McAfee StoneGate [EOL] vs Sophos UTM comparison

Why PeerSpot?

McAfee and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 66% of McAfee users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Read 3 McAfee StoneGate [EOL] reviews

66% willing to recommend

Sophos UTM

Read 120 Sophos UTM reviews

14,020 Views
6,309 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Sophos UTM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between McAfee StoneGate [EOL] and Sophos UTM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Netgate and others in Firewalls.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

October 2026

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Helped 920,769 peers since 2012

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

McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sophos UTM

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

120

Ranking in other categories

Unified Threat Management (UTM) (5th)

Featured Reviews

it_user935460

Computer Framework at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

It works well with a highly-active cluster.

It is important for us in case of a disaster, or in case of a failure of one server. This means that the high availability is the most important part for us. It is important for us that the system is available and no connection is going to be lost if the system is restarting one note, or something like that. This is the main request for us for a good firewall protection product.

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Heinz Raecke

CEO at iSource GmbH

Integrated security tools have supported critical infrastructure and improved network performance

Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change this entire firewall equipment, also the entire access points, because of the end of life. We also have the full product in for XDR and extensions. We are also part of the webinars from Sophos. It would be better if there were also some important webinars in German. Everything needs improvement, because also the wireless, also RED box and so on. The handling was much easier on the old equipment than on the new XGS. I think there should also be a little more automatic for SD-WAN routing and so on. Because we have to learn some things from the basic completely new because it is different than Sophos UTM, the XGS. The features that could be improved about Sophos UTM include the new features we have in XGS with a simpler interface. For example, in Sophos UTM, we could define IP hosts and use this IP host. We did not have to insert on every, for example, for wide area networks, we had to put the IP addresses from the other side by hand. In Sophos UTM, we could define it under definitions and then use this IP host where we needed it. In the new XGS, if there is a change in the IP address, we have to do it on all, for example, site-to-site VPN tunnels and so on. We have much more work and it is not so easy because we have to check all the definitions. It is also, for example, some of the male technicians like me, we have a biology handicap. For example, male technicians in Europe also have a red-green problem. So we use these light colors on the interface. In some cases, it is not easy to see the, for example, letters or numbers because of the contrast.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of the product is fantastic; it is a really proven system and I never had any type of problem where the system was unstable or had a software failure."

"It works well with a highly-active cluster."

"We did not have issues with scalabiliy."

"It has given us better application control."

"High availability is very consistent and provides good firewalling and stability."

"The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly."

"We find all of the features valuable because together they fit the needs of our customers."

"The product is easy to manage and easy to install."

"They are all valuable, but the most valuable is the uplink balancing."

"Once you get it working, it is a fantastic product."

"RED remote Ethernet Device layer 2 site-to-site tunnel is a layer 2 tunnel based on SSL protocol that you can establish with or without a static public IP from the provider and this is a feature you will not see among another vendor."

"We also know very well that Sophos is proactive in monitoring and protecting against malware and brute-force attacks."

"It improved bandwidth utilization and provided link load balancing features for internet and intranet lease lines."

More Sophos UTM pros

Cons

"HA failover is not stable."

"After some experience with the solution, we had to do some redesign, but generally, we were happy with the product."

"The hardware needs improving as we had a lot of problems with the hard drive reliability, both with the firewall and the intrusion protection system."

"In Sophos UTM there is always a problem with the routing tables. If you want to see the routing table, you have to use the UI. You can't do it via a web browser. The routing table is better in Fortinet."

"Sophos UTM sometimes falls short in high-availability environments. They used to launch firmware that didn't work very well in a high-availability environment."

"Setup: Getting an exchange server to work behind Sophos is incredibly difficult with rules invoked that are simple numbers (e.g. 9054)."

"The initial setup was straightforward. The full deployment takes approximately two days which could be simplified to reduce the time. The major part of the process is the configuration and the policy setup."

"I would like some features that are available in other brands. For example, I sometimes a person is using too much bandwidth, and it isn't easy to find this information in Sophos. Also, we have to switch connections manually when we are using a VPN and lose the MPLS connection. It isn't automatic."

