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Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Sophos XG comparison

 

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
6.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire provides cost-effective, centralized threat management, reducing security costs and improving efficiency in high-threat environments.
Sentiment score
6.7
Sophos XG offers comprehensive security and cost-efficiency, with reduced personnel costs and simplified configurations, despite initial expenses.
The service generates a low rate of false positives, reducing the overhead of managing false positive events.
The graphical interface of Sophos XG simplifies configurations, saving time in support and troubleshooting compared to the Linux-based solution I previously used.
We purchased endpoint security for the first time last year, and even without endpoint security, it provides comprehensive security.
It's good, but I would still say it's higher by about 10-15 percent compared to other market products with similar configurations.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Palo Alto Networks WildFire's support is responsive and expert but varies in availability and response time, especially for smaller companies.
Sentiment score
6.4
Sophos XG support receives mixed reviews, praised for expertise but criticized for delays and inconsistent service from external centers.
There is a lack of SLA adherence, and third-party partners do not provide prompt responses.
The service response times are aligned with standards, responding within a few hours based on the problem's criticality.
The support is quite difficult to access promptly.
They are professional, respond quickly, and help resolve issues effectively.
I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
Their team was quick to diagnose and resolve the problem by exchanging the equipment within two weeks.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks WildFire efficiently scales for diverse environments, supporting thousands of users while integrating well with security modules.
Sentiment score
7.0
Sophos XG scales for different organizations with cloud-based flexibility, despite hardware limits, supporting small to medium businesses effectively.
Wildfire is highly scalable.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is scalable, and I give it a nine for scalability.
You can scale up to multiple firewalls with centralized management.
You can't upgrade memory or storage on a specific model, which limits scalability.
I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is highly rated for reliability, seamless integration, and effective network security performance without disruptions.
Sentiment score
7.9
Sophos XG is praised for strong stability and reliability, despite occasional bugs and increased resource demands with updates.
It performs filtering, malware blocking, and scanning.
The solution is scalable and stable.
Sophos XG is very stable, even when serving as a DHCP server.
Sophos XG is resource-greedy, affecting performance even on newer computers.
It's on 24/7 and has consistently been reliable over the years.
 

Room For Improvement

WildFire needs improvements in integration, user-friendliness, and pricing, along with better support, automation, and global availability.
Sophos XG users seek improved UI, integration, performance, VPN setup, support, reporting, protection, SD-WAN capabilities, pricing, and documentation.
The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings.
It is a very good product.
The support could be improved, as it takes a while to get assistance from the vendors.
The solution should have the ability to be up to date with the most recent threats.
This suggests a vulnerability that needs addressing to ensure administrators can update patches without losing access.
Business cannot stop just because of issues with support.
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto WildFire offers advanced threat protection, appealing to enterprises despite its high cost, potentially deterring smaller organizations.
Sophos XG offers competitive pricing, especially with bundles and discounts, though some users dislike recurring annual licenses.
I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of affordability.
I rate the pricing a ten out of ten.
Currently, it costs about four million shillings in Kenya.
The cost depends on the package you are in, such as full threat management or basic.
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks WildFire automates threat analysis, excels in sandboxing, and offers robust security with cloud-based, user-friendly features.
Sophos XG boasts intuitive interface, efficient filtering, VPN flexibility, centralized management, cloud support, and robust security features.
Integrating Palo Alto Networks WildFire with various security protocols similar to a firewall has significantly improved the overall threat detection capabilities in our organization.
The most valuable feature of Wildfire is its sandboxing capability for examining suspicious files or locations.
I particularly like the visibility it provides into network traffic, allowing us to identify and address issues efficiently.
The firewall feature of Sophos XG has been the most effective for threat prevention.
Integration with endpoint security products ensures seamless traffic flow and rule enforcement, even when endpoints are not directly connected to the firewall.
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st)
Sophos XG
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
215
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (4th)
 

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 10.7%, down 12.5% compared to last year.
Sophos XG, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 9.9% mindshare, up 9.5% since last year.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire10.7%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint8.9%
Fortinet FortiSandbox8.7%
Other71.7%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sophos XG9.9%
Fortinet FortiGate20.7%
Netgate pfSense11.1%
Other58.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

AjayKumar17 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced cybersecurity with advanced sandboxing and effective in controlling DNS issues
Improvements are needed in the UI part. The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings. This information should be integrated with the Dashboard so that system admins can see what is happening. Furthermore, technical support needs a lot of improvement, particularly in terms of responsiveness and adhering to service level agreements.
TarunPanchal - PeerSpot reviewer
Decades of expertise lead to seamless installations and robust security
I typically use the Sophos XG Firewall to enhance my cybersecurity by using all layers. The intrusion prevention system impacts my security posture effectively, as we have not faced any ransomware or cyber threats. I have more than 800 servers live from Sophos. The synchronized security feature has proven to be very beneficial, and I have not encountered any issues. Sophos XG Firewall has contributed to reducing overall costs because it helps save money. We purchased endpoint security for the first time last year, and even without endpoint security, it provides comprehensive security. Sophos XG uses AI effectively to enhance threat detection and response, securing from AI at the packet level.
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business140
Midsize Enterprise51
Large Enterprise36
 

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...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Factor. The Sophos XG appliance that offers a direct competition to the Fortigate 80...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Information Not Available
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