Cisco Meraki MX vs Sophos UTM comparison

Cisco and Sophos are both solutions in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category. Cisco is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.0, while Sophos is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.5. Cisco holds a 10.0% mindshare in UTMU, compared to Sophos’s 8.1% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Sophos UTM and Cisco Meraki MX are leaders in the security appliances category. Sophos UTM seems to have the upper hand in providing robust security features and flexible deployment options, while Cisco Meraki MX excels in ease of setup and cloud management capabilities.

Features: Sophos UTM offers impressive threat protection with remote access VPN, centralized console for managing multiple clients, and scalable solutions tailored for various business sizes. Cisco Meraki MX provides robust cloud management that simplifies setup, along with features like SD-WAN and advanced VPN solutions, allowing seamless remote management and monitoring.

Room for Improvement: Sophos UTM requires enhancements in high availability and scalability, including better user identification and failover processes. Improvements in appliance throughput and web filtering stability are necessary. Cisco Meraki MX could benefit from enhanced logging, notification configurations, and client VPN functionalities, with room for improvement in integration and customization for complex deployments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos UTM accommodates various deployment options, including on-premises and hybrid cloud, offering responsive support and technical expertise. However, faster resolution times and increased local representation would enhance the experience. Cisco Meraki MX's cloud-centric deployment simplifies management through a unified dashboard, providing robust customer service and real-time support, though response times could be improved.

Pricing and ROI: Sophos UTM has competitive pricing and multiple licensing options, favorable for small to medium-sized businesses due to its cost-benefit ratio despite occasional licensing complexities. Cisco Meraki MX is viewed as a premium option due to its pricing, backed by strong customer support and ease of management, which justify the investment for organizations focused on simplicity and rapid deployment.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,899 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

5.8

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.

Sentiment score

5.8

Cisco Meraki MX saves time and costs with easy management, durable equipment, and reduced training, enhancing ROI significantly.

Sentiment score

6.0

Sophos UTM users report positive ROI, citing network security, cost savings, and flexible pricing within six to sixteen months.

Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.

Bart Homblé

BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks

It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.

Bernard Samontanes

Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

I have seen a return on investment with Sophos UTM, and I can share that the price is around thirty percent better, especially if you count in the employee time.

Thomas Zimmerman

System Engineer SDDC / VCF at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.

Sentiment score

8.2

Cisco Meraki MX is praised for its responsive, knowledgeable 24/7 support, receiving high ratings for expertise and problem-solving.

Sentiment score

7.0

Sophos UTM customer service is generally reliable and fast, though experiences vary due to language barriers and responsiveness.

The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.

Alexandre Menezes

IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

When we raise a ticket with Meraki MX, they instantly become available to support us for configurations or troubleshooting.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Cisco's TAC support for Cisco Meraki MX is excellent because no other OEM provides support at this level.

Sanjay Gaiswal

Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies

Cisco is one of the best vendors in the market.

Nader Elmansi

Presales System Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

The technical support by Sophos is amazing, especially when I pay for the enhanced support.

Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

I would rate the technical support by Sophos a 10.

Malline Ligawa

Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar

I would rate the technical support with Sophos a seven because sometimes the time of the first resolution is not ideal.

Alisson Leitew

IT Manager at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.

Sentiment score

6.8

Cisco Meraki MX is praised for ease of setup but may require hardware changes for large-scale enterprise networks.

Sentiment score

6.8

Sophos UTM offers scalable performance, efficiently supporting various organization sizes with proper sizing, though planning is crucial for upgrades.

They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.

Ian Manton

IT Manager at Daltons Limited

The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.

reviewer2667480

Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.

FatmaSamy

General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

When you have hundreds of thousands of people it is very difficult to scale in Meraki.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

We have Juniper solutions, and I would say the Juniper solutions can scale better, however, this solution is still very scalable.

reviewer1633284

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The biggest one is for 120 users, but our company is a big one.

JuanSolano

IT Manager at Alonso Alonsolaw

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

You can have high availability clusters, so very, very scalable in my opinion.

Thomas Zimmerman

System Engineer SDDC / VCF at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.

Sentiment score

8.3

Cisco Meraki MX is praised for stability and support, with minor issues often resolved and strong user satisfaction.

