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Azure Firewall vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
334
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Azure Firewall
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (13th), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
Sophos Cyberoam UTM
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (10th)
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
AnvarSadique - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy setup and effective traffic routing enhance security
In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls. However, the functional aspects of Azure Firewall met our needs. While I found the interface not particularly user-friendly, this is a common issue across vendors.
Dipak M Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized management enhances remote work with comprehensive security and efficient VPN
The VPN is the most usable feature and is advisable for us to work from home. It provides bandwidth management, category management of websites, blocking certain elements, IPS blocking, DDoS protection, and VPN management between sites and clients. It offers centralized management, which allows us to use everything from a central console.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was straightforward."
"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."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"Fortinet FortiGate is among the best options in the market."
"What's most important is the ease of use."
"The license management is very valuable. You can get a new license each year, or you can enroll every two to four years. You can get the logs, and you will get the information on the risk in your network and the entire organization. With this information, you can take action on your actives, computers, or devices. You can bring your own device as an SSE."
"Its performance in fulfilling our requirements has been satisfactory."
"I would recommend using Fortinet FortiGate because of its usability."
"I think that one of the best features is definitely the premium version, along with the IDPs in terms of the intrusion detection and prevention system."
"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."
"There is not a single feature or single product that can ensure security."
"The SIEM that Azure Firewall provides us is very robust."
"It is easy for me to protect certain ports or even the IP addresses, as well as do whitelisting, blacklisting, and the FQDN when we want virtual machines connected and to protect certain websites."
"The firewall policy control, URL content control, and antivirus are all the most valuable aspects. Threat prevention is as well quite good."
"In terms of the reporting, it's beautiful. It integrates with Azure monitoring and with Azure policies. That piece is a big help. You can set governing policies and you can use the application firewall, as well as the Azure Firewall, to enforce those policies."
"One of the notable advantages of Azure Firewall is its user-friendly interface, which closely resembles or shares similarities with other Azure components."
"Web application filtering eases internet access control."
"The VPN is excellent on the solution."
"Web Filtering and Application Filtering saves a lot of my bandwidth and improves the user's productivity."
"The firewall feature has different branches, such as extended firewalls."
"The most valuable feature is the IPSec forwarding."
"The most valuable feature of Sophos Cyberoam UTM is the SD-WAN gateway."
"The reporting features are very good."
"I believe it's the advanced security software that offers SMPP protection for the agent."
 

Cons

"At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing."
"I don't really have anything negative to say as far as Fortinet firewalls are concerned. If anything, they can support a user a little bit better. They can stop being so time-sensitive about how much time the support call has taken, and they can help you do it yourself."
"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."
"The ease of use could be improved."
"Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better."
"Application management can be improved."
"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"Currently, it only supports IP addresses, so you have to be specific about the IPs that are in your environment."
"It needs a lot of improvement, especially on intruder detection. They are working hard on that."
"It's a little heavy compared to a FortiGate or other firewalls."
"Maybe one of the things in the tool where improvements are needed as there are some shortcomings consist of Azure Firewall Manager."
"In terms of improvements, I think the price could be a concern as Azure services are often more expensive compared to other firewalls."
"You have to have a defined IP range within your network to associate it with your network. The problem is you have to plan ahead of time if you expect to use the firewall in the future so that you don't have to reconfigure your subnets or that specific IP range. Other than that, I don't any issues. I use it for basic configuration for a single application, so I really don't try to leverage it for multiple applications where I might find some complexity or challenges."
"An Azure firewall is not a real firewall."
"I would appreciate it if Azure Firewall included built-in VPN capabilities."
"We use different workarounds and find different solutions for it, depending on the client's needs. We shouldn't have to, we should just be able to use the product as it comes with Cyberoam, rather than having to revert to other products."
"The documentation is not straightforward."
"The solution is at its end of life and some of the appliances are finishing."
"There needs to be more documentation that users can access to help them understand the solution or troubleshoot as necessary."
"It isn't missing anything."
"The solution could be cheaper."
"The technical support response time could be faster."
"The configuration requires an expert to be set up, so it could be made simpler."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."
"It's very competitive."
"The licensing costs are very low."
"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."
"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."
"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."
"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."
"The pricing of Azure Firewall is pay-as-you-go. Fortinet also has a pay-as-you-go model, but Azure's pricing is higher and, with FortiGate, you also have the license."
"Azure Firewall is expensive."
"I rate the product pricing a five out of ten."
"Azure Firewall is quite an expensive product."
"It is expensive, especially with the premium functions. For one of the clients, it was very expensive. You have to use it more at an enterprise level, and there, it was not at an enterprise level. So, it was very costly, but security-wise, it was a very wise decision to use it that way."
"Azure Firewalls operate on a pay-as-you-go model, similar to cloud services."
"The total cost of ownership is much less than Palo Alto, Cisco, or any other brand."
"Azure Firewall is more expensive. If Microsoft can make Azure Firewall cheaper, I can see that all clients will think of using it. One client used FortiGate because it is much cheaper. Some clients ask me for Cisco, but in the cloud estimate, I found its cost is the same as Azure Firewall."
"There is a license for this solution and it is priced competitively. We paid approximately $2,000 for the license."
"I have no comment about the pricing."
"I rate Cyberoam's pricing a five or six out of ten since it is affordable."
"The solution comes with a yearly licensing fee."
"It is not cheap."
"Separate license keys are required for different solutions that we implement in the server room, which are an additional cost."
"The price is very competitive and the licensing is easy."
"The solution’s pricing is average. The product is worth the money."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
32%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Media Company
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What is a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firew...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...
What do you like most about Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
The solution works perfectly without any users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
The features and the overall package provided by Sophos are satisfactory in terms of sizing and pricing, which influe...
What needs improvement with Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
I face issues when connecting to the VPN since it requires an authenticator. It would be beneficial if phone calls or...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
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Gulf Corporation for Technology, Maridive & Oil Services, Fidelity Bank, Petra University, Capital FM Kenya, Safari Park Hotel and Casino, Mayfair Casino, Pacific International Lines, Mozambique Ministry of Education, University of Namibia, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, University of Hawai, New Delhi Municipal Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall vs. Sophos Cyberoam UTM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.