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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
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
589
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)
IPFire
Ranking in Firewalls
36th
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
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IPFire is 1.5%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
SonicWall NSa1.5%
IPFire1.5%
Other78.7%
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.
DS
Head Competence Team IT at Duktig Brand
Blocking access from specific countries and ensuring robust security have been effortlessly achieved
I use IPFire to protect my home The best feature of IPFire is the location block functionality. It allows me to block certain countries from accessing my site. Additionally, it is a solution that is available for free, which is perfect. The graphical interface could be much better. I have…
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
Automated breach prevention has protected critical workloads and keeps external attacks blocked
I am familiar with SonicWall TZ. I have done a POC of TZ but I have not worked extensively with it. I have worked with the 2600 firewall and then the 3600. These are the models which we have worked with.SonicWall NSa was an on-premises solution. The two firewalls which were in production, in the data center and on the LAN side, were both on-premises solutions. We had a pre-decided budget under which we would purchase the firewall. All parameters including security, high availability, and budget concerns were covered with SonicWall NSa being implemented at that time. SonicWall NSa is a user-friendly product that is easy to configure, and it is easy for network personnel and firewall administrators to work with. Even the L1 team captured and learned this firewall effectively, helping us resolve all parameters related to high availability firewalls within budget-friendly costs. I rate this review a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to use and performs very well."
"We have found the product to be scalable."
"Its stability is the most valuable."
"The payment function for applications is good."
"We find the solution to be quite stable; it's very reliable, we don't have to worry about bugs or glitches on the system, and it doesn't crash or freeze."
"Security, SD-WAN, and Streetscape are valuable features."
"The reliability of Fortinet FortiGate is through the roof, we're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently."
"Offers good security and filtering."
"I would rate the stability as ten out of ten for IPFire."
"IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements."
"Overall SonicWall NSa is a good solution for our use case."
"When I switched from Fortinet to SonicWall, the number of network attacks significantly decreased."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"The most valuable features of this solution are intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, and the advanced capture client, which provides live traffic analysis."
"SonicWall fulfills our requirements and it does it well."
"The most valuable features are that it is reasonably-priced and works well."
"Feature wise, the content filtering is good."
"Content Filtering and sandboxing are valuable features."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG can't be used on its own, and you have to get FortiAnalyzer."
"FortiGate is a complete solution, but it is very expensive compared with other solutions."
"FortiOS is not simple."
"FortiGate support could do some improvements on their IPv6 configuration. Right now it's still in the very early stage for utilizing in an enterprise level network environment."
"The main aspect of FortiGate that could be improved is load balancing. Our management team does not want to buy another appliance for only load balancing."
"The most important feature to have is zero trust, which is lacking in Fortinet FortiGate IPS."
"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."
"The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components, and in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed."
"The graphical interface could be much better."
"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."
"An area for improvement would be SonicWall NSa's integration with antiviruses."
"Customer support is severely lacking with very slow response times."
"The features I would like to see improve are the dashboard and the UI."
"There are some aspects of the dashboard configuration or customization that could be improved."
"It is a very unstable product. For maintenance, we require one engineer from the support partner, one from the tech side, and one from our side, so three engineers and one manager."
"We have used other solutions such as pfSense and Linux native firewalls. I prefer SonicWall NSa but if you are going to use something for an enterprise you need another solution."
"The cloud services may be in need of some improvement."
"I feel that the SSL VPN client software needs a lot of improvement."
 

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."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment."
"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."
"At the time we bought them, I was satisfied with their pricing; I don't know how the new pricing will be."
"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."
"The license for Fortinet FortiGate is affordable in my country."
"Its price is reasonable. They have a clear pricing policy. It is not complicated by the number of VPN users at a time. We know what the price is. The yearly subscription for the security license is rather high, but it is all included for whatever number of users you have and the kind of functions you need."
"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."
Information not available
"Considering the market, I believe that the price of this solution is great."
"You need their analyzer to properly generate reports. This is an expensive, licensed feature, with a complex application or appliance back-end."
"The pricing is lower and better than other products."
"Compared to Fortinet and Cisco, SonicWall NSa is a cheaper solution."
"Licensed features provide application control, content filtering, antivirus, and anti-malware all in a single appliance."
"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."
"We are on a three-year license for the solution. The price is inexpensive compared to other solutions."
"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
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
22%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business364
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise190
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business54
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise24
 

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?
The graphical interface could be much better.
What is your primary use case for IPFire?
I use IPFire ( /products/ipfire-reviews ) to protect my home.
What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?
Sometimes configuring IPFire is challenging. Overall, I would rate this solution as eight 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 am overall satisfied with everything, including the price.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
The CPU configuration for SonicWall NSa, based on my experience, is average. It should be increased somewhat because ...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation 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: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.