Regarding the use cases, the solution was deployed for a production client, which was a hardware production company.
Network Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
A solution that provides both easy maintenance and configuration for its users
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "In short, the UI and UX are the areas of improvement in Sophos UTM and similar solutions compared to Palo Alto."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable in Sophos UTM are its scalability and feasibility, as well as the quality of its customer service, followed by the ease of maintenance and configuration of the product itself.
What needs improvement?
Palo Alto has a different market because of their dashboard, overall looks, and other features. They are costly, but their services are quite good. And they offer a different platform compared to their competitors. Their device operates differently from others. While Palo Alto and Sophos have similar features, they operate on different platforms, providing a superior user experience compared to existing devices. In short, the UI and UX are the areas of improvement in Sophos UTM and similar solutions compared to Palo Alto.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience with Sophos UTM for nearly two years. Recently, I deployed two Sophos solutions, one with HA and one on a primary device. The deployment process for one of the companies was done last month.
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Sophos UTM
July 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product. So it is easy to scale it up.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's customer service is good. I rate the solution's technical support a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is quite easy because they have all the information on their website. Customer service is available anytime, especially when you set to start the device's configuration.
Since I was just a part of the initial configuration after deployment, I don't know the steps in the deployment process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Both the technical and cost aspects are feasible since it is possible to obtain and use the device as a PnP solution. Considering cost and technical aspects, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Even if I compare Sophos UTM with other solutions, I don't think any pros or cons stick out since our clients are okay with the solution, and there has been no complaint regarding Sophos UTM.
My advice to others planning to use the solution is that it is quite easy. You can simply refer to the solution's blog or YouTube videos and install the solution. It's also quite easy to configure it. So, if you purchase it by yourself, you can configure it and use it on your particular network.
I love working with Palo Alto. So, I would like to give it a ten out of ten. Also, Palo Alto has a different market. So, I would always give a nine out of ten for other solutions. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
Account Executive at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Highly granular, communicates with other Sophos solutions, and offers good performance
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
- "I don't really have any notes for improvements."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for firewalls.
What is most valuable?
The firewall in general is very good. It is comparable to other firewalls.
Since any environment needs a firewall, it's been helpful in its ability to be highly granular in its configurations.
Sophos is a security-focused company, which I like. I like that all Sophos products can essentially talk to each other. For example, if a computer has the Sophos antivirus, and it detects something, it actually talks to the Sophos firewall and says, "Hey, I think something is going wrong on this computer." Then, the firewall goes, "You know what? I'm going to shut it down for a while. I'm going to close off all incoming and outgoing connections from that unit until an IT admin comes in and tells me to release it."
It's very scalable.
The solution is stable.
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
What needs improvement?
I don't really have any notes for improvements. I don't need additional features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for three or more years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution's stability is excellent, and it is reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable and easily expands.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also familiar with Meraki. Sophos, however, has the ability to talk to other Sophos products.
Meraki would be all isolated, meaning you have a different antivirus. It'll try to block and scan and do its thing, however, the firewall will always allow the connection to go through. Nothing is stopping it from isolating it. From a Sophos perspective, every single thing talks to each other, whether it's Sophos Central, Sophos email security, Sophos antivirus, or Sophos firewall.
They all talk to each other and look at how attackers come in because attackers don't just, poof, appear on a computer. There's a route it needs to take and different layers of protection it has to go through. If all of your layers, your roads, and everything is all Sophos, they all jive, and that's great.
How was the initial setup?
The ease of setup is dependent on the level of technical expertise. If you are a qualified tech, all firewalls should be pretty simple to deploy, depending on the environment. It's simple enough to implement in general.
What was our ROI?
We have witnessed a positive ROI while using the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Price-wise, you get the bang for your buck. You get a huge value set. Ask for HA, high availability, since a lot of Sophos resellers sell two firewalls, the second one being free. Then, you only pay for one license. If your first firewall fails, the license migrates to the second one.
