Hillstone T-Series vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Hillstone Networks and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Hillstone Networks is ranked #42, while SonicWall is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.4. Hillstone Networks holds a 0.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of Hillstone Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Both Hillstone T-Series and SonicWall NSv are powerful network security solutions competing in the network security category. SonicWall NSv is perceived as the superior product due to its advanced features, which users deem worth the higher cost.

Features: Hillstone T-Series is highly praised for its extensive threat protection, customizable policies, and robust firewall capabilities. SonicWall NSv is favored for its advanced threat intelligence, seamless integration with other systems, and comprehensive security analytics.

Room for Improvement: Hillstone T-Series users seek an enhanced alert system, better log management, and improved user interface. SonicWall NSv users desire improved reporting capabilities, a simpler configuration process, and faster software updates.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone T-Series reviewers highlight its straightforward setup process but note occasional challenges with customer support. SonicWall NSv receives mixed reviews about deployment, with some users finding it complex but commend its responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone T-Series offers competitive pricing with a favorable ROI, making it attractive for budget-conscious buyers. SonicWall NSv is more expensive but users feel its advanced features justify the cost, resulting in a strong perceived ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Hillstone T-Series vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone T-Series vs. SonicWall NSv

December 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 January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone T-Series is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.8%
SonicWall NSv	0.3%
Hillstone T-Series	0.2%
Other	80.7%

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

Is stable and has a user-friendly dashboard and a good interface

We installed Hillstone T-Series after a ransomware attack. The dashboard and user interface are very good We cannot secure a specific IP class with this firewall. Another loophole with Hillstone T-Series is that when we connect through WiFi and turn our hot spot on, all who connect through the…

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Samodthemiya Gamage

Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees

Secures east-west cloud traffic and improves threat visibility through deep inspection

SonicWall NSv offers great features. I cannot pinpoint a single best feature, but the best feature is the ability to deliver the full, high-efficiency inspection power of a physical SonicWall, including zero-day defense using Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection to the cloud, efficiently removing the performance versus cloud trade-off typically associated with virtual firewalls. Regarding deep memory inspection and real-time zero-day defense in SonicWall NSv, deep memory inspection is distinct from traditional sandboxing methods because it is focused on what is happening in the memory during file execution time, rather than just observing file system behavior. The deep memory inspection process addresses all challenges by employing a proprietary technique within the secure analysis environment, focusing on CPU-level analysis and real-time verdict. Those are the key points. SonicWall NSv's user interface is quite clear and easy to navigate. If someone has not worked with SonicWall and this is their first experience with the platform, I would highly recommend it. It is very easy to navigate and very user-friendly. SonicWall NSv has positively impacted our organization because we gained clear visibility into our network, and it helps to identify potential security issues that we had. We were able to remediate those issues, and so far, we have had a great experience with SonicWall NSv. We were able to manage approximately 99% of network-based attacks through this platform.

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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

"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."

"The solution is very, very easy to use."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."

"Their reliability and their policy of pre-shipping replacements when a unit has failed."

"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."

"The initial setup is very straightforward and easy, with wizards helping to configure the device efficiently."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by preventing hackers from accessing our network."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The only firewall able to monitor traffic from a CCTV network. Can detect unauthorized devices plugged into the network, which standard firewalls can't do."

"It has been stable so far."

"We installed Hillstone T-Series after a ransomware attack. The dashboard and user interface are very good."

"SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization by allowing our customers to access data 24 hours, seven days a week, making it a wonderful feature for business continuity for our customers."

"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."

"SonicWall NSv has positively impacted our organization because we gained clear visibility into our network, and it helps to identify potential security issues that we had."

"SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization by being cost-effective, with latency monitoring as an added advantage for us, along with full SD-WAN."

"For my small NFB banking services, when they are expanding their branches, I could incorporate a little bit easier."

"SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization by regenerating the network infrastructure, making it more efficient and useful for all of the company's site-to-site VPNs."

"Advanced Threat Protection has made a difference for my environment by providing real-time, memory-deep inspection and a machine learning feature that is able to learn the way these devices behave and analyze them."

"SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization; one specific outcome I have noticed is the low cost of licensing and that it is a trusted security appliance."

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"It is essential to leverage its capabilities more professionally to achieve an even higher level of security."

"The support is not good because I generally search for solutions online. When I open a case, they usually identify it as a bug they are working on."

"Support could be improved."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."

"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."

"However, one feature that I cannot rely on is the application filter, which requires tedious steps compared to other solutions like Check Point and Palo Alto, where creating the application filter rule is simpler."

"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"

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

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"They have a very good technical support team, but I think there are some communication issues due to language differences."

"Another loophole with Hillstone T-Series is that when we connect through WiFi and turn our hot spot on, all who connect through the hotspot get all the functions, and the security does not work."

"Licensing is not cheap."

"SonicWall NSv can be improved by enhancing threat intelligence to rely on great threat intelligence that provides customers with updated IOCs and security incidents around the world."

"One challenge was the initial setup. Some options were not very clear in the beginning, so it took some time to configure everything properly."

"Customer support from SonicWall could see some improvement. With the number of items that SonicWall has going on at the moment, the wait line can be quite intrusive."

"SonicWall NSv can be improved by maintaining its security with up-to-date patches and ensuring it has the latest updates to secure the device."

"The engine provided initially was quite heavy, creating a trade-off between software and hardware-based threat management."

"SonicWall NSv can be improved by enhancing threat intelligence to rely on great threat intelligence that provides customers with updated IOCs and security incidents around the world."

"SonicWall NSv's performance is reliable but can be limited by single-stream CPU usage when DPI-SSL is enabled, but in most cases, it is a great experience."

"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."

More SonicWall NSv cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's one of the more expensive brands. The 100 series costs around $4,000. They are similar in pricing to what you might get from Cisco solutions and probably other similar ones. They're not more expensive than other similar solutions, but they're certainly not cheaper either."

"It's not the cheapest, but it's value for money. Given everything we've got out of it: the DMZ port, the VPN, and the high availability, it's a pretty reasonable price."

"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."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"Easy to understand licensing requirements."

"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."

"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"On a scale from one to ten, with one being low and ten being high price, I would rate the price of Hillstone T-Series at three. There are no additional costs other than renewal costs."

"We got a much cheaper price than that provided by Fortinet right now."

"We are currently using the trial version."

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."

"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."

"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."

"The tool is moderately priced."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Security Firm

12%

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	8

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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 SonicWall NSV?

The product helps improve our security.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it's okay.

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What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?

While I have not encountered significant challenges, during the configuration part, I noticed that some features, suc...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 34% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 26% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 12% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 25% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 21% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 16% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

January 2026

Download Hillstone T-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall NSv

January 2026

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Hillstone T-Series Intelligent Next-Generation Firewalls, Hillstone iNGFW

SonicWall Network Security Virtual

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Hillstone’s T-Series intelligent Next-Generation Firewall (iNGFW) uses three key technologies to detect advanced attacks and provide continuous threat defense for today’s networks. First, it uses statistical clustering to detect unknown malware, leveraging the patented Hillstone Advanced Threat Detection engine (ATD). Second, it uses behavioral analytics to detect anomalous network behavior, which is based on the Hillstone Abnormal Behavior Detection engine (ABD). Finally, it leverages the Hillstone threat correlation analysis engine to correlate threat events detected by disparate engines – including ATD, ABD, Sandbox and other traditional signature-based threat detection technologies – along with context information to identify advanced threats.

Hillstone Networks

SonicWall NSV is a software-based virtual firewall that provides additional security for customers with public-facing servers or services on Microsoft Azure. The AGSS Bundle is considered the most valuable feature, providing security services such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI.

Additionally, customization of firewall rules provides great value to customers, allowing them to lock things up in the way they desire. SonicWall NSV offers extensive security control options to protect customers' valuable information and assets.

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

University of Córdoba

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Buyer's Guide

Hillstone T-Series vs. SonicWall NSv

December 2025

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