We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure 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 two solutions are very comparable. The only major difference between the two is that some users of Cisco Secure Firewall consider the deployment to be somewhat complex.
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"The most valuable feature is the web filter."
"FortiGate SD-WAN facilitated a smooth transition for our customers between their two internet service providers, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity without any downtime."
"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."
"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."
"It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box."
"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."
"I like the firewall features, Snort, and the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)."
"The firewall and policy side are easy to use."
"Cisco tech is always good and helpful. I would rate them as 10 out of 10."
"The most valuable feature is that it has the ability to divide the network into three parts; internal, external, and DMZ."
"Netting is one of the best features. We can modify it in different ways. Site-to-site VPN is also an awesome feature of Cisco ASA. The biggest advantage of Cisco products is technical support. They provide the best technical support."
"The user interface is very easy to manage and find rules. You can do object searches, which are very easy. Also, the logging is very simple to use. So, it is a lot easier to troubleshoot and find items inside the firewall."
"Feature-wise, we mostly use IPS because it is a security requirement to protect against attacks from outside and inside. This is where IPS helps us out a bunch."
"Protecting our landscape in general and being able to see logging when things aren't going as set out in policies are valuable features. Our security department is keen on seeing the logging."
"A valuable feature involves the solution's manageability."
"Overall, this is a good product and I would recommend it for small to mid-sized customers."
"The VPN feature is the most valuable. It has come in handy during this period when people are working from home. The filtering feature is also valuable because you can easily filter the sites that you don't want to visit. You can also set timely surfing quotas."
"The firewall functionality and unified threat management are the most useful features."
"Sophos began with a basic version and evolved into something more efficient in terms of performance."
"Dashboard is easy to use and the reporting offers a lot of detail."
"I like it for its simplicity. It is very simple to configure and implement. It is a very good product for medium-sized organizations."
"I particularly like the visibility it provides into network traffic, allowing us to identify and address issues efficiently."
"I would like reporting to be improved and should offer a lot more tools to monitor the products."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."
"The cloud management and automation capability could be improved."
"Fortinet needs to overhaul its documentation."
"Its price could be better."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."
"It can be improved when it comes to monitoring. Today, the logs from the firewalls could be improved a bit more without integrating with other devices."
"Cisco Secure Firewall’s customer support could be improved."
"It is not the newest, cutting-edge technology"
"Comparing Cisco solution to others, it is expensive, it would be better for it to be cheaper."
"Cisco ASA should be easier to use. It is a bit tough to navigate and see what is going on."
"Cisco Secure Firewall should be easier to handle. It uses ASDM, which is not easy to understand. It would be better if there was direct access via HTTPS."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"The policies module in FMC specifically isn't the most user-friendly. Coming from Cisco ASA, Cisco ASA is a little bit easier to use. When you get into particularly complex deployments where you have a lot of different interfaces and all that kind of stuff, it's a little bit tricky. Some usability improvements there would be nice."
"I can't use the product's application control feature, making it a disadvantage of the solution where improvements are required."
"The number of ports, especially on the entry-level appliances, should be increased."
"I've had experience with Sophos XG's threat intelligence features, and they provide good coverage, although I wouldn't say they're the best in the industry. The sandbox feature is available with top-tier subscriptions, allowing you to test content in a cloud sandbox. One improvement I'd suggest for Sophos XG is to make certain functionalities, like CR functionality, part of the default firewalling rather than exclusive to premium subscriptions. Enhancing DLP capabilities at the gateway level could significantly boost security for organizations."
"In feature releases of the solution, I would like there to be an increase in the detection capability."
"The logging side of it could definitely be better. Some of the logging lacks, and the information that they provide you, especially in the spam filtering section, could be better."
"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."
"LAN inbound and outbound traffic requires more control."
"The manuals or guides we are given are too simple. When we are implementing the product, it is difficult for us as we don't have more detailed information."
Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 4th in Firewalls with 404 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "Highlights and helps us catch Zero-day vulnerabilities traveling across our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Juniper SRX Series Firewall, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and SonicWall NSa. See our Cisco Secure 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.
My preference is the Sophos XGS, particularly when you team it up with the Sophos Endpoint Protection client and configure it for synchronized security.
Both can be managed through Sophos Central and are available at a decent price for the power they offer the SMB.
I recommend Sophos XGS firewall. It will offer the best solution for malware protection.
Also, I recomend Sophos CIXA with XDR (Sophos Endpoint), so you can use Syncronized Security.