SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA comparison

SonicWall Netextender and SonicWall SMA are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. SonicWall Netextender is ranked #16 with an average rating of 5.0, while SonicWall SMA is ranked #18 with an average rating of 10.0. SonicWall Netextender holds a 3.9% mindshare in EIV, compared to SonicWall SMA’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 62% of SonicWall Netextender users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of SonicWall SMA users who would recommend it.

SonicWall Netextender

Read 12 SonicWall Netextender reviews

3,015 Views
945 Comparison Views

62% willing to recommend

SonicWall SMA

Read 14 SonicWall SMA reviews

770 Views
156 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

SonicWall Netextender

SonicWall SMA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

SonicWall SMA and SonicWall Netextender are effective VPN solutions catering to different needs. SonicWall SMA seems to have the upper hand in feature richness and support, while SonicWall Netextender stands out for its usability and perceived value.

Features: SonicWall SMA offers robust security, ease of management, and scalability. SonicWall Netextender provides simplicity, seamless integration with the SonicWall ecosystem, and a streamlined design that is more user-friendly.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall SMA could improve its reporting and analytics tools. SonicWall Netextender needs enhancements in stability and documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deployment of SonicWall SMA is considered straightforward but requires a more advanced setup. Users praise SMA's customer service for being highly responsive. SonicWall Netextender offers an easier deployment process with moderately satisfactory customer support.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall SMA is viewed as a higher upfront cost solution with comprehensive features and high ROI. SonicWall Netextender is seen as cost-effective with quicker ROI due to its lower setup costs.

To learn more, read our detailed SonicWall Netextender vs. SonicWall SMA Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Netextender vs. SonicWall SMA

June 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

SonicWall Netextender

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

16th

Average Rating

6.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall SMA

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

18th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.9%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 1.2%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

JayPrajapati

Senior Network Security Engineer at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd

Allows using a custom port for the VPN connection and provides very satisfactory customer support

In the past, customers wanted an application that could run directly upon starting the PC, automatically connecting to the firewall. We were not able to do it in NetExtender. This was something customers wanted, but we couldn't provide due to NetExtender's limitations. I feel NetExtender might have rolled out this feature. In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful. For example, we faced a situation where a customer wanted to allow Office 365 access without any kind of internet, just through the local internet. Office 365 has multiple dynamic IPs and URLs that can be updated daily, making it difficult to allow. If there were an AI-based solution that could bring those URLs and new IP addresses to the firewall and add them to the rule, that would be very helpful. That is just one scenario; there are multiple things AI could help with.

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Maheshbabu T

Project Manager at CGG

It allows us to provide CML-based access to any user, but the reporting could be better

I rate SonicWall SMA seven out of 10. If you're planning to implement this solution, I suggest checking the version to ensure it's compatible with your other technology. I say go for it if it's suitable for your use case. Multifactor authentication technologies are built into the product, whereas some products lack multifactor authentication. We need only one or two. They provide authentication, gateway integration, OTP integration, etc.

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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

"It allows us to work remotely."

"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."

"The initial setup is pretty easy."

"Employees can have access to the network from home."

"The product has two-factor authentication."

"The solution provides high availability."

"The most valuable feature for the Netextender is the ease with which we can integrate it with SAML."

"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."

More SonicWall Netextender pros

"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."

"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."

"I am very satisfied with the technical support."

"Secure Mobile Access (SMA) is easy to configure and the deployment is straightforward. However, this is mostly because of the AWS setup."

"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."

"The performance is good."

"I think they ask for a fair price."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"There must be a multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."

"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 solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."

"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."

"The UI could be a little better."

"The product does not work well."

"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."

"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."

More SonicWall Netextender cons

"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."

"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."

"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."

"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."

"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."

"The product's technical support services could be improved."

"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."

"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution has a pretty good price."

"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."

"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."

"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."

"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."

"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."

"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."

"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."

"The platform has medium pricing."

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

18%

Construction Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SonicWall Netextender?

The solution provides high availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?

Pricing is a simple thing. We have the key, and we need to enter it in the SonicWall official portal. That's all. Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, ...

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What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The platform has medium pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface.

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenVPN Access Server vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 30% of the time

SonicWall Connect Tunnel vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 19% of the time

SonicWall Mobile Connect vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 15% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 14% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 3% of the time

More SonicWall Netextender Competitors

Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 21% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 15% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 14% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 12% of the time

Ivanti Secure Access vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 10% of the time

More SonicWall SMA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Netextender

May 2025

Download SonicWall Netextender product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

May 2025

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

No data available

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Overview

SonicWall Netextender is used for secure client-to-site VPN connections, enabling remote access to company resources and offering seamless integration with Microsoft 365 for identity management.

SonicWall Netextender facilitates secure and stable VPN connections, particularly beneficial for remote work scenarios. It integrates with Microsoft 365, supporting identity management and secure access through Microsoft Identity Management and Intune, allowing users to employ the same credentials as Active Directory. With ease of configuration and control over routing, it assists enterprises by providing a reliable VPN for remote employees, implemented by system integrators worldwide. It also supports file transfers in cloud-based environments.

What are the most valuable features of SonicWall Netextender?

Ease of remote work: Simplifies access for remote employees.
Simple configuration: Quick and straightforward setup process.
Good control over routing: Efficient routing management.
Cost-effectiveness: Affordable for businesses of all sizes.
Ease of integration with SAML: Simple SAML integration.
Excellent security: High-security standards.
Low latency: Minimal delay during use.
Stable performance: Reliable connections.
High availability: Ensures continuous uptime.
Multi-factor authentication support: Enhanced login security.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in the reviews?

Connecting to LAN from home: Secure access to local network resources.
Enforcing secure access: Uses Microsoft Identity Management and Intune for security.
Credential consistency: Same credentials as Active Directory.
Detailed documentation: Comprehensive guides and resources.

SonicWall Netextender is adopted in numerous sectors for its ability to provide secure remote access to company resources. Enterprises integrate it to ensure stable VPN connections for employees working from home, while system integrators implement it for end customers globally. It enhances secure and efficient remote work, which is vital for industries requiring robust and reliable remote access solutions.

SonicWall

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Netextender vs. SonicWall SMA

June 2025

Free Report: SonicWall Netextender vs. SonicWall SMA

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