We performed a comparison between OPNsense and SonicWall TZ based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: OPNsense is highly praised for its ability to easily adapt to changing needs, its guest access options, its flexibility, and its open license. SonicWall TZ is known for its exceptional unified threat management, strong VPN capabilities, reliable web security, and user-friendly centralized interface.
OPNsense could benefit from improvements in interface simplicity, bandwidth management, high availability, logging, integration, hardware updates, reporting, SSL inspection, and learning curve. SonicWall TZ needs enhancements in rated throughput, secondary DNS hosting, cloud management, user interface, integration, marketing, reporting, additional ports, GSM and Sonic Analyzer features, advanced features and pricing, UI application and net policies, scalability and proxy feature, DPI-SSL clients, content filtering, DNS hosting, monitoring and pricing, security and VPN connections, overall cost, and version improvements.
Service and Support: The customer service for OPNsense has garnered varying feedback, with certain users appreciating prompt responses and valuable aid, whereas some encounter challenges when attempting to access support. SonicWall TZ's support has also generated diverse opinions, as a few customers face language barriers and delays, but overall find the support satisfactory.
Ease of Deployment: The setup process for OPNsense is uncomplicated and can be managed by clients without IT expertise, although it might be more time-consuming in certain scenarios like Azure. SonicWall TZ setup is simple, user-friendly, and can be finished within a timeframe ranging from 30 minutes to a few hours. Technical staff can provide assistance for swift deployment.
Pricing: The cost of setting up OPNsense primarily depends on the hardware used, since the software is provided for free. SonicWall TZ has received varying opinions regarding its pricing and licensing, with some users considering it cost-effective while others find it to be expensive.
ROI: OPNsense is a cost-effective option with a quicker return on investment due to the absence of ongoing fees. SonicWall TZ delivers satisfactory outcomes, although it suggests an upgrade for enhanced performance.
Comparison Results: Based on user feedback, OPNsense is the preferred choice when comparing it to SonicWall TZ. Users appreciate OPNsense for its scalability, excellent features, user-friendly interface, flexibility, stability, availability of a free version, and well-documented resources.
"Layer-3 firewall and routing are the most valuable features."
"We've found the solution to be pretty stable."
"It is user friendly, and has all the features you need."
"It's inexpensive compared to some of the other technology out there."
"The signature database and zero-day detection are Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features."
"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."
"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."
"The product offers very good security."
"What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it. I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"We have been operating here in our lab for several months, and everything appears to be extremely stable."
"OPNsense is highly stable."
"OPNsense is easy to scale when running on the hardware."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"We can open a new VPN connection easily. It's much easier than with Fortinet in our experience."
"I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
"The feature we found most valuable in SonicWall TZ is that it is user-friendly for an administrator."
"Its user interface and simplicity are the most favorite parts for our clients. They find it stable and easy to use. Its performance is also good."
"The general feature is the antivirus policy, followed by the ransomware protection, and these are the features I was looking at."
"SonicWall TZ is stable."
"It's a very cost-effective solution."
"It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is good for protecting the business from being compromised. Its port protection is very good."
"We like their interface very much. It's pretty easy to use."
"We are able to block whatever we want to block by using this product. It provides all required security features, such as content filtering, VPN, in one box. Before switching to SonicWall, we had specified all required features."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"They have to just improve its performance when we enable all UTM features. When you enable all the features, the performance of FortiGate, as well as of Sophos and SonicWall, goes down."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"The UI could be improved."
"It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server."
"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."
"The solution could be more secure."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
"The IPS solution could be more reliable."
"The interface isn't so friendly user. But we have some technicians here who are quite confident with this tool. OPNSense could maybe add sets of rules so it's simpler to manage different groups with particular needs."
"There should be more technical documentation."
"On the customer-side, because I'm a small business, I need a cheaper or free solution option."
"There is still room for improvement, and it's not advisable even if the organization has grown."
"Full monitoring obviously needs to be improved. We need full monitoring covered under the security licensing."
"We have experienced some issues with SonicWall TZ and they are lacking some advanced features other vendors have."
"The lack of support is having me look into other solutions to replace SonicWALL."
"In general, the company needs to think contingently and integrate more security options."
"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say better load balancing and data filtering."
"From a support perspective, if we're talking tech support I think Silver Partners, Gold Partners, Platinum, whatever level, should have a different number to call. End users can call tech support over at SonicWall if they've paid for support as part of their AGSS or whatever services they bought. The end-user can call, or we can call, however, I don't want to be calling the same line that an end user's calling. I don't want the same response time. I need a different level of expertise."
"We require centralized monitoring of the network features, which they have but they are not to the level that we require."
OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews while SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. OPNsense is rated 8.4, while SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and Check Point NGFW, whereas SonicWall TZ is most compared with Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, SonicWall NSa and Zyxel Unified Security Gateway. See our OPNsense vs. SonicWall TZ report.
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