We performed a comparison between Azure 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 main difference between these two products is the scalability. While Azure Firewall users say the scalability could be improved, users of Sophos XG are satisfied with the solution’s capability to scale. Azure users also mention that the interface and the reporting, logging, and monitoring features all need improvement.
"FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features."
"The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"Their proxy-based inspection is responsive and secure."
"The inspection and web security features are most valuable."
"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."
"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."
"The product offers very good security."
"The Layer four features are okay and meet my business needs."
"Network filtering is valuable. The scalability capability from the cloud-native service helps us a lot because it simplifies our day-to-day maintenance activity."
"Azure Firewall is a cloud-native solution that removes the pain of load balancers."
"The initial setup is straightforward; Azure Firewall does not have a complex implementation process. It is very simple; you just need to enable the service within Azure. It does not require any maintenance because it is managed by Microsoft, that is, it is a fully managed service."
"The solution is very stable. When comparing it to other environments, it's actually quite impressive."
"We use the solution for application and server deployment."
"It's auto-scalable, which is a great feature."
"One of the notable advantages of Azure Firewall is its user-friendly interface, which closely resembles or shares similarities with other Azure components."
"The features that I have found most valuable are first the Web Filter and the Web Application Firewall SD-Wan on Version 18. Additionally, RED Tunnels allows a Sophos vital to speak to another Sophos vital in headquarters."
"I particularly like the visibility it provides into network traffic, allowing us to identify and address issues efficiently."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The solution seems to be very easy to use."
"The stability has been excellent."
"I've tried out Sophos XG a little. It has a good interface that's very user-friendly, but I haven't used all of its functions because I'm only configuring and running the system."
"I like the web filter, application filter, and VBA."
"The SD-WAN feature stands out as the most valuable aspect."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"The inability to scale the FortiAnalyzer to match our growth necessitates the purchase of new hardware."
"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
"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."
"There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved."
"The solution needs to improve its integration with cybersecurity."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now."
"This solution is not mature when it comes to handling perimeter traffic like internet browsing."
"For larger enterprises, they need to adjust the scalability."
"Azure has new versions including a premium firewall. But I would like to see them not put the premium features on Azure Firewall Premium alone because it is quite expensive."
"An Azure firewall is not a real firewall."
"It's a little heavy compared to a FortiGate or other firewalls."
"The reporting, logging, and monitoring features, as well as the flexibility of the policies, need to be improved."
"The threat intelligence aspect of this particular firewall is not at par with other providers."
"There are a number of things that need to be simplified, but it's mostly costs. It needs to be simplified because it's pretty expensive."
"I would like to have a more efficient login process."
"The management console could be improved and the solution lacks good technical support."
"Some of the firewall rules are complicated for us to understand, they should be simplified."
"Sophos XG could improve by coming out with more innovative feature developments."
"It could offer a DNS Filter for blocking botnet networks."
"Could have a more simplified functionality for users."
"The current bandwidth consumption is no longer shown in the XG and XGS."
"Some businesses require Dynamic IP. This feature would be useful if it worked."
Azure Firewall is ranked 21st in Firewalls with 33 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. Azure Firewall is rated 7.2, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Azure Firewall writes "Easy to use and configure but could be more robust". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". Azure Firewall is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and Meraki MX. See our Azure 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.