Sophos XG vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Apr 10, 2022

We performed a comparison between Sophos XG and WatchGuard Firebox based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Reviewers of both solutions agree that their setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Reviewers of both products are happy with their stability, security, ease of use, and scalability. Sophos XG users say it has good reporting and VPN features. A few users note that the user interface is outdated. WatchGuard Firebox users say it is reliable and has many advanced security features. However, several users would like to see better reporting options.
  • Pricing: Most users of both solutions feel they are fairly priced.
  • ROI: Reviewers of both products report seeing an ROI.
  • Service and Support: WatchGuard Firebox reviewers are satisfied with the level of support they receive. Many Sophos XG users say that the support is good, but others say it could improve.

Comparison Results: WatchGuard Firebox comes out on top in this comparison. It is easy to use, performs well, and has robust security protocols. In addition, its support is better than that of Sophos XG.

To learn more, read our detailed Sophos XG vs. WatchGuard Firebox Report (Updated: May 2023).
709,643 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: WatchGuard Firebox T55 vs Sophos XG 135 FullGuard Plus with Enhanced Support
Answer: WatchGuard Total security its security effectiveness is more reliable than Sophos XG firewall. you can check the NSS LAB 2019 for more details. Meanwhile regarding the Firewall and endpoint synchronized security I guess WatchGuard will fill this point within few months after the aqusition of Panda security.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"I'm a big fan of SecureX, Cisco's platform for tying together all the different security tools. It has a lot of flexibility and even a lot of third-party or non-Cisco integration. I feel like that's a really valuable tool.""The initial setup was not complex.""Firepower NGFW has improved my organization in several ways. Before, we were trying to stamp out security threats and issues, it was a one-off type of way to attack it. I spent a lot of manpower trying to track down the individual issues or flare-ups that we would see. With Cisco's Firepower Management, we're able to have that push up to basically one monitor and one UI and be able to track that and stop threats immediately. It also gives us a little more granularity on what those threats might be.""The content filtering is good.""Application inspection, network segmentation, and encrypted traffic detection or encrypted traffic analysis (ETA) are valuable for our customers.""All the features except IPS are valuable. IPS is not a part of my job.""I have experience with URL filtering, and it is very good for URL filtering. You can filter URLs based on the categories, and it does a good job. It can also do deep packet inspection.""Cisco ASA works very nicely from an administration perspective. The management of the device is very nice. The ASDM (Adaptive Security Device Manager) is the software that we use and it is very easy to configure using the GUI."

More Cisco Secure Firewall Pros →

"Sophos is easy to use.""Great reporting feature and great customer support.""We can configure rules with the user, traffic, etc., making it a very versatile solution for our network.""The updates are helpful and add to the solution in a positive way.""The performance of Sophos XG is generally good and it is stable.""The most valuable features are the reporting, dashboards, and graphical user interface. It gives a good overall picture of what is happening over the network.""Reporting is the most valuable feature.""Sophos XG's price is right, and it's easy to manage. It's a good fit for our current needs at the moment."

More Sophos XG Pros →

"Management and visibility are the most valuable features.""I like intrusion detection the most.""The features that I have found most valuable are the FireWall features. The management side of WatchGuard is quite easy because it supports two ways to manage it - by the web and the other one they call WatchGuard systems manager. I used to be familiar with WSM only, but they improved their GUI in the web browser and now it is much easier to do it within the web browser.""The most valuables feature of WatchGuard Firebox are the VPNs, and web filtering where we can stop users from going to malicious sites.""Firebox's best feature is the access portal.""This product offers great protection using the default settings.""What I found most valuable in WatchGuard Firebox is that it's a functional platform that works, and each of its features works well. The solution also has good reporting and dashboard capabilities. I also find the overall performance of WatchGuard Firebox great.""The set up was quite straightforward and we handled it in-house. It took a few hours to deploy the product."

More WatchGuard Firebox Pros →

Cons
"The only drawback of the user interface is when it comes to policies. When you open it and click on the policies, you have to move manually left and right if you want to see the whole field within the cell. Checkpoint has a very detailed user interface.""I would like it if there was a centralized way to manage policies, then sticking with the network functions on the actual devices. That is probably the thing that frustrates me the most. I want a way that you can manage multiple policies at several different locations, all at one site. You then don't have to worry about the connectivity piece, in case you are troubleshooting because connectivity is down.""Cisco's inspection visibility could be better.""Sometimes, it is not easy to troubleshoot. You need to know where to go. It took me quite awhile. It's like, "Okay, if it doesn't go smoothly here, then go find the documentation." Once you do it, it is not so bad. However, it is sometimes a steep learning curve on the troubleshooting part of it.""One big pain point I have is the ASDM interface because it's Java, and sometimes, it's a bit buggy and has low performance. That's something that probably won't be improved because of backward compatibility.""I would like to see improvement when you create policies on Snort 3 IPS on Cisco Firepower. On Snort 2, it was more like a UI page where you had some multiple choices where you could tweak your config. On Snort 3, the idea is more to build some rules on the text file or JSON file, then push it. So, I would like to see a lot of improvements here.""The one thing that the ASAs don't have is a central management point. We have a lot of our environments on FTD right now. So, we are using a Firewall Management Center (FMC) to manage all those. The ASAs don't really have that, but they are easy to use if you physically go into them and manage them.""There should be more integration with Microsoft Identity."

