OPNsense vs Sophos XG comparison

OPNsense and Sophos are both solutions in the Firewalls category. OPNsense is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Sophos is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3. OPNsense holds a 12.3% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sophos’s 11.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of OPNsense users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Sophos XG and OPNsense are both prominent competitors in the firewall and network security space. Sophos XG seems to have an advantage due to its advanced synchronized security features, centralized management, and flexibility in pricing and deployment options.

Features: Sophos XG stands out with features like Sophos RED for easy deployment, category-based URL filtering, and synchronized security through dual anti-malware engines. Its intuitive Control Center offers centralized management and detailed reporting capabilities. OPNsense provides robust firewall capabilities with URL-level filtering, strong content filtering, and excellent IDS/IPS compatibility. Its dynamic dashboard allows for customizable insights into network traffic and security events.

Room for Improvement: Users of Sophos XG have noted that its technical support and reporting capabilities need enhancement. The cost structure for additional features and VPN setup could be more user-friendly. Meanwhile, OPNsense users have highlighted the need for improved translations, user portal configurations, and enhanced monitoring capabilities. Both systems could benefit from performance, usability, and support agility improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos XG offers various deployment options with robust hardware and cloud solutions, but users mention that initial setups can be cumbersome, and support is not as responsive as competitors. OPNsense, being open-source, requires more technical expertise but provides a straightforward setup process with a strong community support network, making it suitable for tech-savvy environments.

Pricing and ROI: Sophos XG offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing, though some users find additional feature costs high. The ROI is justified through security enhancements and operational efficiencies. OPNsense, as an open-source platform, comes without licensing fees, providing significant cost advantages for smaller organizations by reducing software expenses while maintaining strong functionality.

To learn more, read our detailed OPNsense vs. Sophos XG Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sophos XG

March 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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 12.3%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XG is 11.5%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Eddy Ramirez

IT Security Director at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Good interface and firewall capabilities and overall easy to use

The security has improved as we can isolate the network. We can do attrition prevention via a tool that comes with the solution. We can have a VPN solution in place for those that work from home, outside the network, in a secure manner. We also like that it offers good authentication. It offers radius-based authentication, which has been useful for the company. The main platform is under the Open VPN firewall. The solution has high availability. When we have different ISPs, we can actually load balance those links or actually put some priority or even classify the traffic that might go into one ISP or another.

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SherifFouad

ICT Manager at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Gives us customizable policies, modifiable templates, and customized rules for single users

The major problem that I am facing, and I know that others are facing as well, is with the HTTPS classic, in general, or any classic that works on Secure Socket Layers. Let's say I set up a rule to block users from accessing YouTube or Facebook. The rule will only block the HTTP traffic, which is non-secure traffic. But most websites right now, most of the reputable web services providers, for extra security for their own web servers and for the user's security, provide a connection over Secure Socket Layer. The problem comes when you are trying to block, or allow, similar traffic that uses HTTPS. You have to create a certificate and import it into the users' web browsers, whatever they are using. Now, this is not a problem when you're dealing with users stationed and fixed in a specific site or location. They are using desktops, they will never take the desktops and go home with them, nor will they ever take the desktops and travel to another country, or another site with it. The problem occurs when you're dealing with roaming users who use laptops and have to move between different sites that have different types of policies applied to them. You have to import all sorts of certificates from each site into their browser. Doing so will most probably conflict with something else that is totally irrelevant and cause a problem. A way around this is if you are using authentication with Active Directory. But most of the time, especially if you're operating in a remote site with a very slow internet connection, if it's available in the first place, authentication with Active Directory is impossible. So it needs an easier way to apply HTTPS filters, without importing certificates into users' browsers and without the need for using an Active Directory. There must be a way around it. There are workarounds. But with applied workarounds, it will work out once, it won't work out properly 10 other times. That is my only request. Also, since Sophos took over Cyberoam, the online technical library and support library have become super messy. To get a piece of information is becoming a nightmare. They need to reorganize the online technical support and technical library. The easiest way to overcome this is to look at how the Cyberoam online technical library was structured and to build the Sophos technical library the same way. It is messy, totally unorganized, time-wasting. Instead of getting what you want in five minutes it takes half an hour.

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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 web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."

