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Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs SonicWall NSv comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.
Sentiment score
6.6
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls enhance security and reduce costs, improving efficiency and delivering substantial ROI in regulated industries.
Sentiment score
4.9
SonicWall NSv efficiently saves time and costs, enhancing productivity and revenue opportunities with streamlined features and ease of deployment.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
Their user-friendly interface and Panorama central management, which provides a comprehensive overview, make them an ideal investment.
Technical Lead at Accenture
The solution helped reduce downtime, which is crucial in time-sensitive industries like manufacturing.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
I have seen a return on investment since using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls in terms of time saved.
Security Professional at BT - British Telecom
Investment was challenging but strategic, given its advantages like 30% depreciation in the Indian ecosystem by the third year.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
I have seen a return on investment that includes money saved, time saved, and fewer employees needed.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
Based on SonicWall NSv, it helped us to easily navigate through everything and get done what we needed in a very quick manner.
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.
Sentiment score
6.9
Customer service for Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls varies, with users noting fast responses but inconsistent service and language issues.
Sentiment score
8.5
SonicWall NSv is highly praised for its prompt, effective, and friendly customer support, often rated highly for reliability.
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.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
Palo Alto's network support is excellent, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Their response time is within one hour.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
They offer fast and competent assistance.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
Customer support for SonicWall NSv is top-notch.
IT systems and network engineer at Nelo Global Technologies Africa Limited
Whenever I create a case regarding any issue, their support is prompt and effective, adhering to the SLA, which leaves our customers very satisfied.
Project Manager in IT at IT Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
I would rate the customer support a 10 out of 10.
HPC engineer at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.
Sentiment score
6.8
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer scalability and reliability but may face hardware limitations and cost concerns for smaller setups.
Sentiment score
7.5
SonicWall NSv excels in scalable, seamless cloud transitions with efficient expansion, despite setup challenges and VM performance adjustments.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Cloud deployments benefit from auto-scaling, allowing for automatic adjustments to firewall capacity based on demand.
Technical Lead at Accenture
It is important to assess the infrastructure size before choosing a model.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are scalable and reliable.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
It has met our organization's needs by allowing us to scale our security posture consistently with our cloud compute growth, increased traffic and user areas, new cloud regions, and policy complexity growth.
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Nonetheless, the product is robust, eliminating major scalability concerns.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate its scalability as eight to nine.
Owner at IT CARE
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.
Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are praised for high stability and reliability, outperforming competitors despite occasional hardware and update issues.
Sentiment score
8.4
SonicWall NSv offers reliable, secure performance for over 100 users, with quick support, minor issues, and strong stability.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
With appropriately configured policies, these firewalls can provide robust network security.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
After the upgrade, we are experiencing performance issues.
Technical Engineer - Technical Security at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have not experienced any outages or issues.
IP / Operations Support System Engineer; Pre-Sales Engineer at Avantguard.it
Understanding and handling these devices onsite was limited, requiring external support.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
It rates around eight to nine in terms of stability, and it is quite good.
Owner at IT CARE
Regarding security, we have not had any issues since we have been using SonicWall NSv, and everything is usually up to date.
DevOps Support Engineer at Bluegrass
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls need better configuration, user-friendliness, integration, and cost-effective, scalable hardware with enhanced support and management.
SonicWall NSv users desire better pricing, support, cloud integration, user interfaces, and improvements in reporting, authentication, and setup processes.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
When performance degrades due to full packet inspection, the solution should be to increase the computing power within the same firewall, not to recommend upgrading to a larger, more expensive model.
Technical Engineer - Technical Security at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Further integration into a unified system could improve usability.
Director IT Infrastructure and Operations at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls lack built-in multi-factor authentication, requiring the purchase of a third-party tool to implement this essential security feature.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
I believe that application-based QoS policy is very important given the current environment. This feature should be available for application QoS as well in this firewall.
Project Manager in IT at IT Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
When the software was downloaded, optimal hardware utilization was lacking, making hardware upgrades inevitable.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details.
Owner at IT CARE
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are costly, but advanced security features justify the expense for many users.
