Sophos UTM vs Sophos XG comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Sophos UTM and Sophos XG based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Sophos UTM vs. Sophos XG Report (Updated: September 2023).
735,432 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: What Is The Biggest Difference Between Sophos UTM and Sophos XG?
Answer: The Sophos UTM is a UTM and Sophos XG is the NGFW. First, you must know about the difference between a UTM and NGFW. They can not be compared with each other because the price, license, firewall throughput, and TLS Inspection are completely different. You can see the Sophos UTM brochure in this link:https://sophosfirewall.ir/wp-c...
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"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.""It can expand easily.""The inspection and web security features are most valuable.""The security on offer is very good.""Offers good security and filtering.""It works very well. It has a lot of different functionalities. Its cost is also fine for our customers.""The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy.""I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud."

More Fortinet FortiGate Pros →

"It is a stable product... I rate the solution's technical support a nine out of ten...The initial setup is quite easy because they have all the information on their website.""Installing Sophos UTM is straightforward. The deployment itself doesn't take long, but you have to spend some time planning and waiting for the hardware to be delivered.""Sophos UTM is very user-friendly and has good integration with other solutions.""It gives us the ability to manage our firewalls from the cloud and deploy a unified configuration onto them. Other competitors like Meraki have that ability, but they fail to optimize it in the way that Sophos has.""The management suite is easy and the agent is easy to develop.""The most valuable features of Sophos UTM are the ease of use, it is very user-friendly. You can understand what they implement in the new firmware, and it's easy to manage the firewalls.""The solution is scalable.""The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the simple-to-use interface."

More Sophos UTM Pros →

"In terms of the functionality, I think it's pretty straightforward. It's easy to pick up. It's also user-friendly.""Sophos Control Center is a good feature. We can monitor everything from the control panel.""Sophos XG is easy to use.""Sophos offers great disk encryption, anti protection, and the interface is very user-friendly.""I've tried out Sophos XG a little. It has a good interface that's very user-friendly, but I haven't used all of its functions because I'm only configuring and running the system.""One of the most valuable features is the VPN.""The security of Sophos XG is very good.""So far, I'm happy that they have recently added a firewall role, so I feel a little more comfortable with the security. The threat management is good."

More Sophos XG Pros →

Cons
"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation.""Its reporting and pricing need improvement.""Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the logging and reporting. Additionally, the next-generation application's policies should be improved. When they were released they had bugs.""It is very expensive, and their support is not very good. I hope that their technical support will be better in the future.""We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities.""The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly.""Tunnel flapping was one of the major things I had seen wherein your internet link remains but your VPN tunnel is down. However, since I got a fix from the TAC team, I have not noticed it, but the customer complained a few times that they couldn't access the internet because of this problem.""The updates Fortinet provides are sometimes unstable."

More Fortinet FortiGate Cons →

"The reporting could be a lot better.""Sophos UTM could be simplified, and they can improve on the many other features, like SD-WAN and load balancing. Sophos UTM is missing a few features that their competitors have. For example, if you have multiple branches you would like to connect, the load balancing features aren't available on multilink. If we create a VPM for multiple LAN links, we cannot load balance the traffic.""Email spam filtering only works if you have an on-prem Exchange server. It doesn't interface with Office 365 like the XG model. That would be one feature that they could improve. They're not going to do it because they're trying to push us all to XG.""Doesn't provide antivirus for individual computers.""The interface configuration could be improved.""The application control is really bad. It needs a lot of enhancements. The traffic shaping and bandwidth control, and application control need a lot of work.""Last year, Sophos had some major internal management changes that negatively impacted their support.""Flexibility in pricing could be improved. It's more rigid in its pricing compared to its competitor: Kaspersky."

