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Sangfor NGAF vs SonicWall NSa 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
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)
Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 16.0%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate16.0%
SonicWall NSa1.5%
Sangfor NGAF1.1%
Other81.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
Zaid Farooqui - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at Indus Motor Company
Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support
We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
Automated breach prevention has protected critical workloads and keeps external attacks blocked
I am familiar with SonicWall TZ. I have done a POC of TZ but I have not worked extensively with it. I have worked with the 2600 firewall and then the 3600. These are the models which we have worked with.SonicWall NSa was an on-premises solution. The two firewalls which were in production, in the data center and on the LAN side, were both on-premises solutions. We had a pre-decided budget under which we would purchase the firewall. All parameters including security, high availability, and budget concerns were covered with SonicWall NSa being implemented at that time. SonicWall NSa is a user-friendly product that is easy to configure, and it is easy for network personnel and firewall administrators to work with. Even the L1 team captured and learned this firewall effectively, helping us resolve all parameters related to high availability firewalls within budget-friendly costs. I rate this review a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are the integration of SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet Unified SASE."
"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's content is its most valuable feature."
"Has a very user-friendly interface and doesn't require any prior knowledge."
"The product is easy to configure."
"The most valuable feature of the solution revolves around SSL VPN."
"The main benefit is the grouping of our security monitoring, as I have all of my solutions from the same brand, Fortinet, with only one console and one dashboard for all the security incidents that occur on the network."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's design is good...I am very impressed with the product's stability."
"The support they provide is good."
"It seems to be a durable, stable product."
"It enables us to not only detect but also prevent various types of incoming threats, allowing us to take appropriate corrective actions and exercise control over the network."
"The level of support provided to local companies is good. They transform their application control and other settings according to that country."
"In four steps one can configure the entire firewall."
"The VPN connectivity feature is really nice."
"We are Sangfor Gold partners and I'd recommend this solution for the SMB market, as it is cost-effective and reliable."
"I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I compare it with Palo Alto and Cisco, both are quite complex products. And if I compare it with FortiGate firewalls from Fortinet, I have also used all these products. Fortinet and Sangfor NGAF are similar products because the applications behind the application and policy layers are almost identical."
"Sangfor has the best capabilities for securing connections, securing web browsers, securing servers, and general threat protection."
"User-friendly with good security and application control."
"Technical support is very, very good."
"The support is good, the product is good, it's easy to deploy and it can be done manually with no assistance from support."
"Support is usually good when it comes to helping with issues."
"Since SonicWall is a UTM, we have enabled all the features: antivirus, IPS, URL filtering, and content filtering. All of these features are working fine."
"SonicWall has exceptional tech support."
"The solution has many useful features, such as content management, user management, user filtering, and domain controller connectivity mapping."
"The most valuable features are that it is reasonably-priced and works well."
 

Cons

"We faced some technical issues on the Fortinet side."
"The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade, should be returned."
"Its reporting capabilities can be improved. It should have some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and some degree of customization."
"FortGate's IPS reporting could be made better by giving more details regarding the source and destination of network traffic when it comes to the overview section."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users."
"A lack of integration between our data centers."
"They should add a feature for detailed reporting."
"The interface could be better."
"They need to increase the number of ports in the firewall."
"I would be happy if Sangfor developed a firewall designed specifically for home use, as well as for small businesses such as clinics and so on."
"The firewall system needs gradual improvements because there are more threats and challenges every day."
"The user interface isn't user-friendly though."
"Sangfor NGAF could improve the policies and default criteria. They could be much better."
"We have deployed many firewalls and have faced two or three faulty devices that we have to replace over a year because their power supply was faulty."
"The tool is expensive."
"The reporting and log management could be improved."
"The filter settings are confusing and overly complicated. The user interface can be improved."
"SonicWall NSa doesn't have a proxy. It also needs a quota management feature in specific scenarios where you must limit user bandwidth for a particular day."
"SonicWall does not support DynDNS, yet this is an important feature for smaller companies that do not have a static IP address."
"Initially, it may be difficult for some people to learn and become acquainted with it."
"It needs to be more monolithic, and more details in the analytical tools offered would be appreciated since it is not yet mature."
"Customer support is severely lacking with very slow response times."
"When it comes to security I think all of the features are currently open to improvement."
"It would help us a lot of SonicWall sent us more information about the latest updates and things that are changing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."
"The product is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."
"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."
"The licensing costs are very competitive."
"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."
"The product is very cost-effective compared to other brands or vendors."
"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."
"For over 2000 users, the cost is around 5000 to 6000 USD. If you want a web application firewall, you have to purchase an additional license for it."
"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."
"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as three out of ten."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."
"Additional resources are too expensive."
"When implemented properly, the total cost of operation is very low."
"SonicWall NSa has reasonable pricing. My company pays for it yearly, but I forgot how much the company pays. From what I remember, you only pay for the license fees."
"There are different pricing models for SonicWall NSa."
"In our evaluation, we found that the costs of deploying the solution, and also purchasing the hardware and licenses, were very attractive."
"The solution is based on a yearly licensing model that is reasonable compared to other options."
"We paid about 10,000 in our currency for one packet of SonicWall NSa."
"Considering the market, I believe that the price of this solution is great."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise24
 

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 your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?
The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.
What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?
The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardwa...
What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?
We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deploye...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSa?
The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?
I am overall satisfied with everything, including the price.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
The CPU configuration for SonicWall NSa, based on my experience, is average. It should be increased somewhat because ...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
 

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
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre
Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,915 professionals have used our research since 2012.