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Sangfor NGAF vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 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

Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Firebox
Ranking in Firewalls
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (10th), Application Control (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.2%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 2.0%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
WatchGuard Firebox2.0%
Sangfor NGAF1.2%
Other96.8%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Network Administrator at GC University Lahore
Leverage detailed reporting for effective attack management
We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applications hosted there, websites, FTP portals, making it quite comprehensive. Essentially, it performs all the…
Abhishek Saini - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
Centralized security management has improved VPN reliability and simplified daily operations
WatchGuard Firebox is a strong and reliable platform overall, but there are a few areas where improvements could make the experience even better. One area is the user interface and navigation in some management tools. While the platform is powerful, certain configurations and troubleshooting workflows can feel less intuitive compared to some newer cloud-native firewall platforms. Another point is reporting and log analysis. Although the logging features are very useful, deeper analytics and more customizable reporting dashboards would make security monitoring much more effective. Firmware upgrades and policy synchronization can sometimes require careful planning to avoid security interruptions. Overall, the core security and VPN functionality are very solid, but improving usability, reporting, and automation would make the platform even stronger. One area that could be improved is the learning curve for new administrators. While experienced engineers can work with the platform effectively, some advanced networking and security configurations can be a bit complex for junior technicians. More guided configuration workflows, smarter recommendations, and simplified troubleshooting tools would make onboarding easier. Another improvement would be more flexible reporting customization for executive-level and client-facing reports.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"The built-in features function as intended, providing exceptional value."
"Sangfor serves most of the basic purposes of a firewall, is particularly good in the DPI where we can inspect the inbound and outbound traffic on a very granular level, gives a very good predictive measure as well as the current measure of things going on in our network, and gives us value for money overall."
"The support from Sangfor NGAF here in Pakistan is great."
"The price versus value is good because the solution is less expensive than Sophos, Fortinet, or SonicWall."
"The absolute best part of Sangfor NGAF is their support; it's a 24/7 support channel, and the last time I requested their assistance I got a reply within three minutes and they helped solve the problem immediately."
"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."
"It offers good value for money and is much cheaper compared to other firewalls."
"I like that this product has very few issues."
"Basically, we have received a good return on investment."
"The firewall aspect and the branch office VPNs are the most valuable features... We don't have any issues with it. We don't have to spend a lot of time maintaining it."
"For the price point, what we do with it, and the time that the last one lived for on our network, we have gotten our money's worth from it."
"It is something that we need for compliance, and it has been useful. Their support staff is also amazing."
"Going with the Firebox is a no-brainer."
"We used to have an MPLS network which was a cloud-based firewall system and it cost us a small fortune every month, but when we implemented all these firewalls and got it all configured, up and running, we literally saved ourselves $10,000 a month."
"The Dimension control, the one-spot reporting and control, has been nice. It's been easy to go in and make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing and that only the right stuff is getting in."
 

Cons

"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 GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."
"The setup phase is quite complex."
"Our experience with its customer support was quite challenging."
"There is room for improvement in dependency on certain infrastructure, like the DNS dependency on the current DNS server that the company has. It should be standalone. It should not depend on any other DNS server."
"The user interface isn't user-friendly though."
"They need to improve their research team and they need to study their data to analyze it and build the product."
"The web interface needs to be improved, making it more user-friendly."
"Firebox would be improved with integration for endpoint protection solutions."
"The time they take to classify an application once they find that it is unknown can be better."
"In WatchGuard Firebox, the antivirus and malware detection systems are areas with shortcomings that require improvement since they are the most important elements of a cybersecurity tool."
"There is room for improvement in WatchGuard Firebox regarding customization and AI functionality."
"Reporting and advanced threat analytics can be improved in WatchGuard Firebox."
"One other shortcoming is that there is no backup for it. We really haven't figured out how we might solve that problem. We may want to put a duplicate in... With WatchGuard, we just have the one box. If that were to fail, we'd probably be really hurting."
"They need to stop the VLAN limitation. They have a VLAN limitation on the size of their boxes; it is the worst thing ever."
"I only regret that one cannot buy single modules out of the Total Security Suite, and that makes it a bit expensive for some SMB customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price falls in the mid-range, neither exceptionally low nor high."
"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."
"Sangfor NGAF price is reasonable and there is an annual license. However, the maintenance cost can be a bit high."
"Sangfor is cheaper than competing vendors."
"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"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."
"I rate the product price as one on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"They have an annual subscription license. Initially, we had opted for three years. After that, we went for another three years, and after that, we have been doing it yearly. They also have a license for five years."
"We had a trade-in offer at the end of our first three-year term. As a result, we pretty much got a free device by buying the three-year subscription. It was around $3,000 for the three-years."
"It's fair pricing, but it could always be reduced."
"WatchGuard had a very competitive price. It was only 10 to 20 percent more than a single instance device but with that extra cost it provided a second load balancing device... unlike other brands whose method of hardware and software licensing would have doubled our cost."
"The solution is a bit more expensive than other options."
"WatchGuard Firebox has good quality, but it is expensive."
"Their price point worked, which is the reason why we stayed with WatchGuard."
"Over the years, the costs have increased, especially since I cater to very small businesses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business104
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

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 hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity. Making the soluti...
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 deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applications h...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of our employees.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,351 professionals have used our research since 2012.