We performed a comparison between Azure Firewall and Sophos XG based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: The main difference between these two products is the scalability. While Azure Firewall users say the scalability could be improved, users of Sophos XG are satisfied with the solution’s capability to scale. Azure users also mention that the interface and the reporting, logging, and monitoring features all need improvement.
"It does a lot for you for intrusion protection and as an antivirus. The threat management bundle is worth the money. You don't need another company to monitor your web traffic for you. You can do everything yourself on the firewall. You restrict your own black list for people on the firewall. You don't need to pay some other company for another product to do that for you. The firewall can do that for you. So, it's an easy-to-use product for people to be independent. They don't need to rely on other vendors to do what the firewall can do. They can do everything."
"Our project needs to link two sides through the internet. One of these was in Cairo and the other in another city. We used FortiGate as the integrating solution between the two locations, i.e. the Fortinet 30E & 100E."
"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"It has improved our security capabilities."
"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."
"The threat prevention is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"It is easy for me to protect certain ports or even the IP addresses, as well as do whitelisting, blacklisting, and the FQDN when we want virtual machines connected and to protect certain websites."
"The solution is stable."
"It's helped us improve our security posture."
"Azure Firewall's feature that I have found most valuable is its scalability."
"In terms of the reporting, it's beautiful. It integrates with Azure monitoring and with Azure policies. That piece is a big help. You can set governing policies and you can use the application firewall, as well as the Azure Firewall, to enforce those policies."
"We use the solution for application and server deployment."
"The Layer four features are okay and meet my business needs."
"Azure's cost-effectiveness is its major advantage."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that the license offers everything."
"The most valuable feature I have found to be the reporting function."
"The most useful aspect of the solution is the concept of integrated security."
"So far, I'm happy that they have recently added a firewall role, so I feel a little more comfortable with the security. The threat management is good."
"Web publishing is important, as well as the importance of the antivirus patch."
"The most valuable features are the central management, the user VPN, and communications."
"The updates are helpful and add to the solution in a positive way."
"Overall the solution works well."
"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."
"The solution needs to improve its integration with cybersecurity."
"The UTM filtering needs improvement."
"The support from Fortinet FortiGate could improve. They are not easily accessible when we need them. They could improve their response time."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the protection, it did not prevent us from being attacked. Additionally, Fortinet FortiGate could provide more features for WAF devices. I should not have to purchase two solutions, it would be a benefit to combine these features into one solution."
"The reports are very basic."
"I haven't had a single issue since using Fortinet."
"There should be better monitoring and logging. Currently, it is put in Sentinel. It should be more seamless and from the interface."
"It would be much easier if the on-premises, firewall rules, had some kind of export-import possibility in place, which is not the case right now."
"It would be nice to be able to create groupings for servers and offer groups of IP addresses."
"Azure has new versions including a premium firewall. But I would like to see them not put the premium features on Azure Firewall Premium alone because it is quite expensive."
"You have to have a defined IP range within your network to associate it with your network. The problem is you have to plan ahead of time if you expect to use the firewall in the future so that you don't have to reconfigure your subnets or that specific IP range. Other than that, I don't any issues. I use it for basic configuration for a single application, so I really don't try to leverage it for multiple applications where I might find some complexity or challenges."
"Azure Firewall should have a free trial version for new users so that they can evaluate it before deploying it."
"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."
"An Azure firewall is not a real firewall."
"Sophos XG could improve by being more stable and for it to be able to be used for large enterprises."
"It would be beneficial if the platform provided more flexible support for a variety of devices."
"We are facing some technical issues with Sophos XG right now. We have already escalated this issue with the Sophos technical support. They seem to be working on it. We are satisfied with the technical support. They reply quickly to our queries, but sometimes take time upgrading their systems."
"The management console could be improved and the solution lacks good technical support."
"In Sophos XG, the throughput for larger networks is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"I would prefer if Sophos XG were cheaper. A lower price would benefit me as a system provider for the end customer. The cost of the license and renewal for all the software and devices is somewhat high."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements to simplify the interface and more policy deployments."
"We are not very happy with the customer support they provide — it's quite slow."
Azure Firewall is ranked 21st in Firewalls with 33 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. Azure Firewall is rated 7.2, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Azure Firewall writes "Easy to use and configure but could be more robust". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". Azure Firewall is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and Meraki MX. See our Azure Firewall vs. Sophos XG report.
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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.
