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Sophos Firewall vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
581
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Sophos Firewall
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
302
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (3rd)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (12th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Nassif  Kaleny - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Benjamin - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at ACS2I
The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats
The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as a solution a 10 out of 10."
"The solution is superior to Cisco in terms of security."
"The biggest lesson would be that Fortinet FortiGate provides a high level of security at a good total cost of ownership."
"Fortinet FortiGate has a threat detection capacity compared to other vendors."
"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."
"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my client's organization because we have know-how of FortiGate; we could debug problems, we could set up our settings as planned, and I appreciate the easy way of configuration, that we can use parallel GUI and CLI, or CLI and web interface, which we can use in parallel."
"The product is stable and strong."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution."
"Sophos XG is user-friendly, easily configured, and has all the latest features, including URL filtering."
"Sophos XG is very useful, it does many things."
"Compared to other firewalls that I had looked at, I thought Sophos was the better solution. It just seems to be easier to manage versus Cisco, Fortinet, or one of the other options I was looking at."
"SD-WAN features should be added."
"It has a very friendly interface like the Cyberoam iNG units, it has customizable policies, it has proper templates that you can even modify, and you can customize the rules, down to each single user."
"Over the past two years, during the COVID pandemic, the VPN has helped us a lot."
"The most valuable feature is the central dashboard"
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that the license offers everything."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."
"A very robust product."
"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."
"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."
 

Cons

"FortiGate can only retain logs for 24 hours or 7 days. I'm not sure if it holds them for a longer period, such as for a month. It will be useful for assessing our strategy and monitoring our environment without investing in FortiGate Analyzer. It would be beneficial if Fortinet could enhance the FortiGate by providing more statistical and monitoring views for a longer timeframe, rather than requiring access to FortiGate Analyzer."
"Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."
"The people we are working with are not able to configure MFA. They are having some technical issues. Fortinet needs to ensure that its partners are well-trained."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"The solution could improve the integration."
"It would be better if they had a dashboard where we could see what attacks were happening. It would be good to see who's trying to get into our network."
"Security level could be increased."
"Their support's response time can be better. In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets."
"I would like to have remote access to clients using a static IP for a certain period of time."
"The response time could stand improvement."
"The first time a person sets it up, they will need training."
"Scalability could be improved. It could be better."
"The solution could improve by using fewer hardware resources compared to other products like Palo Alto, which has better performance."
"The uploading and downloading of reports should be included."
"The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow."
"I would like to have a more efficient login process."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."
"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."
"The product must improve its pricing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When comparing the price of Fortinet FortiGate SWG to other solutions it is expensive. The price could be better."
"I think the price of Fortinet FortiGate is very reasonable."
"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."
"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."
"The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."
"Work through partners for the best pricing."
"It's very affordable."
"We just pay a flat monthly fee to the vendor for the support."
"Sophos XG isn't expensive compared to Check Point."
"I've had schools running different firewalls with subscriptions and different web filters with subscriptions, and I've found that it is less expensive for smaller schools to run the Sophos XG with its unified threat management instead of multiple appliances."
"The price is fair."
"The price is not reasonable."
"We pay for two licenses for the use of Sophos XG annually and it is a flat fee. We do not have everyone going through both of the Sophos XG firewalls a the same time and the Sophos XG on Microsoft Azure is only accessible from the VPN."
"When comparing with Palo Alto and Cisco, Sophos is cheaper."
"The pricing is flexible. Sophos looks at a country's economy and offers flexible pricing. This is how they have managed to penetrate the market."
"Sophos XGS's pricing is very affordable."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"The pricing could be better."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"I think the price is good."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
5%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise189
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business204
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise53
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
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...
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 ...
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Fact...
What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?
The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Sophos XG, Sophos XGS
NETASQ Firewalls
 

Overview

 

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
Information Not Available
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos Firewall vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,813 professionals have used our research since 2012.