Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs SonicWall NSv comparison

Palo Alto Networks and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.7, while SonicWall is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.8. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series and SonicWall NSv are both popular choices in the cybersecurity market. Based on user feedback, Palo Alto Networks K2-Series seems to have the upper hand due to its robust threat detection and prevention capabilities, though pricing is higher.

Features: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is recognized for its advanced firewall protection, robust threat detection, and prevention capabilities. It seamlessly integrates with other security tools. SonicWall NSv is praised for its virtual firewall capabilities, comprehensive feature set, and advanced malware protection.

Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series users suggest enhancing traffic visibility, VPN performance, and improving documentation and training resources. SonicWall NSv users point to the complexity of configuration, the need for more intuitive reporting and analytics tools, and occasionally slow support response times.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series users find the deployment straightforward but mention the initial learning curve as a challenge. Customer service is generally well-rated but response times could improve. SonicWall NSv users report an easier deployment process but express concerns over the effectiveness of customer support, noting variability in the quality of service received.

Pricing and ROI: Users find Palo Alto Networks K2-Series to be at the higher end of the price spectrum, though they believe the robust features justify the cost with a good ROI. SonicWall NSv is noted for its competitive pricing, providing substantial value for the investment. Users acknowledge that SonicWall NSv delivers efficient ROI but some believe that the advanced features of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offer better long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall NSv Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall NSv

July 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

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

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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Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

One of the best tools for the prevention of evasive threats

There is a feature called granular application controls, which I liked. Instead of relying on ports and IP addresses, they use AMP ID. This kind of solution is very good. Another valuable feature is the prevention of evasive threats, which is one of the best tools I've encountered. SSL decryption and app ID-based SSL decryption are also impressive, along with the integration with user ID. Identity-based policies ensuring only authorized users can access specific resources are excellent features. Normally, there is something called SIM or SCIM in IDA IDM, but this feature is provided on the box, which is exemplary.

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Sileesh Sivadasan

Director at Infosec Infra

Helps small businesses expand branches more easily

The price is a significant factor. Mostly in India, the customer service has many hurdles to get real support. If I want to talk to a customer executive, they ask many trivial questions. Even if I explain that I am asking for a Dell partner, they still ask specific questions, and they will explain many unnecessary questions.

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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

"Fortinet FortiGate provides excellent security against ransomware attacks."

"It is a good source for firewall protection."

"Its usability is good. We can easily navigate the system, and we have a very good user experience."

"It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box."

"Its stability is the most valuable."

"We have found it to be very reliable and that's why our teams and various users in our company use it as our main firewall every day."

"It works very well. It has a lot of different functionalities. Its cost is also fine for our customers."

"Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It's used across all the countries, this is the way most multinationals run their system."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It is a stable solution."

"Everything I could possibly want has already been implanted in the new version."

"Palo Alto has an approach that makes the configuration easier not only for the customers but also for the IT help for the customers."

"The solution offers effective security features such as HIDS (Host-based Intrusion Detection System) in global products."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is the configuration, it is very clear."

"Palo Alto has a unique solution for DNS security, which is very good."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is its management abilities. Additionally, the updates are very good."

"The scalability of the product is quite high."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"We are very impressed with it."

"The security of this system is fantastic, including the IPS and IDS."

"SonicWall excelled in threat management, evident in how users handled it effectively."

"SonicWall NSV is easy to use, and you can use it to manage the logs easily."

"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."

"Out of ten, I would rate the solution at an eight."

"The product helps improve our security."

"For my small NFB banking services, when they are expanding their branches, I could incorporate a little bit easier."

More SonicWall NSv pros

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues."

"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."

"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."

"Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better. Improvement in their technical support could include response time as well as having more technically sound people in tech support."

"The cloud features can be improved."

"It could use better throughput on some of the smaller boxes for the branch offices."

"A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."

"The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Palo Alto releases a lot of bug fixes for their firewalls, which means it's necessary to do frequent upgrades. They should work on decreasing their bugs so that upgrades aren't needed so often."

"I cannot think of anything specific to improve at the moment."

"The technical support, and how they provide it to the client, needs to be improved."

"Palo Alto has many other products. It would be nice for these products to be centralized under one tool"

"Threat prevention could use improvement. Not just in malware exploits and C2 traffic; enhancing web traffic protection would be a great upgrade."

"The password function of the solution could be improved. Additionally, some of the processes take too long to complete."

"The product should get frequent updates allowing us to add new signatures."

"Sometimes there are interactions with support or the provider that are not ideal."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"SonicWall NSV's SSL VPN could increase its number of users to 100-plus users."

"The engine provided initially was quite heavy, creating a trade-off between software and hardware-based threat management."

"There are limitations to bandwidth management."

"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."

"It has been brought to our attention by a few customers that they are dissatisfied with the fact that our virtualized service is only offered as a subscription option on the cloud. However, it is worth noting that many other similar services are also offered through a subscription model on the cloud and not through perpetual licensing. It is unclear why these customers would have an issue with this subscription service when so many others are utilizing similar methods."

"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."

"The price is a significant factor."

"I would like to see the reporting opened up and have several more opportunities for automatic reports."

More SonicWall NSv cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's one of the more expensive brands. The 100 series costs around $4,000. They are similar in pricing to what you might get from Cisco solutions and probably other similar ones. They're not more expensive than other similar solutions, but they're certainly not cheaper either."

"The pricing is perfect."

"The price is fine."

"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."

"It is cheaper and more competitive compared to other options. For example, when comparing Palo Alto products to others, Palo Alto tends to be more expensive. If you compare Cisco's platform, including Cisco Meraki, with Fortinet products, you'll notice that Cisco's offerings are generally higher priced than Fortinet's firewall solutions."

"It is not the cheapest one, but its price is very competitive."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The price of this solution is too high."

"Products by the leader in the field are justifiably a bit more expensive compared to other vendors."

"The pricing is expensive."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The overall price of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be reduced."

"Pricing is a sensitive issue because the cost is high in this market."

"Palo Alto firewalls are very expensive."

"If you compare K2-Series' quality with its price, I think it is reasonable."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."

"The tool is moderately priced."

"We are currently using the trial version."

"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."

"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."

"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

23%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

28%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable and there are no complaints about the licensing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto N...

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?

The product helps improve our security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?

I am somewhat satisfied with the price for SonicWall NSv, rating it as eight because, compared to other products, the...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?

Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details. At present, they do not prov...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 61% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 39% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 25% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 24% of the time

Stormshield Network Security vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 20% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs SonicWall NSv

Compared 10% of the time

More SonicWall NSv Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

August 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

August 2025

Download SonicWall NSv product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

SonicWall Network Security Virtual

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Designed to handle growing throughput needs due to increasing amounts of application-, user-, and device-generated data, the K2-Series offers amazing performance and threat prevention capabilities to stop advanced cyberattacks and secure mobile network infrastructure, subscribers, and services.

Palo Alto Networks

SonicWall NSV is a software-based virtual firewall that provides additional security for customers with public-facing servers or services on Microsoft Azure. The AGSS Bundle is considered the most valuable feature, providing security services such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI.

Additionally, customization of firewall rules provides great value to customers, allowing them to lock things up in the way they desire. SonicWall NSV offers extensive security control options to protect customers' valuable information and assets.

SonicWall

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

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall NSv

July 2025

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall NSv

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