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SonicWall TZ vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.2
SonicWall TZ offers quick ROI with low costs, boosts productivity, enhances security, and provides cost-effective benefits for small businesses.
Sentiment score
5.8
Zscaler Internet Access delivers cost savings, improved security, and productivity with ROI seen in as little as three months.
That is a reason to buy a firewall, and it is challenging to put a monetary value on security.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
Reduced risk from web-based threats.
Soc Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The managed service aspect of Zscaler Internet Access has allowed for reduced staffing costs, resulting in a saving of approximately 20-25% compared to prior expenses.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.0
SonicWall TZ customer service has mixed reviews, praised for availability but criticized for wait times and problem resolution.
Sentiment score
6.6
Zscaler Internet Access users rate support highly for skill and quick resolution, despite occasional communication issues and staff inexperience.
Customer service is excellent.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
SonicWall Sentry team will manage our firewall.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I would rate SonicWall TZ's technical support as good but not at the level of other enterprise-level firewall vendors out there.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
I would rate customer support at nine out of ten as they have provided responsive and knowledgeable assistance.
Soc Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The technical support for Zscaler Internet Access is rated around seven out of ten due to some response time issues and the engagement model.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access customer service is really very good.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
SonicWall TZ is scalable for small to medium environments, but accurate sizing and cost concerns are crucial for larger needs.
Sentiment score
7.3
Zscaler Internet Access provides scalable, cloud-native solutions, though some regions may need local appliances due to performance issues.
Whenever we want to change the licensing, we can do it at any time.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
There are some problems with the scalability of SonicWall TZ with the firmware.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
With the pricing structure that they currently have, it is only for big customers.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I find Zscaler Internet Access to be highly scalable, which was one of the reasons for choosing it.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is scalable and has points of presence across the globe to ensure low latency and reliable connections.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
SonicWall TZ is stable with minor issues; performance improves with updates, though updates can sometimes temporarily affect stability.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Internet Access is stable with high performance, minimal issues, swift outage resolutions, and effective global failover mechanisms.
In terms of stability, SonicWall doesn't have performance issues.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
SonicWall TZ rates 10 out of 10 for stability.
CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP
SonicWall TZ is definitely stable and offers a good value for money.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access is stable and capable of building resilient architectures.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have not faced any major outages or downtime with Zscaler Internet Access; it is stable in our environment.
Soc Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is very stable, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

SonicWall TZ needs user interface improvements, better threat intelligence, enhanced support, bundled VPN licenses, and stability and performance updates.
Zscaler Internet Access needs better access control, integration, scalability, user interface, reporting, support, and pricing improvements.
Integration with other vendors, especially with VPNs, can be challenging and requires more effort when configuring.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point.
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
SonicWall TZ could benefit from newer technology.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
The response time and engagement model for technical support could be improved to handle complex outages more efficiently.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
In future updates, I would like to see some of the features bundled into the existing product set, perhaps more AI features and a refreshed interface.
Cyber Security Architect at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Zscaler Internet Access has introduced AI control for tools such as ChatGPT, providing options to restrict to text-only input without file or image uploads through CASB restriction controls.
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
 

Setup Cost

SonicWall TZ offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, but total costs can rise due to subscriptions and feature add-ons.
Zscaler Internet Access is costly but valued for its scalability, global control, and extensive cloud security features.
More licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
When comparing similar products across vendors, there may be a small difference in cost.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
I would also position its pricing as a three, where one is the lowest price and ten is the highest.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access is recognized as an expensive solution.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is less expensive than competitors like Palo Alto, offering a premium service justified by security enhancements and cost-effective scalability.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Of course, it is an expensive product.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

