We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks PA-Series and Sophos XG based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."
"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."
"FortiGate has a strong security topic which allows all of the Fortinet devices to communicate and share information which makes their security more powerful."
"The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."
"Overall, the pricing of the solution is very good. The product offers good value."
"With FortiClient, you can easily connect when you are home, check out what you want to do, and connect to your network when you are not at work. You can switch on servers and you can check what is wrong."
"It's inexpensive compared to some of the other technology out there."
"It's super reliable. I don't think I've ever had a reliability issue with it."
"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The tool's most valuable feature is WildFire."
"Comprehensive logging is essential for monitoring and analysis purposes. For remote users, the firewall can be configured as a VPN concentrator, with VPN policies defined within the firewall settings."
"The product's initial setup process was simple."
"It is stable when you set up something and put it into production. Once it works, you don't have other tasks or actions to perform."
"The solution provides good customer support."
"The cloud-based aspect helps significantly. It integrates seamlessly with other Palo products like Prisma Cloud, offers robust VPN protection, and it's all in one convenient package."
"It offers a seamless transition from one option to another, making it exceptionally versatile and user-friendly in an enterprise setting."
"The performance is good."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Definitely, its usability is very good, and it's a very robust firewall."
"The product is very easy to explore. It has a very good layout."
"The updates are helpful and add to the solution in a positive way."
"I rate Sophos support 10 out of 10. When my device was freezing, I contacted them, and sent me a replacement. It only took a couple of days for Sophos to ship the device to Kenya. I didn't have a redundant device, so it was urgent."
"The most valuable feature is the central dashboard"
"The interface is very user-friendly and it's easy to manage."
"Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."
"It could use better throughput on some of the smaller boxes for the branch offices."
"The command line is complicated, and the interface could be better."
"The cloud features and integration could be improved."
"The ease of use could be improved."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"Fortinet currently has many products bundled with FortiGate including the basic firewall and load balancer, and I think that that they need to have separate product portfolios for each of these specialized services."
"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."
"There are constant updates for the operating system. It is a nice thing also, but it has its own disadvantages. Continuous updates are there. The users face issues like, how often do I need to update that? Within a period of five months, I'm updating it two or three times. It gives them a feeling that they are not confident about their product and have to update it so frequently."
"Currently, they are not protected with any data security when they work from home or outside the network. They surf the Internet directly and should implement a proxy or firewall to monitor the data between the endpoint and the internet."
"The product's high prices are an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The UI definitely needs work. In my opinion, the UI could be simpler and more user-friendly for the average user."
"Utilizing these features as a unified solution can require additional setup, particularly when incorporating Panorama for centralized management, which may involve extra costs."
"I encountered a slight issue with the application portal, which was not functioning correctly."
"Palo Alto should integrate artificial intelligence for security purposes in the background for well-known threats and new risks coming to the market."
"The interface is complex."
"Inability to investigate incidents, there is no tracking."
"The SD-WAN capability is not as good as it is in FortiGate, and is something that should be improved."
"When I call, I have to wait at least one to two hours to reach them."
"The VPN device could be improved upon."
"I would like to see the performance improved."
"The interface can bit a bit more user-friendly."
"I would like to have more artificial intelligence in the web monitoring service that comes with it. It should alert us when particular events happen. It has already got some of that. I know that it is more of a service, and Sophos is already looking at it. It is called SIEM."
"I am using the Azure Active Directory in my company and it was complicated to integrate this solution with Azure."
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is ranked 17th in Firewalls with 28 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 6th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is rated 8.6, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series writes "Offers trained customer support, stability and ease of use ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is most compared with OPNsense, SonicWall NSa, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Netgate pfSense and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and Sophos UTM. See our Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs. Sophos XG report.
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