No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Hillstone E-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Sponsored
 

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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
592
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 (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
38th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (10th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (22nd)
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
26th
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 June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 1.8%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate15.1%
SonicWall TZ1.8%
Hillstone E-Series0.7%
Other82.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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.
Fernando Kavindra Fernando - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
Web filtering and traffic balancing have improved security for SMBs but threat insight still needs work
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 somewhere in between, so I would not recommend it for a large enterprise-level organization to rely on because it is not at that level. SonicWall TZ's content filtering service is reliable. We have used it, but it is not very reliable compared to brands such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, or Check Point. What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point. Their threat intelligence needs to be improved, as does the GUI, which is not as user-friendly compared to devices such as Fortinet. They could learn from their competitors by making the product more user-friendly. The product interface is not that user-friendly. By adopting a more user-friendly GUI, improving threat intelligence, and enhancing the available guides would be beneficial. In my understanding, in some cases, the KB articles and knowledge articles were not that efficient. They were useful, but they could have been more precise with the knowledge base articles. They need to provide more information about SonicWall TZ, specifically more documentation and more troubleshooting articles. Other than the threat intelligence and the user-friendly GUI, there are no other additional features that I can think of for SonicWall TZ in the future or at least in the next release to make it more competitive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefits of Fortinet FortiGate are security and the ability to manage all information throughout the company, including managing all data inside the company to prevent intrusions from outside."
"I like the solution's stability."
"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."
"Provides good firewall security and has great VPN features."
"Fortinet FortiGate positively provides my clients' organizations with a high return on investment."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a stateless balance proposition"
"FortiGate has threat protection, antivirus, and even SSL encryption and decryption, and a few customers also use this firewall for web filtering and application control."
"FortiGate is very good if you're thinking of expanding where you have remote offices, then it's a good solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"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."
"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 most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"There is no review content provided to evaluate."
"I would recommend this solution because it is easy to use and the configuration is simple."
"All aspects are good with SonicWall TZ."
"We are very much happy with the support."
"Content filtering and application rules are the most valuable features. It is also easy to configure."
"No issues with stability."
"Access restriction and IP whitelisting are the most valuable features."
"The most valuable features have been content filtering, and the interface is easy to navigate and to use."
 

Cons

"IPs are not handled well and the process is unnecessarily complicated."
"A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."
"If you have the firmware version 6.4.3 and are using FortiLink in VLAN, it has trouble with tunneling networks for a wireless network; it won't give it a route to the internet."
"Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"They really need to work on their support."
"There could be more integration between the logging and analytical platforms to make it more seamless and integrated."
"The management consoles can be improved."
"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 room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"User interface could be improved."
"The solution's antivirus checking could be improved so that we can have a deeper inspection of the packets."
"Technical support is not good. If we send complaints to the SonicWall support they don't provide good support for us."
"The death for SonicWall for us unfortunately is the Dell acquisition."
"I would like them to make the interface a little bit easier to use so you can find out where in the heck you're going instead of having to go to 15 different places to get something installed."
"The user support could be improved because you have to go outside and get that kind of support."
"We have been facing issues with reporting."
"The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."
"The Fortinet FortiGate security features cost approximately $1,500 a year. The firewall itself doesn't have a recurring cost. It's the security features on top of that that you pay for."
"Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment."
"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 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."
"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."
"Fortinet FortiGate IPS is cheaper than other solutions like Cisco or Check Point."
"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"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."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The price is high compared to some other solutions."
"Customers are required to pay for a yearly subscription."
"It is highly priced and has a slow performance compared to other firewalls."
"The price of SonicWall TZ is good for medium-sized companies."
"The price is fair for the solution for the quality you receive."
"Getting licenses in our country, Ghana, is not easy. Though, once we have them, adding them is quick (about a day)."
"It is an expensive solution compared to one of its competitors."
"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
899,324 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business370
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise14
 

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 ...
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...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features w...
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I ha...
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...
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 ...
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 ot...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

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
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: June 2026.
899,324 professionals have used our research since 2012.