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Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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

Citrix Gateway
Ranking in Universal Access Gateways
1st
Ranking in SSL VPN
1st
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Universal Access Gateways
2nd
Ranking in SSL VPN
6th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Universal Access Gateways category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 39.7%, down from 50.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 39.7%, down from 50.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Universal Access Gateways Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix Gateway39.7%
SonicWall SMA39.7%
Other20.599999999999994%
Universal Access Gateways
 

Featured Reviews

PEDRO FONSECA - PeerSpot reviewer
Citrix VDI & Windows Virtualization Specialist at ATOS
Modular security has protected remote access and simplifies endpoint compliance management
The most valuable feature in Citrix Gateway is the securable, modular solution. The most useful behaviors that Citrix has is that you can secure the applications and all the infrastructure in a modular way. You can segment the securization in groups, allowing you to do a lot of things. Citrix Gateway is really strong and secure for the companies to have the Endpoint Analysis feature configured. You can configure this to check what the company needs to be checked. Companies need to authorize some devices to check if antivirus can accomplish the necessities of the company. The final appliance is really secure for accessing the company's network resources. You have many ways to maintain security protocols. One way is using Citrix Gateway, and another is the Citrix policies where you can configure many things in desktops and applications published for the company.
BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have users in a remote environment that might require to access the service."
"It's easy to use. Also, the deployment part is perfect."
"It's a stable solution while it's running. We don't have to work on it a lot. There are not many bugs, so it's easy to use if you deploy successfully. You can be sure of an uninterrupted solution for quite a long time. Citrix is a good product."
"If you need to share resources across a corporation, I would recommend this solution."
"I like the very flexible configuration of Citrix; it's very useful for our regulations where we are able to log features and combinations, and it offers a greater variety of features than any other gateway."
"Stability is good I'd say; we did not face any issues so far and it's been running smoothly for around 5000 users."
"For our use case, it was scalable. There were at least 25 end users using this solution from remote locations. And once the connection was established, there weren't any complaints."
"It adds great security to your outfacing information."
"I like the load balancing capability."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"I am very satisfied with the technical support."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."
"Secure remote access is now available from home offices."
"The performance is good."
"The advanced threat protection and the endpoint control features of SonicWall SMA have helped improve security measures tremendously."
"SonicWall SMA has the most valuable feature of proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP."
 

Cons

"Its interface could be made a lot easier. It is very kludgy."
"The initial setup is not straightforward."
"We have experienced issues relating to multi-factor authentication."
"The solution has unnecessary limitations."
"Technical support is not great. There is no proactive support for patches that have been released."
"The dashboard or interface should be more clear in reporting issues. Integration with other applications should be more user-friendly."
"The initial setup was complex to install."
"Citrix Gateway has a lot of limitations, cloud limitations as a starting point."
"The user interface could be improved."
"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers."
"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."
"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."
"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Citrix Gateway and it is less expensive to use when compared to other solutions."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."
"Pricing is very high if you do a comparison with what is available in the market."
"Citrix is quite expensive."
"The price could be lower."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
The price is one aspect, but technically it is complete. Technically, it is really complete.
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
I see room for improvement in several areas. The monitoring site could be much better because monitoring NetScaler and Citrix Gateway is too difficult with just SNMP traps available. Improving the ...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Gateway?
I am on the customer side using Citrix products, specifically Citrix CVAD for Virtual and Desktop virtualization. I am using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. We are using Citrix Gateway an...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SMA?
I have experience with the SonicWall SMA; we have rolled it back into our stack. We use SonicWall SMA for all of our clients that need VPNs, including doctor's offices and lawyer offices. Our clien...
 

Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.