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Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Sophos UTM comparison

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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

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (37th)
Sophos UTM
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (6th)
 

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…
HR
CEO at iSource GmbH
Integrated security tools have supported critical infrastructure and improved network performance
Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change this entire firewall equipment, also the entire access points, because of the end of life. We also have the full product in for XDR and extensions. We are also part of the webinars from Sophos. It would be better if there were also some important webinars in German. Everything needs improvement, because also the wireless, also RED box and so on. The handling was much easier on the old equipment than on the new XGS. I think there should also be a little more automatic for SD-WAN routing and so on. Because we have to learn some things from the basic completely new because it is different than Sophos UTM, the XGS. The features that could be improved about Sophos UTM include the new features we have in XGS with a simpler interface. For example, in Sophos UTM, we could define IP hosts and use this IP host. We did not have to insert on every, for example, for wide area networks, we had to put the IP addresses from the other side by hand. In Sophos UTM, we could define it under definitions and then use this IP host where we needed it. In the new XGS, if there is a change in the IP address, we have to do it on all, for example, site-to-site VPN tunnels and so on. We have much more work and it is not so easy because we have to check all the definitions. It is also, for example, some of the male technicians like me, we have a biology handicap. For example, male technicians in Europe also have a red-green problem. So we use these light colors on the interface. In some cases, it is not easy to see the, for example, letters or numbers because of the contrast.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
"Less and faster administration, full control of traffic, and a lot of futures included in the base price."
"The pricing and licensing are both good and better than Sophos's competitors, which is why we went with the product."
"I definitely recommend Sophos. I rate it a nine out of ten."
"The intrusion prevention is great, and I like dual virus scanning on the network layer because we scan it through Avira and Sophos. Web filtering is also a fantastic option for clients who want to really lock down internet access."
"​The initial configuration is straightforward thanks to the web GUI. In 30 minutes, you can have a running firewall with UTM protection enabled.​"
"​Configuration could not be made any easier."
"Installing Sophos UTM is straightforward. The deployment itself doesn't take long, but you have to spend some time planning and waiting for the hardware to be delivered."
"So far, the solution has been problem-free."
 

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 memory and processing were problematic. The interface could be better."
"I would like them to move from the Classic Load Balancer to the Network Load Balancer. This would make it easier to do certain things with Amazon. They are able to do some enhancements with Network Load Balancer that they are unable to do with Classic Load Balancer."
"The logs are not clear, which means that you need an additional piece of software in order to read them clearly."
"The unit offers great failover and load balancing features that can be complex to understand, some streamlining of the process would help."
"It needs a better user interface. The one they have is not so good."
"Only thing we have noticed as of late was that their firmware updates break something else that was working in a previous version."
"Sophos UTM is not a highly available and scalable product."
"There were a lot of features and functionality in Sophos SG UTM but nothing was state of the art in terms of technology. You did not get the latest functions. It was very monolithic as it was based on an old Linux PuTTY system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The product pricing and licensing are higher, but they offer good value for the features and stability provided."
"The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model and is competitive."
"I have no problem with the cost or licensing of this solution. This is a primary reason whay I wanted this solution. It does the same thing cheaper than other name brands."
"I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The problem with the Sophos is not the cost of the hardware but the cost of the modules, packages, and the subscription."
"It's reasonably priced."
"Our licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis."
"The price is something that one will need to consider."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business75
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise27
 

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...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?
The pricing for Sophos UTM is reasonable; I do not have an issue with it, though I was considering RED because I have different sites I wanted to connect, and instead of doing site-to-site, the RED...
What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?
Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change th...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Astaro
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
One Housing Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM and other solutions. Updated: October 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.