What other advice do I have?
We are using a variety of different versions of the solution right now.
It's really, really cool to look into Sophos. I highly recommend it. From an infrastructure, stability, and security perspective in terms of configuring in a granular way, Sophos does it all. It's a really good product and something to look into.
It's also a lot cheaper than Meraki. It does way more than Meraki. Dollar to dollar, Sophos will likely beat Meraki. For example, with Meraki, you're going to be paying two or three times more for nothing spectacular, nothing different. You just get a portal. It's okay. With Sophos, you do have to know what you're doing, however, any network admin should be able to figure it out. It's not like an ancient hieroglyphic language. It's quite straightforward.
I'd rate it nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Sophos UTM
July 2026
Learn what your peers think about Sophos UTM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: July 2026.
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Senior Network Engineer at Dejpaad
Reliable with good mail security and good scaling abilities
Pros and Cons
- "The solution can scale."
- "It needs a better user interface. The one they have is not so good."
What is our primary use case?
This is a next-generation firewall. I use it for mail security for clients.
What is most valuable?
The mail security is very good.
It's quite stable.
The solution can scale.
What needs improvement?
The sanctions make it difficult for us in Iran to take full advantage of this product, like many others.
It needs a better user interface. The one they have is not so good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. The solution is very easy to expand as needed. That's not a problem.
We have 500 or 600 clients on the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I do not use technical support. Having never dealt with them, I cannot speak to the level of service they provide.
What other advice do I have?
For sharing and mail security, the solution is very good. I'd recommend it to other users.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. If they offered a better user interface, I would rate them higher.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Support Engineer at Ensure Support Services Limited
Excellent synchronized security
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos UTM's best feature is synchronized security."
- "Sophos UTM's internet security could be better."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use Sophos UTM to provide network security.
What is most valuable?
Sophos UTM's best feature is synchronized security.
What needs improvement?
Sophos UTM's internet security could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos UTM for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate Sophos UTM's stability eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is easy to scale.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos's technical support is very good and easy to connect to.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos UTM is moderately priced, but it could be improved.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated Fortinet, but Sophos UTM is easier to manage and more efficiently priced.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Sophos UTM eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
System Administrator at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
A useable solution for small businesses who are willing to rely on cloud-based, centralized management of the software
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup was easy."
- "Beyond the initial cost, licenses are charged for annually, but they are good value for the service we receive."
- "I would like this solution to support ICAP. Also, they no longer support on-premises management, and are forcing clients to use centralized management via the cloud, which I don't agree with."
- "I don't believe it has improved our organization; I don't actually like the product because of the features it is missing."
What is our primary use case?
We use it as an internet firewall, and as our web application firewall.
How has it helped my organization?
I don't believe it has improved our organization; I don't actually like the product because of the features it is missing.
What needs improvement?
I would like this solution to support ICAP. Also, they no longer support on-premises management, and are forcing clients to use centralized management via the cloud, which I don't agree with.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We don't find this to be fully stable; we have had to restart the firewall on a few occasions.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is not very good. They are quite slow, and there are delays in response to an issue being raised.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was carried out in-house, and the deployment took around eight hours to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
I would only recommend this product to small businesses. I would rate this solution as a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
General Manager of Technical Division at VTI
Good visibility and protection against ransomware attacks
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos UTM's best feature is SIM in the cloud, which combines the gateway solution and endpoint solution to send telemetry data to the cloud and provides full contact visibility regarding security."
- "Sophos UTM's firewall is a bit weak, and some of its features lack depth compared to other products like F5."
How has it helped my organization?
Sophos UTM gives good visibility and prevention against ransomware attacks because they focus on unknown threats, so it's successful in protecting customers.
What is most valuable?
Sophos UTM's best feature is SIM in the cloud, which combines the gateway solution and endpoint solution to send telemetry data to the cloud and provides full contact visibility regarding security.
What needs improvement?