More Cisco Secure Firewall Cons →

"This solution could be improved with more effective bandwidth. I found that when I enable DDoS detection for our clients, bandwidth is reduced. If DDoS detection is disabled, the bandwidth will be high, but it isn't secure. We recommend that customers enable DDoS detection, but if they need high bandwidth, we recommend Palo Alto and FortiGate instead of Sophos.""I would like to have a more efficient login process.""Sophos XG could improve the connectivity with Microsoft 365 or Azure Active Directory(AD). It doesn't work directly as other solutions do, such as Fortinet FortiGate. The client needs a separate AD server which is a problem.""The installation could be faster and is longer than that of other solutions, lasting more than a month instead of five minutes.""We recently did an upgrade on the Sophos XG firmware and we were surprised that after the upgrade, the automatic switch actually we were using did not work anymore.""The VPN has been a persistent problem for us. It's not straightforward to configure.""Even though things work on the back end, we have encountered bugs in the solution.""Its price should be improved. Its features are pretty okay, but the price is the area where we have to fight more. They should do something about the price structure."

More Sophos XG Cons →

"There is room for improvement in the threat protection, data packet inspection, and performance of the solution. Generally, it's just a lower-end product. It does the job but doesn't do it very well.""The UI and web view aren't nice.""I would like to see more training become available for us.""The solution can improve by adding a feature to tag a MAC address of a computer system in the policy and more IP configuration settings.""Some of the configuration options are somewhat confusing.""The VPN aspect of the WatchGuard Firebox is an area that could potentially benefit from improvement. We encountered difficulties while attempting to integrate Windows 11 laptops into the system, which resulted in unreliable connections. After some research, we discovered that this was primarily due to compatibility issues with Windows 11 and required a patch. However, it was still a challenge as it seemed that even when we tried to keep the laptops on Windows 10, they still exhibited the same issues as Windows 11 machines. Despite WatchGuard attributing the problem to Microsoft, we were eventually able to find a solution and all the machines are now functioning seamlessly.""The next release should have better software and configuration systems that can also be used on Linux.""This is a great product and offers great protection but they don't hear the customers' needs. They don't make improvements as per the customers' requests."

More WatchGuard Firebox Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "This solution is expensive and other solutions, such as FortiGate, are cheaper."
  • "Its pricing is good and competitive. There is a maintenance cost. It includes SecureX that makes it cost-effective as compared to the other solutions where you have to pay for XDR and SOAR capabilities."
  • "When we are fighting against other competitors for customers, whether it is a small or big business, we feel very comfortable with the price that Firepower has today."
  • "Pricing is the same as other competitors. It is comparable. The licensing has gotten better. It has been easier with Smart Licensing."
  • "It is expensive. There is a cost for everything. There is per year license cost and support cost. There is also a cost for any training, any application, and any resource. Things are very costly to do with Cisco. Other brands are cheaper. They are also more flexible in terms of training, subscription, and licensing. They give lots and lots of years free. They provide more than Cisco."
  • "When we bought it, it was really expensive. I'm not aware of the current pricing. We had problems with licensing. After our IPS subscription ended, we couldn't renew it because Cisco was moving to the next-generation firewall platform. So, they didn't provide us with the new license."
  • "Its price is moderate. It is not too expensive."
  • "I like its licensing because you buy the license once, and it is yours. We don't have to go for a subscription. So, I liked how they licensed Cisco ASA. Our clients are also very satisfied with its licensing model."
  • More Cisco Secure Firewall Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price of the solution is reasonable when comparing it to other solutions."
  • "The cost could be lower especially if you want to add other features."
  • "The product is well priced."
  • "The solution is not expensive since one pays as he goes."
  • "Because we're in education, Sophos gives us a very competitive price for it."
  • "The price is good for the moment."
  • "I don't believe we have a license for this product."
  • "Its price should be better. Initially, the clients have to pay for the appliance. Then, they have to pay for the software that is installed on the appliance. Depending on whether they have a one-year, two-year, or three-year license, they just have to renew the license of the software after it expires. They don't have to renew the appliance license. So, they have to pay for the appliance only once, and after that, they just renew the software license. That's all."
  • More Sophos XG Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The licensing contract we have is on a three-year basis. There aren't any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees—usually, every three years, we just purchase or renew the same license and we are okay. Every six years, we completely change the firewall, but that's the usual schema. So after three years, we just renew the licenses for another three years, and then after that particular period of time, we just purchase another firewall equivalent to the ones that we currently use."
  • "The licensing costs are comparatively lower than other providers, and I would rate the pricing as five out of five."
  • "The price of the WatchGuard Firebox is reasonable."
  • "It is an entry-level product, so the price is cheap."
  • "Firebox is priced reasonably."
  • "We license the WatchGuard Firebox annually. There are different types of subscriptions available. We are paying approximately $15,000 annually. The cost can increase if you purchase different subscriptions."
  • "We paid $4000 in AUD for WatchGuard Firebox per year. There were no additional costs."
  • "It's in the medium range. Its price is pretty good considering the functions and add-ons that are used."
  • More WatchGuard Firebox Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and… more »
    Top Answer:One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet… more »
    Top Answer:It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cisco… more »
    Top Answer:From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know… 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:We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region. 
    Top Answer:We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of our… more »
    Top Answer:We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco ASA Firewall, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Cisco ASA, Adaptive Security Appliance, ASA, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cisco Secure Firewall, including Firepower, is a powerful perimeter security solution used for network security, data center protection, advanced malware protection, and site-to-site VPNs. Its most valuable features include NGIPS, application visibility and control, VLAN implementations, intrusion prevention, threat defense, and NAT. 

