SonicWall NSSP vs Sophos XGS comparison

SonicWall and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. SonicWall is ranked #38 with an average rating of 7.3, while Sophos is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6. SonicWall holds a 0.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sophos’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of SonicWall users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Both SonicWall NSSP and Sophos XGS compete in the network security space. Sophos XGS seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced features and higher integration capabilities, making it worth the price.

Features: SonicWall NSSP is praised for its high-performance throughput, scalability, and robust intrusion prevention. It also offers comprehensive logging and reporting capabilities. Sophos XGS offers deep packet inspection, advanced threat protection, and synchronized security features that integrate with other Sophos products. It also has intuitive central management and stronger integration with endpoint protection.

Room for Improvement: For SonicWall NSSP, users note the need for improved firmware stability, more intuitive configuration, and more frequent updates. Sophos XGS users seek enhancements in the reporting tools, a more user-friendly policy management system, and faster technical support response times.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall NSSP users report a straightforward deployment process but mention complexity in initial setup for large-scale networks. They appreciate responsive customer support but suggest that detailed documentation could be improved. Sophos XGS is appreciated for its user-friendly deployment process, especially with cloud management. Users commend its efficient customer service but seek more comprehensive setup guides.

Pricing and ROI: Users find SonicWall NSSP's setup costs relatively high but satisfactory in terms of long-term ROI due to its robust performance. Sophos XGS, while also expensive, is perceived to offer better value due to its extensive feature set and high integration capabilities, delivering a quicker and more substantial ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed SonicWall NSSP vs. Sophos XGS Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall NSSP vs. Sophos XGS

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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.4%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSSP is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XGS is 2.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Lenin Christopher

Director at Techfruits

Enhanced security with advanced threat protection and superior support

We serve as an integrator for SonicWall, deploying this solution for customers in the media and entertainment, banking, and finance sectors. We use SonicWall to protect their environments against digital attacks SonicWall has helped us deliver security solutions effectively, particularly in…

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Nassif Kaleny

IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.

Dynamic web and mail filtering contribute to improved security measures

The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

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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 is quite easy to handle."

"The SD-WAN feature is the most valuable. This feature evolved from link load balancing. It has helped us in terms of our uptime and privatizing applications whenever we experience an outage. The SD-WAN feature has been a plus for us. Two-factor authentication has allowed us to add more users in terms of remote working. We have two-factor authentication for remote workers to authenticate them before they get on the network."

"The ECC management and the GUI that offers single interface management are the most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."

"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."

"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."

"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."

"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I like the filtering feature, which provides easy access. The SSL certification feature is also nice. The solution enhanced our security posture."

"SonicWall NSSP is stable and scalable too."

"The product's most valuable features are simplicity and comprehensive protection capabilities, including load balancing, IPS, antivirus, and web filtering."

"SonicWall has helped us deliver security solutions effectively, particularly in threat prevention and content filtering."

"The solution's pricing is good."

"The VPN functionality is really good. Overall, the whole device is very easy to manage. The software that comes with it is also good."

"It has been delivering results efficiently. Its configurations and updates have been easy. It is also user-friendly."

"The solution is very user-friendly, and the GUI is so good that I don't have to use the CLI. This eliminates the need for typing; clicking allows me to get to what I'm looking for."

"Sophos XGS is profound as a firewall and security product."

"The VPN is the best feature."

"The threat intelligence capabilities of the tool are good."

"Sophos XGS's best features are its VPN and ATPR1 cert protection."

"The centralized security is very good."

"The solution is cost-effective and easy to manage."

"It's easy to deploy and connect."

More Sophos XGS pros

Cons

"The reports are very basic."

"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall solution and once it's deployed, you can rest assured that your system is secure."

"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."

"Scalability is one of the disadvantages. When it comes to scalability, you have to actually change the box. If you want to upgrade it, you need to actually change the existing box and probably you take the system off to other sites."

"I would like reporting to be improved and should offer a lot more tools to monitor the products."

"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 cloud features can be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The EDR and XDR capabilities of SonicWall need to be improved."

"No security product is foolproof against hackers, intruders, and other such things. As a security product, they have to keep pace in terms of protection from new hackers and intruders."

"The user interface, the GUI, could be improved."

"The solution's stability and scalability also need improvement."