More Sophos UTM Cons →

"LAN inbound and outbound traffic requires more control.""Some businesses require Dynamic IP. This feature would be useful if it worked.""The security of Sophos XG could be improved.""Support could be improved.""The VPN features can be improved. Due to covid-19, we have a lot of employees that work from home and we need better VPN capabilities.""The current bandwidth consumption is no longer shown in the XG and XGS.""We are facing some problems on this firmware version, version 18, that require improvement. We want to improve the email security because it doesn't give proper security with the data protection. Also, our clients are facing some problems where most of the sites which they're accessing are getting blocked. I want to improve those sites, that email security, and the data protection on the Firmware version 18.""SD-WAN needs to be improved because it often fails at the network security level."

More Sophos XG Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "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."
  • "It is more expensive than Sophos. Fortinet is overall more expensive than Sophos. The small range of Fortinet, such as 60F and 80F, is more expensive than the small range of Sophos. Sophos is cheaper. In addition, if you jump from 80F Series to 100F Series, the price doubles."
  • "The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."
  • "Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."
  • "Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
  • "The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
  • "The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."
  • "It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."
  • More Fortinet FortiGate Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Although Sophos UTM is a good product, other products have more flexibility with their pricing. It is a very fine product, but when someone wants more relaxed pricing or more leverage in pricing, Sophos is more rigid."
  • "There is a license for the device and for the software. We pay annually for the solution and the cost is competitive."
  • "The price is comparable to other products of this kind."
  • "Sophos UTM's pricing is on the cheaper side."
  • "There was an up-front charge of around $70,000, to purchase the hub and license. Beyond the initial cost, licenses are charged for annually, but they are good value for the service we receive."
  • "The price of the license for Sophos UTM is approximately $5,500. The solution is less expensive than competitors."
  • "It will cost approximately $67 US per device. We have 300 devices in our organization."
  • "The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model and is competitive."
  • More Sophos UTM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price is reasonable"
  • "When compared to other products, Sophos licensing is very affordable."
  • "The price is reasonable but it would be great if it was reduced to half the price."
  • "Over the last two years of the COVID-19 crises, most users required an SSL VPN license, something for which SonicWall charges but which Sophos offers for free."
  • "The pricing was reasonable."
  • "The price is reasonable in my opinion."
  • "Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
  • "We have a three-year license."
  • More Sophos XG Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Miriam Tover
    Juan C. Sanchez Pignalosa - PeerSpot reviewerJuan C. Sanchez Pignalosa
    Real User

    The biggest difference between Sophos SG and Sophos XG is performance. 


    Now, there's even a newer Hardware Platform (same OS as Sophos XG, which is called SFOS) - the Sophos XGS which has different chipset architecture, to attend each security module, with its newest feature called XStream Technology. 


    Besides that, the GUI is very different. Nevertheless, it's worth trying the Sophos XG or XGS, since its GUI is getting overhauled for better performance and easier management, by each new release.

    Richard Artes - PeerSpot reviewerRichard Artes
    Real User

    Sophos UTM is no longer being developed, according to our reseller. All the development effort is going into XG. So XG will be the only Sophos firewall going forward, UTM will eventually be end of life.

    Alexandre RASTELLO - PeerSpot reviewerAlexandre RASTELLO
    Real User

    Hi,


    The new appliances XGS have a dedicated streaming CPU (Xstream), in addition to the main CPU.


    I have personally tested the differences between the XG and XGS similar appliances. The result is spectacular. 30% more perf minimum:


    https://www.sophos.com/en-us/p...


    The UTM-9 is soon end-life. Sophos security staff is now focused on SFOS 18, XG, XGS.


    To respond to the question "the biggest difference", I think is the "Synchronized Security":


    https://www.sophos.com/en-us/l...


    The firewall is one of the full security solutions centralized in Sophos Central:


    https://www.sophos.com/en-us/p...


    At most of our customers, we implement a Sophos Endpoint locally on servers and workstations and firewall XGS. The synchronized security interact between firewall and endpoints. This can resolve the problem with the "lateral movement" of an infected computer. It can isolate a computer from the network when detected as infected:


    https://news.sophos.com/en-us/...