    The solution has helped organizations discover their environment, improve security, implement dynamic policies, reduce operational costs, and protect against threats from outside and within the data center. Overall, Cisco Secure Firewall is a valuable tool for securing organizations and providing visibility into threats.

    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”

    WatchGuard Firebox is a versatile security solution primarily used for security purposes such as firewalling, VPN, and protecting networks from outside and inside threats. It is also used for routing, multi-factor authentication, vulnerability management, and segregating industrial networks from corporate networks. 

    The product is praised for scalability, stability, user-friendliness, reasonable pricing, and good technical support. Some users use it for web filtering and hosting web pages, while others – for remote access connections and mobile VPNs. Firebox offers great protection, good performance, and flexibility without licensing limitations.

    WatchGuard Firebox Features

    WatchGuard Firebox has many valuable key features, including:

    • Policy management
    • Strong security
    • High performance
    • Network configuration for multiple clients
    • Built-in SD-WAN
    • Application control
    • Threat detection and response
    • Network discovery
    • Intuitive interface

    WatchGuard Firebox Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using WatchGuard Firebox include:

    • IT administrators can create and implement policies for content filtering, VPNs, and network inspections.
    • The solution is easy to set up, manage, and maintain.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by WatchGuard Firebox users.

    PeerSpot user Kelly C., IT Manager at a hospitality company, mentions, “One of the most valuable features is the Gateway AntiVirus. We scan all traffic as it's coming through. We also use spamBlocker to scrub spam. We use content filtering, which is critical in any corporate environment to make sure that people don't surf things they're not supposed to. WatchGuard has a very easy VPN and branch office VPN setup, so we use those pretty extensively too.It's very easy to use. In terms of performance, WatchGuard has always worked well for us. Regarding the reporting, I was in the Dimension server earlier today. It's very powerful. I like it. And the management features are easy to use. I like the fact that I can open up the System Manager client or I can just do it through the web if I'm making a quick change.”

    A Director of Information Technology at a retailer says, “Among the most valuable features is the ease of use — love the interface — of both the web interface and of the WatchGuard System Manager. It's a stable platform. The devices are pretty rock-solid.”

    Jason M., IT Director at a healthcare company, explains, “The policy monitoring and allowing different traffic flows are the most useful features for us; regulating which traffic comes in and out. In terms of the throughput and performance, we don't have a problem or any bottleneck there. We downgraded the size of our appliance because we're a small facility, and what we had before was actually too big. The one we are now going with seems to be doing a great job.” He also adds, “The management feature is pretty nice.”

    Steve R., President and Owner at Peak Communication Systems, Inc., comments, "It saves us time in the respect that we now have the template built for it so we can get in and get it done. We've had much less problems supporting Voice over IP technologies from different companies. Because our client base has grown over the years, we're probably saving 20 to 30 man-hours a month now that we've got this on a good stable level."

    Offer
    Learn more about Cisco Secure Firewall
    Learn more about Sophos XG
    Learn more about WatchGuard Firebox
    Sample Customers
    There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.
    Information Not Available
    Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Educational Organization11%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Government7%
    Retailer5%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company20%
    Construction Company10%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Real Estate/Law Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Government6%
    Retailer6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business35%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise41%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business62%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise44%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business65%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise41%
    Buyer's Guide
    Sophos XG vs. WatchGuard Firebox
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos XG vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    709,643 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 73 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 23 reviews. Sophos XG is rated 8.2, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Secure, duel switch capabilities, and good support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Easy to deploy and it provides useful data on threats ". Sophos XG is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate, pfSense, OPNsense, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and SonicWall TZ, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate, pfSense, Meraki MX, OPNsense and SonicWall NSa. See our Sophos XG vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.

    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.