"Its reporting functions can be improved. It has decent reporting, but you got to pay a lot more money for it. That's where it begins to fall apart. It comes with minimal zero reporting unless you buy some extra modules. With those extra modules, you can get all the data, but it takes a while to put together what you need for your customer. It is for technical people, but there is no executive summary of the reporting."

"The platform could benefit from an improved marketing strategy."

"The product needs improvement for phishing emails."

"One area for improvement would be including automatically generated certificates for HTTPS, which was available in earlier versions but might not be in the latest."

"The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats."

"The solution could improve inspection processes and troubleshooting for VPNs because this area is very weak."

"The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow."

"It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features."

"The functionality of SD-WAN compared to other boxes is lacking."

"There can be lag time when updating an operating policy."

"In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist."

More Sophos XGS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is okay."

"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"It's not the cheapest, but it's value for money. Given everything we've got out of it: the DMZ port, the VPN, and the high availability, it's a pretty reasonable price."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"I had to pay for the license for the firewall, but it is guaranteed to have updates. I expect a good service for it. It was about €1000 for a year, and there was no additional cost."

"We just pay a flat monthly fee to the vendor for the support."

"FortiGate's pricing falls within the mid-range when compared to other leading firewall solutions."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"You got to buy some VPN licenses, and there might be a $40 to $50 one-time license fee per current user. There are different layers. They have several different levels of event security software and depending on the model, it seems to come out to be $1 to $2 a day. So, if you bought a three-year license, it is going to be anywhere from $900 to $1800 depending on the bundle and model that you buy."

"The pricing is cheap, and that's where, you know, the some of the organization goes for the SonicWall."

"The setup costs and licensing are reasonable, and the solution provides good value for its features."

"I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"For SonicWall NSSP high availability, active/passive, you need to buy one license, and so you get much more value for money."

"The pricing for Sophos XGS is reasonable."

"The price of Sophos XGS depends on the type of license. However, the licensing cost is approximately 60 percent of the total cost."

"Sophos XGS is competitively priced."

"The cost is comparable to other similar solutions."

"We pay about $150."

"The price of Sophos XGS is average compared to other offers from other OEMs."

"The pricing for Sophos is much better compared to that of Fortinet and Check Point. On a scale from one to five with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate Sophos' pricing at four. The pricing can be for the hardware appliance and the license, or it can be subscription-based. It can be around 3000 USD up to 25,000 USD per year depending on the model or series of the hardware you choose to buy."

"Sophos XGS's pricing is very affordable."

More Sophos XGS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

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 SonicWall NSSP?

The solution's pricing is good.

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

SonicWall is a rather expensive solution with a rating of eight out of ten regarding its pricing. Despite being expen...

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What needs improvement with SonicWall NSSP?

The EDR and XDR capabilities of SonicWall need to be improved. When compared to a brand like SentinelOne, SonicWall s...

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What do you like most about Sophos XGS?

The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic.

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

I am satisfied with the price, rating it a nine. There are no extra expenses required after buying the product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos XGS?

There is room for improvement in Sophos XGS, specifically in three areas: slowness, centralized synchronization, and ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

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SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall NSSP

Compared 47% of the time

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Sophos XG vs Sophos XGS

Compared 18% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 17% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos XGS

Compared 8% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Sophos XGS

Compared 6% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos XGS

Compared 6% of the time

More Sophos XGS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

May 2025

Download SonicWall NSSP product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XGS

May 2025

Download Sophos XGS product report

Also Known As

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

SonicWall Network Security Services Platform

No data available

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

The SonicWall Network Security services platform (NSsp) 12000 series takes a modern approach to threat detection and prevention by combining cloud intelligence with appliance-based protection in a scalable, high-speed platform.

SonicWall

Sophos XGS is a comprehensive network security solution designed to protect organizations from advanced threats. It combines next-generation firewall capabilities with advanced threat protection, web filtering, and application control.

XGS has powerful deep learning technology and can detect and block even the most sophisticated malware and ransomware attacks. It also offers granular control over web access, allowing organizations to enforce policies and prevent access to malicious or inappropriate websites. Additionally, XGS provides application control features, enabling organizations to manage and prioritize network traffic based on specific applications or user groups.

With its intuitive management interface and centralized reporting, XGS offers easy deployment and monitoring of network security.

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

Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall NSSP vs. Sophos XGS

June 2025

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