Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Fortinet Logo
123,063 views|89,961 comparisons
90% willing to recommend
Palo Alto Networks Logo
7,471 views|4,810 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
SonicWall Logo
12,752 views|11,608 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, and SonicWall TZ based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls.
To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most important features with FortiGate are the web filter and application controls. We can control our internet usage and use the web filter for application purposes.""The wireless control is helpful.""FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering.""FortiGate has a strong security topic which allows all of the Fortinet devices to communicate and share information which makes their security more powerful.""Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers.""The threat prevention is the solution's most valuable aspect.""The most valuable feature is the ease of use.""The main benefit is the grouping of our security monitoring."

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"The most valuable feature is the CLI.""The main advantage of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series stems from the fact that you can access it with the help of cloud services.""It allows us to see all our traffic to properly secure it and only allow what is needed through the firewall.""It is nice to have a rock solid security platform that we can count on.""It provides complete security posture from end-to-end. This has given us better visibility into what our security aspects are.""The initial setup was straightforward.""In Palo Alto the most important feature is the App-ID.""We use the product on our Azure network firewalls."

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"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.""Good site categorization and application controls.""The most common feature in the firewall, apart from that traditional firewall, would be the security services, like application control, URL filtering, Gateway Anti-Virus, and IPS protection. These are the essential features in the firewalls which I think, has to be enabled and properly used at every network infrastructure.""The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks for a four-digit code, which changes every 30 seconds.""I find the security we are able to do with the policies to be valuable. The monitoring is valuable as well.""We like the central interface and we like the security features. Additionally, we use SonicWall with VPN connectivity and we have had no problems with SonicWall all these years.""The features that we have found most valuable in SonicWall TZ are the intrusion and brute force attack prevention.""We like the unified threat management for defense-in-depth. We can terminate our site-to-site and remote access VPNs with it."

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Cons
"They should offer special pricing to premium partners and customers.""They should improve the interface to make it more user-friendly.""The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper.""I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security.""Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs.""I would like to see more advanced developments of a wireless controller in the future.""It can be a little bit more user-friendly in terms of policy definition and implementation. It seems a little bit complicated, and it could be simplified.""Web security solutions can be improved."

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"The product's AIOps process needs improvement.""Just sometimes it can be a bit sluggish navigating through pages. That is just purely because of Java.​""In the next release, I would like to see better integration of multi-factor authentication vendors.""The product needs improvement in their Secure Access Service Edge.""It would be helpful if we had a direct number for the support manager or the supporting engineer. That would be better than having to email every time because there would be less wait.""I would like to see a more thorough QA process. We have had some difficulties from bugs in releases.""All areas need improvement: manufacturing, education, financial, etc.""The user interface could use some improvement."

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"The solution has lost the trust of its customers because of moving from one company to another.""The log sections could be done more clearly.""User interface could be improved.""In an upcoming release, SonicWall could improve by adding cloud management for all devices for free or at a nominal cost. Currently, they have a cloud management platform but is not free. We have the MySonicWall portal for purchasing from them for software updates and renewals.""GUI interface could be improved.""The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed.""The areas we would like to see improvement include more features available similar to the equivalent FortiGate appliance, e.g. SSL encryption and inspection. Two-factor authentication capability would be another additional feature that could be included in the next release.""I would like to see a SonicWall integration with the DLP tool, this would be interesting. Data Loss Prevention integration."

