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Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Sophos Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 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

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
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)
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
31st
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
302
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 10.2%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.8%
Sophos Firewall10.2%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series0.2%
Other70.8%
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.
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…
Nassif  Kaleny - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.
Dynamic web and mail filtering contribute to improved security measures
The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"The user interface (UI) is very, very good."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to operate."
"We've found the solution to be pretty stable."
"Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and affordable."
"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"I have no issues with the stability of the product and love using it."
"I think Sophos technical support's immediate response is good compared to Fortinet's. If the technical engineer is good, they get the solution immediately. If not, it might take two days. For improvement, immediate response is required, whether by email, phone call, or WhatsApp. Sometimes, we can't wait three or four days for a solution. In urgent situations, we might use a spare Sophos device while waiting for support."
"I would recommend Sophos XG due to its good value for money, despite its integration issues."
"Sophos is a stable solution, and we haven't had any bugs or limitations."
"Sophos XG is user-friendly, easily configured, and has all the latest features, including URL filtering."
"We created and configured a VPN for connecting our remote sites and also to make it more secure and reliable. We also like its two-factor authentication features."
"The threat management system and VPN are most valuable."
"The solution is stable."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS could improve the VPN. There are times it is slow."
"The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."
"It can be a little bit more user-friendly in terms of policy definition and implementation. It seems a little bit complicated, and it could be simplified."
"I would like some automated custom reporting."
"At the moment, if you don't integrate any third-party solution with a simple Fortinet FortiGate box, the box would not function as expected for superb protection."
"The solution could improve the configuration, there are times the configuration is missing."
"Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."
"The people we are working with are not able to configure MFA. They are having some technical issues. Fortinet needs to ensure that its partners are well-trained."
"I'd like to see more IOPs features."
"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."
"The only area that requires improvement is scalability."
"I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time."
"Sophos XGS could improve by having better integration with Active Directory."
"Some of the firewall rules are complicated for us to understand, they should be simplified."
"I used to work with Fortinet, and sometimes I see that the SD-WAN feature could be better because it's much easier in Fortinet."
"The main problem with Sophos XG today is that it doesn't have a feature where you actually know the quality of an international link, which would allow us to we know if the link is operational or not. We need more information. It's losing packets on the network. It's high latency. So, we need more information to know if the link is really bad or really good, and today, we will only know if it's working and this just isn't enough."
"Sophos XG could improve the policies, they are a bit confusing when creating them. There are many options that make it confusing and it could be simplified."
"Content filtering could be more effective and efficient."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our licensing costs are on a yearly basis."
"Fortinet has one or two license types, and the VPN numbers are only limited by the hardware chassis make."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."
"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."
"Its licenses cost the same for different subscription plans."
"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."
"They are more expensive than others."
"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."
Information not available
"Its price is fair. It is cheaper and way better than others."
"The product is expensive."
"I live in Bolivia and the price of Sophos XGS is high. However, they have adjusted their price a little over the past while but the price could still be less expensive to be affordable."
"Sophos XGS is competitively priced."
"When comparing with Palo Alto and Cisco, Sophos is cheaper."
"I don't think that it is expensive when you compare it with other solutions available on the market."
"When you compare with Barracuda, Sophos is quite a bit cheaper."
"It comes at a fair price as compared to some of the other products out there. Its price is in the middle. It is not the cheapest, and it is also not as expensive as Juniper, Check Point, and definitely Cisco. Nowadays, everybody is very cost-sensitive, and people don't want to spend unnecessary money, but even before that, it was a fairly priced product. You've got your choice of what license you want. There are basically two types of licenses, and it depends on what you need to do, and everything is included in that license. There is no cost for VPN and DMZ. You purchase the license, and you know upfront what you're getting or what you're not getting, and that's it. It is one license fee and done and dusted."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
No data available
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise188
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business203
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise52
 

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 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 P...
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 P...
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Fact...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
Sophos XG, Sophos XGS
 

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
Information Not Available
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.