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OPNsense vs SonicWall TZ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate provides cost-effective security, reducing operational costs and enhancing efficiency with quick ROI for enterprises.
Sentiment score
2.5
Entities benefited from rapid returns and cost savings with OPNsense, offering superior threat management compared to Check Point and FortiNet.
Sentiment score
7.4
SonicWall TZ ensures rapid returns, blocking threats effectively, proving invaluable for small businesses, especially during the pandemic.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
That is a reason to buy a firewall, and it is challenging to put a monetary value on security.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Fortinet FortiGate support varies, praised for responsiveness but criticized for slow responses and regional inconsistencies in efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.4
Many users rely on forums for support, expressing mixed satisfaction with OPNsense's accessibility, cost, and technical support.
Sentiment score
5.4
SonicWall TZ customer service varies; some praise efficiency and competence, while others note slow response and communication issues.
They offer very accurate solutions.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
I mainly rely on community support since the solution is open source.
Customer service is excellent.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable with ease of expansion, though hardware integration and sizing can pose challenges for users.
Sentiment score
6.5
OPNsense is scalable for diverse organizations, efficiently supporting different user volumes, with some challenges in high-volume voice traffic.
Sentiment score
8.6
SonicWall TZ offers suitable scalability for small to medium businesses, but model selection is crucial for future growth planning.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
In my organization, there are 400 users, and OPNsense serves as our gateway and proxy for all of them.
Aside from these aspects, it demonstrated good scalability.
It supports routing, VPN setups, and traffic monitoring with additional packages like Snort and Suricata.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiGate is favored for its stability and reliability, with some performance issues resolved through updates and sizing.
Sentiment score
8.5
OPNsense is stable with high ratings, despite issues with VPN failover, occasional bugs, and hardware compatibility concerns.
Sentiment score
7.6
SonicWall TZ is highly reliable and stable, though minor issues occur under heavy use or after updates.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
The solution is very stable.
It just doesn't respond, so I have to restart it over and over again to try to figure out what the problem is.
OPNsense is the same, but it does have a way of installing the Realtek drivers, which gives you a lot more stability overall on the system.
The only challenge faced was its inadequacy to manage large voice traffic effectively, even with dedicated hardware.
In terms of stability, SonicWall doesn't have performance issues.
SonicWall TZ is definitely stable and offers a good value for money.
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users seek improvements in stability, integration, scalability, cost, and advanced features like monitoring and zero-trust technology.
OPNsense faces challenges with integration, user interface, documentation, scalability, performance, and security features, needing enhancements in various areas.
SonicWall TZ needs an improved interface, reporting, security features, and more efficient support, licensing, and advanced options.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
The constant daily revisions necessitate meticulous identification of the relevant documents to prevent the use of outdated information that could jeopardize our environment.
While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.
For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process.
Some of the features include classified traffic and better blocking of newly registered DNS domains.
There are some add-ons that need enhancements to make management easier for users, especially the reporting features.
Integration with other vendors, especially with VPNs, can be challenging and requires more effort when configuring.
SonicWall TZ could benefit from newer technology.
The VPN license should be improved by providing more free SSL VPN licenses.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers various licensing models, balancing affordability and performance, though renewals can increase costs.
OPNsense is a cost-effective, flexible solution for enterprises, preferred over costly alternatives like FortiGate and Palo Alto.
Buyers find SonicWall TZ pricing competitive but potentially high due to additional subscription and licensing fees, affecting affordability.
FortiGate is priced lower than Palo Alto.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
It is about 20% cheaper.
It is a free solution, and when you compare it to alternatives like FortiGate, which is quite powerful but also costly, the value becomes evident.
I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition.
It is free.
More licenses are required to purchase the perpetual license for SSL VPN and Global VPN.
When comparing similar products across vendors, there may be a small difference in cost.
I would also position its pricing as a three, where one is the lowest price and ten is the highest.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust security features, user-friendly management, and scalability, making it a preferred choice for organizations.
OPNsense is valued for its flexibility, user-friendly interface, robust features, frequent updates, and compatibility with useful plugins.
SonicWall TZ offers user-friendly management, robust security features, and scalability, making it ideal for small to medium enterprises.
In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.
FortiGate has helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that might disrupt our client's production.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
The most valuable features include the basic firewall functionality and the GeoIP location services.
One of the most valuable features is the network checking.
OPNsense is easy to use and open source.
For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well.
It was beneficial during COVID for remote work through its VPN functionality.
The advanced gateway security features such as web filter, application control filter, IPS, ideas, gateway antivirus, anti-spyware, and botnet filter are valuable.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
373
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
OPNsense
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall TZ
Ranking in Firewalls
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.2%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 11.4%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall TZ is 3.0%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
Akram Zaki Hussein - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support
The interface is user-friendly, but there's room for improvement in terms of intuitiveness. The bundle management aspect requires additional attention to make it more intuitive, especially for inspecting high-level traffic. This is crucial, especially for larger companies where the existing features might not be the most optimal choice, given limitations like printer constraints. For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process. Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine. It would be beneficial if OPNsense supported additional virtualization platforms like Hyper-V from Microsoft and VMware, similar to how Kaspersky has integrated them.
Rias Majeed - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust VPN integration stands out despite needing enhanced vendor compatibility
The integrated VPN functionality is working well with the global VPN client, which is a fast client, though it comes at a cost. SonicWall TZ is functional depending on the service level taken by the user. For SMB segments, SonicWall performs well. Despite lacking certain features, it is still considered a good product. The appliance itself is functional and stable, offering integrated solutions.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 ...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...
What do you like most about OPNsense?
What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?
The pricing is competitive when compared to vendors like Palo and FortiNet.
Would you choose Fortinet Fortigate or Sonicwall TZ?
I’ll say it depends on your needs. Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ are both next-gen firewalls (NGFW) with simila...
What do you like most about SonicWall TZ?
The most valuable feature of SonicWall TZ is the double authentication, where it asks for one password and again asks...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall TZ?
The price is normal. It is a nominal cost for an SMB TZ used for SMB businesses. However, more licenses are required ...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
Dell SonicWALL TZ
 

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
1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc.  3. EuroBSDCon  4. Netgate  5. Claranet  6. Voleatech  7. Open Systems AG  8. Securebit AG  9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH  10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH  Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.
AeroM_xico Delta TechOps, Unimat
Find out what your peers are saying about OPNsense vs. SonicWall TZ and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.