Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Sophos Firewall comparison

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos Firewall

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.4%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 7.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
Sophos Firewall	7.1%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series	0.4%
Other	77.4%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Joseph Koomson

IP Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana

Process-Level CPU Visibility: Introduce detailed CPU-usage metrics per subsystem (e.g., IPS engine, logging) so administrators can quickly identify and address performance spikes.

Analytics with FortiAnalyzer. Being able to pull in logs not just from our FortiGates but from all our other firewalls and then get them in one view has been a game changer. Whether I’m building an executive dashboard or doing a deep dive forensics session, I get everything I need without navigating consoles.Straightforward Application Control. FortiGate spots and blocks unwanted apps (eq. like BitTorrent or streaming services) with accuracy. Segmentation with VDOMs. We’ve carved our data center into four logical ‘mini-firewalls’ enterprise, core, billing, and WAF—all on one box. Each has its own rules and logs, and any traffic between them still gets inspected. It’s like having multiple appliances without the extra hardware. Always-Up-to-Date Threat Feeds. Daily signature updates and AI-driven threat sensing mean we’re blocking the latest vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re announced.

Read full review

Ahmed_Shalaby

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…

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Ashutosh Jha

Project Engineer at IT Solution

Robust protection has blocked external threats and provides clear visibility into user activity

Sophos Firewall offers multiple features, including IPS, IDS, ATP, NDR, XOps, web protection, application protection, web server protection, and many more. Out of all those features, I find web protection and application protection to be very helpful and valuable in my daily work. Sophos Firewall has positively impacted my organization by preventing outside threats, allowing me to easily monitor my users, and configuring any rule for any user regarding what they need to use and what I am restricting for the particular user. I can share that it has improved productivity because if anyone could ransom my network, they could demand money to decrypt the files, thus saving us money, time, and providing reliability.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The fact that Fortinet FortiGate IPS can prevent and log malicious intrusions, tries, and attempts is great."

"Overall, we're very happy with their firewalls, but when we have issues or bugs, there are some difficulties in finding the resolution."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by strengthening our security posture, improving visibility into network traffic, simplifying security management, and providing reliable connectivity for both users and the branch office."

"I like the common administration and the possibility of adding Fortinet defense systems."

"The firewall engine is very good, very suitable for picking up Zero-day threats, and it has protected us from two or three instances, thanks to this engine."

"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."

"The services on offer are just superb."

"The most valuable feature is the web filter."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."

"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."

"Mostly it's related to visibility as this platform allows us to see literally everything when it comes to traffic in a very easy and intuitive way."

"The application filtering, especially cloud filtering, is valuable."

"The firewall provides network visibility and reporting capabilities, constantly improving over time. It can be integrated with the cloud console, allowing centralized management of multiple firewalls. integration with endpoint security products ensures seamless traffic flow and rule enforcement, even when endpoints are not directly connected to the firewall."

"The most valuable features of Sophos XG are user-friendliness and it is highly secure."

"The user interface of Sophos XG enhances our administrative tasks because it is intuitive and easy to navigate."

"The centralized security is very good."

"Sophos offers great disk encryption, anti protection, and the interface is very user-friendly."

"It's quite a comprehensive security solution."

More Sophos Firewall pros

Cons

"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."

"I face difficulties integrating Fortinet FortiGate with Active Directory."

"I would like to see more AI features included in future updates, as that would add significant value."

"Two-way inspections are not possible in FortiGate."

"The AI with Fortinet FortiGate is not very well integrated on their devices, and their cloud infrastructure is not as good as Cisco's."

"The issue lies with features available in GUI versus CLI during configuration. When using GUI, I want to accomplish everything there, but sometimes it requires using CLI to ensure proper configuration."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very good product, but when we look at the South African market, they just need to relook at the pricing because it's a bit pricey for some of the local government organizations."

"My experience integrating SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate is in the middle ground."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."

"I'd like to see more IOPs features."

"The interface of Sophos XG could be improved. I would prefer the Sophos XG to have an interface for the technician who is setting it up similar to the Sophos SG."

"I am using the Azure Active Directory in my company and it was complicated to integrate this solution with Azure."

"The initial setup, specifically when activating the license, is a nightmare and is quite difficult."

"I would like to have remote access to clients using a static IP for a certain period of time."

"The interface could be improved by simplifying it and making it much smarter."

"Sophos XG's web server protection and log viewer could improve. They should also introduce sandboxing."

"Stability needs improvements."

"The solution could offer a bit more integration with other systems, with other platforms - just to be able to extend the capability and to interface with other kinds of platforms or systems that I can find on the market as it gives the possibility to improve the level of integration."

