Sangfor NGAF vs Sophos UTM comparison

Sangfor and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 90% of Sangfor users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Sangfor NGAF and Sophos UTM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Sangfor NGAF vs. Sophos UTM Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. Sophos UTM

April 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

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Zaid Farooqui

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.

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Samaila Yusuf

Associate Director - Management Support Services at CIHP

Network protection strengthens through effective threat management features and secure access control

The zero-day protection and firewall rules are some of the most effective features for threat management. I can set the rules and features, and also use IPsec to connect all my on-premises servers and link them to Sophos UTM so that they are protected even when in the cloud. Additionally, I use it to control access into the building through a captive portal integrated across all the PCs we have, ensuring secure access only for authenticated users.

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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 management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."

"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."

"We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."

"The email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."

"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."

"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."

"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."

"Layer-3 firewall and routing are the most valuable features."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"While the features are not dissimilar to other brands, configuration is much more simple, which works out great for Indonesian people."

"Sangfor's tech features and technologies are more powerful than those of the other solution providers in terms of security. They also have big solutions in terms of cybersecurity."

"So far, the performance and reliability of the product have supported our company's critical network traffic."

"Sangfor NGAF specializes in ransomware detection and helps to protect our network from ransomware threats and malware."

"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 tool's performance is good."

"The level of support provided to local companies is good. They transform their application control and other settings according to that country."

"It's a very simple to use product."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

"It meets our compliance needs in an elastic computer environment."

"The isolation of infected machines is a big feature. Also, the ability to detect external sources that change files on a file server is really big."

"It is not an easy task to protect your web servers from the big bad internet. The Web Server Protection in this solution does it elegantly and, if configured correctly, even hides the server's base system from prying eyes."

"It allows our developers to be able to securely log into servers to deploy and manage software."

"It has made our organization more secure, because we are using a VPN. We are not accessing services directly. It allows us to segregate some of the traffic for individuals which may be more of a developer role rather than an operational role needing access to developer resources, but not necessarily production operational resources."

"I like the web filtering options."

"Sophos UTM's best feature is synchronized security."

"I have no problem with the cost or licensing of this solution. This is a primary reason whay I wanted this solution. It does the same thing cheaper than other name brands."

More Sophos UTM pros

Cons

"It can be a little bit more user-friendly in terms of policy definition and implementation. It seems a little bit complicated, and it could be simplified."

"We faced difficulties with the configuration because there are many features we could optimize using Fortinet FortiGate, but our reseller didn't have a good understanding of it. So, we just use it on a basic level, not with the best practice for using FortiGate."

"We would like to see better pricing."

"The main aspect of FortiGate that could be improved is load balancing. Our management team does not want to buy another appliance for only load balancing."

"The Wi-Fi controller needs a lot of improvement."

"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."

"In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big."

"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Sangfor NGAF could improve the policies and default criteria. They could be much better."

"The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"An area of improvement for Sangfor NGAF could be in the field of reporting and logging."

"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."

"Sangfor has recently increased their prices."

"The web interface needs to be improved, making it more user-friendly."

"Sangfor need greater exposer in the market because the market is mainly saturated by Fortinet. The user experience of Fortinet is quite different compared to NGAF. If we want to switch our users from Fortinet to NGAF, we have to convince them that the user experience will be much easier once once they start to use it."

"The reporting and log management could be improved."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

"The classification segregation of applications lacks sufficient definition."

"The solution could be improved by adding cloud soundboxing."

"Sophos UTM sometimes falls short in high-availability environments. They used to launch firmware that didn't work very well in a high-availability environment."

"There can be a delay when it comes to reaching out to technical support."

"It is a little too CPU resource intensive, so we would like to see improvements there."

"During initial configuration, I encountered a few issues."

"We need to speed up the support."

"The lack of import/export functions for network and service options drives me mad."

More Sophos UTM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Work through partners for the best pricing."

"The price is fine."

"The pricing for this solution is good."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."

"The price of FortiGate is reasonable as I plan to buy new switches. The initial gadgets are already booted, and the pricing seems normal on the market. As for additional costs, I haven't subscribed to many extra features, so I'm only using what I need. 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."

"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."

"If you know you have around 200+ computer users on your network, then the Sangfor NGAF 5200-F-I model would be the minimum recommended model for that amount of users. This model includes modules for packet filtering, deep packet inspection, malware scanning, DSCP filtration, and many other features."

"In my opinion, the price of the tool is good in the Pakistani market. We can easily get discounts if needed."

"-"

"The price is unmatcheable."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The price could be more competitive."

"We purchased one year technical support and return to factory support, and we also purchased one-year technical support services. So those were additional."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

"It is the cheapest product available. It's good if you have a low budget."

