Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall Netextender
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
14th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 5.9%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.5%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway5.9%
SonicWall Netextender3.5%
Other90.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Designs subnets with high security while navigating evolving integration processes
The primary function of Azure VPN Gateway allows for designing subnets from existing networks, whether they are physical or virtual networks within Azure or other cloud instances. You can configure these networks using IP numbers and connect them using certificates or SaaS strings. It also requires Entra ID for privileged access groups, resulting in high security.
Rich Darress - PeerSpot reviewer
Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance
When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

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 of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is its performance. It is very fast."
"The VPN Gateway is valued for its ease of use and redundancy."
"I like the stability, HA, and performance of the product."
"It works perfectly for me. It is very user-friendly in terms of the configuration and the setup process."
"It is a stable solution in our company, and we monitor critical health and performance parameters daily and weekly."
"All of our offices are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The solution is scalable."
"What I like best about Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is that it's a managed VPN, so it's one of the most powerful VPNs I've ever found. It also provides point-to-site VPNs configurable within a few minutes."
"The most valuable feature is the networking. I didn't have a good experience with the networking that Sophos has."
"I found nothing of value in this solution."
"The product has two-factor authentication."
"Employees can have access to the network from home."
"It allows us to work remotely."
"The most valuable feature for the Netextender is the ease with which we can integrate it with SAML."
"The solution provides high availability."
"NetExtender works very well. I never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me. In terms of management, you have good control over the destination. You can use NetExtender to set the policy and the static route for a client. You can modify it based on what your client needs or can access. You have good control over routing."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
 

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in the deployment process as I faced challenges."
"The instructions on how to integrate P2N and P2S type networks into Azure VPN Gateway could be improved, though it is a constantly evolving process."
"Microsoft's support is rated at four due to issues such as speed of response and coordination difficulties."
"Considering my past interactions with Microsoft's support team, it is difficult to get the right support unless you find the right person to speak with from the customer support team."
"More configuration options could be included in Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway."
"In the next release, Microsoft should add an option to schedule upgrades."
"I would like for them to improve the troubleshooting features. We have some problems with traffic and I can't identify where the problem is coming from. I have to open a ticket with support until it gets resolved. Microsoft doesn't offer enough tools to resolve the issue."
"There is a need to improve the paperwork and management approval process, which is currently painful, though not directly related to the VPN Gateway itself."
"The UI could be a little better."
"The product does not work well."
"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."
"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."
"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."
"Right now, you have to load each license on to an appliance. You can't pool across multiple appliances. So, you end up having to do a lot of administrative work to recover if an internet provider goes down, and you cannot leverage it as easily into a DR solution."
"In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful."
"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an expensive product"
"The software has good pricing compared to other vendors."
"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."
"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is the cheapest way for us to connect to our cloud infrastructure. Other solutions, such as ExpressRoute are very expensive."
"There is a monthly license and the price depends on how many users are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The price could be less expensive."
"The solution is subscription-based and very cheap."
"The costs are quite high."
"I pay the licensing charges associated with the tool on an hourly basis. The tool is affordable."
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."
"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
In Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, there aren't too many areas for improvement, but the configuration part might be a little tricky. It took some time to get things to work, but once figured out, it b...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
We work with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and the VPN firewalls. We have our local physical firewall infrastructure from Cisco and other companies, but we can't compare those with the virtual networ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?
Pricing is a simple thing. We have the key, and we need to enter it in the SonicWall official portal. That's all. Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, ...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?
I cannot think of specific areas that could be improved with the SonicWall Netextender. The main focus should be on continuous improvements to address any CVEs or vulnerabilities to ensure they're ...
 

Also Known As

MS Azure VPN Gateway
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs. SonicWall Netextender and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.