Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs Sophos UTM comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 100% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and Sophos UTM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM

September 2025

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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

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

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.

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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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Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

Network protection strengthens through effective threat management features and secure access control

The zero-day protection and firewall rules are some of the most effective features for threat management. I can set the rules and features, and also use IPsec to connect all my on-premises servers and link them to Sophos UTM so that they are protected even when in the cloud. Additionally, I use it to control access into the building through a captive portal integrated across all the PCs we have, ensuring secure access only for authenticated users.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most useful feature of FortiGate IPS for me is Application Control."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very stable solution."

"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."

"The most valuable features of the FortiGate firewall include SSL inspection, VPN functionality, and threat intelligence features for preventing threats."

"The most useful features in Fortinet FortiGate are the security features, where we can analyze what kind of traffic is inside our network, and we also utilize ZTNA for limiting and managing our network access."

"Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the IPS or IDS implementation."

"These features have proven effective in protecting our network, handling large volumes of traffic smoothly without any issues."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

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

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

"The features that I've known to be most valuable are both the web security features as well as the web firewall capabilities. As a partner of Sophos firewall, we have some clients and they are using Sophos firewall UTM and we are using it as well."

"It's a stable solution."

"UTM 9 brings along IPSec as well as iPhone and iPad support. This seems small but it’s useful."

"The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the efficiency and mail filtering module."

"The management suite is easy and the agent is easy to develop."

"It gives us the ability to manage our firewalls from the cloud and deploy a unified configuration onto them. Other competitors like Meraki have that ability, but they fail to optimize it in the way that Sophos has."

"We use Sophos UTM as our main firewall with all its features included. Mainly, it controls all of our network perimeter security: firewall, IDS/IPS, and web application firewall (including VoIP)."

"It is easy to manage."

More Sophos UTM pros

Cons

"The pricing could always be better."

"The ease of use could be improved."

"I don't really have anything negative to say as far as Fortinet firewalls are concerned. If anything, they can support a user a little bit better. They can stop being so time-sensitive about how much time the support call has taken, and they can help you do it yourself."

"The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."

"In their datasheet, they put the throughput as huge, but once you enable all the features of the box, the performance is impacted dramatically."

"One area for improvement involves FortiAnalyzer, specifically regarding the SOC part and log interpretation. Sometimes interpretation is very difficult."

"Monitoring could be improved."

"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

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

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

"There can be a delay when it comes to reaching out to technical support."

"The pricing is an issue."

"Initially, there were issues with the wireless network as wireless access points were disappearing from the dashboard after some time."

"With Sophos UTM, there is a general rule in the firewall when the country blocking can block some countries from accessing your data. In the current version, you still need to add it by putting in the IP range. This feature would be helpful for administrators and it gives them the advantage to block stuff in less time."

"The logs are not clear, which means that you need an additional piece of software in order to read them clearly."

"The solution needs better integration with captive portals and XGs."

"I would like this solution to support ICAP. Also, they no longer support on-premises management, and are forcing clients to use centralized management via the cloud, which I don't agree with."

"Pricing has become expensive recently due to the dollar hike and naira value changes in Nigeria. Even though it's expensive, I consider Sophos a major first line of protection, so I pay for it nonetheless."

More Sophos UTM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing is reasonable."

"It's very competitive."

"My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is quite good. I don't have a public site, such as in Azure, where I can see the pricing. I always have to go through the distributor, and that could take some time to get the real price for each appliance."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products. The return on investment is also good. If you compare the return of investment and money that you are spending on this product with Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, and other solutions, the investment is very less. We are happy with this solution. The optional licenses are there, and you can choose which one you want and which one to avoid."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"Fortinet FortiGate is cost-efficient. Palo Alto is expensive, but Fortinet FortiGate is not."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"The AWS Marketplace product should be a better fit, but it is a little pricier."

"We originally purchased the solution through the AWS Marketplace. I started my proof of concept doing pay-as-you-go, then moved to a VAR for a 'Bring Your Own Licence' (BYOL) licensing model. The BYOL license still requires you to accept the terms of the AWS Marketplace to deploy."

"The product pricing and licensing are higher, but they offer good value for the features and stability provided."

"We purchased the appliance with five years onsite support and licenses."

"The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model and is competitive."

"I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"Although Sophos UTM is a good product, other products have more flexibility with their pricing. It is a very fine product, but when someone wants more relaxed pricing or more leverage in pricing, Sophos is more rigid."

"If you would like to run an active-passive HA system, you only need to buy an additional hardware without subscription. At other vendors, you need subscription for both devices."

More Sophos UTM pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user216600

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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	71
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	26

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

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What do you like most about Sophos UTM?

The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.

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

The value between what I receive and what I pay is the best in the industry.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?

For the challenges I've faced, zero trust is one area where I haven't worked much or have sufficient experience.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

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

Compared 100% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks CN-Series Competitors

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos XG vs Sophos UTM

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

September 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks CN-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

September 2025

Download Sophos UTM product report

Also Known As

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Astaro

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

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 UTM is a unified threat management platform designed to protect your businesses from known and emerging malware including viruses, rootkits and spyware. The solution provides a complete network security package with everything your organization needs in a single modular appliance.

Sophos UTM Features

Sophos UTM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Web and Email Filtering
General Management
Network Protection
Network Routing and Services
Advanced Threat Protection
Authentication
Email Encryption and DLP
Web Policy
End-User Portal
VPN IPsec Client, VPN SSL Client, and Clientless VPN
Web Application Firewall Protection
UTM Endpoint Protection and Management
SEC Endpoint Integration
Logging and Reporting

Sophos UTM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Sophos UTM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple point solutions
Intuitive interface to help you quickly create policies to control security risks
Provides clear, detailed reports to give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection
Complete control to block, allow, shape and prioritize applications
Two-factor authentication with one-time password (OTP)
Integrated wireless controller
Allows you to connect remote offices with easy VPN and Wi-Fi

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Sophos UTM solution.

PeerSpot user Dana B., Network Administrator at a manufacturing company, says “The web and email filtering are the two biggest and most valuable aspects of the solution for us. The solution overall has just been a good, cost-effective solution for us. The solution offers a lot of functionality. The solution scales well. We've found the technical support to be helpful. The stability and performance are quite good.”

A Technical Director at a security firm mentions, "Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."

Marek M., Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company, comments, “Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to set up. If you follow the instructions using the wizard, which is just a few steps, then you will have a firewall to protect you and your customer.”

A Software Sales Manager at a tech services company explains, “The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly. It can be integrated with other solutions such as SOAR, SIEM, etc., even when you have an existing firewall. I really like that the console can be integrated. You'll see everything on the same window, and the single window feature of the machine is so good. These are the features I really like.”

James D., IT Manager at Manual Workers Union, states, “The fact that it's on the cloud means we don't have to administer it on our network or deal with a physical machine, which saves us money. The solution has many great features. From the console, we can start different scannings on different machines. We enjoy the centralized reporting part of it. The initial setup is simple. We enjoy its general stability. The solution can scale. So far, the solution has been problem-free.”

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

One Housing Group

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM

September 2025

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks CN-Series vs. Sophos UTM and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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