No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

GajShield Next Generation Firewall vs Sophos Firewall comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

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
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
592
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)
GajShield Next Generation F...
Ranking in Firewalls
43rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
304
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GajShield Next Generation Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 7.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate15.1%
Sophos Firewall7.1%
GajShield Next Generation Firewall0.4%
Other77.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at airtel
Enables customers to manage security effortlessly with intuitive features and easy integration
In terms of improvements for Fortinet FortiGate, they could offer evaluation licenses, as compared to Meraki, which provides a 90-day evaluation. In Fortinet FortiGate, they do not provide standard evaluation licenses; instead, we need to request them from the OEM through the account manager for POCs. If we want to conduct a demo, we need to work with real hardware. In comparison to Cisco, we have DCloud, which helps with providing demos to customers, but in Meraki, I need to reach out to them, book a lab, and they need to provide all the hardware. I need remote access and L3 engineers to program it; only then can I offer a real-time demo to the customer.
Nazish Sameer Shaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Security Engineer at UNITE HERE HEALTH
Simplifies the management of complex data networks, but its technical support could be improved
Sometimes, we have to use SD-WAN support for the solution, which can be improved by adapting some features that will help our approach to network services. The solution can adapt some of the tools where we, as network engineers, can adjust to the changing application needs. Also, the solution can provide us with multiple support, allowing us to create a network segment. The solution’s technical support could be improved.
Ashutosh Jha - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Engineer at IT Solution
Robust protection has blocked external threats and provides clear visibility into user activity
Sophos Firewall offers multiple features, including IPS, IDS, ATP, NDR, XOps, web protection, application protection, web server protection, and many more. Out of all those features, I find web protection and application protection to be very helpful and valuable in my daily work. Sophos Firewall has positively impacted my organization by preventing outside threats, allowing me to easily monitor my users, and configuring any rule for any user regarding what they need to use and what I am restricting for the particular user. I can share that it has improved productivity because if anyone could ransom my network, they could demand money to decrypt the files, thus saving us money, time, and providing reliability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's an easy solution to set up."
"The feature I like most is the SD-WAN. It allows you to manage more than one ISP at the same time. And there is a high-availability mode, so if one of your ISPs is down, you still have a backup."
"Fortinet FortiGate is good for helping you secure and protect mission-critical data."
"The GUI is good."
"I have found the IPS, antivirus, and the feature that allows you to have a firewall in the same appliance most valuable."
"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."
"What I like the most is the configuration and that it's simple, and straightforward to maintain."
"It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG. It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."
"The most valuable feature of the GajShield Next Generation Firewall is the user-friendly settings, dashboards, and anti-threat protection. Additionally, the solution upgrades frequently which is good because we receive new features."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall's best feature is the network DLP."
"GajShield has improved our mobile device-based connectivity."
"Once it is configured, it is very stable, and we don't get any calls from our clients unless they have some specific requirement, like port forwarding or something."
"Gajshiled's enterprise cloud and DLP-level features give it an advantage over other products."
"The solution's outcome is very high, and we often use it in a very high-traffic environment."
"It is an easily scalable solution...The initial setup was very easy."
"It is a stable solution."
"The solution seems to be very easy to use."
"All the features are valuable, in my opinion, but for us the most important features are the network security, application control, and web server protection. Sophos Sandstorm is another good feature off the top of my head."
"This solution is very stable."
"I like the firewall, inbound, and outbound modules the most. The VPN feature also works well. It is very easy to configure rules in Sophos XG. We have got local service here in Zimbabwe from Sophos, which is something that I like a lot. We have got good local support, and they come on-site when we have any challenges. Sophos provides a lot of good training all around Zimbabwe. They are quite dominant here, similar to other solutions like Fortinet or WatchGuard."
"The most valuable feature is the central dashboard, as it provides us with good performance."
"Sophos XGS's best features are its VPN and ATPR1 cert protection."
"The price is good, it's not an expensive product."
"The most valuable is the synchronized security between Sophos XG and Sophos endpoint because it provides a lot of visibility about unknown applications. The endpoint shares the information of unknown applications, and you can learn about those applications and create policies to allow or block those applications."
 

