Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

Cisco and Sangfor are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.2, while Sangfor is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco holds a 7.6% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sangfor’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sangfor users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 5, 2026

Cisco Secure Firewall and Sangfor NGAF compete in the network security category. Cisco Secure Firewall has the upper hand in brand recognition and reliability, whereas Sangfor NGAF is favored for its advanced integrated features.

Features: Cisco Secure Firewall offers extensive integration capabilities with other Cisco products, flexible deployment options, and robust threat intelligence. Sangfor NGAF provides powerful application-layer protection, comprehensive SSL decryption, and automatic incident response.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Firewall needs better pricing models and could enhance automation features. Sangfor NGAF could improve its support structure and documentation and expand its integration capabilities with third-party products.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco offers a streamlined deployment process with extensive documentation and a well-established support network. Sangfor NGAF provides a simpler deployment model with responsive customer service, although it lacks some of Cisco's support infrastructures.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall typically comes with a higher setup cost, justified by its reliability and integration opportunities. Sangfor NGAF offers a more budget-friendly pricing model with appealing ROI, especially for smaller organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Sangfor NGAF Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Sangfor NGAF

April 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 16.0%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 7.6%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	16.0%
Cisco Secure Firewall	7.6%
Sangfor NGAF	1.1%
Other	75.3%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav

Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd

Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches

Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.

Read full review

Phil Shiflett

Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment

Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention

Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.

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Zaid Farooqui

CIO at Indus Motor Company

Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support

We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate has been a Perimeter Security which defends our network from Internet attackers, armed with zero-day exploits of common Internet services like HTTP and SMTP."

"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."

"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"The threat prevention is the solution's most valuable aspect."

"Security, SD-WAN, and Streetscape are valuable features."

"Because of the flexibility, the advanced user features, the high level of security controls, and the tweaks that are available for the user, I would rate this solution an eight out of ten."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include the simple user interface."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"This solution made our organization more secure and gave us better control."

"Collaboration with other Cisco products such as ISE and others is the most valuable feature."

"Cisco Secure Firewall is reliable, which is why we opted for it during the pandemic for our remote users."

"The remote access, VPN, and ACL features are valuable. We are using role-based access for individuals."

"It is a good product; it is easy to manage, but you need to have good experience and good knowledge, and you need to configure it properly."

"The feature my customers find the most valuable is the exportability."

"The security the solution offers is very good; security-wise, it's the top in the world."

"Cisco’s AnyConnect SSL VPN is by far the best client VPN technology I’ve ever had to deploy and manage."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pros

"SSL VPN is the best feature."

"Sangfor is a good solution that provides a WAF and firewall solution; most other vendors, like Sophos and Fortinet and Cisco, only provide one solution, and that's a valuable feature of Sangfor."

"Sangfor serves most of the basic purposes of a firewall, is particularly good in the DPI where we can inspect the inbound and outbound traffic on a very granular level, gives a very good predictive measure as well as the current measure of things going on in our network, and gives us value for money overall."

"This product is very user-friendly, and its Layer 7 security is very much improved."

"The stability of Sangfor NGAF is good."

"Particularly good in the DPI where we can inspect inbound and outbound traffic."

"I think the tool has the feature to detect and kill ransomware in three seconds."

"We are Sangfor Gold partners and I'd recommend this solution for the SMB market, as it is cost-effective and reliable."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

Cons

"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."

"I wish that they could integrate zero-trust technology into Fortinet FortiGate. I am not sure whether it has been done already, but if they could implement that, it would help significantly."

"If I had any criticism that I would give FortiGate, it would be that they need to stop changing their logging format. Every time we do a firmware upgrade, it is a massive issue on the SIM. Parsers have to be rebuilt. Even the FortiGate guys came in and said that they don't play well in the sandbox."

"The configuration option availability is not 100% from the website of the FortiGate web management site."

"Sometimes it's super hard to figure out what's wrong with a FortiGate VPN unless you know the commands on the CLI to see the flow and how to interpret it."

"The union with the two technologies, endpoint, and firewall, doesn't work well."

"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Sometimes there are stability issues, as I referenced before, or just the general TAC support, while good, could be better."

"The stability is not the best."

"It lacks management. For me, it still doesn't have a proper management tool or GUI for configuration, logging, and visualization. Its management is not that easy. It is also not very flexible and easy to configure. They used to have a product called CSM, but it is no longer being developed. FortiGate is better than this solution in terms of GUI, flexibility, and user-friendliness."

"The product would be improved if the GUI could be brought into the 21st Century."

"It needs better documentation for when we present solutions to non-technical people."

"The one thing that the ASAs don't have is a central management point. We have a lot of our environments on FTD right now. So, we are using a Firewall Management Center (FMC) to manage all those. The ASAs don't really have that, but they are easy to use if you physically go into them and manage them."

"I wish the Cisco interface was not so granular. Check Point was easier to create specific rules than with ASAv."

"Cisco wasn't first-to-market with NGFWs... they should look at what other vendors are doing and try not only to be on the same wavelength but a little bit better."

More Cisco Secure Firewall cons

"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."

"I would be happy if Sangfor developed a firewall designed specifically for home use, as well as for small businesses such as clinics and so on. A household version of the Sangfor firewall for your personal computer or laptop would be ideal, in my opinion."

"The solution has too many bugs and these slow down the implementation."

"Lacks consistency in terms of filtering certain websites and applications."

"It does not offer any recommendations on how to mitigate or control attacks."

"The solution should be able to work in a hybrid setup."

"They need to improve their research team and they need to study their data to analyze it and build the product."

