Sangfor NGAF vs SonicWall NSa comparison

Sangfor and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Sangfor is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.4, while SonicWall is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.6. Sangfor holds a 1.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to SonicWall’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Sangfor users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

SonicWall NSa and Sangfor NGAF compete in the network security solutions category. SonicWall NSa seems to have the upper hand in security features, while Sangfor NGAF stands out for pricing, offering significant cost-effectiveness.

Features: SonicWall NSa offers comprehensive site-to-site VPN, deep packet inspection, and robust application control. Its packet capture utility is effective for troubleshooting. Sangfor NGAF features strong application control, WAN optimization, and a user-friendly central console for management.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall NSa users suggest enhancing the GUI, real-time network monitoring, and improving AD integration efficiency. Configuration paths are complex, and there are some firmware issues. Sangfor NGAF should address interface complexity, configuration bugs, and reliance on licenses, with a focus on simplifying its GUI and deployment guidance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall NSa is mainly on-premises with hybrid cloud support, highlighting effective level-3 support but with occasional slow response times. Sangfor NGAF also supports both setups and excels in customer service with 24/7 availability, but could benefit from faster responses and streamlined processes.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall NSa offers reasonable pricing with competitive licensing and strong cost-feature balance, notably in high availability setups. Sangfor NGAF is more affordable than competitors, though maintenance costs may rise. It is praised for its Total Cost of Ownership and is attractive to budget-conscious buyers. Both products deliver substantial ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa

June 2026

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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 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 Sangfor NGAF is 1.1%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall NSa is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
SonicWall NSa	1.5%
Sangfor NGAF	1.1%
Other	82.3%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S

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.

Read full review

Zaid Farooqui

CIO at Indus Motor Company

Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support

We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.

Read full review

Mahendra Basera

Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.

Automated breach prevention has protected critical workloads and keeps external attacks blocked

I am familiar with SonicWall TZ. I have done a POC of TZ but I have not worked extensively with it. I have worked with the 2600 firewall and then the 3600. These are the models which we have worked with.SonicWall NSa was an on-premises solution. The two firewalls which were in production, in the data center and on the LAN side, were both on-premises solutions. We had a pre-decided budget under which we would purchase the firewall. All parameters including security, high availability, and budget concerns were covered with SonicWall NSa being implemented at that time. SonicWall NSa is a user-friendly product that is easy to configure, and it is easy for network personnel and firewall administrators to work with. Even the L1 team captured and learned this firewall effectively, helping us resolve all parameters related to high availability firewalls within budget-friendly costs. I rate this review a nine out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The UTM feature is quite good. FortiAP is easy to deploy because both Fortigate and FortiAP are under the same brand. Otherwise, you need to do more work on the configuration."

"The ease of setting the solution up is a valuable aspect for us."

"The solution offers very easy usability, the product can scale well, the solution is extremely reliable, the pricing and licensing models are pretty good, and the user interface, both the web and CLI versions, are very good."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity, ease of installation, and ease of functionality."

"We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW."

"What I like the most is the configuration and that it's simple, and straightforward to maintain."

"The response from the technical support team has always been excellent."

"In my opinion, the main benefits that end users receive from Fortinet FortiGate are that the return on investment is good, whatever money we invest in Fortinet FortiGate product, we get it back in two years' time, it is pretty secure, having very robust hardware and software, updates are pretty good, and in the event of an issue, updates are pretty quick."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It seems to be a durable, stable product."

"In four steps one can configure the entire firewall."

"It offers good value for money and is much cheaper compared to other firewalls."

"The support from Sangfor NGAF here in Pakistan is great."

"We've found the technical support to be helpful."

"The most valuable features are the WAN optimization, the internet access gateway (IAG), and the central console, which allows us to implement on their firewall."

"The absolute best part of Sangfor NGAF is their support; it's a 24/7 support channel, and the last time I requested their assistance I got a reply within three minutes and they helped solve the problem immediately."