    It can be extended to secure cloud systems with Sophos ClouOptix:


    https://www.sophos.com/en-us/p...


    Tested with VM in AWS and Azure, work 5*!


    Another big difference is the Webserver Application Firewall. All my customers with an internal webserver to be published in the net are protected with this "reverse proxy" (WAF). It really does the job of protecting IIS, Apache, etc. from externals attacks.


    Another trick is the SSL VPN sites to sites. When a branch office is implemented with a front ISP router, sometimes the NAT traversal is not possible, for IPSEC VPN connections (UDP 500). With this SSL VPN,  Simple NAT works and gives an SSL 128-bit AES encryption.


    Finally, I have a lot of experience in implementing UTM and, now, XG(S). No way, the log is a big difference, easier to use as in Fortigates! It is similar to CheckPoint firewalls.


    For my experience, no way: -> Sophos XG(S)


    Here is an interesting link on differences between UTM and XG:


    https://www.avanet.com/en/blog...


    Regards,


    A.Rastello

    Richard Artes - PeerSpot reviewerRichard Artes
    Real User

    My understanding is that UTM is the software; SG is the hardware. You can buy Sophos UTM running on SG hardware and then later upgrade to the XG running on the same hardware.

    Richard Artes - PeerSpot reviewerRichard Artes
    Real User

    I've been told by our Sophos reseller that Sophos are pushing the XG as next generation firewall, and developing it to at least as good as UTM. So XG will be the firewall of choice moving forward. UTM will not be developed further, according to him.

    Anthony Petecca - PeerSpot reviewerAnthony Petecca
    Real User

    To my understanding, UTM and XG are from different legacy companies that
    are now owned my Sophos. During my time researching anti-virus, UTM makes
    more sense for our needs seeing as XG is primarily a firewall. From the
    information I was able to find during the time of research, it seemed most
    of the community felt XG had feature gaps from UTM.

    Suheyl Khaki - PeerSpot reviewerSuheyl Khaki
    User

    UTM specifically SG series is a very mature and stable platform. It lacks some of the new features of XG; however has a very strong feature set. If you are looking for stability, ease of use and something well documented and understood than I suggest going this way. If however you are looking for a strong level of integration and have a greater than 3 year horizon then I suggest XG.

    Wifi integration for example works better on the new platform.

    Javier Medina - PeerSpot reviewerJavier Medina
    Real User

    There are several differences since there are 2 versions, 


    XG firewall has integrations with other products like intercept X and admin from Sophos central. 


    SG UTM has less integration since it's a separate product. It was formerly Astaro firewall, but the most advanced features have been only set to the XG. 


    There are appliance and software versions of both products. Depending on your need you might choose one or another. But basically, look at them as 2 different firewalls.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and… more »
    Top Answer:From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know… more »
    Top Answer:As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite… more »
    Top Answer:The Sophos UTM is a UTM and Sophos XG is the NGFW. First, you must know about the difference between a UTM and NGFW… more »
    Top Answer:The cost of the license depends on the size of the firewall appliance. There is a huge variety of pricing models. Sophos… more »
    Top Answer:Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat… more »
    Top Answer:Hi Arvind P ,  The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form… more »
    Top Answer:The product’s most valuable feature is the user management system.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
    Astaro
    Learn More
    Overview

    Fortinet FortiGate is an innovative line of firewalls that aim to protect organizations from all types of web-based network threats. They come in a wide variety of product types. Fortinet FortiGate’s solutions are available in a large range of sizes and form factors and are key components of the Fortinet Security Fabric, which enables immediate, intelligent defense against known and new threats throughout the entire network.

    Fortinet FortiGate provides users with next-generation firewall solutions that provide proven protection with unmatched performance across the network, from internal segments to data centers to cloud environments. You can protect every part of your network without exception. Additionally, your protections can be managed from a single central location. This ensures that the task of protecting your network is infinitely easier to accomplish.