More SonicWall TZ Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Fortinet has one or two license types, and the VPN numbers are only limited by the hardware chassis make."
  • "These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."
  • "Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."
  • "Work through partners for the best pricing."
  • "The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."
  • "Easy to understand licensing requirements."
  • "​We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW.​"
  • "The cost is too high... They have to focus on more features with less cost for the customer. If you see the market, where it's going, there are a lot of players offering more features for less cost."
  • More Fortinet FortiGate Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "For what you get, it does do what it says. It is a good value for an enterprise firewall.​"
  • "​The licensing is pretty much like everyone else."
  • "When you have a client compare box against box, a lot of times Palo Alto is a bit more expensive, but its network firewalls have a very rich ratio."
  • "Do not buy larges box if you do not need them. Rightsizing is a great task to do before​hand."
  • "I know Palo Alto is not cheap. They have been telling me, the members of the finance team, it is not a cheap solution. It is a solution whose target is that no matter how big your organization is, small, medium, or large, it is about the maturity of your security team or infrastructure team whom you want to work with."
  • "It is a little bit of crazy if you compare it to Vanguard, Sophos, or even Cisco. The newest version of Cisco, the Next-Generation Firewall of Cisco, is less expensive than Palo Alto. It is more comparable to Check Point."
  • "For licensing, It depends how they want to use the firewall. The firewall can be used only for IPS purposes. If you only want that firewall IPSs, you will only need a license that is called threat prevention. That license, threat prevention, includes vulnerabilities, antivirus signatures and one additional measure (that I can't remember), but it includes three measures and security updates."
  • "The box, if you do not want to buy the threat prevention license in the box, you can buy it only with the support license. It is for the support of the hardware. It works like a simple firewall. It integrates what it calls user IDs and application IDs. If you do not buy any other license, only the firewall, Palo Alto will also help you improve a lot of your security."
  • More Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Getting licenses in our country, Ghana, is not easy. Though, once we have them, adding them is quick (about a day)."
  • "SonicWall has authorized distributors in our country. They have about two or three distributors in the country, so it makes it a bit easier. What we do is to request a quotation from these distributors, then we do a value for money analysis and see which one of them is giving us a competitive price."
  • "The pricing was a factor for us, and we felt that the price was good."
  • "The product pricing is relatively good, compared to other products, including the licenses."
  • "Licensing costs have been around $2,000. There are no other costs above the standard licensing fees."
  • "License renewals come in around $35,000 to $45,000."
  • "The price is high compared to some other solutions."
  • "Its pricing is okay as compared to other solutions."
  • More SonicWall TZ Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main hang-ups will be with the VIP/load balancing and SSL. For some reason that completely escapes me, both of these vendors make getting valid certificates onto their boxes unnecessarily difficult -- the Fortinet appliances more so than the Sophos UTM appliances. At one point a Fortinet engineer had to write an entire manual on how to get an SSL certificate uploaded successfully on the 4.x firmware Sophos: The one feature that is missing (and this makes some amount of sense) from the Sophos appliance is BITS caching for updates. Other than that, Sophos offers a full replacement for TMG on UTM9. The XG platform also offers a replacement for the TMG; however, some of the rumblings about upcoming releases suggests that Sophos is going to give XG the Apple iOS treatment and "streamline" the interface...potentially cutting out/hiding some functionality. On the effectiveness of the NGFW, Sophos is mostly good but has a few issues blocking all pieces of an application. For instance, we had to build custom blocking rules for OpenVPN (the vpn was being used to bypass the content filter) because the default Application Control wasn't effectively blocking the application. Fortinet: If it… Read more →
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage at… more »
    Top Answer:From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know… more »
    Top Answer:As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite… more »
    Top Answer:In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it… more »
    Top Answer:Both products are very stable and easily scalable The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the… more »
    Top Answer:The technical support for the solution is very good.
    Top Answer:I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with similar… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks… more »
    Top Answer:The solution is moderately priced, where it's neither cheap nor expensive.
    Ranking
    2nd
    out of 59 in Firewalls
    Views
    123,063
    Comparisons
    89,961
    Reviews
    48
    Average Words per Review
    661
    Rating
    8.4
    10th
    out of 59 in Firewalls
    Views
    7,471
    Comparisons
    4,810
    Reviews
    21
    Average Words per Review
    547
    Rating
    8.7
    12th
    out of 59 in Firewalls
    Views
    12,752
    Comparisons
    11,608
    Reviews
    12
    Average Words per Review
    347
    Rating
    8.7
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
    Dell SonicWALL TZ
    Learn More
    Overview

    Fortinet FortiGate enhances network security, prevents unauthorized access, and offers robust firewall protection. Valued features include advanced threat protection, reliable performance, and a user-friendly interface. It improves efficiency, streamlines processes, and boosts collaboration, providing valuable insights for informed decision-making and growth.

    Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a highly effective advanced threat protection (ATP) solution and firewall that can be hosted on cloud computing technologies designed by many different companies. It decreases the amount of time that it will take administrators to respond to threats. Users that deploy VM-series have 70% less downtime than those who use similar firewalls. Neither protection nor efficiency are concerns when this next-generation firewall is in play.