"We need to speed up the support."

"Updates come out agonizingly slowly, a trickle."

"We would be happy with fewer new features over the same time, but with more stable updates!"

More Sophos UTM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Sophos UTM has very reasonable pricing."

"If you would like to run an active-passive HA system, you only need to buy an additional hardware without subscription. At other vendors, you need subscription for both devices."

"We originally purchased the solution through the AWS Marketplace. I started my proof of concept doing pay-as-you-go, then moved to a VAR for a 'Bring Your Own Licence' (BYOL) licensing model. The BYOL license still requires you to accept the terms of the AWS Marketplace to deploy."

"Our licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis."

"The solution is very low cost compared to competitors. You have a good firewall, a lot of functions for less than the price of some omni firewall competitors."

"Sophos UTM's pricing is on the cheaper side."

"Unless you are in the United States, or you have to use Sophos, you can't contact Sophos directly. You have to use a third-party company, and they all have different ways of how they explain their licensing."

"There is a license for the device and for the software. We pay annually for the solution and the cost is competitive."

More Sophos UTM pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user216600

Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees

Jan 3, 2016

Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate

I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Outsourcing Company

13%

Construction Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	75
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

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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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?

The pricing for Sophos UTM is reasonable; I do not have an issue with it, though I was considering RED because I have different sites I wanted to connect, and instead of doing site-to-site, the RED...

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What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?

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Comparisons

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Compared 29% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

NetFortris Hosted Firewall vs McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Compared 8% of the time

LevelBlue Next-Gen Firewall Services vs McAfee StoneGate [EOL]

Compared 6% of the time

More McAfee StoneGate [EOL] Competitors

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Compared 9% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 4% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

October 2026

Download McAfee StoneGate [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

October 2026

Download Sophos UTM product report

Also Known As

McAfee Next Generation Firewall, Stonesoft, Intel Next Generation Firewall, Intel Security StoneGate

Astaro

Overview

StoneGate is a Highly Available Firewall/VPN. The StoneGate fault-tolerant VPN maintains sessions across multiple VPN devices and multiple Internet or network connections, regardless of device or connection failures. StoneGate provides Security, Manageability, Availability, and Scalability thus reducing network security complexity and costs. Stonesoft was the inventor of high availability for security solutions and a recognized leader in network security.

McAfee

Sophos UTM delivers comprehensive network security with features like firewall, intrusion prevention, and endpoint protection. Its user-friendly interface and scalable options make it ideal for businesses of varying sizes, ensuring seamless integration with AWS, cloud services, and other Sophos offerings.

With robust Advanced Threat Protection, Sophos UTM offers a holistic approach to security through its intuitive platform. It includes a centralized console for enhanced threat visibility, integrated web application firewall, and secure remote access via SSL VPN and RED device. Critiques focus on limited reporting capabilities, complex licensing, and requiring improvements in VPN and email protection, centralized management, and application control.

What are the key features of Sophos UTM?

Advanced Threat Protection: Protects against sophisticated attacks by integrating multiple security technologies.
Firewall and Web Protection: Provides core security measures with intrusion prevention and application control.
Integrated WAF: Shields applications from vulnerabilities, ensuring secure user interactions.
Scalable Deployment: Supports diverse setups from small businesses to large enterprises, including cloud integrations.

What benefits should users expect from Sophos UTM?

Unified Management: Simplifies security operations through a single management console for cohesive control.
Secure Remote Access: Extends network security to remote users without compromising protection quality.
Cost Efficiency: Offers scalable, cost-effective security solutions to adapt to growing business needs.

Sophos UTM sees implementations in industries needing strong perimeter protection and secure remote access, such as finance, healthcare, and education. It supports seamless network integration, ensuring businesses maintain compliance and safeguard their digital environments effectively.

Sophos

Sample Customers

Avency, R€SLER Oberfl_chentechnik GmbH, MAUSER Group, CEMEX, Cegedim, Fusion Media Networks

One Housing Group

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