We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Sophos Cyberoam UTM 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."The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."
"LinkGreat firewall capabilities"
"The next-gen features, the unified threat management capabilities are something that just about everybody is interested in at this point."
"What's most important is the ease of use."
"It is easy to use. We chose this product for the possibility to have virtual domains (VDOMs). We are building another company in the group, and we would like to split the firewalling rules and policies between these two companies. Each company would be able to manage its own policies and security rules, which is an advantage of Fortinet FortiGate. We can define VDOMs, and every company can manage its own VDOM as if it has its own physical firewall, but in fact, we would be using the same physical appliance because we are also using the same internet lines. So, it allows us to reuse the existing resources without the disadvantage of having to compromise on policies and security. Each company can choose its own way of working."
"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
"The initial setup was simple and fast."
"I have found pfSense to be stable."
"My company mainly works in the health and educational domain, schools and universities. I prevent the improper use of content from schools and universities. I defend the medical records for the patients in our hospitals. That is the main use case for me for the firewall."
"It is effective. We have not had any problems."
"The tools' most valuable feature is load balancing."
"We like the fact that the product is open-source. It's free to use. There are no costs associated with it."
"The built-in open VPN and the VPN Client Export are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"The ability to create a VPN allows me to monitor branch offices from a central location."
"Web Filtering and Application Filtering saves a lot of my bandwidth and improves the user's productivity."
"The solution's interface is user-friendly, and the web protection is good. The tool is highly stable. The product is scalable. The technical support is good. We chose Sophos Cyberoam UTM because their focus on security research is higher compared to other brands. It's an all-in-one solution with antivirus, EDR, wireless protection, and web protection integrated into one box. The initial setup was straightforward."
"In terms of features and user-friendliness, the solution is good. It’s very stable. The solution is scalable. In Sophos Cyberoam UTM, the most valuable features are web and application filtering, routing functionalities, and VPN. It has helped us manage the bandwidth."
"The solution has good load balancers."
"The product, itself, doesn't seem to have any bugs or glitches."
"The performance has been good overall."
"I like the SSL VPN connection. Cyberoam works well for controlling users and authenticating their connection to the internet."
"We are using it as a security shield. It does not allow access before that in case we have restricted a few things from users, so it helps me in that."
"The firewall engine is not so strong as of now, in my opinion... My second concern is that, while they have Zero-day vulnerability and anti-malware features, the threat engine needs to be strengthened, its efficiency can be increased."
"Fortinet needs more memory to save the log files. We need it to save the logs on the hardware and not in the cloud. I know this feature is available in FortiCloud, but if we need this log locally, it is not available."
"Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."
"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."
"I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."
"I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."
"The solution is very expensive."
"There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs."
"The main problem with pfSense is that it lacks adequate ransomware protection."
"They could improve their commercial stance and be more agile when it comes to the commercial pricing of enterprise deals."
"The VPN feature of the solution could improve by adding better functionality and providing easier configure ability."
"In an upcoming release, the reporting could be more user-friendly. For example, the reporting in graphs and charts for the host can be cumbersome."
"The stability could be improved."
"It is not centrally managed, where you log into the website and can see all your services there. We would like to be able to see is all the configurations from a central interface on all our pfSenses."
"We would like to see ready-made profiles to cover most users' needs."
"Netgate pfSense needs to improve the configuration for a VPN."
"The product needs to improve its pricing."
"Smaller CR15 units don’t have a hard disc or built in IView software. These units could do with that feature."
"The product fails to provide proper reports, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The reporting should be improved as well as the backup."
"The setup is a bit complex, so we needed help from a consultant."
"Sophos Cyberoam UTM could have a more advanced reporting function."
"Maybe network traffic analysis for malware and malicious behavior."
"There are some issues with logs and report limitations."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Sophos Cyberoam UTM is ranked 9th in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 81 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Sophos Cyberoam UTM is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos Cyberoam UTM writes "Stable and has a straightforward setup; reporting is fast and easy". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Sophos Cyberoam UTM is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos UTM, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Sophos XG and OPNsense. See our Netgate pfSense vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM report.
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