Fortinet FortiGate vs Sophos XG comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 30, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
314
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (1st)
Sophos XG
Ranking in Firewalls
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
194
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 22.6%, up from 18.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XG is 13.3%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
Unique Categories:
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
19.7%
WAN Edge
21.4%
No other categories found
 

Q&A Highlights

SA
Jun 14, 2024
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmad Aloqlah - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 23, 2022
Powerful firewall with a user friendly interface and content filtering
Our primary use case is mainly for firewalls. We tried FortiClient as well and FortiToken, but we mainly use it for the firewall. The solution is deployed on-prem. We are using the latest version The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the…
MA
Jan 4, 2022
Good load-balancing features, monitoring done from a single control panel, and controls access to our resources
The VPN features can be improved. Due to covid-19, we have a lot of employees that work from home and we need better VPN capabilities. We would like to be able to override policies set by the country. For example, VPN is banned in Egypt. If we could bypass this then it would be helpful because it would allow us to distribute our connections, or services, to other sites. After upgrading from version 17 to 18, not everything is in the same place in the interface. For example, the firewall rules are in a different place. Consequently, my IT team department cannot understand the portal and find it not user-friendly. They were used to the previous version. Better training should be available because there is nothing on the Sophos website to assist with setting up VPN connections or VPN SSL certificates. For instance, there is nothing to explain how to configure the DDNS.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI."
"We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box."
"The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."
"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."
"FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"The stability and scalability of this solution are satisfactory. Its SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering features are very useful."
"The pricing is great and very reasonable."
"The features that I have found most valuable are first the Web Filter and the Web Application Firewall SD-Wan on Version 18. Additionally, RED Tunnels allows a Sophos vital to speak to another Sophos vital in headquarters."
"One feature of Sophos XG that I found incredibly beneficial for threat prevention is its endpoint protection."
"Overall the solution works well."
"The updates are helpful and add to the solution in a positive way."
"It is very easy to use. You can configure and monitor everything from one unique dashboard."
"I like it for its simplicity. It is very simple to configure and implement. It is a very good product for medium-sized organizations."
"I like the firewall, inbound, and outbound modules the most. The VPN feature also works well. It is very easy to configure rules in Sophos XG. We have got local service here in Zimbabwe from Sophos, which is something that I like a lot. We have got good local support, and they come on-site when we have any challenges. Sophos provides a lot of good training all around Zimbabwe. They are quite dominant here, similar to other solutions like Fortinet or WatchGuard."
"The most useful aspect of the solution is the concept of integrated security."
 

Cons

"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"Fortinet needs more memory to save the log files. We need it to save the logs on the hardware and not in the cloud. I know this feature is available in FortiCloud, but if we need this log locally, it is not available."
"Technical support for this solution can be improved."
"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."
"The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
"I would like to see improvements made to the dashboard and UI, as well as to the reporting."
"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"They need to do more quality checks before they release firmware upgrades. Currently, a few Cyberoam firewall customers are facing some issues while upgrading the Cyberoam firmware to Sophos. After the new firmware is installed, they are seeing some performance issues, which require some bug fixes. The performance is fine after getting the required support. Customers who are already using Sophos hardware are quite satisfied with this solution. Their support should also be improved. We are facing difficulties getting support on time through email or phone."
"Since Sophos took over Cyberoam, the online technical library and support library have become super messy. To get a piece of information is becoming a nightmare. They need to reorganize the online technical support and technical library."
"Even though things work on the back end, we have encountered bugs in the solution."
"Sophos XG could improve the policies, they are a bit confusing when creating them. There are many options that make it confusing and it could be simplified."
"LAN inbound and outbound traffic requires more control."
"The solution could improve by making the graphical interface better and increasing the performance."
"There have been some issues when upgrading. For some reason, parts of the configuration become unconfigured, I then have to reconfigure it. I should not need to keep reconfiguring it after upgrades."
"There could be some room for improvement in its pricing since my clients usually feel like the product is on the expensive side."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."
"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."
"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"They need to be competitive with other solutions."
"We find the most valuable aspect of this solution is the price. It is affordable, and cheaper than other firewalls."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."
"Fortinet costs are 25% lower than the high-cost provider. There is an equipment cost and a recurring monthly cost for licenses and technical support."
"I rate Sophos XG’s pricing a seven out of ten."
"Support costs are approximately 50 percent."
"There is a license required for this solution that is priced well and all the features are included."
"The pricing is very high."
"The tool's pricing is cheaper compared to other alternative products."
"The price is reasonable but it would be great if it was reduced to half the price."
"It is very expensive."
"The price of the Sophos XG is very good. There are not any licensing costs, it is a one-time purchase price."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Answers from the Community

SA
Jun 14, 2024
Jun 14, 2024
Choosing between Fortinet FortiGate and Sophos XG depends on specific needs and context. FortiGate is often preferred for its robust security features, extensive integration capabilities, and high-performance hardware. Sophos XG stands out for its user-friendly interface, strong endpoint integration, and advanced threat protection. If I had to choose, I would lean towards FortiGate for its comp...
2 out of 7 answers
CR
Oct 23, 2023
Hi, XG is EOL the new series is XGS, both are excellent equipment but I prefer Fortigate, why ??? DHCP slection, leader SD-WAN, many IPSEC dynamics is possible on SOPHOS but is limit the are conflicts with many IP's dynamics you need to use DDNS, SSL tunnel for remote clients, VRF, advanced routing with OSPF and BGP ("as path"). Greetings  
AB
Oct 24, 2023
Hello Sharif,   I prefer FortiGate SDWAN Devices (FortiGate) even though we also deliver Sophos to our clients.  The decentralized FortiGate devices work as firewalls with an excellent security ecosystem. FortiGate and most other items work as Hardware units or on virtual machines. As a Telco company we have a lot of companies working in different industries with various requirements. We can support them all with FortiGate.Our customers prefer the security features, the stable ecosystem for life cycle management, for device/user/policy management, thread detection & prevention, intrusion prevention, sandboxing, ... the low operation effort to build a stable company network that supports the need of any customer size.In our business, we also like that the architecture of a company network can be easily changed if the customer requirements change. From single-line sites to Data Centers with high availability and Cloud integration FortiGate can be used in any design.The different security features that can be added by the license are powerful and integrated into the management dashboard. Updates of protection mechanisms against new threads happen automatically as soon as a new protection mechanism is available when new threads occur. The security team at Fortinet is excellent.GreetingsAndre
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

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 at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Factor. The Sophos XG appliance that offers a direct competition to the Fortigate 80...
What Is The Biggest Difference Between Sophos UTM and Sophos XG?
The Sophos UTM is a UTM and Sophos XG is the NGFW. First, you must know about the difference between a UTM and NGFW. They can not be compared with each other because the price, license, firewall th...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Amazon Web Services 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Cisco 5. Dell 6. HP 7. Oracle 8. Verizon 9. AT&T 10. T-Mobile 11. Sprint 12. Vodafone 13. Orange 14. BT Group 15. Telstra 16. Deutsche Telekom 17. Comcast 18. Time Warner Cable 19. CenturyLink 20. NTT Communications 21. Tata Communications 22. SoftBank 23. China Mobile 24. Singtel 25. Telus 26. Rogers Communications 27. Bell Canada 28. Telkom Indonesia 29. Telkom South Africa 30. Telmex 31. Telia Company 32. Telkom Kenya
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Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XG and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.