"The firewall system needs gradual improvements because there are more threats and challenges every day."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think price-wise, the solution is totally reasonable since it has many products to serve, starting from small homes to massive scale sites."

"The pricing is fair."

"It is not the cheapest one, but its price is very competitive."

"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."

"The pricing is perfect."

"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."

"We are on an annual license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"We pay a lot of money for it."

"Firepower has a very high cost and you have to pay for the standby as well, meaning that the cost is doubled."

"Watch out for hidden licensing and incredibly high annual maintenance costs."

"We are partners with Cisco. They are always one call away, which is good. They know how to keep their customers happy."

"It's very competitive with other products."

"Once you know what the product is, it is not that bad. Yes, it is expensive. When you try to get a license, it is like, "Well, I don't know which one of these I need. And, if I don't buy it now, then I will probably be back later. Now, I have to justify the money." Typically, you end up just buying everything that you don't use most of the time. It is one of those solutions where you get what you pay for. If you don't know what you need, just buy everything. We have additional licenses that we don't use."

"I think Cisco's price is in the right space now. They have discounts for customers at various levels. I think they're in the right spot. However, Cisco can be expensive when you factor in these additional features."

"If we compare it with FortiGate and the co-existing ASA, FortiGate is better in price."

More Cisco Secure Firewall pricing and cost advice

"We purchased one year technical support and return to factory support, and we also purchased one-year technical support services. So those were additional."

"Sangfor NGAF is a cheaply priced product, especially if I consider the previous product that was used in my company."

"I rate the product price as one on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

"Sangfor NGAF price is reasonable and there is an annual license. However, the maintenance cost can be a bit high."

"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."

"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."

"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."

"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user206346

Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting

Mar 11, 2015

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks

Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	367
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	193

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	191
Midsize Enterprise	129
Large Enterprise	232

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	10

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...

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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 ...

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Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?

One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...

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How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?

It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...

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Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?

The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?

The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardwa...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?

We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deploye...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Cisco Secure Firewall

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 13% of the time

H3C SecPath Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 7% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 6% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 5% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall

May 2026

Download Cisco Secure Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

April 2026

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall, Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - BYOL

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Cisco Secure Firewall provides comprehensive network security with advanced features such as application visibility, URL filtering, and malware protection. It combines a user-friendly interface with robust VPN capabilities, making it a reliable choice for varying network environments and industry applications.

Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional protection with its integration into Cisco's broader ecosystem, ensuring enhanced threat detection and policy unification. Despite its complexity in command-line interfaces and management, Cisco Secure Firewall remains a potent tool for safeguarding data. It is widely adopted for edge security, VPN services, perimeter defense, and traffic segmentation, especially in hybrid settings. Essential sectors like banking and telecom benefit from its stable connectivity and centralized security management. Though there are challenges with costs and support for third-party APIs, the firewall's scalability and high availability provide comprehensive support for protecting network assets.

What are the key features of Cisco Secure Firewall?

Application Visibility: Offers in-depth visibility of application traffic to monitor and protect against threats.
Advanced Malware Protection: Protects against known and emerging malware threats with powerful detection capabilities.
URL Filtering: Manages and restricts access to websites, enhancing organizational data security.
VPN Capabilities: Ensures secure remote access and encrypted communication through strong VPN features.
Integration with Cisco Ecosystem: Enhances security measures with seamless integration with Cisco's suite of security tools.

What benefits and ROI should be expected from Cisco Secure Firewall?

Comprehensive Protection: Offers multi-layered security for diverse network environments, increasing overall data protection.
Performance Efficiency: High availability and scalability lead to improved network performance and resource management.
Management Simplification: Centralized security management streamlines policy deployment across networks.
Enhanced Threat Detection: Integration capabilities improve threat detection and mitigation for better security posture.

Cisco Secure Firewall is widely implemented across sectors like banking, education, ISPs, and telecoms. It fortifies data centers and network edge security, delivering strong protection for client access, hybrid environments, and intrusion prevention. In these industries, firewall solutions ensure secure connectivity and manage RTU traffic effectively, leveraging centralized management and integration with Cisco's security tools.

Cisco

Sangfor NGAF offers a user-friendly firewall solution with a strong virus database and competitive pricing. It supports SSL VPN connectivity, intrusion detection, and is known for easy deployment and integration capabilities.

Sangfor NGAF is a comprehensive security platform providing robust network protection through its application control and detailed threat insights. While effective in preventing threats and ensuring network security, it has areas needing improvement such as real-time reporting and system support. It delivers secure internet and VPN connections, proficiently handling malware threats. However, it faces challenges with user experience, reporting capabilities, hardware scalability, and needs better third-party integration. Licensing costs are noted to be high, and there are performance variations between versions.

What are the key features of Sangfor NGAF?

User-friendly deployment: Offers an uncomplicated setup process.
Robust virus database: Provides reliable threat detection.
SSL VPN connectivity: Ensures secure remote access.
Application control: Manages application usage for enhanced security.
Intrusion detection: Detects unauthorized access attempts.
URL filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Sangfor NGAF?

Affordability: Competitive pricing compared to peers.
Integration: Good capabilities with existing systems.
Support: Noted for providing reliable customer service.
Threat prevention: Effective in securing networks against various threats.

Sangfor NGAF is widely used across industries including education, healthcare, and finance for its reliable network security. It is favored for securing internal servers, offering robust threat protection, and managing bandwidth efficiently at a budget-friendly rate.

Sangfor

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

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.

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Sangfor NGAF

April 2026

Free Report: Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Sangfor NGAF

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