We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks PA-Series and Sophos XG 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."It is easy to use and performs very well."
"It is easy to use. We chose this product for the possibility to have virtual domains (VDOMs). We are building another company in the group, and we would like to split the firewalling rules and policies between these two companies. Each company would be able to manage its own policies and security rules, which is an advantage of Fortinet FortiGate. We can define VDOMs, and every company can manage its own VDOM as if it has its own physical firewall, but in fact, we would be using the same physical appliance because we are also using the same internet lines. So, it allows us to reuse the existing resources without the disadvantage of having to compromise on policies and security. Each company can choose its own way of working."
"Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and affordable."
"You can create multiple Virtual Domains (VDOMs), which are treated as separate firewall instances."
"Its stability is the most valuable."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a security device. It can optimize security on the networks of a company. It actually protects the company from attacks from outside. With FortiGate, you can categorize the users. You can create a group of users that can access all of the websites for their work. You can limit other users' access."
"The reporting feature and application ID functionality within Palo Alto Networks PA-Series are incredibly valuable to us."
"It offers a seamless transition from one option to another, making it exceptionally versatile and user-friendly in an enterprise setting."
"The most effective features for threat prevention in the PA-Series are its integration with Cortex and the use of machine learning AI for advanced threat detection."
"It has its own logging system. You can go to monitoring and check the logs to see if a connection is getting blocked. You can use multiple types of logs to check if a file or a port is getting blocked or if there are any TCP resets from the source or destination. It's easy to troubleshoot with the monitoring and logging it provides."
"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The solution is robust."
"The solution is used for security and IoT security."
"The solution has a three-layer architecture, and it helps customers to deploy the solution quickly."
"I have found configuring the ports to be easier in Sophos XG compared to the other devices."
"The SL VPNs are the most valuable feature. I have a lot of systems out of the head office that need to connect to the local networks, and they all connect wirelessly via the Sophos VPN client."
"Content blocking for websites is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The solution offers a good firewall endpoint and email encryption."
"The product is very easy to explore. It has a very good layout."
"Easy to deploy and user friendly."
"I rate Sophos support 10 out of 10. When my device was freezing, I contacted them, and sent me a replacement. It only took a couple of days for Sophos to ship the device to Kenya. I didn't have a redundant device, so it was urgent."
"The solution seems to be very easy to use."
"At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing."
"The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall solution and once it's deployed, you can rest assured that your system is secure."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."
"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."
"I think there could be more QoS features"
"The product must provide multiple threat detection features."
"The interface is complex."
"The web interface is slow."
"The pricing of the solution needs improvement."
"The technical support offered by Palo Alto is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"In future releases, maybe Palo Alto can enhance and enlarge their portfolio with SIEM solutions. They already have an endpoint protection solution, SOAR solution, that's fine. But when it comes to standalone IDS/IPS solution or email security solution, for example, we don't have any product in that category for Palo Alto."
"Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is complicated to configure compared to one of its competitors."
"Utilizing these features as a unified solution can require additional setup, particularly when incorporating Panorama for centralized management, which may involve extra costs."
"Integration with Active Directory is not reliable."
"The VPN has been a persistent problem for us. It's not straightforward to configure."
"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."
"I am using the Azure Active Directory in my company and it was complicated to integrate this solution with Azure."
"Having a web portal where you could make requests for the categorization of non-categorized items, would be beneficial."
"I would like to have better SSL decryption and HTTP decryption. There should be filtering of SSL and HTTP traffic. Sophos XG consumes a lot of endpoint resources. It consumes a lot of RAM and CPU resources, and they should look into this."
"I'm just a sole proprietor for IT support, and from my perspective, there could be better ways to educate a proprietor, such as myself, on how to set it up, and program it, and manage it. They do tend to have support, but a lot of times, it is for larger networks. I need something that is simpler and more rudimentary as to how to go about setting up and configuring the firewall, setting up the rules, and that type of thing. So, if there is a missing component there, that would be it."
"It would be helpful if they had a set of standard templates because it would assist in the beginning, when you are just getting started."
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is ranked 16th in Firewalls with 28 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is rated 8.6, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series writes "Offers trained customer support, stability and ease of use ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is most compared with OPNsense, SonicWall NSa, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Netgate pfSense and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and Sophos UTM. See our Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Sophos XG report.
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