We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Sophos XGS 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."The solution is stable."
"The pricing is great and very reasonable."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"This version is stable. I don't have any issues with this solution, in our environment, it works well."
"Its user interface is good, and it is always working fine."
"It enables our organization to become more productive. Also, it protects our NEtWare from viruses and malware."
"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."
"We use a lot of function on the IPS and it works well for us."
"It has a good web cache. I used to use a DHCP server and DNS server. For my company, I use pfSense as a load balancing application."
"This solution has helped our organization by protecting our network from attacks."
"The documentation is very good."
"The gain in performance and security from configuring the VPN connections was significant."
"The concurrent users are perfect for us."
"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."
"The built-in open VPN and the VPN Client Export are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"It is a stable solution."
"Spam filtering is what I love most about XGS."
"XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection."
"I like the Sophos UI. It interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors."
"Easy to set up firewall product, that's also easy to manage and scale."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"The scalability of Sophos XGS is very good."
"All the features are valuable, in my opinion, but for us the most important features are the network security, application control, and web server protection. Sophos Sandstorm is another good feature off the top of my head."
"The solution is cost-effective and easy to manage."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"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 solution is very expensive."
"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."
"Its filtering is sometimes too precise or strict. We sometimes have to bypass and authorize some of the sites, but they get blocked. We know that they are trusted sites, but they are blocked, and we don't know why."
"Palo Alto has a feature called WildFire Analysis that is unavailable in FortiGate. WildFire is better than a sandbox because it can address zero-day threats and vulnerabilities. It can immediately identify zero-day threats from the cloud."
"Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."
"The logging details need to be improved."
"This solution is good for small businesses but it is not as stable as other competitors such as Fortinet."
"This product needs improvements with respect to reporting and auditing."
"There could be a way to remote to it through a mobile app. You can always browse through your browser on your mobile phone or tablet, but it would be good to have a dedicated app. I understand that iOS and Android developers are expensive, but there should be a mobile app."
"Improve analysis of logs and dashboards (control panel) with improved alert functionality."
"Other solutions provide more scope for growth. For instance, we can have only 10 to 20 employees on VPN, but other solutions can support more users. We also have more capabilities to increase the performance of the solution."
"The access control aspect of the product could be improved."
"The stability could be improved."
"The solution could use better reporting. They need to offer more of it in general. Right now, the graphics aren't the best. If you need to provide a report to a manager, for example, it doesn't look great. They need to make it easier to understand and give users the ability to customize them."
"I recommend Sophos increase the user capacity of the firewall by 1.5 times. For example, say the firewall can accommodate 1,000 users now, then it should handle a load of 1,500 users."
"In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist."
"Sophos configurations are a bit complex."
"It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features."
"Sophos XGS could improve by having better integration with Active Directory."
"The reporting could be better."
"The customer service response time can be improved."
"The speed of report generation could be improved."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Sophos XGS is ranked 17th in Firewalls with 60 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Sophos XGS is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XGS writes "Easy to use, simple to learn, and offers great reporting". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Sophos XGS is most compared with Sophos XG, OPNsense, WatchGuard Firebox, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Meraki MX. See our Netgate pfSense vs. Sophos XGS 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.