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 #31 with an average rating of 8.7, while SonicWall is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.3. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

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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: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. SonicWall TZ

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 TZ is 2.9%, up from 2.4% 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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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

"Run Script is the best tool to use in Fortinet FortiGate with multiple environments."

"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."

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

"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."

"Fortinet FortiGate has many valuable features, such as IDS, and intrusion detection. It has security features that are in part with the technologies that are available in the market."

"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."

"Fortinet FortiGate has very good support."

"The system is very easy to scale."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It is a stable solution."

"Overall, this is a very simple and very effective firewall, and I am satisfied with it."

"I like the tool's WildFire feature."

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

"As long as the solution is kept updated, it's pretty stable."

"Simple integrations with the domain controllers and other inventories"

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

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

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"Most of the features are useful. It is easy to configure and easy to troubleshoot. I can see the utilization of different networks, and there are also App control features."

"The most common feature in the firewall, apart from that traditional firewall, would be the security services, like application control, URL filtering, Gateway Anti-Virus, and IPS protection. These are the essential features in the firewalls which I think, has to be enabled and properly used at every network infrastructure."

"Offers the right amount of control without being incredibly convoluted and frustrating."

"SonicWall TZ think it's a good, solid, and stable product."

"The technical support is prompt, often resolving issues quickly through remote sessions."

"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."

"They give good protection to my network and support it."

"Customer service is excellent."

More SonicWall TZ pros

Cons

"I would prefer to have more detailed logs within the FortiGate products themselves rather than relying on a separate tool."

"Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet."

"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."

"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."

"The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall solution and once it's deployed, you can rest assured that your system is secure."

"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."

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

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"They should implement the features that the other firewalls have."

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

"It would be really helpful to have dashboards that provide information on IOC blockings such as where and how many. It will also be good to know how many hashing files have been reported. It would also be nice to have easy access to this information. Otherwise, it's a painful, manual task."

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

"Higher levels of support are excellent but new users may need additional options."

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

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

"Threat prevention could use improvement."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"I would like to see a SonicWall integration with the DLP tool, this would be interesting. Data Loss Prevention integration."

"Its pricing can be better. It is very expensive."

"I would like them to make the interface a little bit easier to use so you can find out where in the heck you're going instead of having to go to 15 different places to get something installed."

"We would like to improve the rules configuration in SonicWall TZ. Sometimes the rules don't work."

"It could probably be more user-friendly, and it could be more scalable with releases and subscriptions."

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

"Sometimes there is a glitch between the network connection. Last time, something happened on our IP phone, the SonicWall team did some updates to fix the issue. However, glitches happen very rarely. I did not experience any other types of problems."

"We have been facing issues with reporting."

More SonicWall TZ cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."

"The licensing cost is at the intermediate level."

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

"Its price is good."

"It's not the cheapest, but it's value for money. Given everything we've got out of it: the DMZ port, the VPN, and the high availability, it's a pretty reasonable price."

"No comment."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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

"We are on an annual license to use Palo Alto Networks K2-Series."

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

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

"The pricing is expensive."

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

"Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is an expensive solution, the price could be reduced. They are more expensive than some of their competitors."

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

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"Customers are required to pay for a yearly subscription."

"The product pricing is relatively good, compared to other products, including the licenses."

"The price is fair."

"It comes to a range between five hundred to seven hundred dollars."

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

"Getting licenses in our country, Ghana, is not easy. Though, once we have them, adding them is quick (about a day)."

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

"It is an expensive solution compared to one of its competitors."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

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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

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

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...

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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 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

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 62% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 38% 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 6% of the time

OPNsense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

More SonicWall TZ 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

SonicWall TZ

July 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Dell SonicWALL TZ

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

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

July 2025

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

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