Hillstone E-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Hillstone Networks and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Hillstone Networks is ranked #35 with an average rating of 8.0, while SonicWall is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.3. Hillstone Networks holds a 0.4% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hillstone Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

SonicWall TZ and Hillstone E-Series compete in the network security solutions category. SonicWall TZ appears to have the upper hand with its ease of use, strong security features, and competitive cost.

Features: SonicWall TZ is renowned for its ease of use, particularly in firewall policy management and VPN setup. Users highlight its strong security features, including intrusion and brute force prevention, advanced threat protection, and content filtering. The product also integrates well into existing networks, making it a cost-effective choice. Hillstone E-Series offers robust hardware capacity with integrated virtual switching and routing capabilities. Its innovative ransomware protection and user-friendly design are praised by users.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ has room for enhancement in mail security, application detection, and reporting tools, with the interface being seen as non-intuitive. Support responsiveness is another area needing improvement. Hillstone E-Series users suggest enhancing regional support and simplifying its ticket management process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ is primarily deployed on-premises, with some hybrid cloud use, and it has variable technical support experiences, with users noting occasional long wait times. Hillstone E-Series, with public cloud deployment support, is commended for satisfactory customer service and streamlined support processes.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ features a versatile pricing model that attracts smaller businesses with good ROI through increased productivity and security. Hillstone E-Series offers an economically priced, straightforward annual licensing model, balancing cost-effectiveness and value. Both products deliver ROI; however, SonicWall users often note the ease of achieving immediate returns due to its feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Hillstone E-Series vs. SonicWall TZ Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone E-Series vs. SonicWall TZ

June 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 July 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.2%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 3.0%, up from 2.3% 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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TahirMahmood

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.

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Rias Majeed

CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC

Robust VPN integration stands out despite needing enhanced vendor compatibility

The integrated VPN functionality is working well with the global VPN client, which is a fast client, though it comes at a cost. SonicWall TZ is functional depending on the service level taken by the user. For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well. Despite lacking certain features, it is still considered a good product. The appliance itself is functional and stable, offering integrated solutions.

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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

"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."

"My clients appreciate it for its features. It is easy to install and manage, and it offers all-around protection, including web filtering, content filtering, IPS, and IDS."

"Some of the best features of Fortinet FortiGate include the next-generation firewall features."

"The UTM feature is quite good. FortiAP is easy to deploy because both Fortigate and FortiAP are under the same brand. Otherwise, you need to do more work on the configuration."

"FortiGate is more feature-rich and has a broader range of hardware. T"

"The Fortinet FortiGate local partners were good. I did not have direct contact with Fortinet support."

"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."

"The combined license for the network, the next-generation firewall, and the integration with SD-WAN for all branches are what I consider to be the best features. It's effective for multi-branch customers."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."

"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."

"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."

"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."

"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 a secure connectivity."

"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."

"Five out of five ROI."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

"We are very much happy with the support."

"It's a stable solution."

"I like the firewall product, the security server, and the content filter."

"The feature we found most valuable in SonicWall TZ is that it is user-friendly for an administrator."

"The most valuable feature is the user-friendly navigation."

"SonicWall TZ offers security and easy firmware updates."

"We like the unified threat management for defense-in-depth. We can terminate our site-to-site and remote access VPNs with it."

"The most common feature in the firewall, apart from that traditional firewall, would be the security services, like application control, URL filtering, Gateway Anti-Virus, and IPS protection. These are the essential features in the firewalls which I think, has to be enabled and properly used at every network infrastructure."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests. I was limited to a few interfaces for one month, and it would be great if Fortinet could improve these features in their test versions."

"Their support's response time can be better. In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets."

"Fortinet should improve its software, as we are seeing lots of firmware versions generated for each vulnerability issue. It becomes difficult for us to keep updating the firmware frequently due to bugs."

"The support is the main thing that needs to be improved."

"I prefer Palo Alto over Fortinet FortiGate. Its IPS engine is not better than the Palo Alto version. The monitoring tool needs improvement, and the syslog configuration needs enhancement."

"I wish that they could integrate zero-trust technology into Fortinet FortiGate. I am not sure whether it has been done already, but if they could implement that, it would help significantly."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."

"The tool needs to improve its price."

"The tool only had some memory-related problems."

"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."

"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."

"The current usage reporting is very basic."

"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."

"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

"SonicWall TZ could benefit from newer technology. That is why I am looking to upgrade and researching other solutions."

"The price could be better for us in Bolivia."

"Pricing could be lowered slightly."

"I can't get the support that I need from SonicWall."

"The solution's antivirus checking could be improved so that we can have a deeper inspection of the packets."

"The monitoring is a little bit confusing."

"There can be an improvement in analysis and reporting. We need enhancement on the reporting side."

"The solution should provide some additional ports."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."

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

"We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW."

"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."

"The licensing cost is at the intermediate level."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is affordable. Most of our customers are on a three-year license to use the solution. All the features and support are included in the price."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"SonicWall has authorized distributors in our country. They have about two or three distributors in the country, so it makes it a bit easier. What we do is to request a quotation from these distributors, then we do a value for money analysis and see which one of them is giving us a competitive price."

"It has a yearly subscription."

"Licensing fees are on a monthly basis."

"Licensing costs have been around $2,000. There are no other costs above the standard licensing fees."

"The solution is expensive."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

"We have to pay yearly. Its licensing can be improved, and they should provide more features, such as AV, email filtering, and so on with the basic subscription."

"The price is high compared to some other solutions."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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What do you like most about Hillstone E-Series?

The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hillstone E-Series?

Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the fire...

See all answers

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 simila...

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What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?

The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...

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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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 20% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

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WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

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Hillstone A-Series vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 15% of the time

Sophos XG vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 8% of the time

OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

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Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 18% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 5% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

June 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Dell SonicWALL TZ

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

Hillstone E-Series is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It offers a range of features including a firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private network (VPN), and application control.

With its advanced threat intelligence capabilities, E-Series can detect and prevent sophisticated attacks, ensuring the security of critical data and systems. It also provides granular control over applications, allowing organizations to enforce policies and optimize network performance.

E-Series is easy to deploy and manage, with a user-friendly interface and centralized management console. It offers high-performance throughput and scalability, making it suitable for small businesses to large enterprises. With its robust security features and ease of use, Hillstone E-Series is an ideal choice for organizations looking to enhance their network security posture.

Hillstone Networks

The secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.

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

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone E-Series vs. SonicWall TZ

June 2025

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