    VM-Series is being deployed to protect both public and private cloud environments. This level of flexibility empowers organizations to run the environment or environments that best meet their needs without worrying that they are going to be exposed to digital threats due to the environment that they choose.

    In the public cloud, users of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can automate their deployment and dynamically scale up their environment while experiencing a consistent level of protection. This dynamic scalability means that they also integrate their security into their DevOps workflows so that their security can keep up with their activities and requirements. Users of private cloud environments can set up security policies that can be automated to be provisioned as the need arises. Organizations don’t need to slow down when they deploy VM-Series because it makes the task of defending them so simple that they can set their defenses and forget that they are even there.

    Users gain a deep level of visibility when they deploy Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. App-ID technology enables organizations to see their network traffic on the application level and spot threats that might be trying to sneak in through vulnerable points in their defenses. It also leverages Palo Alto Networks WildFire and advanced threat protection to block the threats before they can escalate.

      Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Features:

      • Central management system - It has a central management system that enables users to set up and control their security operations from one location. Users don’t need to search for the tools that they need. This system allows for security consistency and complete control without requiring businesses to spend large periods of time to do so.
      • Blacklisting and whitelisting - Organizations can utilize blacklisting and whitelisting tools to ensure that their network traffic only contains the type of traffic that they want to be present. These tools make it possible for them to set specific web traffic sources as being either undesirable and thus blocked from entering their network or desirable and thus allowed to enter. 
      • Automation feature - The product’s automation feature can automate many critical functions that users would otherwise have to handle manually. Security policy updates are an example of a function that users can automate.

      Reviews from Real Users:

      Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a solution that stands out when compared to other similar solutions. Two major advantages that it offers are its ability to protect users without degrading the efficiency with which their networks perform and its centralized management system. 

      Jason H., the director of information technology at Tavoca Inc, writes, “There is no noticeable trade-off between security and network performance. In fact, so far, we've not seen any negative network performance with it. We're very impressed in that regard.”

      An information technology manager at a tech services company says, “We use Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system. We have an on-prem firewall where Panorama is very good for pulling logs in from the cloud so we can see what is going on. It gives us visibility into that as well as shows us what attacks are coming in. Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view.”

      The secure, sophisticated SonicWALL TZ is widely deployed at small businesses, retail, government, remote sites and branch offices. It combines high-performance intrusion prevention, malware blocking, content/URL filtering and application control.
      Sample Customers
      1. Amazon Web Services 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Cisco 5. Dell 6. HP 7. Oracle 8. Verizon 9. AT&T 10. T-Mobile 11. Sprint 12. Vodafone 13. Orange 14. BT Group 15. Telstra 16. Deutsche Telekom 17. Comcast 18. Time Warner Cable 19. CenturyLink 20. NTT Communications 21. Tata Communications 22. SoftBank 23. China Mobile 24. Singtel 25. Telus 26. Rogers Communications 27. Bell Canada 28. Telkom Indonesia 29. Telkom South Africa 30. Telmex 31. Telia Company 32. Telkom Kenya
      Warren Rogers Associates
      AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
      Top Industries
      REVIEWERS
      Comms Service Provider16%
      Computer Software Company9%
      Financial Services Firm8%
      Manufacturing Company7%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Educational Organization20%
      Computer Software Company15%
      Comms Service Provider8%
      Manufacturing Company6%
      REVIEWERS
      Computer Software Company23%
      Manufacturing Company17%
      Financial Services Firm13%
      Government10%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Computer Software Company15%
      Financial Services Firm11%
      Manufacturing Company7%
      Government6%
      REVIEWERS
      Construction Company12%
      Healthcare Company12%
      Computer Software Company7%
      Manufacturing Company7%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Computer Software Company18%
      Comms Service Provider10%
      Manufacturing Company6%
      Retailer6%
      Company Size
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business48%
      Midsize Enterprise23%
      Large Enterprise30%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business27%
      Midsize Enterprise32%
      Large Enterprise41%
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business40%
      Midsize Enterprise26%
      Large Enterprise33%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business23%
      Midsize Enterprise15%
      Large Enterprise61%
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business64%
      Midsize Enterprise19%
      Large Enterprise17%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business43%
      Midsize Enterprise16%
      Large Enterprise41%
      Buyer's Guide
      Firewalls
      March 2024
      Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: March 2024.
      768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.