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Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
37th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 1.7%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall TZ1.7%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series0.5%
Other97.8%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed_Shalaby - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
Application control excels and integration with monitoring system boosts efficiency
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent. Application control is one of the most valuable features. Its monitoring capability…
Ashutosh Jha - PeerSpot reviewer
Project engineer at IT Solution india private limited
Advanced security filters have blocked threats and protect our users’ web and application access
SonicWall TZ gives us multiple features, such as Content Filter, Application Filter, ATP, IPS policy, Geo-Filter, Botnet filter, and many more. I use Content Filter with SonicWall TZ most of the time because we need to create a policy on behalf of the content filter to track who is using what. If we want to block any types of websites for any specific user, we can do it from the firewall. SonicWall TZ has multiple features, such as Application Filter as well. SonicWall TZ has impacted our organization positively because it stops all threats. If any types of malware signature or any types of bad behavior malware appear, it prevents them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"The most common feature in the firewall, apart from that traditional firewall, would be the security services, like application control, URL filtering, Gateway Anti-Virus, and IPS protection. These are the essential features in the firewalls which I think, has to be enabled and properly used at every network infrastructure."
"We like the central interface and we like the security features. Additionally, we use SonicWall with VPN connectivity and we have had no problems with SonicWall all these years."
"One valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the content filtering."
"The product is easy to deploy."
"In summary, this is a very good product and I recommend it."
"Good VPN connection."
"It's a stable solution."
"Ease of management and the VPN integration."
 

Cons

"I'd like to see more IOPs features."
"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."
"I expect to see SD-WAN in the tool's next release. The product should implement a content filtering feature. You need to put an agent on the user's laptop device. It would enforce security policies and block sites even if they were off-site. You can block sites from network sites."
"Not relating to this product specifically, but I think overall the company needs to think more broadly about security continuity across the entire security spectrum and integrate more security options with their solutions, like Cisco is doing."
"The dashboard needs to be improved."
"SonicWall TZ can improve the UI application and when you create any net policies or any new policy, it will not sync or work properly."
"There is a point I don't like about SonicWall in the past and now. Most of the destinations we look at when we're detecting some user using too much bandwidth or something like that, SonicWall just gave us destination IP address, instead of the full qualified domain name. I think that's the most important part that is still missing. I think that's the most important for us."
"We encounter issues while generating new reports."
"SonicWall TZ can be improved. VPN licenses have been chargeable, and if they were added to the cost of the firewall licensing, it would be very good for us."
"We have been facing issues with reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We have to pay yearly. Its licensing can be improved, and they should provide more features, such as AV, email filtering, and so on with the basic subscription."
"License renewals come in around $35,000 to $45,000."
"You need to purchase multiple licenses to manage multiple devices which is cost-prohibitive for the value you would receive."
"The pricing was a factor for us, and we felt that the price was good."
"The solution is expensive."
"Licensing fees are on a monthly basis."
"The price is high compared to some other solutions."
"The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive."
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915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business65
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
The pricing of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is quite expensive, rating around eight on a scale of one to ten for cost.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive. The SD-WAN implementation using Panorama needs enhancement because it involves a specific plugin and configuring ...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series ( /products/palo-alto-networks-cn-series-reviews ) and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-S...
Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?
I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with similar basic features. However, Fortinet offers more performance, scalability, and in...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall TZ?
The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN. Only one SSL VPN a...
What needs improvement with SonicWall TZ?
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhe...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.