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Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs SonicWall SMA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 5.7%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 1.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway5.7%
SonicWall SMA1.7%
Other92.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Designs subnets with high security while navigating evolving integration processes
The primary function of Azure VPN Gateway allows for designing subnets from existing networks, whether they are physical or virtual networks within Azure or other cloud instances. You can configure these networks using IP numbers and connect them using certificates or SaaS strings. It also requires Entra ID for privileged access groups, resulting in high security.
Mayur_Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy-to-manage product with efficient features for network security
SonicWall SMA facilitates and protects remote workforce access to corporate resources from any location Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface. We have been using SonicWall…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to connect old protocols like Border Gateway Protocol is valuable."
"The solution is very quick to connect."
"The VPN Gateway is valued for its ease of use and redundancy."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"It works perfectly for me. It is very user-friendly in terms of the configuration and the setup process."
"It is a stable solution in our company, and we monitor critical health and performance parameters daily and weekly."
"The VPN Gateway is valued for its ease of use and redundancy."
"It is scalable and depends on your chosen network bandwidth."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."
"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."
"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."
"Secure Mobile Access (SMA) is easy to configure and the deployment is straightforward. However, this is mostly because of the AWS setup."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."
 

Cons

"The solution must provide metrics to monitor the inbound and outbound traffic easily."
"The instructions on how to integrate P2N and P2S type networks into Azure VPN Gateway could be improved, though it is a constantly evolving process."
"Connectivity could be improved in Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway because it's not as stable, particularly when connecting a device tunnel."
"The connectivity should be faster."
"The monitoring part needs to be improved."
"They should release a less expensive version of the solution."
"The price of the solution should be more affordable"
"There is a need to improve the paperwork and management approval process, which is currently painful, though not directly related to the VPN Gateway itself."
"User interface could be improved."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."
"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."
"SonicWall SMA is difficult to use and it does not provide easy access to different parts of the network."
"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."
"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."
"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost could be lower."
"The software has good pricing compared to other vendors."
"There is a monthly license and the price depends on how many users are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The price could be less expensive."
"The costs are quite high."
"The product costs us $140 to $180 per month."
"The solution is subscription-based and very cheap."
"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is the cheapest way for us to connect to our cloud infrastructure. Other solutions, such as ExpressRoute are very expensive."
"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
In Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, there aren't too many areas for improvement, but the configuration part might be a little tricky. It took some time to get things to work, but once figured out, it b...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
We work with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and the VPN firewalls. We have our local physical firewall infrastructure from Cisco and other companies, but we can't compare those with the virtual networ...
What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?
Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
 

Also Known As

MS Azure VPN Gateway
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,922 professionals have used our research since 2012.