"We pay for the service on a yearly basis. The last time we paid was in June, for a year. At the time, it was about $20,000."

"I would recommend to follow Sophos’ sizing guidelines for choosing which license and model to use. Sophos has their own way of going about this and supplies partners with all the information required. If you follow their documentation and guidelines, there should be zero questions about licensing and sizing."

"There is a license for the device and for the software. We pay annually for the solution and the cost is competitive."

"This solution is less expensive than FortiGate."

"There was an up-front charge of around $70,000, to purchase the hub and license. Beyond the initial cost, licenses are charged for annually, but they are good value for the service we receive."

"The price of the license for Sophos UTM is approximately $5,500. The solution is less expensive than competitors."

"The biggest issue with Sophos is the pricing. It's definitely more expensive. As I said, we looked at Webroot, which is a big alternative, and Sophos was almost three times the price of Webroot. That's a pretty big difference."

More Sophos UTM pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user216600

Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees

Jan 3, 2016

Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate

I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

18%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

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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What do you like most about Sangfor NGAF?

I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I comp...

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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.

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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...

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What do you like most about Sophos UTM?

The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.

See all answers

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

The value between what I receive and what I pay is the best in the industry.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?

With artificial intelligence, there is room for improvement in all antivirus and security software. However, the bad ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Sophos XG vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 16% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 4% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 3% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 13% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 12% of the time

Sophos XG vs Sophos UTM

Compared 10% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

April 2025

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

April 2025

Download Sophos UTM product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

Astaro

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

Sangfor Next Generation Firewall (also known as NGAF) is a converged security solution providing protection against advanced threat, malware, viruses, ransomware and web-based attacks using integrated security features like firewall, IPS, anti-virus, anti-malware, APT, URL filtering, Cloud Sandbox, and WAF. As the world's first AI-enabled and fully integrated Next Generation Firewall & Web Application Firewall (WAF), NGAF offering the security visibility, real-time detection and response, simplified operation and maintenance and high-performance application layer security needed to operate an enterprise network in total security. Tested and proven to provide cutting-edge network security by ICSA Labs and endorsed by Gartner Inc., NGAF harnesses the power of Sangfor’s Neural-X threat intelligence and analytics platform and Engine Zero’s innovative malware detection to provide next-generation protection for today’s enterprise.

Sangfor

Sophos UTM is a unified threat management platform designed to protect your businesses from known and emerging malware including viruses, rootkits and spyware. The solution provides a complete network security package with everything your organization needs in a single modular appliance.

Sophos UTM Features

Sophos UTM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Web and Email Filtering
General Management
Network Protection
Network Routing and Services
Advanced Threat Protection
Authentication
Email Encryption and DLP
Web Policy
End-User Portal
VPN IPsec Client, VPN SSL Client, and Clientless VPN
Web Application Firewall Protection
UTM Endpoint Protection and Management
SEC Endpoint Integration
Logging and Reporting

Sophos UTM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Sophos UTM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple point solutions
Intuitive interface to help you quickly create policies to control security risks
Provides clear, detailed reports to give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection
Complete control to block, allow, shape and prioritize applications
Two-factor authentication with one-time password (OTP)
Integrated wireless controller
Allows you to connect remote offices with easy VPN and Wi-Fi

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Sophos UTM solution.

PeerSpot user Dana B., Network Administrator at a manufacturing company, says “The web and email filtering are the two biggest and most valuable aspects of the solution for us. The solution overall has just been a good, cost-effective solution for us. The solution offers a lot of functionality. The solution scales well. We've found the technical support to be helpful. The stability and performance are quite good.”

A Technical Director at a security firm mentions, "Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."

Marek M., Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company, comments, “Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to set up. If you follow the instructions using the wizard, which is just a few steps, then you will have a firewall to protect you and your customer.”

A Software Sales Manager at a tech services company explains, “The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly. It can be integrated with other solutions such as SOAR, SIEM, etc., even when you have an existing firewall. I really like that the console can be integrated. You'll see everything on the same window, and the single window feature of the machine is so good. These are the features I really like.”

James D., IT Manager at Manual Workers Union, states, “The fact that it's on the cloud means we don't have to administer it on our network or deal with a physical machine, which saves us money. The solution has many great features. From the console, we can start different scannings on different machines. We enjoy the centralized reporting part of it. The initial setup is simple. We enjoy its general stability. The solution can scale. So far, the solution has been problem-free.”

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

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

One Housing Group

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. Sophos UTM

April 2025

Free Report: Sangfor NGAF vs. Sophos UTM

Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. Sophos UTM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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