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Fortinet FortiOS vs SonicWall NSv comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
575
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (2nd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Fortinet FortiOS
Ranking in Firewalls
21st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSv
Ranking in Firewalls
39th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 FortiOS is 1.2%, up from 0.8% 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
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate20.4%
Fortinet FortiOS1.2%
SonicWall NSv0.2%
Other78.2%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Harshama Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
We have improved network security with user-friendly controls and high threat intelligence
FortiOS is very user-friendly and easy to configure for L1, L2, and L3 personnel. Its web filtering, application control, and IPS features are very user-friendly, easy to manage, and deploy. The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs. FortiOS allows us to expand the number of users and devices as our network needs grow.
Sileesh Sivadasan - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."
"I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as a solution a 10 out of 10."
"Fortinet FortiGate is considered the best in the European market for security reasons."
"The solution has improved my organization significantly, with impactful capabilities such as sandboxing and cloud solutions, such as XDR, MDR, and EDR."
"I love the interface."
"It is a stable solution compared to other vendors."
"The most useful feature of FortiGate IPS for me is Application Control."
"Their web interface to manage it is excellent, even compared with other providers."
"A good network security system for medium-sized businesses with an excellent GUI interface that gives a graphic view of network status."
"The interface is good."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are user-friendliness, ease of use, and threat prevention."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are its constant updates and definitions."
"FortiOS' most valuable features are management, security, and easy updates with no downtime."
"Fortinet delivers a good balance of price and performance."
"It is more robust than SonicWall, particularly on the VPN from site to site."
"I have found the most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiOS is the low maintenance."
"SonicWall excelled in threat management, evident in how users handled it effectively."
"One of the standout features of SonicWall is its simplicity in creating and managing rules."
"The product helps improve our security."
"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."
"For my small NFB banking services, when they are expanding their branches, I could incorporate a little bit easier."
"SonicWall NSV is easy to use, and you can use it to manage the logs easily."
"Out of ten, I would rate the solution at an eight."
"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."
 

Cons

"From a reporting perspective, there's room for improvement. They're providing FortiAnalyzer through which one can get some enhancements, but the visibility and reporting still need slight improvement."
"There are some problems that support cannot give you a logical reason as to why it happened. For example, I had a case where I was dealing with a WhatsApp application that was giving issues. Technical support gave more than one reason it could be giving issues, but none of them solved the problem. Eventually I solved the problem, but it was far from the solutions that support had given."
"They could simplify their deployment process, especially when customers have existing devices."
"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."
"Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."
"I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."
"They could improve the response time and quality of support."
"Regarding challenges, customers initially faced issues like internet dropping, but after firmware upgrades, everything worked well."
"Their first-level support is often poorly trained."
"FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
"In terms of what needs improvements, the troubleshooting could use improvement. When we work with other products like Cisco ASA, Palo Alto, and Check Point, we see a big difference in the troubleshooting. It's not easy to find a report."
"The main challenge with Fortinet FortiOS is integration with third-party solutions. I don't see any other areas for improvement. Nowadays, all products work well for 50-60 percent of needs. We must only fulfill 60-70 percent of client requirements because they don't use 100 percent of product features. Banks and financial sectors might need more security features. I don't work much in banking, but they often use multiple products for different security layers, not just firewalls. They might use various products or APIs for different purposes. In the end, clients use the products that suit their needs."
"There should be more documentation on how to use the CLI or how to perform CLI versions of tasks that can be done through the GUI."
"They're using a lot of application-specific IC, so that may be causing some performance issues. And whenever a Fortinet adds new features, it can affect performance."
"The GUI could be improved to make it more usable, easier to administer, and easier to configure."
"Fortinet FortiOS need to manage its memory and CPU utilization better. It peaks at times, which sometimes can be challenging."
"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 SSL VPN could increase its number of users to 100-plus users."
"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."
"We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution."
"The engine provided initially was quite heavy, creating a trade-off between software and hardware-based threat management."
"I would like to see the reporting opened up and have several more opportunities for automatic reports."
"The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think that the pricing is fair."
"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Its one-year license cost is competitive with three and five-year licenses offered by other products."
"There is a need to pay for a license for the product."
"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."
"For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year."
"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."
"The pricing of Fortinet FortiGate is average, not cheap or overly expensive compared to other firewall solutions in the market. It's effective and affordable for customers."
"A yearly subscription might be around $20,000 to $30,000."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS has been reasonable."
"The software costs roughly half what the hardware costs. Overall, the product is expensive."
"We had a three-year license to use Fortinet FortiOS and we are going to renew it this year."
"Be sure to choose a licensing plan that leaves a little headroom so performance is not an issue."
"The best solution in the category including the price in Thailand is Fortinet FortiOS."
"FortiOS is affordable, but its price could be lower."
"It is not cheap; it is also not expensive. It is somewhere in the middle."
"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
26%
Educational Organization
8%
Performing Arts
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business350
Midsize Enterprise130
Large Enterprise187
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

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 ...
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...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiOS?
The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
SonicWall Network Security Virtual
 

Overview

 

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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiOS vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.