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IPFire vs SonicWall NSa comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
330
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
IPFire
Ranking in Firewalls
35th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IPFire is 1.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
Amr Fouad - PeerSpot reviewer
Prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements
We use the solution for firewall, intrusion prevention and detection. We installed it in order to comply with customers requirements IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements. Accessing the internet was a bit complicated. We opted for this…
Vijay Mohan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a simple console to manage multiple branches and content filtering
The centralized console is great for managing multiple branches. It's a very simple console to connect all three of our branches in the US and India. We connect through three firewalls in a single console and manage any policy. So, if we need to change a policy, the global admin can connect from anywhere and easily make changes. Log usage is also very easy. The threat prevention capabilities are very good. Preventing the latest threats is very easy. You can define rules, and it automatically alerts you. For example, if there's a sudden increase in malicious spam, it will notify you immediately.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."
"It is very flexible to use."
"I would recommend using Fortinet FortiGate because of its usability."
"We have found it to be very reliable and that's why our teams and various users in our company use it as our main firewall every day."
"The solution can scale well."
"Fortinet FortiGate is good for helping you secure and protect mission-critical data."
"It is a safe product."
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements."
"I would rate the stability as ten out of ten for IPFire."
"Content filtering reduces the load on the available bandwidth and restricts employees from using distracting websites on the job, which leads to more productive hours."
"I like that SonicWall NSa is a stable product. It's also a scalable product."
"When I switched from Fortinet to SonicWall, the number of network attacks significantly decreased."
"This product is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"The most valuable feature I've found is VPN and web protection, particularly with navigation assessment. We use the application control feature to create rules controlling specific application navigation."
"We can do the hosting and security all under one box. The UTM is a good feature."
"The firewall feature is most valuable since my work is to analyze if there is any potential attack. SonicWall NSa gives the perfect analysis."
"SonicWall's sales support is much better than other vendors'."
 

Cons

"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"Scalability is one of the disadvantages. When it comes to scalability, you have to actually change the box. If you want to upgrade it, you need to actually change the existing box and probably you take the system off to other sites."
"There's always something new that can be added or fixed."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the logging and reporting. Additionally, the next-generation application's policies should be improved. When they were released they had bugs."
"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."
"The ease of use could be improved."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."
"The graphical interface could be much better."
"Sometimes I found the GUI and some of the features a little bit hard to navigate, as opposed to Fortigate, which is much more user-friendly."
"They should consider upgrading the capabilities within the GUI."
"Overall, Im satisfied with SonicWall NSa, but it would be better if they could add a small terminal to each device. This would help me deal with certain issues by running a small bot onto any PC."
"It is not scalable. If your enterprise is growing hard then you have to buy another, bigger product. Maybe if you use it virtually it is more scalable."
"I'd like to see integration with Microsoft 365 for authentication."
"It is very modular and with native resources which are much lower than its competitors."
"The anti-spam requires a specific Java version on the server side (do not update it, otherwise it will break)."
"Potential improvement around the associated VPN cost"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's very affordable."
"Fortinet FortiGate allows you to purchase licenses for hardware and software."
"The cost of Fortinet FortiGate is competitive and not expensive compared to other enterprise- grade solutions. On average, the license cost per year is around seventy percent of the firewall's purchase price."
"When you look at these end security systems and firewalls, these firewalls even five years ago were $50,000 or perhaps $25,000 to implement in some types of customer sites. Now we're talking about tools that are $1,000. In this case, it might have been $500 or something like that."
"The license for Fortinet FortiGate is affordable in my country."
"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."
"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."
"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."
Information not available
"The return on investment is very good."
"We paid about 10,000 in our currency for one packet of SonicWall NSa."
"NSa is not expensive, not high. It's at a moderate or medium level."
"There is a license required for this solution and you can purchase a one, two, or three year term. Typically businesses choose the one year subscription and then later choose the three year licensing option if they are satisfied."
"SonicWall NSa has two types of license. The advanced license is a bit expensive when compared to the comprehensive license, but when you compare the advanced license to the licensing cost of other brands or competitors, it is expensive."
"SonicWall is a one-time purchase and there is no renewal license."
"The solution is cheaper than others."
"If you want to connect more than five concurrent users by VPN then you have to pay an additional fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
23%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 IPFire?
Accessing the internet was a bit complicated.
What is your primary use case for IPFire?
We use the solution for firewall, intrusion prevention and detection. We installed it in order to comply with custome...
What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?
I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten.
What do you like most about SonicWall NSa?
The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?
I would rate the price of the product as seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
There are some aspects of the dashboard configuration or customization that could be improved.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
 

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
1. Siemens 2. IBM 3. Cisco 4. Dell 5. HP 6. Intel 7. Oracle 8. Google 9. Microsoft 10. Amazon 11. Apple 12. Facebook 13. Twitter 14. Netflix 15. Adobe 16. SAP 17. VMware 18. Juniper Networks 19. Ericsson 20. Nokia 21. AT&T 22. Verizon 23. T-Mobile 24. Vodafone 25. Orange 26. Deutsche Telekom 27. British Telecom 28. Comcast 29. Time Warner 30. Sony 31. Samsung 32. LG
Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre
Find out what your peers are saying about IPFire vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
850,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.