SonicWall TZ provides robust security, user-friendly management, and cost-effective solutions with VPN, filtering, and threat prevention.
Zscaler Internet Access offers secure web gateway, scalability, low latency, policy controls, and advanced threat protection for organizations.
For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well.
CTO at Exceed NetSec LLC
It was beneficial during COVID for remote work through its VPN functionality.
Administration IT at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
The advanced gateway security features such as web filter, application control filter, IPS, ideas, gateway antivirus, anti-spyware, and botnet filter are valuable.
Pre Sales at ITCG SOlutions Pvt Ltd
It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses.
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted my organization by reducing the dependency on on-premises hardware and improving security posture, enabling faster user onboarding, and providing better performance for remote users.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
It automatically blocks access to known malicious websites and phishing or risky websites before users reach them, thereby reducing the number of security incidents we have to investigate.
Soc Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

SonicWall TZ
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (26th)
Zscaler Internet Access
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Internet Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

SonicWall TZ and Zscaler Internet Access aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. SonicWall TZ is designed for Firewalls and holds a mindshare of 1.7%, down 2.9% compared to last year.
Zscaler Internet Access, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Web Gateways (SWG), holds 9.9% mindshare, down 14.1% since last year.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall TZ1.7%
Fortinet FortiGate14.0%
OPNsense7.9%
Other76.4%
Firewalls
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zscaler Internet Access9.9%
Cisco Umbrella9.5%
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks7.3%
Other73.3%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

Fernando Kavindra Fernando - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Pre-sales and Solutions Engineer - Cyber Security at Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd
Web filtering and traffic balancing have improved security for SMBs but threat insight still needs work
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhere in between, so I would not recommend it for a large enterprise-level organization to rely on because it is not at that level. SonicWall TZ's content filtering service is reliable. We have used it, but it is not very reliable compared to brands such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, or Check Point. What could be improved about SonicWall TZ is the threat intelligence, which by far is not at the level of vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Check Point. Their threat intelligence needs to be improved, as does the GUI, which is not as user-friendly compared to devices such as Fortinet. They could learn from their competitors by making the product more user-friendly. The product interface is not that user-friendly. By adopting a more user-friendly GUI, improving threat intelligence, and enhancing the available guides would be beneficial. In my understanding, in some cases, the KB articles and knowledge articles were not that efficient. They were useful, but they could have been more precise with the knowledge base articles. They need to provide more information about SonicWall TZ, specifically more documentation and more troubleshooting articles. Other than the threat intelligence and the user-friendly GUI, there are no other additional features that I can think of for SonicWall TZ in the future or at least in the next release to make it more competitive.
Mohan Janarthanan - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
User access management and threat prevention are enhanced with user-friendly controls
The best features Zscaler Internet Access offers include application control, tenant segregation, and PoP center regions which have low availability zones. The internet access is very successful and bandwidth speed is excellent. It also has application-based control, URL-based control, and SSL inspection capabilities, which are very useful. Additionally, the in-depth CASB segregation is very beneficial to us. One unique feature I found helpful is the tenant level restrictions, which we use to only access our organization's tenant level mail IDs, drives, and specific tenant level access while restricting public access. Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted our organization as we have noticed substantial outputs and income. It has improved our security environment control and endpoint protection. It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses. It has a toggle button to enable features entirely at the tenant level for all users onboarded into Zscaler Internet Access, resulting in much better outcomes.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

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 similar basic features. However, Fortinet offers more performance, scalability, and in...
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 to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN. Only one SSL VPN a...
What needs improvement with SonicWall TZ?
I assess the machine learning capabilities of SonicWall TZ in proactive threat detection to not be at the level of other vendors such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point. It is somewhe...
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?
Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security functi...
Which is better, Zscaler internet access or Netsckope CASB?
We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify and manage cloud applications, protecting your sensitive data from exfiltration....
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Internet Access?
We have not purchased Zscaler Internet Access through the AWS Marketplace; the licensing process was handled separately by our financial and management team.
 

Also Known As

Dell SonicWALL TZ
ZIA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Cisco and others in Firewalls. Updated: July 2026.
907,816 professionals have used our research since 2012.