SonicWall TZ vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

SonicWall and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. SonicWall is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.3, while Zscaler is ranked #26 with an average rating of 8.3. SonicWall holds a 3.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of SonicWall users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

SonicWall TZ and Zscaler Cloud Firewall are competitors in the network security category, offering features that cater to different organizational needs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall appears to have the upper hand in cloud-based services, with enhanced scalability and advanced security features such as CASB and DLP.

Features: SonicWall TZ provides strong network protection with features like VPN support, content filtering, and high security coverage through various models. It offers user-friendly management and high throughput. Zscaler Cloud Firewall delivers advanced cloud security services with features like sandboxing, URL filtering, data leak prevention, and seamless scalability through its cloud architecture.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall TZ can improve the user interface and reporting, and enhance mail security and DPI SSL Inspection performance. Better hardware updates and less Dell influence are suggested for improved performance. Zscaler Cloud Firewall could enhance compatibility with legacy systems and provide more customization similar to on-premises solutions, alongside better user-based policy implementation and enhanced data center coverage for traffic filtering.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall TZ supports on-premises deployment, offering robust local control but often requiring a more extensive initial setup. Customer service is generally good, although support wait times and technical expertise can vary. Zscaler Cloud Firewall, being cloud-centric, provides a smoother deployment with minimal hardware needs but faces challenges in support consistency and geographical service availability. Cloud-based operations demand specific support improvements to meet customer expectations.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall TZ has a flexible pricing model beneficial for small businesses, despite additional costs for licenses and support. The pricing is competitive but may dissuade smaller users due to higher costs than some alternatives. Zscaler Cloud Firewall's pricing reflects its comprehensive cloud services, offering different tiers to accommodate customer choice. Despite being seen as expensive compared to on-premise offerings, it ensures returns by preventing security breaches and maintaining operational continuity.

To learn more, read our detailed SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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 TZ is 3.0%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% 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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Rias Majeed

CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC

Robust VPN integration stands out despite needing enhanced vendor compatibility

The integrated VPN functionality is working well with the global VPN client, which is a fast client, though it comes at a cost. SonicWall TZ is functional depending on the service level taken by the user. For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well. Despite lacking certain features, it is still considered a good product. The appliance itself is functional and stable, offering integrated solutions.

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Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Though it helps deal with web traffic or any malicious traffic, it needs to work on its DC performance issues

The product's initial setup phase is moderate in level, so it is neither very complex nor very easy. For the deployment, my company first needs to gather all the requirements of the users and the domain names and consider how many users there are in the company. In the implementation and planning part, my company needs to consider what kind of policies we will create while ensuring that the policies are created based on the requirements of the users. There is a need to segregate the users' requirements since there are separate departments in the company, like the HR department, sales department, IT department, and manufacturing department, so that our company can create policies depending on their requirements. On-site, if you want a GRE tunnel, our company can handle GRE tunnel traffic routing and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, after which Zscaler will take action based on the policies created by our organization. For the deployments and maintenance, a team of five members consisting of two managers and three engineers is required.

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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 SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate has been most impactful in maintaining our network's integrity."

"Security, SD-WAN, and Streetscape are valuable features."

"It has improved our security capabilities."

"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."

"It's an easy solution to set up."

"The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers."

"It can expand easily."

"Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature is content filtering and app control."

"We are able to block whatever we want to block by using this product. It provides all required security features, such as content filtering, VPN, in one box. Before switching to SonicWall, we had specified all required features."

"I have found the stability of this product to be excellent."

"It's a very cost-effective solution."

"The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks for a four-digit code, which changes every 30 seconds."

"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."

"Offers the right amount of control without being incredibly convoluted and frustrating."

"The site-to-site VPN connections, content filtering, and in our current remote working situation, SSL VPN remote desktop connectivity are the most valuable features."

More SonicWall TZ pros

"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall understands the applications in the current generation and adapts to the present generation cloud applications."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The visibility and log availability offered are highly valued for troubleshooting purposes, and this is a key factor driving customer interest in the firewall module."

"The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution."

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"If malicious traffic attacks our on-premises servers, then it gets blocked by Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"Zscaler provides effective protection against various cyber threats ensuring a safe environment"

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"WAN load-balancing could be a lot better at detecting when a link is poor or inconsistent, and not just flat out dead."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more capabilities for troubleshooting VPN connections. For example, I do get some feedback about the current status, but I could use some history and logging of important events. The information is logged in our Syslog server, but I could use that information from the device. If they could provide a GUI to have some more insight on what's going with my VPN would be useful."

"Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better."

"Its customer service could be better."

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."

"This product could be improved with Active directory integration and better handling in IPsec and GRE Tunnels."

"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."

"The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The marketing of SonicWall has to be increased. Currently, when it comes to firewalls, most people go for Cisco and Palo Alto. SonicWall should improve its marketing and branding policies to increase sales. Other than that, it is good."

"The solution should provide some additional ports."

"In an upcoming release, SonicWall could improve by adding cloud management for all devices for free or at a nominal cost. Currently, they have a cloud management platform but is not free. We have the MySonicWall portal for purchasing from them for software updates and renewals."

"If the operation increases and the bandwidth consumption increases, it does not perform as per the expectations."

"The log sections could be done more clearly."

"The log analyzer in SonicWall TZ is something that they need to improve upon."

"The dashboard needs to be improved."

"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."

More SonicWall TZ cons

"Certain criteria need to be met if you want to scale this solution."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall should have a better understanding of all dynamic cloud applications."

"Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP."

"There are some areas it could improve when it comes to blocking, we have to block some things manually. For example, if we block a top-level domain we have seen that the new IPs come through, the IPs are not blocked. There should be some more granular way of doing it. My only request is if you're blocking something at a top level, the sub-level sub-domains and all those other IPs should be blocked too automatically."

"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"

"There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, the GUI is outdated, with noticeable lags and delays, especially when generating reports for past transactions."

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."

"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."

"The license is too expensive to renew. The license renewal process is also complex."

"The price of FortiGate is average and I would say that based on the top five products available on the market, it is in the affordable range."

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."

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

"As far as I'm aware, in our case, it's just a yearly pricing arrangement with no additional licensing costs."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive."

"You need to purchase multiple licenses to manage multiple devices which is cost-prohibitive for the value you would receive."

"The pricing was a factor for us, and we felt that the price was good."

"SonicWall has authorized distributors in our country. They have about two or three distributors in the country, so it makes it a bit easier. What we do is to request a quotation from these distributors, then we do a value for money analysis and see which one of them is giving us a competitive price."

"There are a few features that are licensed and there should be more that are licensed. The price of the solution is midrange compared to others, I have not had anyone complain."

"The licensing scheme of SonicWall TZ is cost-effective. It's an affordable product, but some competitors, e.g. Sophos and Fortinet offer more competitive pricing."

"Its price is very high, which makes it difficult to convince the clients to buy this solution."

"It is an expensive solution compared to one of its competitors."

More SonicWall TZ pricing and cost advice

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"There are different subscription models available."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

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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Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?

I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with simila...

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What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?

The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...

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

The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required ...

See all answers

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

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What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 20% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Sophos XG vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 17% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 9% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

Meraki MX vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall NSa vs SonicWall TZ

Compared 6% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 15% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ

May 2025

Download SonicWall TZ product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

May 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

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

Dell SonicWALL TZ

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 secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.

SonicWall

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

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

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

June 2025

Free Report: SonicWall TZ vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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