"With FortiClient, you can easily connect when you are home, check out what you want to do, and connect to your network when you are not at work. You can switch on servers and you can check what is wrong."

"Fortinet FortiGate meets all the security demands of my industry. It covers endpoint security, including web interface, DNS security, and ELP. I'm currently using the latest version. The features that have most improved our network security are Web Control, filtering, application control, IDS, IPS policies, and Deep SSL inspection."

"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."

"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."

"The most valuable features are SD-WAN, application control, IPS control, and FortiSandbox."

"The payment function for applications is good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The solution has high availability."

"The interface and the dashboard are the most valuable features of this solution."

"OPNsense is very stable, easy to upgrade, and maintain."

"The IDS and IPS features are valuable. From the usability perspective, there is a lot of good documentation. As IT professionals, we found it very easy to configure the firewall. It was easy to configure and use."

"The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use."

"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."

"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."

"The initial implementation process is simple."

More OPNsense pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the flexibility of it, it's pretty versatile."

"This solution is very user-friendly and even a non-professional can configure the policies."

"The most valuable feature is that it scans all of the data for any kind of malware."

"Valuable features include: the ease of setting up the VPN connection; the fact they have the cloud management option, so I can manage the firewall on a cloud platform from anywhere I am; the user interface is very user-friendly, so it's very easy for the administrator to make any policy changes."

"The solution has very good security features, is easy to use for administrators and users, and has informative reports."

"The most valuable feature is web filtering."

"The user authentication rules are very useful."

"The most valuable features are its protection capabilities like threat prevention, malware security, web protection, and web security."

More Sophos XG pros

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."

"It could use more templates for third-party site-to-site VPN setups other than FortiGate and Cisco."

"To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."

"The improvement is related to logs. Instead of the CLI, we should be able to have more insights into the logs of the firewall in the GUI."

"Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."

"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."

"The firmware updates are sometimes not stable. The stability issues can vary, sometimes happening once a month or quarterly. New firmware updates can occasionally introduce bugs, causing some policies to fail. We then have to raise a ticket, and Fortinet usually provides a fix within a few days."

"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The logging could improve in OPNsense."

"Its interface should be a little bit better."

"You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."

"There are a few weaknesses. For example, there is a lack of some features that I have in certain commercial products."

"SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) is integrated into some restricted service providers for OPNSense."

"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."

"On the customer-side, because I'm a small business, I need a cheaper or free solution option."

"The reporting part could be better."

More OPNsense cons

"Their updates can be faster and more regular."

"The support engineers of the product are not very tech-savvy, making it an area where improvements are required."

"While it is possible to configure between two of the solution's devices in the same model, the high available usually fails."

"Sophos XG's web server protection and log viewer could improve. They should also introduce sandboxing."

"I'm just a sole proprietor for IT support, and from my perspective, there could be better ways to educate a proprietor, such as myself, on how to set it up, and program it, and manage it. They do tend to have support, but a lot of times, it is for larger networks. I need something that is simpler and more rudimentary as to how to go about setting up and configuring the firewall, setting up the rules, and that type of thing. So, if there is a missing component there, that would be it."

"It would be helpful if they had a set of standard templates because it would assist in the beginning, when you are just getting started."

"All of the options should be available when I renew my subscription for the year. As it is now, there are some limitations."

"The user interface could be improved and more bandwidth management would be helpful."

More Sophos XG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."

"The pricing is fair."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

"The price of the license and warranty can be better because it is very expensive."

"It's expensive, but compared to the competition it's okay."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"OPNsense is a well known open-source tool."

"OPNsense is an open-source solution and it is free to use."

"It costs about $1000."

"OPNsense is open source software so at this time it is free for us to use."

"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."

"I'm using the free version of OPNsense. I didn't check the pricing for the solution because I still need to test it before getting the approval to purchase OPNsense, and it isn't easy to get approval from the higher-ups."

"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."

"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable when compared to the market."

"The price of Sophos XG is reasonable."

"For our company, the price was reasonable."

"Its price is fair. It is cheaper and way better than others."

"The price is fair."

"A Sophos XG license costs approximately $45,000"

"The cost could be lower especially if you want to add other features."

"I use Sophos Firewall Home Edition, which is available for free."

More Sophos XG pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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...