SonicWall NSv pricing is moderate to high with costs starting at $25,000, appreciated for its technology and ease of use.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive.
Technical Engineer - Technical Security at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls come at a premium, exceeding the cost of most competitors by 45 percent.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
Colleagues looking for the cheapest and fastest firewall can still use Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls because they are affordable.
Director at Zuci Systems
The Global VPN will be chargeable in our product, unlike Fortinet or Sophos, where it is free—this is a major difference.
Owner at IT CARE
SonicWall NSv was a bit expensive for the subscription.
Network Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that it is low cost.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls provide advanced security, ease of use, and integration, excelling in application ID and URL filtering.
SonicWall NSv offers user-friendly, powerful security features with advanced threat protection, automation, and cost-effective solutions for businesses.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are DNS sync calls, enabled security features, and Wildfire.
Technical Engineer - Technical Security at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Threat Vault allows us access to a comprehensive threat database, enabling us to get detailed information on threats and how to mitigate them.
Senior Network Engineer L4 at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is Cortex Data Lake.
Solution Architect at a retailer with 201-500 employees
The cloud delivery threat intelligence spots suspicious behavior in just a few seconds, stopping it before execution, automatically blocking and quarantining files.
IT systems and network engineer at Nelo Global Technologies Africa Limited
SonicWall NSv positively impacts my organization by providing firewall capabilities as a virtual firewall while offering the capabilities of a physical firewall with great performance and reliability.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization by helping us access our whitelisted web apps since we manage web apps while ensuring proper standards to prevent any information leaks.
DevOps Support Engineer at Bluegrass
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...
Ranking in Firewalls
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSv
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 4.6%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.8%
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls4.6%
SonicWall NSv0.3%
Other76.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
SV
Solution Architect // Network Consultant at Group S
Network security has improved and allows detailed user-based control over encrypted traffic
Bandwidth usage is not something we use much, but it depends on the SD-WAN plugin because the application load balancing is based on the SD-WAN product. That functionality does not work as it should, although the App-ID is working very well. SD-WAN functionality is working, but when you compare it with other products on the market, it is very limited. Palo Alto also has ION devices, and ION devices together with Prisma Access or Strata Cloud Manager now are more the way to go than using Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls on-premises. At the moment I have some issues, but the issues are more related to the general way of working of many vendors. They implement new things very fast and it is not always bug-free. With new releases, sometimes you still have some issues. This is the main concern. If you look back five or maybe ten years ago, the products were more stable and you had more decent releases, but that is something in general for many vendors. Palo Alto is also a factor with that. They want to bring new features to the market too fast. Features are a concern because all vendors try to compete against each other. If one vendor comes out with a new feature, then other vendors do the same. Sometimes they want to be the first on the market with it, and that sometimes introduces bugs or issues with the product.
SG
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Secures east-west cloud traffic and improves threat visibility through deep inspection
SonicWall NSv offers great features. I cannot pinpoint a single best feature, but the best feature is the ability to deliver the full, high-efficiency inspection power of a physical SonicWall, including zero-day defense using Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection to the cloud, efficiently removing the performance versus cloud trade-off typically associated with virtual firewalls. Regarding deep memory inspection and real-time zero-day defense in SonicWall NSv, deep memory inspection is distinct from traditional sandboxing methods because it is focused on what is happening in the memory during file execution time, rather than just observing file system behavior. The deep memory inspection process addresses all challenges by employing a proprietary technique within the secure analysis environment, focusing on CPU-level analysis and real-time verdict. Those are the key points. SonicWall NSv's user interface is quite clear and easy to navigate. If someone has not worked with SonicWall and this is their first experience with the platform, I would highly recommend it. It is very easy to navigate and very user-friendly. SonicWall NSv has positively impacted our organization because we gained clear visibility into our network, and it helps to identify potential security issues that we had. We were able to remediate those issues, and so far, we have had a great experience with SonicWall NSv. We were able to manage approximately 99% of network-based attacks through this platform.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Security Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise188
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise56
Large Enterprise85
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise8
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...
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...
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?
The product helps improve our security.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it's okay.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?
While I have not encountered significant challenges, during the configuration part, I noticed that some features, suc...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall
SonicWall Network Security Virtual
 

Overview

 

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
SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.