"It offers application control features."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

"SD-WAN is a good feature."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the GUI pre-filtering and the ATP (advanced threat protection)."

"We have utilized all the features. The most valuable are the URL filtering by category, DMZ zoning, load balancing and site-to-site VPN."

"Easy to scale solution that provides advanced threat protection. Their technical support is very good, very knowledgeable, and easy to reach."

"SonicWall absolutely has the best bang for the buck hands down."

"SonicWall's technical support is very good."

"If we can manage it, anyone can."

"The technical support is very good."

More SonicWall NSa pros

Cons

"Fortinet currently has many products bundled with FortiGate including the basic firewall and load balancer, and I think that that they need to have separate product portfolios for each of these specialized services."

"Technical support needs to be improved."

"Deploying FortiGate is hard."

"There are some issues with security features and aspects like logs not being up to the mark."

"It is quite new for us, and we need to go more in-depth into the monitoring tools. It provides different features that we need to do what we want. So far, it is okay for us. In terms of improvement, in the future, they can provide a faster implementation of features. Some of the features are first available in other solutions. Fortinet sometimes takes a little bit longer than other solutions, such as Check Point, to implement new features."

"There are no areas that need improvement at this point in time."

"The product's data guard feature should support a USB port when the internet connection is unavailable."

"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"They need to increase the number of ports in the firewall."

"The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity."

"It has an issue with the Sangfor Cloud Platform rather than the firewall. When we run a virtual machine, the window tabs display Chinese characters."

"We have deployed many firewalls and have faced two or three faulty devices that we have to replace over a year because their power supply was faulty."

"It does not offer any recommendations on how to mitigate or control attacks."

"It would be ideal if the solution offered SD-WAN capabilities."

"Lacks consistency in terms of filtering certain websites and applications."

"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

"SonicWall NSa has occasional bugs, particularly during upgrades, and that's an area for improvement."

"SonicWall uses a cloud-based database for content filtering. If the NSA cannot contact that online DB, filtering is handled one of two ways."

"Also, their desktop anti-virus sucks."

"It is not scalable. If your enterprise is growing hard then you have to buy another, bigger product. Maybe if you use it virtually it is more scalable."

"SonicWall NSa's reporting could be improved."

"The product likely isn't a good fit for a large organization."

"Sometimes I found the GUI and some of the features a little bit hard to navigate, as opposed to Fortigate, which is much more user-friendly."

"Potential improvement around the associated VPN cost"

More SonicWall NSa cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."

"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."

"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."

"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."

"The licensing costs are very competitive."

"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."

"There is an annual license to use this solution. The prices have been increasing over the years."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Sangfor is cheaper than competing vendors."

"If you know you have around 200+ computer users on your network, then the Sangfor NGAF 5200-F-I model would be the minimum recommended model for that amount of users. This model includes modules for packet filtering, deep packet inspection, malware scanning, DSCP filtration, and many other features."

"In my opinion, the price of the tool is good in the Pakistani market. We can easily get discounts if needed."

"I rate the product price as one on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

"Sangfor NGAF is a cheaply priced product, especially if I consider the previous product that was used in my company."

"The product is very cost-effective compared to other brands or vendors."

"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as three out of ten."

"Price-wise, I would not consider Sangfor NGAF to be a cheap product. It is an expensive firewall solution, though not as expensive as something like Palo Alto, which is costly. However, the higher price point is justifiable given the feature set the tool provides that other firewalls may not offer in a single dedicated appliance."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

"The solution is based on a yearly licensing model that is reasonable compared to other options."

"NSa is not expensive, not high. It's at a moderate or medium level."

"SonicWall NSa has two types of license. The advanced license is a bit expensive when compared to the comprehensive license, but when you compare the advanced license to the licensing cost of other brands or competitors, it is expensive."

"There is a license required for this solution and you can purchase a one, two, or three year term. Typically businesses choose the one year subscription and then later choose the three year licensing option if they are satisfied."

"SonicWall is not an expensive solution."

"We paid about 10,000 in our currency for one packet of SonicWall NSa."