Cons

"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"But because it's so modular, sometimes customers mistakenly just buy the firewall. The firewall doesn't work right."
"The cloud management should improve."
"There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available. These would help understand the new product line and the existing product line features."
"Small models (up to FG-90) are build on SoC (System on a Chip), so they need to be mounted in places with enough airflow and right temperature, otherwise they could hang, slow down traffic processing, but more often you just can't log in to the device's web-interface (reboot won't help you until it cools down)."
"The monitoring and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak. I would for them to develop better visibility, monitoring, and reporting."
"Improvements could be made when companies expand and need better equipment and more licenses."
"They should do a better job in testing when they put out a new release because when a new software version is released, it is not always stable or does not always have all the previous features working correctly."
"Gajshield can improve SD-WAN compatibility at an enterprise cloud level."
"Sometimes, we have to use SD-WAN support for the solution, which can be improved by adapting some features that will help our approach to network services."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall could improve the flow of the settings. If somebody's using a Cisco firewall or any other brand and they want to use GajShield Next Generation Firewall the platform's UI is a bit different. If it was more similar to the others it would be better."
"We raised a support ticket, and the project didn't get a proper response. There was a skill issue in TAC support."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall would be improved with the addition of a load-balancing feature."
"We face issues with some configuration parts that we don't understand in the solution, and sometimes we face issues with the VPN connection."
"The UI for the administration of the firewall needs a lot of work."
"The firewall configuration and administration screens could use some improvement."
"Sophos XG should improve on the GDPR features involving data protection and encryption. Security regarding data protection is important."
"The principal tech support is not very present in Malaysia."
"The manuals or guides we are given are too simple. When we are implementing the product, it is difficult for us as we don't have more detailed information."
"We need better reporting and a clear vision of the network, and Sophos XG does not provide that."
"There were certain lacking capabilities, for example, the searching of its settings et cetera, previously in Sophos XG."
"Its price should be improved. It should be cheaper."
"The training manual provided to users lacks proper guidance on configuration procedures."
"The MTR feature has to be enhanced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment."
"The solution's price is average."
"Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment."
"The Fortinet FortiGate security features cost approximately $1,500 a year. The firewall itself doesn't have a recurring cost. It's the security features on top of that that you pay for."
"It is cheaper and more competitive compared to other options. For example, when comparing Palo Alto products to others, Palo Alto tends to be more expensive. If you compare Cisco's platform, including Cisco Meraki, with Fortinet products, you'll notice that Cisco's offerings are generally higher priced than Fortinet's firewall solutions."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a very cheap solution."
"The pricing is perfect."
"The price of the GajShield Next Generation Firewall is very attractive when compared to other solutions."
"It was about 15% cheaper compared to Sophos."
"GajShield is a cheaper solution as of now. The subscription is yearly."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is not that expensive, and its pricing is better than Palo Alto."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is reasonably priced."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is cheaper than the other products in the market. The licensing costs for the solution are on a yearly basis."
"Its licensing cost is around 700 bucks a year or something like that. It is 100 bucks a month at the most. It seems to be standard licensing with no additional costs."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"The price of Sophos is reasonable. It's not too expensive — I think it's worth it."
"The issue of a recurring license is a hassle because every year, we have to subscribe."
"Sophos XGS costs around $75,000 for fifty units."
"The price of Sophos XGS depends on the type of license. However, the licensing cost is approximately 60 percent of the total cost."
"I pay close to $10,000 per year, which I find to be expensive compared to the other similar solution or equivalent solutions."
"The Palo Alto solution is expensive and the FortiGate is less expensive than Palo Alto. The Sophos XG would be priced in the middle of the two."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business370
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business209
Midsize Enterprise61
Large Enterprise53
 

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 ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Which is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat si...
What are the main differences in features between Sophos XG and FortiGate 80F?
Hi Arvind P , The Sophos XG firewall has a number of models right from XG86 to XG135w under the 1U Desktop Form Fact...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos XG?
The pricing is a little higher compared to Chinese products like Huawei. For those on a limited budget, I sometimes p...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
GajShield NGFW
Sophos XG, Sophos XGS
 

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
Zodiac Clothing
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about GajShield Next Generation Firewall vs. Sophos Firewall and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.