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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.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?

I consider the pricing of OPNsense to be high when compared with other market products. However, as a free firewall p...

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Sophos XG?

IPS works smoothly.

See all answers

Comparisons

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 40% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 12% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos UTM vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos XG

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Sophos XG

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Sophos XG

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos XG

Compared 3% of the time

Meraki MX vs Sophos XG

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos XG Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

March 2025

Download OPNsense product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XG

March 2025

Download Sophos XG product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

OPNsense is widely used for firewall functionalities, intrusion detection, VPN and IPSec, content filtering, securing network traffic, and remote access. It protects internal networks and manages servers securely, suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.

OPNsense is a comprehensive firewall solution leveraging open-source technology. It integrates with third-party modules like WireGuard and CrowdSec, enhancing its security capabilities. Offering on-premises and cloud deployment, it features an intuitive graphical interface, advanced reporting, VPN functionality, IDS/IPS features, and high scalability. Users find it ideal for small businesses and home networks due to its stability and ease of use. Frequent updates and an active community support its continuous improvement. However, it needs advancements in VPN selection, scalability, and technical documentation. Enhanced high availability, threat intelligence, and integration with virtualization platforms are required. User feedback suggests improvements in connectivity, alerting, traffic monitoring, and antivirus protection.

What are the key features of OPNsense?

Strong Firewall: Robust firewall capabilities for securing network traffic.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Effective IDS/IPS for threat mitigation.
VPN Functionality: Comprehensive VPN support including WireGuard.
Content Filtering: DNS-level filtering for enhanced security.
Advanced Reporting: In-depth traffic analysis and reporting features.
High Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
Integration Capabilities: Works with third-party modules like CrowdSec.
Intuitive GUI: User-friendly graphical interface enhances usability.

What benefits should users look for in OPNsense reviews?

Security: High level of protection for internal networks.
Manageability: Easy management of servers and network traffic.
Cost-Effective: Open-source nature reduces costs.
Reliability: Stable performance suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Community Support: Active community and frequent updates.

OPNsense is implemented across various industries to secure network infrastructure and ensure reliable connectivity. In fintech, it safeguards sensitive financial data while maintaining compliance. Educational institutions deploy it to protect student information and enable secure remote learning environments. Healthcare organizations use it to secure patient data and comply with HIPAA regulations. By integrating with tools like WireGuard and CrowdSec, businesses enhance their cybersecurity posture and streamline network management, making OPNsense a versatile choice for diverse operational needs.

OPNsense

Sophos XG is a versatile network security solution that offers network protection, firewall management, VPN access, web filtering, and intrusion prevention, providing comprehensive security for businesses from small offices to large enterprises.

Sophos XG stands out for its Synchronized Security, easy setup, and robust templates. It manages VPN access, protects against threats, and handles load balancing and traffic monitoring. The cloud-based management, centralized dashboard, and detailed logging make it user-friendly and reliable. Integration of features like email protection, SD-WAN, and unified threat management ensures a broad spectrum of security needs are covered. However, it could benefit from improvements in network security, user portals, technical support, and more scalable SD-WAN features.

What are the key features of Sophos XG?

Synchronized Security: Orchestrates threat intelligence sharing between endpoints and firewall.
Unlimited SSL VPN Clients: Provides extensive VPN client support for secure remote access.
Cloud-Based Management: Facilitates remote administration with a cloud-hosted platform.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and blocks potential threats in real-time.
Centralized Dashboard: Offers a comprehensive view of network security status.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Easily adapts to growing business needs.
User-Friendliness: Simplified setup and intuitive management.
Effective Threat Protection: Provides robust security against a wide range of threats.
Comprehensive Reporting: Delivers detailed insights and analytics.
Cost-Effectiveness: Competitive in pricing with flexible deployment options.

Sophos XG is implemented across industries such as healthcare, education, and finance to secure sensitive data and ensure regulatory compliance. It aids in endpoint protection, application control, load balancing, and traffic monitoring essential for these industries. Enhancing network security, simplifying VPN setup, and integrating adaptive security features remain focal points for businesses.

Sophos

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.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sophos XG

March 2025

Free Report: OPNsense vs. Sophos XG

Find out what your peers are saying about OPNsense vs. Sophos XG and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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