Sophos UTM's firewall is a bit weak, and some of its features lack depth compared to other products like F5.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos UTM for about eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is quite simple to scale.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos' technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup takes around seven to nine days.
What was our ROI?
I would rate our ROI from Sophos UTM as three to four out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos UTM's pricing is on the cheaper side.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise starting with the basic firewall before adding other features. I would give Sophos UTM a rating of seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partners/integrators
Assistant Manager IT Zircon Technology at Zircon Techonolgy
Offers strong network security and the option for remote deployment, with good configuration options and easy handling
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to handle and configure."
- "We are satisfied with Sophos UTM and will continue implementing it for the foreseeable future."
- "The reporting could be a lot better."
- "In our experience it has been hard to get to customer support, even premium support doesn't offer much availability."
What is our primary use case?
We use this product for network security and implement using a Sophos SD-RED device.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to handle and configure.
The product also offers remote deployment capability with a Sophos SD-RED device.
What needs improvement?
The reporting could be a lot better and technical support could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is relatively scalable, we have over 500 users in our company and use three people for maintenance.
How are customer service and support?
In our experience it has been hard to get to customer support, even premium support doesn't offer much availability.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is quite simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is comparable to other products of this kind.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We considered implementing a SonicWall product, but went with Sophos UTM because it is easier to handle and configure.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
We are satisfied with Sophos UTM and will continue implementing it for the foreseeable future.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Good profiling but problems with auto-updating
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos UTM's most valuable features are profiling and its simple configuration."
- "There's an issue that when we deploy UTM on fiber, it automatically upgrades to the latest version without giving an option to stay on the current one."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use UTM for app filters.
What is most valuable?
Sophos UTM's most valuable features are profiling and its simple configuration.
What needs improvement?
There's an issue that when we deploy UTM on fiber, it automatically upgrades to the latest version without giving an option to stay on the current one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with Sophos UTM for over four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
UTM is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
UTM is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos' technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Sophos UTM as seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner / Integrator
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's a good value and priced better than many competing solutions, but it should integrate more advanced threat detection
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos UTM provides security for our network here and access through a VPN connection for our remote users. It also offers the flexibility to create different tools for accessibility."
- "I would like to see Sophos UTM add support for all the new threat-detection technologies and the ability to respond to novel security threats that come along every day."
What is most valuable?
Sophos UTM provides security for our network here and access through a VPN connection for our remote users. It also offers the flexibility to create different tools for accessibility.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see Sophos UTM add support for all the new threat-detection technologies and the ability to respond to novel security threats that come along every day.
I'm in the process of switching every UTM device in all branches to Sophos, so I need visibility into each branch to see the activity. I need alerts for any threat that enters the network. If there is unauthorized access or some specific action that can threaten my network, I want to be notified.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Sophos UTM for the last three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is stable so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't had the need to scale up Sophos UTM so far, but I believe it's scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We have excellent technical support. The company that supports us is highly experienced with Sophos.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously had Cyberoam. After Sophos acquired Cyberoam, we purchased new Sophos hardware devices.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos UTM is priced in the middle range. Okay. It's a good value and a far better price than many competing solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sophos UTM seven out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Network and Security Specialist at Tetracom S.A.L
It blocks malware and other unauthorized apps
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "We use Sophos UTM for multi-site VPN, quarantine, sandboxing, and IPF, and it blocks malware and other unauthorized apps."
- "Sophos customer support could use some improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use Sophos UTM for multi-site VPN, quarantine, sandboxing, and IPF. It blocks malware and other unauthorized apps.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos UTM for more than four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is stable and ready for customization.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos UTM is scalable. We have around 100 users, including engineers, managers, and computer scientists. We plan to increase our usage in the future.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos customer support could use some improvement.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using something else, but we switched to Sophos because it's politically neutral.
How was the initial setup?
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.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos UTM should be more open-source and reduce its license cost.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sophos UTM 10 out of 10. If you're considering Sophos UTM, I would say go for it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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