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Sangfor SSL VPN vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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 SSL VPN
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (8th)
SonicWall Netextender
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Sangfor SSL VPN is 1.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.3%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SonicWall Netextender3.3%
Sangfor SSL VPN1.9%
Other94.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

MW
IT & Statistical Officer at THQ Hospital Choubara
Easy-to-use platform with an efficient user authentication process
There is an area of improvement related to the configuration of specific numbers required for compatibility with banks in our country. The platform initially had limited numbers available for configuration, which posed a challenge as banks operate on different numbers. To address this, we had to request Sangfor Management to add the required numbers, which they later accommodated.
Rich Darress - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech
Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance
When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

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 initial setup of the product is very easy."
"The most valuable feature is our ability to limit access by user, IP address, or MAC address."
"The platform is easy to use."
"Sangfor SSL VPN is a secure and user-friendly solution."
"Sangfor SSL VPN has a user-friendly user interface."
"Sangfor SSL VPN provides secure encryption for communication."
"The SSL-VPN encryption has been fantastic for my organization's data confidentiality and integrity; we've done extensive testing with third-party cybersecurity testing while connected and it has passed with flying colors."
"It allows us to work remotely."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"The solution provides high availability."
"One of the most valuable features of SonicWall Netextender is the integration of VPN accounts with Microsoft Identity Management, which enables us to enforce secure access through Microsoft Intune and conditional access policies. This helps ensure that only authorized individuals are able to access the VPN, rather than anyone with knowledge of a password."
"NetExtender works very well. I never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me. In terms of management, you have good control over the destination. You can use NetExtender to set the policy and the static route for a client. You can modify it based on what your client needs or can access. You have good control over routing."
"I found nothing of value in this solution."
"Employees can have access to the network from home."
 

Cons

"The solution's integration with other firewall vendors could be improved."
"No solution is perfect, so there is room for improvement."
"I think Sangfor can provide a web-based SSL VPN version."
"In redundancy mode, when the firewall goes off, the VPN should be able to connect to the secondary firewall automatically."
"The technical support team takes around two months to respond to queries. It is very time-consuming."
"Sangfor SSL VPN should provide advanced protection against ransomware and better data analysis."
"Right now, you have to load each license on to an appliance. You can't pool across multiple appliances. So, you end up having to do a lot of administrative work to recover if an internet provider goes down, and you cannot leverage it as easily into a DR solution."
"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."
"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."
"The Netextender application itself doesn't really look pretty, however, we can still use it. We don't care what it looks like. That said, if they did a cosmetic update, that would be fine."
"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."
"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."
"Sometimes you can get bounced around through the departments until you find the right one. Sometimes if you don't have the most current support contract or your license is out of date, they won't even talk to you."
"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is inexpensive."
"The first 30 licenses are free, and you have to purchase the rest if required."
"The pricing is good and the standard license allows for 30 users."
"Sangfor SSL VPN is a cheap solution."
"My company has a three-year license for Sangfor SSL VPN."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."
"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."
"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Sangfor SSL VPN?
The solution's integration with other firewall vendors could be improved. Its interoperability matrices and different configurations with other vendor products also need improvements. Our client ha...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?
The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?
SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?
Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Investcorp, Central Bancorp, Griffiths & Armour
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.