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Hillstone E-Series vs Sophos Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 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
40th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (10th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (20th)
Sophos Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
304
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 6.5%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sophos Firewall6.5%
Hillstone E-Series0.8%
Other92.7%
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
Robust protection has blocked external threats and provides clear visibility into user activity
Sophos Firewall offers multiple features, including IPS, IDS, ATP, NDR, XOps, web protection, application protection, web server protection, and many more. Out of all those features, I find web protection and application protection to be very helpful and valuable in my daily work. Sophos Firewall has positively impacted my organization by preventing outside threats, allowing me to easily monitor my users, and configuring any rule for any user regarding what they need to use and what I am restricting for the particular user. I can share that it has improved productivity because if anyone could ransom my network, they could demand money to decrypt the files, thus saving us money, time, and providing reliability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"The most valuable feature is the central dashboard, as it provides us with good performance."
"The cloud-based interface makes it easy to manage."
"What I have found most valuable with the Sophos XG is it's a key component of the Intercept X EDR environment."
"It's one of the best products on the market as it really understands where the market is moving and iterates based on the future."
"We only use Sophos because it can integrate with other product like FortiGate and we can easily connect the two programs."
"If you're looking for equipment that's easy to manage, this is a good product."
"The centralized security is very good."
"The product was easy for us to install."
 

Cons

"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"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."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"Sometimes, there is an issue with anti-spam, and Sophos XG suddenly stops processing incoming or outgoing emails. The only solution for this issue is to restart the appliance."
"I rate Sophos' support five out of 10. It's sometimes difficult to contact them, and finding a solution is not easy."
"What could be improved in Sophos XGS is its connectivity with Azure AD. It's best if it could work directly without using any servers locally, or in the data center, and this functionality should be made available in this product."
"When it comes to different interfaces there is some speed issue that can be improved in Sophos XGS."
"It would be helpful if the solution offered some tutorial videos to help new users learn the system quickly."
"Scalability could be improved. It could be better."
"Their account manager and support in Africa are not so good."
"Inability to investigate incidents, there is no tracking."
 

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."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"The price is fair."
"We pay licensing fees of approximately $2,000. We have a contract for three years."
"I pay close to $10,000 per year, which I find to be expensive compared to the other similar solution or equivalent solutions."
"The pricing is very high."
"The pricing for Sophos XGS is reasonable."
"It is very expensive."
"Because we're in education, Sophos gives us a very competitive price for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business209
Midsize Enterprise61
Large Enterprise53
 

Questions from the Community

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 firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
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 which are available in the firewall.
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 have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sophos XG, Sophos XGS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Hillstone E-Series vs. Sophos Firewall and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.