Compare Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XG
Fortinet FortiGate is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 58 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 16 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate is rated 8.6, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate writes "The IPsec tunnels are very easily created, and quite interoperable with devices from other vendors". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Gives us customizable policies, modifiable templates, and customized rules for single users". Fortinet FortiGate is most compared with Cisco ASA NGFW, Meraki MX Firewalls and Sophos UTM, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Sophos UTM, Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense. See our Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XG report.
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 Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XG and other solutions. Updated: September 2019. 371,917 professionals have used our research since 2012. | ||||||
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros | ||
The firepower sensors have been great; they do a good job of dropping unwanted traffic. Unfortunately in Cisco, only the hardware was good. The most important point is the detection engine which is now part of the next-generation firewalls and which is supported by Cisco Talos. The most valuable features are the flexibility and level of security that this solution provides. Integration with all the other Cisco tools is valuable. We moved from a legacy firewall to the ASA with FirePOWER, increasing our Internet Edge defense dramatically. Cisco ASA NGFW significantly improves our bank. It protects any high-value products that we use from hackers, viruses, malware, and script-bots. It gives us metrics on network traffic as well as what kind of attacks we are getting from the outside. Right now, Cisco ASA NGFW has given us a lot of improvement. We are planning to move to a new facility and will be a much larger organization. | The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere. It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us. Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network. Anti-Spam web content filterinG. This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI. This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried. The features that we have found most valuable are the SSL VPN and the User Portal. We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box. | All of the features are amazing, especially Sandstorm, which prevents bad traffic or downloaded files from reaching our customers' and partners' networks. We are able to trace any user and pinpoint any vulnerability or any malicious software. We are able to synchronize between the local and active directories so we can catch users easily through their login names and IDs. Price-wise the solution offers acceptable rates. You can find cheaper solutions on the market but when you go cheaper you have fewer features. Today, based on iQuate market the price is very reasonable and affordable, and it's good if you get a good discount. Discounts can be offered by the vendor. If it's a competitive upgrade which means the customer is upgrading from another vendor, Sophos provides extra discount so they can win the deal. In general, it is a good price. I like the fact that it can self remove malware and do updates on the cloud via Sophos Central. The solution seems pretty stable. We've had no issues so far. What I like about his program, is that it is easy to use and easy to manage. The filtering is very easy to do. You can segment and create profiles for usage very easily. 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. |
Cons | ||
The software was very buggy, to the point it had to be removed. In NGFW, Cisco should be aligned with the new technology and inspection intelligence because Cisco is far behind in this pipeline. Most users do not have awareness of this product's functionality and features. Cisco should do something to make them aware of them. That would be quite excellent and useful to organizations that are still using legacy data-center-security products. There was an error in the configuration, related to our uplink switches, that caused us to contact technical support, and it took a very long time to resolve the issue. With regards to stability, we had a critical bug come out during our evaluation... not good. The product would be improved if the GUI could be brought into the 21st Century. Cisco should improve its user interface design. There is a deep learning curve to the product if you are a newcomer. There is no support here in Georgia. If something goes wrong, support is not always very helpful with the other firewalls or other products. | Technical support for this solution can be improved. I would like to have logs, monitoring, and reporting for a month without extra fees. I think there could be more QoS features The Web-filter in this solution is not very good. FortiOS is not simple. This product could be improved with Active directory integration and better handling in IPsec and GRE Tunnels. 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. Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server. | Network security is in need of improvement. There needs to be a way that we can distinguish between educational institutions on Youtube and other Youtube videos. You can do this on Fortinet. Basically, they can block all other Youtube videos besides those that are from educational institutions. With Sophos, you either allow for all Youtube videos or none at all. They need to allow for more specification on different websites. They should expand their DDoS feature. It's basic. They need to enhance it. On reports, they sometimes give a summary, but it lists different users as unknown. There are times that I really want to know which user or which IP is causing a problem. It's easy to use, but it's hard to configure exact settings. They need to make it easier to access advanced features. The program is rather expensive. The UTM itself needs improvement. When you're navigating it seems like it takes forever to load anything. The hardware is okay. It's just the software that could be more responsive. The initial set up process can be a little tricky, especially when you are registering with Sophos using your registration number. Setup is not necessarily complex, but it's not trouble-free. You do have connectivity issues at the initial setup with registering the device on the Sophos platform to access the advanced features. It doesn't always go through the first time around. That may be an issue with the quality of our automation. I'm not sure exactly what it is. |
Pricing and Cost Advice | ||
Always consider what you might need to reduce your wasted time and invest it in other solutions. Watch out for hidden licensing and incredibly high annual maintenance costs. We paid about $7,000 for the Cisco firewall, plus another small Cisco router and the lead switch. It was under the combined license. It's a final agreement. The cost is a big factor for us. This is why we are using it only in our restricted area. They are very much higher than their competitors in the market. Licensing is expensive compared to other solutions. Pricing is high, but it is essentially a corporate decision. The cost is a bit high compared to other solutions in the market. Cisco recently has become very expensive. | The pricing for this solution is good. Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you. Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security. Each feature costs money, so it is important to study your needs. I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good. Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project. Our licensing costs are on a yearly basis. Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay. | We are paying about $1,500 yearly for the Enterprise Plus. As far as I know, there aren't costs above this standard fee. It's a suitable price and license. For licensing the XG 210, we paid approximately $3000 for three years. There are no additional fees on top of this. |
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Top Comparisons | ||
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Also Known As | ||
| Cisco ASA, Adaptive Security Appliance, ASA | FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate | |
Learn | ||
| Cisco | Fortinet | Sophos |
Overview  | ||
Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) is Cisco's end-to-end software solution and core operating system that powers the Cisco ASA product series. This software solution provides enterprise-level firewall capabilities for all types of ASA products, including blades, standalone appliances and virtual devices. Adaptive Security Appliance provides protection to organizations of all sizes, and allows end-users to access information securely anywhere, at any time, and through any device. Adaptive Security Appliance is also fully compatible with other key security technologies, and so provides organizations with an all-encompassing security solution. Block more threats and quickly mitigate those that do breach your defenses with the industry’s first threat-focused NGFW. | The FortiGate family of NG firewalls provides proven protection with unmatched performance across the network, from internal segments, to data centers, to cloud environments. FortiGates are available in a large range of sizes and form factors and are key components of the Fortinet Security Fabric, which enables immediate, intelligent defense against known and new threats throughout the entire network. | Sophos XG Firewall is next gen firewall that is optimized for today’s business, delivering all the protection and insights you need in a single, powerful appliance that’s easy to manage. |
Offer | ||
Learn more about Cisco ASA NGFW | Learn more about Fortinet FortiGate | Learn more about Sophos XG |
Sample Customers | ||
| There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow. | Pittsburgh Steelers, LUSH Cosmetics, NASDAQ, Verizon, Arizona State University, Levi Strauss & Co. Whitepaper and case studies here | Information Not Available |
Top Industries | ||
Financial Services Firm17% Comms Service Provider11% Manufacturing Company11% University8% Software R&D Company28% Comms Service Provider15% Media Company8% Manufacturing Company6% | Comms Service Provider11% Financial Services Firm11% Real Estate/Law Firm9% Healthcare Company9% Software R&D Company21% Comms Service Provider14% Cloud Provider7% Media Company7% | Mining And Metals Company22% Financial Services Firm11% Energy/Utilities Company11% Wholesaler/Distributor11% Software R&D Company19% Comms Service Provider15% Media Company9% Construction Company7% |
Company Size | ||
Small Business36% Midsize Enterprise25% Large Enterprise38% Small Business37% Midsize Enterprise24% Large Enterprise39% | Small Business49% Midsize Enterprise25% Large Enterprise26% Small Business53% Midsize Enterprise29% Large Enterprise18% | Small Business60% Midsize Enterprise24% Large Enterprise16% Small Business44% Midsize Enterprise29% Large Enterprise27% |
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Sophos XG and other solutions. Updated: September 2019.
371,917 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See also Fortinet FortiGate Reviews, Sophos XG Reviews, and our list of Best Firewalls Companies.
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