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Cisco Secure Firewall vs SonicWall NSv comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 4, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.
Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Firewall boosts ROI with enhanced security, cost reductions, and compatibility, proving its value and efficiency over time.
Sentiment score
4.9
SonicWall NSv efficiently saves time and costs, enhancing productivity and revenue opportunities with streamlined features and ease of deployment.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is that there's no waste in any infrastructure cost and licensing costs for us.
Assistant Vice President at PLDT Enterprise
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is the single pane of glass, which is a huge plus for us.
Network Engineer at a government with 10,001+ employees
The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Secure Firewall is reliability and robust network design.
OT NETWORK MANAGER at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Investment was challenging but strategic, given its advantages like 30% depreciation in the Indian ecosystem by the third year.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
I have seen a return on investment that includes money saved, time saved, and fewer employees needed.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
Based on SonicWall NSv, it helped us to easily navigate through everything and get done what we needed in a very quick manner.
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Secure Firewall's customer service is praised for its knowledgeable support, though initial response times and experiences vary.
Sentiment score
8.5
SonicWall NSv is highly praised for its prompt, effective, and friendly customer support, often rated highly for reliability.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
I have to provide many logs, yet problems remain unresolved, often requiring workarounds rather than solutions.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I have been working with them on firewalls, wireless, switching, and routing, and the support is the best.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
They have expertise and provide solutions for the most difficult problems.
Network Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Customer support for SonicWall NSv is top-notch.
IT systems and network engineer at Nelo Global Technologies Africa Limited
Whenever I create a case regarding any issue, their support is prompt and effective, adhering to the SLA, which leaves our customers very satisfied.
Project Manager in IT at IT Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
I would rate the customer support a 10 out of 10.
HPC engineer at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.
Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Firewall offers scalable solutions with adaptable clustering, despite some licensing concerns, enhancing integration and management ease.
Sentiment score
7.5
SonicWall NSv excels in scalable, seamless cloud transitions with efficient expansion, despite setup challenges and VM performance adjustments.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Scalability presents a challenge.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Compared to FortiGate and Palo Alto, it lags in configuration and other aspects.
Senior Network Administrator at iib
Even with the highest one, the 4600, we still face issues, particularly when transitioning between screens; it becomes very slow.
Network Security Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
It has met our organization's needs by allowing us to scale our security posture consistently with our cloud compute growth, increased traffic and user areas, new cloud regions, and policy complexity growth.
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Nonetheless, the product is robust, eliminating major scalability concerns.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate its scalability as eight to nine.
Owner at IT CARE
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.
Sentiment score
7.4
Cisco Secure Firewall is stable, with some VPN issues; recent updates improve stability, highlighting the importance of proper configuration.
Sentiment score
8.4
SonicWall NSv offers reliable, secure performance for over 100 users, with quick support, minor issues, and strong stability.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
We have often encountered split-brain scenarios during failover processes and code upgrades, which have been persistent problems for us.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
We work with a cluster with high availability, so if something goes wrong, we have it functioning.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional performance and stability.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
Understanding and handling these devices onsite was limited, requiring external support.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
It rates around eight to nine in terms of stability, and it is quite good.
Owner at IT CARE
Regarding security, we have not had any issues since we have been using SonicWall NSv, and everything is usually up to date.
DevOps Support Engineer at Bluegrass
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.
Cisco Secure Firewall is hindered by complex UI, licensing issues, outdated features, and needs improvements in scalability and integration.
SonicWall NSv users desire better pricing, support, cloud integration, user interfaces, and improvements in reporting, authentication, and setup processes.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
Firepower Management Center is quite out of date compared to other vendors.
Team Lead at WM Group
The integration between Cisco products themselves presents difficulties, such as SD-WAN configuration.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I believe that application-based QoS policy is very important given the current environment. This feature should be available for application QoS as well in this firewall.
Project Manager in IT at IT Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
When the software was downloaded, optimal hardware utilization was lacking, making hardware upgrades inevitable.
CEO at a recruiting/HR firm with 11-50 employees
Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details.
Owner at IT CARE
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.
Cisco Secure Firewall has high pricing and complex licensing, with significant ongoing costs despite potential discounts.
SonicWall NSv pricing is moderate to high with costs starting at $25,000, appreciated for its technology and ease of use.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
It's good to have them, however, it costs us a lot.
It Administration at Dilcon Community School
It's considered a premium, but people pay that price for Cisco.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
There are a lot of in-place contracts for us that provide the benefit of discounts.
Solutions Architect at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
The Global VPN will be chargeable in our product, unlike Fortinet or Sophos, where it is free—this is a major difference.
Owner at IT CARE
SonicWall NSv was a bit expensive for the subscription.
Network Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that it is low cost.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers comprehensive security with robust access control, scalability, and advanced protection features, enhancing enterprise security.
SonicWall NSv offers user-friendly, powerful security features with advanced threat protection, automation, and cost-effective solutions for businesses.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
What stands out positively about Cisco is their training and support, which has effectively prepared engineers to work with their products.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
This is very important to my organization, as we work extensively with security because we are a bank, so we can keep the data safe.
Network Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Cisco Secure Firewall allows me to safeguard Layer 7 or Layer 3 and manage the security rules with the business needs of my organization.
The cloud delivery threat intelligence spots suspicious behavior in just a few seconds, stopping it before execution, automatically blocking and quarantining files.
IT systems and network engineer at Nelo Global Technologies Africa Limited
SonicWall NSv positively impacts my organization by providing firewall capabilities as a virtual firewall while offering the capabilities of a physical firewall with great performance and reliability.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions
SonicWall NSv has positively impacted my organization by helping us access our whitelisted web apps since we manage web apps while ensuring proper standards to prevent any information leaks.
DevOps Support Engineer at Bluegrass
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Cisco Secure Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
429
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
SonicWall NSv
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 7.0%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSv is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.8%
Cisco Secure Firewall7.0%
SonicWall NSv0.3%
Other73.9%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
Phil Shiflett - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
SG
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Secures east-west cloud traffic and improves threat visibility through deep inspection
SonicWall NSv offers great features. I cannot pinpoint a single best feature, but the best feature is the ability to deliver the full, high-efficiency inspection power of a physical SonicWall, including zero-day defense using Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection to the cloud, efficiently removing the performance versus cloud trade-off typically associated with virtual firewalls. Regarding deep memory inspection and real-time zero-day defense in SonicWall NSv, deep memory inspection is distinct from traditional sandboxing methods because it is focused on what is happening in the memory during file execution time, rather than just observing file system behavior. The deep memory inspection process addresses all challenges by employing a proprietary technique within the secure analysis environment, focusing on CPU-level analysis and real-time verdict. Those are the key points. SonicWall NSv's user interface is quite clear and easy to navigate. If someone has not worked with SonicWall and this is their first experience with the platform, I would highly recommend it. It is very easy to navigate and very user-friendly. SonicWall NSv has positively impacted our organization because we gained clear visibility into our network, and it helps to identify potential security issues that we had. We were able to remediate those issues, and so far, we have had a great experience with SonicWall NSv. We were able to manage approximately 99% of network-based attacks through this platform.
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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Security Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise188
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business180
Midsize Enterprise126
Large Enterprise212
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

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As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
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...
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...
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...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?
The product helps improve our security.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it's okay.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?
While I have not encountered significant challenges, during the configuration part, I noticed that some features, suc...
 

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
SonicWall Network Security Virtual
 

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
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.
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall vs. SonicWall NSv and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.