    Benefits of Fortinet FortiGate

    Some of the benefits of using Fortinet FortiGate include:

    • The ability to manage your firewalls from a centralized automated control console. Fortinet FortiGate’s FortiManager enables administrators to exercise control of their firewalls in a streamlined manner. Administrators have full visibility and control over their system from a single location. It utilizes automation that collects information in real time, which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of running various types of workflows. Administrators can free up resources by automating the most basic tasks.
    • The ability to produce uniform, appropriate, and coordinated responses to threats across networks. Fortinet FortiGate’s FortiGuard feature generates system protections in near real time. This allows administrators to address threats to the system with custom-made solutions that can be uniformly enforced.
    • The ability to scale up your security to fit your changing security needs. Fortinet FortiGate’s design allows users to accelerate the transfer of data between users and escalate the number of users that are covered without compromising security of performance. This means that users can grow their networks and continue to collaborate without worrying about the system slowing down or coming under attack.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Fortinet FortiGate’s firewall solutions are cutting edge. They stand out from competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the robustness and power of their firewalls. Fortinet FortiGate’s firewall provides users with many valuable features that allow them to maximize what they can do with the solution. These firewalls enable users to use a single piece of software to accomplish tasks that often require the use of multiple pieces of software.

    PeerSpot user Eric S., a Solutions Engineer and Consultant at a tech-services company, notes the robustness of this solution when he writes, "One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface.”

    PeerSpot user Jim M., a network admin at Penobscot Valley Hospital, notes the power of Fortinet FortiGate’s security software when he writes, "It does a lot for you for intrusion protection and as an antivirus. The threat management bundle is worth the money. You don't need another company to monitor your web traffic for you. You can do everything yourself on the firewall. You restrict your own black list for people on the firewall.”

    Sophos UTM is a unified threat management platform designed to protect your businesses from known and emerging malware including viruses, rootkits and spyware. The solution provides a complete network security package with everything your organization needs in a single modular appliance.

    Sophos UTM Features

    Sophos UTM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Web and Email Filtering
    • General Management
    • Network Protection
    • Network Routing and Services
    • Advanced Threat Protection
    • Authentication
    • Email Encryption and DLP
    • Web Policy
    • End-User Portal
    • VPN IPsec Client, VPN SSL Client, and Clientless VPN
    • Web Application Firewall Protection
    • UTM Endpoint Protection and Management
    • SEC Endpoint Integration
    • Logging and Reporting

    Sophos UTM Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Sophos UTM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple point solutions
    • Intuitive interface to help you quickly create policies to control security risks
    • Provides clear, detailed reports to give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection
    • Complete control to block, allow, shape and prioritize applications
    • Two-factor authentication with one-time password (OTP)
    • Integrated wireless controller
    • Allows you to connect remote offices with easy VPN and Wi-Fi

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Sophos UTM solution.

    PeerSpot user Dana B., Network Administrator at a manufacturing company, says “The web and email filtering are the two biggest and most valuable aspects of the solution for us. The solution overall has just been a good, cost-effective solution for us. The solution offers a lot of functionality. The solution scales well. We've found the technical support to be helpful. The stability and performance are quite good.”

    A Technical Director at a security firm mentions, "Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."

    Marek M., Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company, comments, “Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to set up. If you follow the instructions using the wizard, which is just a few steps, then you will have a firewall to protect you and your customer.”

    A Software Sales Manager at a tech services company explains, “The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly. It can be integrated with other solutions such as SOAR, SIEM, etc., even when you have an existing firewall. I really like that the console can be integrated. You'll see everything on the same window, and the single window feature of the machine is so good. These are the features I really like.”

    James D., IT Manager at Manual Workers Union, states, “The fact that it's on the cloud means we don't have to administer it on our network or deal with a physical machine, which saves us money. The solution has many great features. From the console, we can start different scannings on different machines. We enjoy the centralized reporting part of it. The initial setup is simple. We enjoy its general stability. The solution can scale. So far, the solution has been problem-free.”

