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Hillstone E-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
41st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (10th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (24th)
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 1.7%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall TZ1.7%
Hillstone E-Series0.9%
Other97.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.
Ashutosh Jha - PeerSpot reviewer
Project engineer at IT Solution india private limited
Advanced security filters have blocked threats and protect our users’ web and application access
SonicWall TZ gives us multiple features, such as Content Filter, Application Filter, ATP, IPS policy, Geo-Filter, Botnet filter, and many more. I use Content Filter with SonicWall TZ most of the time because we need to create a policy on behalf of the content filter to track who is using what. If we want to block any types of websites for any specific user, we can do it from the firewall. SonicWall TZ has multiple features, such as Application Filter as well. SonicWall TZ has impacted our organization positively because it stops all threats. If any types of malware signature or any types of bad behavior malware appear, it prevents them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"The VPN connection is the most valuable feature for us; for me, it's all good as implementation and data tools are also good."
"We are able to block whatever we want to block by using this product. It provides all required security features, such as content filtering, VPN, in one box. Before switching to SonicWall, we had specified all required features."
"The performance has been very good. Overall, the solution is quite stable."
"This solution is quite stable."
"The product’s filtering and URL-blocking features are valuable."
"Access restriction and IP whitelisting are the most valuable features."
"We like the central interface and we like the security features. Additionally, we use SonicWall with VPN connectivity and we have had no problems with SonicWall all these years."
"I would recommend this solution because it is easy to use and the configuration is simple."
 

Cons

"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"There was one complaint I always had in the past. Years ago, you always had to enable the device; you had to go online to enable the device, and that was always a thing in my mind: "Well, why do I have to do that? Why do I have to go outside of my network just to do that?""
"An additional feature that I would like to see is reporting that includes metrics to give me more information about the number of viruses that it has actually detected and interrupted."
"For support, I would rate SonicWall TZ five out of 10."
"The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed."
"The quality of tech support can vary."
"We do not plan to continue using SonicWall TZ; we are looking for a replacement because we need centralized monitoring across the organization."
"I find that the user interface for the product configuration needs improvement."
"The solution has lost the trust of its customers because of moving from one company to another."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"You need to purchase multiple licenses to manage multiple devices which is cost-prohibitive for the value you would receive."
"The prices are expensive."
"The price of SonicWall TZ is good for medium-sized companies."
"The price is high compared to some other solutions."
"It is a bit expensive. We have to purchase the license and the reporting part separately, which makes it a bit pricey. This is the main reason why we have thought of moving to another firewall. It would be good if they combine both of these."
"The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive."
"Licensing fees are on a monthly basis."
"The license that we purchased is good for three years."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business65
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?
I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with similar basic features. However, Fortinet offers more performance, scalability, and in...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall TZ?
The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN. Only one SSL VPN a...
What needs improvement with SonicWall TZ?
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhe...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about Hillstone E-Series vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
918,970 professionals have used our research since 2012.