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Sophos UTM vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

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

Sophos UTM
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zyxel Unified Security Gateway
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
12th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.9
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category, the mindshare of Sophos UTM is 10.0%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is 3.4%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Unified Threat Management (UTM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sophos UTM10.0%
Zyxel Unified Security Gateway3.4%
Other86.6%
Unified Threat Management (UTM)
 

Featured Reviews

HR
CEO at iSource GmbH
Integrated security tools have supported critical infrastructure and improved network performance
Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change this entire firewall equipment, also the entire access points, because of the end of life. We also have the full product in for XDR and extensions. We are also part of the webinars from Sophos. It would be better if there were also some important webinars in German. Everything needs improvement, because also the wireless, also RED box and so on. The handling was much easier on the old equipment than on the new XGS. I think there should also be a little more automatic for SD-WAN routing and so on. Because we have to learn some things from the basic completely new because it is different than Sophos UTM, the XGS. The features that could be improved about Sophos UTM include the new features we have in XGS with a simpler interface. For example, in Sophos UTM, we could define IP hosts and use this IP host. We did not have to insert on every, for example, for wide area networks, we had to put the IP addresses from the other side by hand. In Sophos UTM, we could define it under definitions and then use this IP host where we needed it. In the new XGS, if there is a change in the IP address, we have to do it on all, for example, site-to-site VPN tunnels and so on. We have much more work and it is not so easy because we have to check all the definitions. It is also, for example, some of the male technicians like me, we have a biology handicap. For example, male technicians in Europe also have a red-green problem. So we use these light colors on the interface. In some cases, it is not easy to see the, for example, letters or numbers because of the contrast.
reviewer2399337 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales and technical consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
User has benefited from stable performance and effective completion of security tasks
I use it mostly for VPN and for some firewall solutions When considering my main use case with VPN, I can say that I got the Zyxel Unified Security Gateway, and it works fine. However, we are thinking about using a different solution based on open source because Zyxel Unified Security Gateway…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was easy."
"The initial setup has been fine."
"It has made our organization more secure, because we are using a VPN. We are not accessing services directly. It allows us to segregate some of the traffic for individuals which may be more of a developer role rather than an operational role needing access to developer resources, but not necessarily production operational resources."
"​The initial configuration is straightforward thanks to the web GUI. In 30 minutes, you can have a running firewall with UTM protection enabled.​"
"The technical support by Sophos is amazing, especially when I pay for the enhanced support."
"The UTM product has definitely improved the way our organization functions."
"I can share specific outcomes regarding Sophos UTM; we've seen reduced costs certainly, and we've also seen time saved, definitely, because we streamlined all our clients into using Sophos UTM if they want to have their on-premise infrastructure monitored, and that really saves a ton of time."
"We also know very well that Sophos is proactive in monitoring and protecting against malware and brute-force attacks."
"The cost is very low."
"The solution can scale well."
"The Zyxel Unified Security Gateway solution is stable and does its job effectively."
"This is a capable appliance and the standard features work well for us."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus."
 

Cons

"They could use more SSL VPN support."
"The pricing is an issue."
"The unit offers great failover and load balancing features that can be complex to understand, some streamlining of the process would help."
"The technical support only communicates via email. I would prefer to communicate directly with someone."
"Sophos UTM's firewall is a bit weak, and some of its features lack depth compared to other products like F5."
"The technical support team’s response time could be improved."
"The ease of configuration could be improved. It's not as simple as it could be just yet."
"I have not seen a return on investment with Sophos UTM."
"Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved. The advanced UI allows me to do whatever I want, but this is where the issue of speed exists."
"The product has some scalability and data management issues where improvements are required."
"I have never seen it in any company that I've worked with before, and I would advise other companies not to buy it."
"The integration capability is quite challenging. The system is very complicated, and many features are hidden."
"Sometimes it reboots when you least expect it, and that's the main issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It will cost approximately $67 US per device. We have 300 devices in our organization."
"Unless you are in the United States, or you have to use Sophos, you can't contact Sophos directly. You have to use a third-party ​company, and they all have different ways of how they explain their licensing."
"The biggest issue with Sophos is the pricing. It's definitely more expensive. As I said, we looked at Webroot, which is a big alternative, and Sophos was almost three times the price of Webroot. That's a pretty big difference."
"Pricing for Sophos UTM is OK. Here in Egypt, many companies use the solution because of its price and features. My company pays the Sophos UTM license fee yearly."
"Pricing for the upgrade was very competitive as Sophos wanted to retain existing customers."
"If you would like to run an active-passive HA system, you only need to buy an additional hardware without subscription. At other vendors, you need subscription for both devices.​"
"For under 50 users, MSP licensing is profitable."
"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace is pretty straightforward. Because were entirely on AWS and don't have anything anywhere else. It made the most sense for us as a one stop shop."
"The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market."
"This gateway is pretty cheap."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
19%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business75
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise27
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?
The pricing for Sophos UTM is reasonable; I do not have an issue with it, though I was considering RED because I have different sites I wanted to connect, and instead of doing site-to-site, the RED...
What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?
Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
I cannot definitively comment on whether Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is an affordable product as I haven't done comparisons with other solutions. When our license expires, we plan to explore ope...
What needs improvement with Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
The integration capability is quite challenging. The system is very complicated, and many features are hidden. I'm looking for something new that is slightly simpler. Regarding user experience, the...
What is your primary use case for Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
I use it mostly for VPN and for some firewall solutions. When considering my main use case with VPN, I can say that I got the Zyxel Unified Security Gateway, and it works fine. However, we are thin...
 

Also Known As

Astaro
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

One Housing Group
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos UTM vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.