"The price is reasonable for what it does."

"Licensed features provide application control, content filtering, antivirus, and anti-malware all in a single appliance."

More SonicWall NSa pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	370
Midsize Enterprise	138
Large Enterprise	195

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	56
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

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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 your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?

The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?

The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardwa...

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What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?

We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deploye...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?

I am overall satisfied with everything, including the price.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?

The CPU configuration for SonicWall NSa, based on my experience, is average. It should be increased somewhat because ...

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What is your primary use case for SonicWall NSa?

We have SonicWall NSa models including NSA 2600, NSA 3600, and 6600 firewalls in our environment.We have used the Dee...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 1% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 8% of the time

H3C SecPath Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 8% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 7% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 2% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Cisco Meraki MX vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 9% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

More SonicWall NSa Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

May 2026

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall NSa

May 2026

Download SonicWall NSa product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Sangfor NGAF offers a user-friendly firewall solution with a strong virus database and competitive pricing. It supports SSL VPN connectivity, intrusion detection, and is known for easy deployment and integration capabilities.

Sangfor NGAF is a comprehensive security platform providing robust network protection through its application control and detailed threat insights. While effective in preventing threats and ensuring network security, it has areas needing improvement such as real-time reporting and system support. It delivers secure internet and VPN connections, proficiently handling malware threats. However, it faces challenges with user experience, reporting capabilities, hardware scalability, and needs better third-party integration. Licensing costs are noted to be high, and there are performance variations between versions.

What are the key features of Sangfor NGAF?

User-friendly deployment: Offers an uncomplicated setup process.
Robust virus database: Provides reliable threat detection.
SSL VPN connectivity: Ensures secure remote access.
Application control: Manages application usage for enhanced security.
Intrusion detection: Detects unauthorized access attempts.
URL filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Sangfor NGAF?

Affordability: Competitive pricing compared to peers.
Integration: Good capabilities with existing systems.
Support: Noted for providing reliable customer service.
Threat prevention: Effective in securing networks against various threats.

Sangfor NGAF is widely used across industries including education, healthcare, and finance for its reliable network security. It is favored for securing internal servers, offering robust threat protection, and managing bandwidth efficiently at a budget-friendly rate.

Sangfor

SonicWall NSa stands out for its advanced security features, easy management, and cost-effectiveness, making it effective for businesses seeking robust network protection and efficient management.

Renowned for its comprehensive security mechanisms, SonicWall NSa provides a user-centric interface with enhanced VPN capabilities and content filtering. Features like deep packet inspection, application control, and site-to-site VPN ensure that it meets complex business needs. Its scalability is supported by SD-WAN functionality and unified threat management services. However, enhancements in firmware reliability, VPN scalability, and reporting tools are needed to fully optimize its potential for smaller businesses. Improved integration with AI and better threat detection will further enhance its robust security offering.

What are SonicWall NSa's most important features?

Deep Packet Inspection: Identifies threats through thorough traffic analysis.
Application Control: Manages and controls application activity for network efficiency.
Site-to-Site VPN: Creates secure connections between different office locations.
Automated Breach Prevention: Proactively blocks security threats.
Scalability with SD-WAN: Adapts to growing network demands with controlled traffic across multiple sites.

What benefits or ROI should users recognize?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management tasks with straightforward operation.
Cost-Effective Throughput: Delivers high performance at a competitive price, ensuring value for investment.
Reliable Performance: Provides consistent security and operational efficiency.
Single-Pane Management: Facilitates integrated and cohesive network oversight.
Comprehensive UTM Services: Offers extensive security coverage suitable for business requirements.

In industries like education, industry, and government, SonicWall NSa plays a key role in safeguarding networks against potential cyber threats. Service providers and integrators deploy it for efficient firewalling, VPN management, bandwidth monitoring, and intrusion prevention. Its flexibility attends to needs from small businesses seeking secure internet access to large enterprises requiring thorough connectivity controls.

SonicWall

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

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa

June 2026

Free Report: Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa

Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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