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NordLayer vs SonicWall SMA comparison

 

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

NordLayer
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
26th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (37th), Network Access Control (NAC) (21st), Internet Security (16th), ZTNA as a Service (26th), ZTNA (23rd), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (32nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (25th)
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of NordLayer is 1.8%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 2.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall SMA2.7%
NordLayer1.8%
Other95.5%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Christophe Derdeyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner delaware Singapore at delaware Singapore
A convenient and easy tool with an incredibly high number of dialing points
The solution is convenient and easy. It has an incredibly high number of dialing points for pretty much every single country in the world. It has a few additional security features. It has a function that prevents unsecured access if my connection were to drop for any reason. It’s something I like. It has threat protection features. It can protect my web connection and files against malicious downloads and trackers.
BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
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, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is convenient and easy."
"The performance is good."
"I like the load balancing capability, it is very fast and it has a simple interface."
"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."
"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."
"The product is extremely flexible, the program is easy to use, the performance is good, and the solution is very stable."
"We are in Thailand and I'm very happy with the technical support."
 

Cons

"The tool is not perfectly stable."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."
"There are some features that are available on Palo Alto or Cisco that don't exist. The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan."
"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 user interface could be improved."
"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."
"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"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."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SMA?
I have experience with the SonicWall SMA; we have rolled it back into our stack. We use SonicWall SMA for all of our clients that need VPNs, including doctor's offices and lawyer offices. Our clien...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hostinger, Shutterstock, USMobile, Soundcloud, Calendly, whatagraph.
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenVPN, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.