like FortiGate. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall needs a management console, whereas FortiGate doesn't need any console. When you have a few devices, a console is not really necessary. It's good to have a private console only when you have a lot of devices."

"Something that I've noticed that Forcepoint lacks, is the training that they offer to their end-customers"

"They need to work on stability, it has not been the best in our experience."

"If I want to allow access to Facebook, yet not allow the user to access videos, then I am not able to do it with this product."

"Management could be better. They can improve the management. I think all our customers can't accept firewalls that have standalone management. So, they prefer Fortinet or Palo Alto. But overall, inspection and other features are working fine."

"They should have a GUI on the product itself, not a separate management tool to be used on the management server or on a server to be used to manage the file. It should be all in one device. The device should be controlled through its own GUI. They also have to improve the learning center and the documents as the documents don't really help."

"They need to increase the local support here. There are also some bugs or fixes on which they need to work. They very well know about these bugs. In terms of licensing, I would like them to either increase the number of features in a single license or make licensing more flexible."

"The initial setup of the Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has areas that are difficult."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall cons

"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."

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

More SonicWall NSv cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."

"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."

"It is very cost-effective. You get features similar to other firewalls, such as Palo Alto, but at a lower price."

"At the time we bought them, I was satisfied with their pricing; I don't know how the new pricing will be."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."

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

"The price depends on the size of the company. From the beginning, you just want to know the internet bandwidths, speed, and the number of users to be able to offer the right product and model. They have a lot of products in FortiGate according to the size of the company, like 200D and 300D."

"Its price could be better."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is reasonable, it is priced the same as other firewalls."

"The pricing of the solution is normally competitive with other products."

"We have found the price could be reduced. It is a little expensive."

"There is a need to make payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product is not expensive."

"It is expensive."

"I believe the licensing fee is for one year, three years, and five years, or something like that. If you wants to increase the support level from a simpler level to platinum, I think that there's a cost. There are differences between every kind of support, but I don't know the numbers."

"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 big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pricing and cost advice

"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."

"We are currently using the trial version."

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

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

"The tool is moderately priced."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

28%

Retailer

Real Estate/Law Firm

Educational Organization

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...

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 Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

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...

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 ...

What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?

The product helps improve our security.

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...

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...

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

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Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 20% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 12% of the time

Sophos XG vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

More Forcepoint Next Generation 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 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 12% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 11% of the time

More SonicWall NSv Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Download Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall product report

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall report

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Firewalls

May 2025

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

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv