Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs Sophos XGS comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.5, while Sophos is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sophos’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series and Sophos XGS are leading firewall solutions. Sophos XGS has a higher rating for overall features, while Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers better pricing and support.

Features: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is praised for high-performance security measures, comprehensive threat intelligence, and straightforward features. Sophos XGS is noted for advanced threat prevention, integration capabilities, and an advanced feature set preferred by users.

Room for Improvement: Users request enhanced reporting, easier configuration, and more stable firmware for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series. Sophos XGS users desire better firmware stability, system updates, and improved configuration options. Stability issues are more pressing for Sophos XGS users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers a straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. Sophos XGS has a more complex deployment but is backed by a commendable support team.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is recognized for competitive pricing and good ROI. Sophos XGS, slightly more expensive, also provides strong ROI due to its advanced features. Users find the investment in Sophos XGS justified by its performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS

April 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 May 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.0%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XGS is 2.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. 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. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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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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Nassif Kaleny

IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.

Dynamic web and mail filtering contribute to improved security measures

The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

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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 positively provides my clients' organizations with a high return on investment."

"Its stability is the most valuable."

"What's most important is the ease of use."

"The product offers very good security."

"FortiGate has a strong security topic which allows all of the Fortinet devices to communicate and share information which makes their security more powerful."

"We purchased Fortinet because of the pricing, its functionality, because it met our requirements, and the total cost of ownership over five years was quite reasonable. In the market, Fortinet is rated quite well."

"The most valuable features are the policies, filtering, and configuration."

"The SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate has been most impactful in maintaining our network's integrity."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

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

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

"The most valuable features are the intuitive user interface, ease of use, and reporting."

"Overall product rating: Nine out of ten."

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

"The IPS system is the best in the field."

"It is a stable solution."

"Simple integrations with the domain controllers and other inventories"

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"It's able to detect cloud applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams and allows traffic shaping based on the application."

"The initial setup is very simple."

"It increases productivity in our company. Everything is protected."

"I recommend Sophos XGS as it is easy, reliable, has good support, and is flexible and stable."

"I think Sophos technical support's immediate response is good compared to Fortinet's. If the technical engineer is good, they get the solution immediately. If not, it might take two days. For improvement, immediate response is required, whether by email, phone call, or WhatsApp. Sometimes, we can't wait three or four days for a solution. In urgent situations, we might use a spare Sophos device while waiting for support."

"It offers an easy initial implementation."

"The scalability of Sophos XGS is very good."

"The solution is scalable."

More Sophos XGS pros

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate can be integrated with different platforms. They have integrations in place, but I can't say they're 100%."

"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."

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

"We'd like more management across other integrations."

"Some of the filtering is not robust, you can escape it with a VPN. Some of the users bypass some of the filters. It catches some but it also misses some, that area could be improved. It's functioning reasonably but there's room for improvement in that area."

"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."

"The solution could be more evenly structured."

"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There are a lot of bugs in this solution."

"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."

"Palo Alto doesn't have extended visibility to the end point in their firewalls."

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

"If we have issues, they take anywhere from two days to a week to respond. I even wrote to their CEO because there was no response. When it comes to support, this is the worst company."

"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."

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

"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."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"The first time a person sets it up, they will need training."

"It has recently started to suddenly block and crash."

"Their marketing strategy is quite low, and they need to enhance engagement with partners."

"In future releases, this solution could have more graphical elements on the dashboard to make it easier to understand."

"There is no option for right-clicking on any feature after logging into the firewall. I am unable to open a feature in a new tab. In FortiGate, I can do it; in Sophos, I cannot."

"The stability could be a bit better."

"We'd like an interface that can monitor everything."

"The customer service response time can be improved."

More Sophos XGS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."

"The cost of Fortinet FortiGate is competitive and not expensive compared to other enterprise- grade solutions. On average, the license cost per year is around seventy percent of the firewall's purchase price."

"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."

"Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive."

"Fortinet FortiGate allows you to purchase licenses for hardware and software."

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"This product is designed for large companies. The price would not be suitable for a small or medium size company."

"When comparing Palo Alto Networks K2-Series with other solutions it is on the higher end of the price scale."

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

"The pricing is expensive."

"The price of this solution is too high."

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

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"The pricing for Sophos is much better compared to that of Fortinet and Check Point. On a scale from one to five with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate Sophos' pricing at four. The pricing can be for the hardware appliance and the license, or it can be subscription-based. It can be around 3000 USD up to 25,000 USD per year depending on the model or series of the hardware you choose to buy."

"I pay close to $10,000 per year, which I find to be expensive compared to the other similar solution or equivalent solutions."

"The price of the solution is reasonable and their target market is small to medium-sized companies."

"Sophos XGS is priced lower than some of its competitors, such as Fortinet"

"It's highly effective and well-suited for medium and small companies. The pricing is attractive, and our customers find it suitable for regular license renewals."

"Sophos XGS is a very expensive solution."

"The license for Sophos XGS is for three years, paid on a yearly basis. Everything is included with the license; there are no additional fees."

"The pricing for Sophos XGS is reasonable."

More Sophos XGS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

28%

Manufacturing Company

Media Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

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 do you like most about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

It is a stable solution.

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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.

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What do you like most about Sophos XGS?

The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic.

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

Sophos XGS was reasonably priced initially, but the license cost has significantly increased in the last few years.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?

The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 100% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series Competitors

Sophos XG vs Sophos XGS

Compared 21% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 17% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos XGS

Compared 7% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Sophos XGS

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos XGS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

April 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XGS

April 2025

Download Sophos XGS product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

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

Sophos XGS is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It combines next-generation firewall capabilities with advanced threat protection, web filtering, and application control.

XGS has powerful deep learning technology and can detect and block even the most sophisticated malware and ransomware attacks. It also offers granular control over web access, allowing organizations to enforce policies and prevent access to malicious or inappropriate websites. Additionally, XGS provides application control features, enabling organizations to manage and prioritize network traffic based on specific applications or user groups.

With its intuitive management interface and centralized reporting, XGS offers easy deployment and monitoring of network security.

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

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS

April 2025

Free Report: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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