More Sophos Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."

"Currently, we are paying about $1,500 a month for three sites."

"It was worth the money overall. It's good value."

"Each feature costs money, so it is important to study your needs."

"Its pricing is good. It's average or normal as compared to Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls."

"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution."

"At first, I thought the price was very high. But when I read about the machine's features, we decided to go with it."

"Sophos XG is a reasonably priced solution."

"I've had schools running different firewalls with subscriptions and different web filters with subscriptions, and I've found that it is less expensive for smaller schools to run the Sophos XG with its unified threat management instead of multiple appliances."

"We have our license for three years."

"For licensing the XG 210, we paid approximately $3000 for three years. There are no additional fees on top of this."

"For our company, the price was reasonable."

"The price of Sophos XGS is less than competitors worldwide. However, in Turkey the solution is expensive."

More Sophos Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	369
Midsize Enterprise	139
Large Enterprise	195

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	209
Midsize Enterprise	61
Large Enterprise	53

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...

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

The pricing is a little higher compared to Chinese products like Huawei. For those on a limited budget, I sometimes p...

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 25% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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OPNsense vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Sophos Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Download Palo Alto Networks CN-Series product report

Firewalls

May 2026

Sophos Firewall

Download Sophos Firewall product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Sophos XG, Sophos XGS

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

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series offers advanced container security and micro-segmentation for Kubernetes environments, known for robust threat prevention, ease of deployment, and seamless integration with existing security infrastructure.

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series enables application-level visibility and control, providing comprehensive protection for dynamic workloads. Its scalable architecture suits modern cloud-native applications, making it a top choice for securing containerized environments and microservices. Users appreciate its automated policy creation, granular micro-segmentation, and enhanced container security. Although it offers great features, users suggest improvement in integration with other security tools, better scalability for larger environments, and enhanced documentation. Performance in high-traffic scenarios and intuitive configuration processes are areas for potential enhancement, along with improved customer support.

What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?

Advanced Threat Protection: Addresses and mitigates security threats efficiently.
Seamless Kubernetes Integration: Integrates easily within Kubernetes environments.
Comprehensive Visibility: Offers visibility across multi-cloud environments.
Automated Policy Creation: Simplifies the policy creation process.
Granular Micro-segmentation: Provides detailed network traffic segmentation.
Enhanced Container Security: Strengthens security measures for containerized applications.
Ease of Deployment: Simplifies overall deployment process.
Scalability: Adapts to growing needs of cloud-native applications.

What benefits or ROI can users expect from Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?

Increased Security: Effective protection against sophisticated threats.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Streamlined deployment and policy management.
Greater Visibility: Enhanced insight into network traffic and potential vulnerabilities.
Cost Savings: Reduced costs through automation and integration of security processes.
Enhanced Compliance: Helps meet regulatory requirements with strong security controls.

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is implemented across diverse industries including finance, healthcare, and technology. In financial institutions, it addresses stringent security and compliance requirements. In healthcare, it ensures patient data protection within dynamic cloud environments. In tech, it supports innovative cloud-native applications with robust security measures.

Palo Alto Networks

Sophos Firewall provides comprehensive network security with web filtering, VPN capabilities, and cloud integration. Users highlight its effective threat prevention and flexibility for customizable policies, enhancing network visibility and management.

Renowned for its robust security, Sophos Firewall simplifies network protection through advanced features like intrusion prevention and endpoint protection integration. Its user-friendly interface allows seamless remote management and tailored rule creation, making it ideal for varied environments like healthcare and education. While the system excels in threat detection, areas such as interface navigation, support response times, and VPN integration face challenges. Enhanced reporting and bandwidth management are essential for improved performance.

What are the standout features of Sophos Firewall?

Web and Application Filter: Secure browsing with advanced filtering options.
VPN Capabilities: Facilitates secure remote access and connectivity.
Cloud Integration: Seamless collaboration with cloud platforms.
Intrusion Prevention: Robust threat detection and prevention features.
Comprehensive Reporting: Detailed insights into network activities.

What benefits and ROI should users expect in reviews?

Enhanced Security: Comprehensive protection against diverse cyber threats.
Increased Flexibility: Tailor rules and policies to meet specific organizational criteria.
Improved Network Visibility: Better oversight and threat detection across networks.
Efficient Management: Simplifies remote and centralized firewall administration.

Industries such as healthcare, education, and finance implement Sophos Firewall for secure VPNs, improved threat management, and effective traffic monitoring. Its load balancing and email security features support compliance and governance, ensuring robust protection tailored to sector-specific requirements.

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

Information Not Available

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos Firewall