Sentiment score

7.5

Sophos UTM is highly reliable, with users praising its stable performance despite rare concerns about hardware and resource demands.

We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.

Ricardo Biggs

Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees

I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.

Juan Frias

CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

There have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits.

Sanjay Gaiswal

Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.

Cisco Meraki MX needs enhancements in load balancing, integration, logging, interface, pricing, enterprise features, session handling, and support responsiveness.

Sophos UTM needs better interface, documentation, threat detection, VPN setup, load balancing, scalability, and enhanced security features.

These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.

Elvis Mahadeo

Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company

It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.

Pravin Mandlik

Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Data is the only path, so optimization is essential.

Mayur_Patel

Chief Commercial Officer at InnovAge Home Care

An improvement would be to use Cisco Meraki MX as a software solution as well, which might reduce the cost.

Sanjay Gaiswal

Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

If you want to really implement some rules that are a little bit more difficult, Sophos always recommends getting the dedicated WAF, or web application firewall, but I would prefer to have more features on the web application firewall in the firewall itself because it would make more sense.

Thomas Zimmerman

System Engineer SDDC / VCF at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I would prefer to see additional features in the next release of Sophos UTM because cyber crime increases every day, so we also need to improve our game to prevent any chances for intrusion.

Malline Ligawa

Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar

I would love to see artificial intelligence capabilities integrated into Sophos UTM.

Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.

Cisco Meraki MX provides flexible licensing and is praised for ease of setup, management, and having a lifetime warranty.

Sophos UTM provides flexible, cost-effective pricing models, with competitive options and discounts, valued by larger organizations despite higher costs.

Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.

AiméKouchade

Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios

It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.

NilsPaley

IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1

It is about 20% cheaper.

MithatBulut

Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

I get it for $25,000, a device that can connect up to 75-100 users, whereas in Meraki MX, it goes to 75,000-80,000 per access point.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The price could be reduced by around 30% to make it more comfortable.

Sanjay Gaiswal

Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies

In terms of pricing, I would say it is not the cheapest, but it was comparable to the others.

reviewer1633284

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

Pricing has become expensive recently due to the dollar hike and naira value changes in Nigeria.

Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

The value between what I receive and what I pay is the best in the industry.

Daniel Elías

System Administrator at a training & coaching company with 11-50 employees

The pricing would be more economical if sold directly to the user compared to going through a partner, as they need to take their percentage.

Malline Ligawa

Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.

Cisco Meraki MX offers easy deployment, cloud management, advanced security, and scalability, making it ideal for diverse network environments.

Sophos UTM offers robust security with firewalls, VPN, web filtering, scalability, intuitive interface, and integrated management for enhanced protection.

These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.

Syed Ali Waqas

Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions

The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.

Viraj Fernandopulle

General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.

We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.

VINAY GUJARATHI

Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

Meraki MX is among those top solutions in their exceptional approach towards VPN-less, Zero Trust client access to office private networks.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Advanced security is the second tier of Cisco Meraki MX. It brings you the main next-generation firewalling features such as URL filtering, advanced malware protection, and threat protection.

Nader Elmansi

Presales System Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

We understand that Cisco solutions are very reliable, and we really like the simple management.

reviewer1633284

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Meraki MX report

The zero-day protection and firewall rules are some of the most effective features for threat management.

Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

It helps us quite a lot, especially because since we use Sophos UTM, malware intrusions are not rampant.

Malline Ligawa

Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar

Sophos UTM's valuable features include the cost, which is very competitive when compared with other vendors, balanced with the features that it delivers.

Alisson Leitew

IT Manager at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Sophos UTM report

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 31.9%, down from 38.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 10.0%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos UTM is 8.1%, up from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	31.9%
Sophos UTM	8.1%
Cisco Meraki MX	10.0%
Other	50.0%

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Q&A Highlights

Melwyn DSouza

Sr Solutions Architect - Growth and E&U Vertical, Global Network Solutions, Digital Solutions at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Dec 13, 2019

What are the biggest differences between Meraki and Sophos? Which one is good for security and SD-WAN?