    Sophos XG Firewall is a complete firewall solution that provides all the real-time security and insights you need to protect your network from ransomware and advanced threats. Sophos XG Firewall provides visibility into suspicious users, unknown and unwanted apps, encrypted traffic, and other threats. With its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, Sophos XG Firewall immediately identifies potential risks and intrusions on web servers and networks.

    Sophos XG Firewall Features

    Sophos XG Firewall offers a wide range of security features, including:

    • Application control: Prevent widespread infections with XG’s Security Heartbeat. XG Firewall automatically identifies the source of an infection on a network and automatically prevents it from accessing other network resources.

    • Synchronized user ID: Eliminate the need for client or server authentication agents by sharing user identification between the endpoint and the firewall through Security Heartbeat.

    • Centralized management: Easily manage all activities with Sophos Central. The XG cloud management platform allows users to easily set up, manage, and monitor XG firewalls along with other Sophos products. Some of Sophos Central’s features include alerting, backup management, one-click firmware updates, and rapid deployments of new firewalls.

    • Lateral movement protection: Automatically isolate compromised systems at every point in the network to stop attacks dead in their tracks.

    • Network protection: Protect networks from attacks and threats while providing secure network access.

    • Web protection: Gain clear visibility and control over all users’ web and application activity.

    • Web server protection: Solidify web servers and applications against hacking attacks while providing secure web access.

    • Email protection: Consolidate email protection with anti-spam, DLP, and encryption. XG’s Live Anti-Spam provides protection from the most recent spam campaigns, phishing attacks, and malicious attachments. Data Loss Prevention automatically triggers encryption on sensitive data in outgoing emails.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Sophos XG Firewall stands out among its competitors, among other reasons, for its intrusion detection capabilities, its user-friendly management platform, and in general, for being a complete and robust firewall solution.

    Niranjan P., a network & system support engineer, writes, “Sophos is a comprehensive solution which allows me to configure all the attendant products, such as Sophos's firewall, endpoint, and encryption features. A nice feature of Sophos is that it offers in sync and heartbeat security. When my clients have a perimeter involving Sophos firewall and endpoints with Sophos Endpoint, they can communicate with each other.”

    Antonio D., sales manager at INFOSEC, notes, “The product has a console that is based in the cloud for all their products. In this console, they have email security, firewall security, endpoint security, et cetera. All of the products on offer in the console are very useful for us. The solution is stable. The solution works well for enterprises and large-scale organizations.”

    Antony M., ICT/HMIS supervisor at a healthcare company, writes, “The VPN feature is the most valuable. It has come in handy during this period when people are working from home. The filtering feature is also valuable because you can easily filter the sites that you don't want to visit. You can also set timely surfing quotas”

    Offer
    Learn more about Fortinet FortiGate
    Learn more about Sophos UTM
    Learn more about Sophos XG
    Sample Customers
    Pittsburgh Steelers, LUSH Cosmetics, NASDAQ, Verizon, Arizona State University, Levi Strauss & Co. Whitepaper and case studies here
    One Housing Group
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider16%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization21%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Computer Software Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Government8%
    Retailer6%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Government7%
    Retailer5%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business48%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise30%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise41%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business57%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise23%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business62%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise15%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise44%
    Buyer's Guide
    Sophos UTM vs. Sophos XG
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos UTM vs. Sophos XG and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    735,432 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Sophos UTM is ranked 1st in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 39 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 54 reviews. Sophos UTM is rated 8.2, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Sophos UTM writes "It's a highly stable platform with very few hardware issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Secure, duel switch capabilities, and good support". Sophos UTM is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Untangle NG Firewall, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Check Point NGFW. See our Sophos UTM vs. Sophos XG report.

    See our list of best Firewalls vendors.

    We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.