Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

Palo Alto Networks and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #36 with an average rating of 8.7, while SonicWall is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.2. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

SonicWall TZ and Palo Alto Networks K2-Series compete in the firewall and network security category. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has the upper hand due to its advanced security features and scalability, despite its higher cost.

Features: SonicWall TZ is known for its ease of configuration, particularly with firewall policies and Site-to-Site VPNs. It has a user-friendly management interface and offers affordable pricing. Key features include robust security controls, anti-malware, and content filtering. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is recognized for its advanced IPS and SSL decryption capabilities. It provides comprehensive application control and strong scalability, making it suitable for feature-rich environments.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ requires improvements in its interface complexity, reporting features, and support quality. Users also seek better malware analysis and cloud integration. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series faces criticism for its high cost and needs to enhance ease of management and integration with third-party tools and reporting capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ is easy to deploy in on-premises environments, with varied customer support experiences ranging from praise to issues with response times. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series supports deployment across on-premises and cloud environments. It offers good technical support but could improve in responsiveness and addressing complex issues.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ is considered cost-effective, providing significant ROI and affordable licensing options, making it ideal for small to medium businesses. In contrast, Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is seen as expensive, with concerns about its high licensing fees, which can be a barrier for smaller enterprises despite its robust security features.

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

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall TZ

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

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.4%, up from 19.1% 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 TZ is 2.8%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	20.4%
SonicWall TZ	2.8%
Palo Alto Networks K2-Series	0.1%
Other	76.7%

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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Subhadip Pakrashi

CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP

Provides reliable performance with strong features and simplicity

SonicWall TZ is user-friendly, admin-friendly, and a beautiful product. I have been selling SonicWall since 2007 without any issues. SonicWall has been working on it excellently. They are up to date, and their research team is good, making the box feature-rich. Based out of India, I have had some issues with their faulty channel policy. It's a very good product, an awesome product for those who want to use SonicWall TZ. You can bet on it, but check out the channel policies in India. They should check out the channels in the channel business. It's just a precaution, nothing more than that. Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

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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 security fabric is excellent."

"The product's most valuable feature is the ease of deploying IoT security with a single click. Additionally, the frequent updates to the online database ensure that our security measures are always up to date, enhancing our protection against emerging threats."

"The user interface is relatively easy. The devices are easy to deploy and figure out when you have experience with other security appliances."

"The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with."

"The solution has improved my organization significantly, with impactful capabilities such as sandboxing and cloud solutions, such as XDR, MDR, and EDR."

"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."

"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."

"Easy to use support and licensing portal as well as activation process."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"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 customer service and support are really good."

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is the performance which is above their competitors. The throughput they have delivered is good. When we used other solutions they failed the deployment when we were using different rules. They have a theory perform performance light and performance degradation. However, Palo Alto Networks K2-Series never fails in that scenario."

"Palo Alto's App-ID is what differentiates it from other competitors."

"I like the tool's WildFire feature."

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

"The most valuable features are the virtualization of the firewall and the antivirus."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"The network security is great."

"There is no review content provided to evaluate."

"We like the unified threat management for defense-in-depth. We can terminate our site-to-site and remote access VPNs with it."

"The solution is stable."

"The most valuable feature is content filtering and app control."

"The solution's VPN is very good for stability and detecting threats."

"I have found this solution to be easier to use when compared to other products, such as those offered by Cisco."

"SonicWall TZ offers security and easy firmware updates."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"The licensing could be improved as it is a little confusing and too granular for Fortinet FortiGate."

"I would like to see improvements in the IPS/IDS feature to enhance protection against attacks from attackers, including ransomware protection."

"Some of the features in the graphical user interface do not work, which requires that we used the command-line-interface."

"For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial."

"One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."

"We haven't tapped into most of the functionalities that Fortinet FortiGate offers because we're using it just for gateway security. One of the things that I would prefer is a more expansive use of their analyzer. They could do more work on FortiAnalyzer in terms of the data and the information coming from it."

"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."

"The built-in logging and reporting is limited without FortiAnalyzer."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

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

"The solution's commitment time could be reduced as it often takes a lot of time to execute."

"They could improve by providing more features in the solution."

"Its networking features could be better."

"The tool needs to improve integration with more products from other vendors. I would like the product to add threat intelligence features as well."

"The URL Filtering module needs to have more categories added to it."

"In the past, we've had trouble with Palo Alto's application filtering not getting it right. I would not be recommending layer 7 application filtering yet."

"I'd like to see more data protection on the system."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"They should consider working a bit more on their ransomware application."

"SonicWall should incorporate dynamic DNS services to eliminate the need for third-party solutions, particularly for environments using dynamic IP addresses."

"Full monitoring obviously needs to be improved. We need full monitoring covered under the security licensing."

"The solution's pricing could be made cheaper."

"The solution's cost needs improvement."

"You need to be a certificate holder to set it up and configure it. It's really important because it looks easy, but it is complex. You need to have the knowledge and experience. But this is normal for technical products. It's not a product for regular user. It's for technical people. You need to have skills."

"The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed."

"Although the pricing is good, it could always be lower. If we get to pay less, we're happier."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."

"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."

"We find the most valuable aspect of this solution is the price. It is affordable, and cheaper than other firewalls."

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."

"I would rate pricing to be about four or five out of ten, it is reasonable."

"The pricing is fair."

"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."

"They are very competitive, but we like to have the factory warranty taken care of."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"This is an expensive solution, although you will get value for the price."

"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."

"Palo Alto firewalls are very expensive."

"It would be nice if they lowered their prices for small businesses."

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

"This solution is expensive compared to other, similar products."

"The pricing is expensive."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"License renewals come in around $35,000 to $45,000."

"The firewall with the servers costs about 80 pounds a month. We get the device, and it is replaced every two or three years."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

"The price is high compared to some other solutions."

"The price could be better for us in Bolivia."

"The solution is expensive."

"You need to purchase multiple licenses to manage multiple devices which is cost-prohibitive for the value you would receive."

"Its price is very high, which makes it difficult to convince the clients to buy this solution."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

24%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	61
Midsize Enterprise	16
Large Enterprise	14

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...

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Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?

I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with simila...

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What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?

The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...

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

The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required ...

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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

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 52% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 48% of the time

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Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 17% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 7% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

More SonicWall TZ Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

September 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

September 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

No data available

Dell SonicWALL TZ

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

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

The secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.

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

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall TZ

September 2025

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

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