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 #31 with an average rating of 8.7, while Sophos is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.6. Palo Alto Networks holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sophos’s 2.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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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: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series vs. Sophos XGS

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 Sophos XGS is 2.4%, up from 1.2% 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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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

"The most important features with FortiGate are the web filter and application controls. We can control our internet usage and use the web filter for application purposes."

"The initial installation is very straightforward."

"The solution is very user-friendly."

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

"Fortinet FortiGate is among the best firewall solutions, having a significant market share in Egypt."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."

"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

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

"The solution is reliable and scales well."

"The company is inventive and always adds a lot of great features."

"The scalability of the product is quite high."

"Palo Alto firewalls are scalable enough. We have about 110 employees in our company, and we are about to expand to 130."

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

"I have found the threat profile feature valuable."

"Overall product rating: Nine out of ten."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

"It's much faster than the previous firewall, so you can do the work faster."

"The security heartbeat feature and MDR are the best for customer security."

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

"It is very stable. I have not heard of any issue where clients would have to replace hardware. It's been really stable for a long while."

"It’s popular because it’s easy to manage, the cloud console is excellent, and it supports VPNs. It can also integrate with endpoints, though this is optional. Regarding threat intelligence, customers in Central Europe often prefer managing their threat hunting rather than using the more expensive service from Sophos. This feature is handy for large international companies with many employees. Threat intelligence requires separate licensing and is optional. Customers can either manage it themselves or purchase the additional service from Sophos, which includes further actions and is more expensive. Smaller companies often don’t have the budget for this."

"We are happy and satisfied with all the features."

"The feature that I find most valuable is the synchronized security option where the endpoint talks to the firewall."

"Compared to other products, Sophos XGS is a user-friendly solution."

More Sophos XGS pros

Cons

"In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface."

"In an incident, after a restart, Fortinet FortiGate did not connect to FortiGuard servers. Due to that reason, on the customer end, all websites got blocked."

"The cloud management and automation capability could be improved."

"They sometimes hide some features and if you want to enable them, you have to go in the CLI, enable the feature and configure it through the CLI. Customers, typically, like everything to be done by the GUI."

"The solution needs to improve its integration with cybersecurity."

"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."

"The integration with third-party tools may be something that they should work on."

"I would like some automated custom reporting."

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."

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

"The scalability of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is good. It is good for larger environments over smaller ones."

"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."

"The solution needs a series of OS changes."

"The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series because it's too complex, which requires L2 and above level of engineers."

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

"It would be nice if it could easily be integrated with Elasticsearch or Nagios."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

"Sophos XGS could be improved by adding a built-in hyper-converged solution."

"All the security features could be better."

"Deployment could be easier."

"Compared to Fortinet, the cost is high."

"After version 18.5, creating a NAT rule has become more complex, requiring the creation of a separate policy and an additional component."

"The solution could improve inspection processes and troubleshooting for VPNs because this area is very weak."

"It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features."

"There are some issues with conversion and user roles when upgrading to Cyberoam."

More Sophos XGS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."

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

"This is not a cheap solution but it isn't expensive, either. It's a good solution for the right price."

"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."

"Its pricing is fine. It is on a yearly basis. Other than the licensing fee, there is no extra fee."

"The license for Fortinet FortiGate is affordable in my country."

"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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

"Palo Alto firewalls are very expensive."

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

"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."

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

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

"The price of the solution is expensive."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

"Sophos XGS is competitively priced."

"A central firewall on the cloud with a cluster might be 70,000 to 80,000 euros for a three-year license."

"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."

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

"Sophos XGS costs around $6,000 for a basic license."

"We pay about $150."

"The cost of Sophos XGS is based on per unit, per appliance, and capacity."

"There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution."

More Sophos XGS 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

13%

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 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 Sophos XGS?

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

See all answers

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

I am satisfied with the price, rating it a nine. There are no extra expenses required after buying the product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?

There is room for improvement in Sophos XGS, specifically in three areas: slowness, centralized synchronization, and ...

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

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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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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OPNsense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 15% of the time

Sophos XG vs Sophos XGS

Compared 15% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Sophos XGS

Compared 6% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos XGS

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos XGS 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

Sophos XGS

July 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

July 2025

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

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