Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA comparison

Citrix and SonicWall are both solutions in the Universal Access Gateways category. Citrix is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0, while SonicWall is ranked #2 with an average rating of 10.0. Citrix holds a 50.0% mindshare in UAG, compared to SonicWall’s 50.0% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Citrix Gateway

Read 36 Citrix Gateway reviews

51 Views
36 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

SonicWall SMA

Read 14 SonicWall SMA reviews

60 Views
34 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Citrix Gateway

SonicWall SMA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

SonicWall SMA and Citrix Gateway compete in secure remote access. Citrix Gateway has the upper hand in features and overall value.

Features: SonicWall SMA users highlight secure access, traffic management, and customer support as valuable features. Citrix Gateway offers comprehensive access control, resource management, and advanced integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall SMA users seek enhancements in performance speed, connectivity stability, and user interface. Citrix Gateway users desire simpler configuration processes, better documentation, and a more intuitive user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Users find SonicWall SMA easier to deploy with intuitive setup steps, and appreciate its responsive customer service. Citrix Gateway, though more complex to deploy, provides extensive support documentation and skilled customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall SMA is praised for its competitive pricing and swift ROI, attributed to its lower setup costs. Citrix Gateway, though higher in initial cost, delivers greater ROI through its advanced capabilities and reliability.

To learn more, read our detailed Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA

May 2025

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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

Citrix Gateway

Ranking in Universal Access Gateways

1st

Ranking in SSL VPN

1st

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

10th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall SMA

Ranking in Universal Access Gateways

2nd

Ranking in SSL VPN

8th

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

19th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Universal Access Gateways category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 50.0%, up from 45.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 50.0%, up from 40.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Universal Access Gateways

Featured Reviews

VivekKumar10

Co-Founder at Virajo

Enables secure remote access and load balancing with enhanced protection features

I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet. Key features include load balancing, dual-factor authentication, clientless VPN, and Web Application Firewall (WAF). The product effectively helps me protect the organization's network from potential threats, thereby securing our environment from hackers and ransomware attacks.

Read full review

Mayur_Patel

Chief Commercial Officer at InnovAge Home Care

Easy-to-manage product with efficient features for network security

SonicWall SMA facilitates and protects remote workforce access to corporate resources from any location Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface. We have been using SonicWall…

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

"The most valuable feature is that it is secure."

"Citrix primarily provides secure connectivity. If you need secure remote desktop functionality, it is a viable option."

"The features that we have found most valuable are the web app support and VPN."

"We have users in a remote environment that might require to access the service."

"Citrix Gateway improved the security of the access of our applications outside the network."

"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."

"We haven't received any complaints or performance issues so far."

"Providing our organization the ability to work remotely was the most valuable feature of Citrix Gateway. I also enjoy that they are always adding features."

More Citrix Gateway pros

"The performance is good."

"SonicWall SMA has the most valuable feature of proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP."

"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."

"I think they ask for a fair price."

"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."

"I am very satisfied with the technical support."

"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."

"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"The solution has unnecessary limitations."

"Focusing more on AI features could further enhance its performance."

"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."

"We have experienced issues relating to multi-factor authentication"

"The major issue is price. I would also like them to make other aspects more accessible."

"Technical support could be improved."

"The initial setup is not straightforward."

"If the solution had a more advanced DNS, it would be an improvement."

More Citrix Gateway cons

"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."

"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."

"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."

"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."

"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."

"The product's technical support services could be improved."

"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."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be lower."

"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"

"It is expensive and requires proper planning with strategy."

"Citrix is quite expensive."

"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."

"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."

"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."

"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."

More Citrix Gateway pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

52%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Construction Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Gateway?

We can maintain our systems using the solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?

I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model. It is seen as a premium product compared to competitors like F5, and ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?

Currently, Citrix is improving its solutions, and focusing more on AI features could further enhance its performance.

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The platform has medium pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface.

See all answers

Comparisons

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Citrix Gateway

Compared 20% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs Citrix Gateway

Compared 17% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Citrix Gateway

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Citrix Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Citrix Gateway

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 23% of the time

SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 20% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 17% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 10% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Citrix Gateway

May 2025

Download Citrix Gateway product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

April 2025

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Overview

Citrix Gateway is a customer-managed solution that can be deployed on premises or on any public cloud, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. Citrix Gateway provides users with secure access and single sign-on to all the virtual, SaaS and web applications they need to be productive.

Citrix

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

SonicWall

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

Buyer's Guide

Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA

May 2025

Free Report: Citrix Gateway vs. SonicWall SMA

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