I presume the topic is UTM appliances (as Meraki and Sophos have many products). Any physical site connected to the Internet needs some kind of a firewall, yes? That firewall should be at the site (if it is "in the cloud" you lose performance/time/bandwidth, and you still might get a man-in-the-middle issue). For 30-80 users, for devices with prices under $5000 with taxes and shipment (for appliance plus 3 years of full licenses and warranty/support), for me, there were only two real options: Sophos XG 210 and Fortinet FortiGate FG100E (both negotiated at/under C$4350+tax), with Dell NSA 2650 a distant third (includes only 1 or 2 years of licenses/support and is more expensive). I got the Sophos XB2133SUS part number (XG210) device with a bonus device for High Availability (part number XG21T3HUS) for less than C$4300+tax. Both devices (Sophos XG210 and Fortinet FG100E) have 6+ WAN/configurable ports. For performance, look at performance with all the security features enabled (Deep Packet Inspection, VPN, antivirus, etc). I do SD-WAN using an extra device (~firewall) in front of the actual firewall. Meraki is not well known for UTM firewalls (sorry), but may do SD-WAN and may manage mobile devices better. I am afraid of their ongoing costs - for example, Meraki Wireless Access Points may stop working completely if the support fee is not paid (and that is a total No-No in my books; I understand not to be able to make more changes - but to stop a service??). As I see, for many folks - ongoing costs are just an after-thought, so maybe it does not matter much. For me, what matters is the actual performance, the security features, Support, initial cost and ongoing (support/licenses renewal) cost.

See all answers

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.

Read full review

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Experience improved network management with flexible and secure connections

I recommend that Meraki MX should improve to be a better solution for the next release by being more competent so that we can offer it as a primary solution among all other brands, although I don't have any specific feedback, while the competitors are also ahead of these solutions. Enhancing user experience is always required. Enhancing the seamless connectivity is crucial and user experience enhancement is needed daily, otherwise people find it outdated. New features should look and be dynamically connected, and users should not be bothered frequently when connectivity issues occur. It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.

Read full review

Thomas Zimmerman

System Engineer SDDC / VCF at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Integrated firewall and VPN have provided cost savings and strengthened customer security

The needed improvements for Sophos UTM include that the GUI could be a little more high-resolution-aware because it's still stuck in the small, low-resolution admin days, and those are long over. I choose a rating of nine out of ten for Sophos UTM because, as I mentioned, the graphical user interface is stuck in the past, and some things here and there are not implemented to the full, such as the reverse gateway thing, reverse proxy, and web application firewall. If you want to really implement some rules that are a little bit more difficult, Sophos always recommends getting the dedicated WAF, or web application firewall, but I would prefer to have more features on the web application firewall in the firewall itself because it would make more sense. Other than that, it's a very smooth experience, and I really appreciate it.

Read full review

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Unified Threat Management (UTM) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user216600

Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees

Jan 3, 2016

Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate

I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…

Read full review

Answers from the Community

Melwyn DSouza

Sr Solutions Architect - Growth and E&U Vertical, Global Network Solutions, Digital Solutions at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Dec 13, 2019

What are the biggest differences between Meraki and Sophos? Which one is good for security and SD-WAN?

2 out of 5 answers

it_user1208223

Associate Vice President - IT at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Dec 12, 2019

When it comes to Security, I have very good experiences with Sophos, I can say the security solution is absolutely great in Sophos. Whereas I have never used Meraki, so I can't comment anything on it. SD-WAN; no experience on any of the requested products, so better not to make any false comment/advice.

Read full answer

it_user1150056

Managing Director at Onesecure

Dec 12, 2019

To be honest, if you are still buying firewall appliances and UTM licenses you are already behind a very obvious requirement to move to Cloud security. Buying UTM does not solve the growing risk of mobility and cloud application delivery. It would be worthwhile reading Gartner's SASE paper on security transformation. Or research Zscaler, who has been delivering this model for 10 years. If a user is in your network behind your UTM, what stops him from connecting to his mobile phone Hotspot and bypassing all UTM, DLP, etc. Security has to move from the network to the endpoint. Protection regardless of location, device or network. Anything less is a massive compromise and a false sense of actual security.

Read full answer

See all 5 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction 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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	42
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	25

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department

We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL I...

See all answers

Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...

See all answers

What do you like most about Meraki MX?

I am happy with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What do you like most about Sophos UTM?

The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?

I have no declaration regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Sophos UTM.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?

