Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Fortinet and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5, while SonicWall is ranked #39 with an average rating of 7.8. Fortinet holds a 1.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet 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

Fortinet FortiGate-VM and SonicWall NSv are premium firewall solutions for diverse business needs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM has the upper hand with more advanced features, while SonicWall NSv is preferred for ease of use, making it suitable for users with less technical expertise.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers robust security features, policy controls, and comprehensive protection. SonicWall NSv stands out for its seamless integration capabilities, efficient VPN performance, and easy configuration.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate-VM can improve its documentation, simplify the configuration process, and enhance user guidance. SonicWall NSv needs more frequent updates, better scalability options, and improved adaptability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate-VM has a straightforward deployment process, but customer support is noted to be slow. SonicWall NSv features a quick and easy deployment process with responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate-VM has a higher setup cost but offers a better ROI due to its comprehensive features. SonicWall NSv is more budget-friendly with moderate returns.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSv

September 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 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 Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.9%, up from 1.6% 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 Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	20.4%
Fortinet FortiGate-VM	1.9%
SonicWall NSv	0.2%
Other	77.5%

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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Samuel-Mottet

EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at 11:11 Systems

User-friendly, easy to set up, and works very well for SMB customers

We are using VM01 most of the time, as we have more customers, although sometimes we can use VM02. In the EMEA region, we mainly have customers related to Fortinet FortiGate-VM. My favorite capabilities are VM01 and VM02. We use it in a hybrid cloud solution, meaning the customer on-premise is using another technology or the same. It's better for us if they are using Fortinet, and we don't face issues with this solution. For what we need to do, which is setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users, it works effectively and we haven't encountered vulnerabilities. It's user-friendly and easy to set up. It's designed with the customer in mind. As someone who is precise, I understand the importance of selling the solution effectively while ensuring it meets the customer's needs. This means that my focus is on gathering customer feedback. It's not just about what I see; it's about understanding the customer's perspective. Customers often want to know how they can use the solution and how to set it up, which is the main concern I address. Fortinet Security Fabric's Real-time Threat Response capabilities are satisfactory; it's a good solution.

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

"The solution is very user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is load balancing. It can provide central management and VPNA. Additionally, it has enhanced our security environment."

"The most helpful features of FortiGate include its firewall policy, specifically the user-based policy, which I find to be quite beneficial in managing our network security effectively."

"User identification and application identification are valuable features."

"The scalability is very good."

"The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy."

"FortiGate is on the cheaper end, and it offers good value."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The standard features, including the filtering, are quite good. All the basic features are pretty useful for us."

"I find the simplicity to be most valuable."

"Initial setup was quite straightforward, as we can simply head to the required sections to apply the planned network."

"Fortinet is user-friendly."

"It has allowed us to centralize every network service into one appliance."

"The most valuable features are network security, VLAN, network protection, and encryption are very valuable to us."

"There is an interesting possibility of building a tunnel to a firewall from access points. We use this feature for small branch offices with one to two employees with access to central RDP servers."

"The user interface, stability, and scalability are the most valuable features."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"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."

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

"We are very impressed with it."

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

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

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

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

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

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in the IPS/IDS feature to enhance protection against attacks from attackers, including ransomware protection."

"The solution lacks multi-language support."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."

"The SD-WAN functionality is a bit overly complicated and not fully documented."

"Lacks sufficient security options."

"They can add automation for monitoring and policy optimization on the firewall. I think using AI to do some optimization on the policies would be beneficial, such as providing alerts about policies that haven't been used for a long time or identifying overlapping policies."

"They should consider making some improvements regarding the pricing."

"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"It would be better if it could provide you with options before completely blocking anything through the web filter. If you are doing a deep SSL inspection on the site if it says it's expired, it doesn't give you the option to continue at your own risk. I can't say that it's bad, but SSL internally isn't really a requirement. However, its security features can help. Right now, we have people going out and spending on purchasing the SSL certificates for internal sites."

"In the Philippine market, where cybersecurity is still growing but not yet fully mature, we have many clients who have Fortinet FortiGate-VM or hardware. However, we cannot really position the Fabric if the licenses, renewal parts, or other components have monetary requirements that hinder full utilization."

"The solution is fairly complex."

"Deployment can be difficult and they could dispense with reliance on FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer."

"his is not a good solution for enterprises. It's better for smaller companies."

"FortiGate's application load balancing has to be improved. They need to improve a lot on the load balancing and RAF side. They are far behind Citrix in that regard."

"The block, the clarity, the quarantine command, is not very user-friendly. You would have to do everything through the command line and I would have preferred if it wasn't a CLI."

"The stability of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

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

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

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

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

"There are limitations to bandwidth management."

"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."

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

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

More SonicWall NSv cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cheap."

"They are very competitive, but we like to have the factory warranty taken care of."

"We purchased a five-year bundle package, which worked out cheaper than competing solutions."

"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."

"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."

"No comment."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution with a yearly subscription."

"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Of all the firewalls that we compared, FortiGate is the cheapest and most affordable, so we are satisfied with the pricing."

"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."

"Installation does not require another license making it an inexpensive solution."

"There is an annual license required to use the solution."

"There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee."

"The price is similar to Symantec Endpoint, but it's more expensive than Forcepoint solutions. Fortinet is better than Forcepoint."

"The price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions."

"It is an expensive solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

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

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

"We are currently using the trial version."

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

"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%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

25%

Educational Organization

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	70
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	35

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

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Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?

Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...

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What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM?

An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.

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...

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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...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 23% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

KerioControl vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 3% of the time

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SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 25% of the time

Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 23% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 21% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 10% 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

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

October 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

September 2025

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

No data available

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

SonicWall Network Security Virtual

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.

Fortinet

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

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSv

September 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSv

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