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Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.1
Organizations report quick ROI from WildFire, enhancing security, reducing false positives, and lowering costs by 25-30%.
Sentiment score
4.2
SonicWall TZ offers quick ROI with low costs, boosts productivity, enhances security, and provides cost-effective benefits for small businesses.
The service generates a low rate of false positives, reducing the overhead of managing false positive events.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
That is a reason to buy a firewall, and it is challenging to put a monetary value on security.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Customer service is mixed, with large companies excelling, slow response times for some, and premium tiers offering better support.
Sentiment score
5.0
SonicWall TZ customer service has mixed reviews, praised for availability but criticized for wait times and problem resolution.
There is a lack of SLA adherence, and third-party partners do not provide prompt responses.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
We have had some open tickets for months, maybe half a year, and there is no real answer.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The service response times are aligned with standards, responding within a few hours based on the problem's criticality.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
Customer service is excellent.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
SonicWall Sentry team will manage our firewall.
Project engineer at IT Solution india private limited
I would rate SonicWall TZ's technical support as good but not at the level of other enterprise-level firewall vendors out there.
Senior Systems Engineer Presales Information Security at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Palo Alto Networks WildFire offers scalable, adaptable integration for various networks, seamlessly accommodating growth, though on-premises scaling may incur costs.
Sentiment score
6.6
SonicWall TZ is scalable for small to medium environments, but accurate sizing and cost concerns are crucial for larger needs.
Wildfire is highly scalable.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is scalable, and I give it a nine for scalability.
Community Director at PeerSpot
The on-premises version is expensive to scale as it might need an additional device to be installed in the setup.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Whenever we want to change the licensing, we can do it at any time.
Project engineer at IT Solution india private limited
There are some problems with the scalability of SonicWall TZ with the firmware.
Senior Systems Engineer Presales Information Security at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is highly reliable, scalable, and integrates seamlessly, offering robust malware filtering and network compatibility.
Sentiment score
6.5
SonicWall TZ is stable with minor issues; performance improves with updates, though updates can sometimes temporarily affect stability.
It performs filtering, malware blocking, and scanning.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
The solution is scalable and stable.
Technical Manager at PSR
In terms of stability, SonicWall doesn't have performance issues.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
SonicWall TZ rates 10 out of 10 for stability.
CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP
SonicWall TZ is definitely stable and offers a good value for money.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek improvements in functionality, user interface, support, pricing, deployment complexity, automation, integration, and advanced capabilities.
SonicWall TZ needs user interface improvements, better threat intelligence, enhanced support, bundled VPN licenses, and stability and performance updates.
It should be easier to establish the Palo Alto Networks WildFire cluster between the devices.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
It is a very good product.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
Integration with other vendors, especially with VPNs, can be challenging and requires more effort when configuring.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point.
Senior Systems Engineer Presales Information Security at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
SonicWall TZ could benefit from newer technology.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto Networks WildFire is an enterprise-focused, costly solution with robust threat prevention, offering various pricing tiers and a free trial.
SonicWall TZ offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, but total costs can rise due to subscriptions and feature add-ons.
I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of affordability.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
More licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
When comparing similar products across vendors, there may be a small difference in cost.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
I would also position its pricing as a three, where one is the lowest price and ten is the highest.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks WildFire offers advanced malware detection, effective sandboxing, and robust integration with next-gen firewalls for threat protection.
SonicWall TZ provides robust security, user-friendly management, and cost-effective solutions with VPN, filtering, and threat prevention.
Integrating Palo Alto Networks WildFire with various security protocols similar to a firewall has significantly improved the overall threat detection capabilities in our organization.
Community Director at PeerSpot
The most valuable feature of Wildfire is its sandboxing capability for examining suspicious files or locations.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
The integration and working with third-party solutions was very seamless and smooth.
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
It was beneficial during COVID for remote work through its VPN functionality.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
The advanced gateway security features such as web filter, application control filter, IPS, ideas, gateway antivirus, anti-spyware, and botnet filter are valuable.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st)
SonicWall TZ
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Palo Alto Networks WildFire is designed for Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and holds a mindshare of 6.6%, down 9.4% compared to last year.
SonicWall TZ, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 1.6% mindshare, down 2.7% since last year.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire6.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3655.8%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint5.6%
Other82.0%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall TZ1.6%
Fortinet FortiGate12.9%
Cisco Secure Firewall8.1%
Other77.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2695164 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Advanced threat detection has protected critical document workflows and checks suspicious files
I would say the setup and putting together the hierarchy within the devices was not straightforward. There were many reboots and reconfigurations while the optimal setup was established. However, we were happy with the device. The setup process could be easier to establish the cluster. It should be easier to establish the Palo Alto Networks WildFire cluster between the devices. We had some difficulty with it, but it was not catastrophic. The operation and usability itself is what I was happy with.
Ashutosh Jha - PeerSpot reviewer
Project engineer at IT Solution india private limited
Advanced security filters have blocked threats and protect our users’ web and application access
SonicWall TZ gives us multiple features, such as Content Filter, Application Filter, ATP, IPS policy, Geo-Filter, Botnet filter, and many more. I use Content Filter with SonicWall TZ most of the time because we need to create a policy on behalf of the content filter to track who is using what. If we want to block any types of websites for any specific user, we can do it from the firewall. SonicWall TZ has multiple features, such as Application Filter as well. SonicWall TZ has impacted our organization positively because it stops all threats. If any types of malware signature or any types of bad behavior malware appear, it prevents them.
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise30
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business65
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
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 similar basic features. However, Fortinet offers more performance, scalability, and in...
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 to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN. Only one SSL VPN a...
What needs improvement with SonicWall TZ?
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhe...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks, Trellix, Microsoft and others in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Updated: October 2026.
921,338 professionals have used our research since 2012.