The needed improvements for Sophos UTM include that the GUI could be a little more high-resolution-aware because it's...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 17% of the time

Sophos XG vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Cisco Meraki MX

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Meraki MX Competitors

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki MX

January 2026

Download Cisco Meraki MX product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

December 2025

Download Sophos UTM product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600

Astaro

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

Cisco Meraki MX offers cloud-managed security with user-friendly setup and efficient management, enhancing VPN and firewall functionalities for businesses.

Cisco Meraki MX is known for its robust cloud-based network management, featuring AutoVPN, SD-WAN, and advanced security. Its centralized control over firewall, traffic shaping, and monitoring ensures excellent connectivity and security. The interface allows easy management by non-technical staff, offering remote access and seamless network performance through real-time alerts and troubleshooting. It supports global connectivity with minimal effort, addressing needs across small to enterprise environments. Despite its strengths, users point out areas needing improvement like load balancing, VPN features, more flexible logging, and session capabilities. Pricing, integration limits, and licensing need enhancement.

What are the key features of Cisco Meraki MX?

AutoVPN: Enables automatic VPN configuration for secure, site-to-site connections.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routes for increased performance and reliability.
Advanced Security: Offers unified threat management, intrusion prevention, and content filtering.
Centralized Management: Simplifies operations with remote monitoring and configuration.
Traffic Shaping: Prioritizes critical business applications to maximize performance.

What benefits should users consider?

Ease of Deployment: Simplified installation reduces setup time and cost.
Real-Time Alerts: Ensures proactive issue identification and resolution.
Scalability: Supports growth with seamless integration and management of multiple sites.
Global Connectivity: Maintains efficient connections across geographic locations with minimal effort.

In industries like retail, finance, and education, Cisco Meraki MX provides enhanced security and connectivity. Retail chains benefit from easy VPN setups for secure multi-site networking, while educational institutions find value in its ability to manage large campuses efficiently. Financial services leverage its robust security features to protect sensitive data, ensuring compliance and trust.

Cisco

Sophos UTM is a unified threat management platform designed to protect your businesses from known and emerging malware including viruses, rootkits and spyware. The solution provides a complete network security package with everything your organization needs in a single modular appliance.

Sophos UTM Features

Sophos UTM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Web and Email Filtering
General Management
Network Protection
Network Routing and Services
Advanced Threat Protection
Authentication
Email Encryption and DLP
Web Policy
End-User Portal
VPN IPsec Client, VPN SSL Client, and Clientless VPN
Web Application Firewall Protection
UTM Endpoint Protection and Management
SEC Endpoint Integration
Logging and Reporting

Sophos UTM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Sophos UTM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple point solutions
Intuitive interface to help you quickly create policies to control security risks
Provides clear, detailed reports to give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection
Complete control to block, allow, shape and prioritize applications
Two-factor authentication with one-time password (OTP)
Integrated wireless controller
Allows you to connect remote offices with easy VPN and Wi-Fi

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Sophos UTM solution.

PeerSpot user Dana B., Network Administrator at a manufacturing company, says “The web and email filtering are the two biggest and most valuable aspects of the solution for us. The solution overall has just been a good, cost-effective solution for us. The solution offers a lot of functionality. The solution scales well. We've found the technical support to be helpful. The stability and performance are quite good.”

A Technical Director at a security firm mentions, "Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."

Marek M., Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company, comments, “Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to set up. If you follow the instructions using the wizard, which is just a few steps, then you will have a firewall to protect you and your customer.”

A Software Sales Manager at a tech services company explains, “The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly. It can be integrated with other solutions such as SOAR, SIEM, etc., even when you have an existing firewall. I really like that the console can be integrated. You'll see everything on the same window, and the single window feature of the machine is so good. These are the features I really like.”

James D., IT Manager at Manual Workers Union, states, “The fact that it's on the cloud means we don't have to administer it on our network or deal with a physical machine, which saves us money. The solution has many great features. From the console, we can start different scannings on different machines. We enjoy the centralized reporting part of it. The initial setup is simple. We enjoy its general stability. The solution can scale. So far, the solution has been problem-free.”

Sophos

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

Hyatt, ONS

One Housing Group

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM

December 2025

Free Report: Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Cisco Meraki MX vs. Sophos UTM report.

See our list of best Unified Threat Management (UTM) vendors and best Firewalls vendors.

We monitor all Unified Threat Management (UTM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.