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Sangfor NGAF vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
587
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
26th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Firebox
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
131
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (12th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (5th), Anti-Malware Tools (6th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (18th), Application Control (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.0%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Firebox is 2.3%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
WatchGuard Firebox2.3%
Sangfor NGAF1.0%
Other78.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
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.
Zaid Farooqui - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
PS
CEO at ajuntament del Prat
Network protection has improved with stronger VPN connectivity but administration remains complex
Deploying WatchGuard Firebox was quite easy, but we have had some problems regarding the VPN and the administration of the tool and the two firewalls that we have. When comparing WatchGuard Firebox with our previous solution, Palo Alto, we have had some problems in administration because of the tools. I think that they have some aspects in their system that are cloud-provided, but they also have an on-premise solution, which makes this combination good. Although I should say that when compared to Palo Alto, we have taken a step backwards. In general, I would rate WatchGuard Firebox around 6-7; it is a good firewall, but they lack good administration tools. We experience many problems with the performance and administration tools on the web, including several issues with VPNs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Offers good security and filtering."
"Fortinet FortiGate is stable; I am told that Fortinet FortiGate is one of the best solutions available, and I believe it."
"The pricing is great and very reasonable."
"The primary feature I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is the ease of setup."
"There is a tool called FSSO, which is a single sign-on user ID agent that works perfectly."
"Web filters, particularly web application controls, grant us the ability to regulate user access effectively."
"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."
"Our security improved from being able to put in rules and close off unwanted traffic."
"It seems to be a durable, stable product."
"Sangfor NGAF works accordingly with our customers. The solution has good performance, easy to use, and integrates well with the endpoints."
"It is a stable solution."
"SSL VPN is the best feature."
"Sangfor NGAF's standout feature is its powerful application control, enabling precise restrictions on mobile user access to approved applications."
"I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I compare it with Palo Alto and Cisco, both are quite complex products. And if I compare it with FortiGate firewalls from Fortinet, I have also used all these products. Fortinet and Sangfor NGAF are similar products because the applications behind the application and policy layers are almost identical."
"The most valuable feature of Sangfor NGAF is its integration."
"The capabilities are mostly within the box."
"The security that is used for defending from the attacks is very good."
"It is the most effective on non-encrypted traffic and it is able to determine some threats through deep packet inspection."
"WatchGuard Firebox is the most powerful firewall for Wi-Fi security."
"We experienced that WatchGuard is easy to setup regarding VPN compared to other firewalls of other brands."
"We had many bottlenecks before deploying WatchGuard Firebox, but when we switched to a higher version of our firewalls, the bottlenecks were solved."
"Cloud integration is one of the best features."
"Because we bought two firewalls... we need a central place to manage the policies and deploy them to both devices. It's good that it provides a system management console that is able to manipulate and manage policies in one place and deploy them to different locations."
"As a whole, it has a very low requirement for ongoing interaction. It's very self-sufficient. If properly patched, it has very high reliability. The total cost of ownership once deployed is very low."
 

Cons

"But because it's so modular, sometimes customers mistakenly just buy the firewall. The firewall doesn't work right."
"The vendors offer models with different levels of productivity of the product to its users, which is not possible in FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). It lacks integration options."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding FortiAnalyzer to its solution, we should not have to use another solution. FortiAnalyzer can provide more detailed information."
"The pricing of Fortinet FortiGate IPS could always be improved."
"Fortinet FortiGate IPS could improve the VPN. There are times it is slow."
"There should be more testing before releasing software since it can be a little buggy sometimes when new features come out after updates."
"I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues. Perhaps in the future, we could effectively use both firewalls to increase the throughput. If there are two boxes, they both should be able to work."
"Even though our currency in this part of the world is becoming increasingly weak, the pricing is now expensive for us. I have tried pushing Fortinet FortiGate to some customers, however, sometimes the transactions don't conclude due to pricing issues."
"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."
"They need to increase the number of ports in the firewall."
"An area for improvement would be the number of ports defined on the box. In the next release, I would like them to develop their provisioning stage of enrolling end devices."
"Sangfor NGAF could improve by refining its application control policies, especially in addressing challenges with certain types of applications."
"The product must provide more IPS features."
"An area of improvement for Sangfor NGAF could be in the field of reporting and logging."
"The firewall system needs gradual improvements because there are more threats and challenges every day."
"The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"We bought Firebox four or five years ago, and with the first version I had to reboot it every two or three months for no apparent reason. We upgraded last year to the M370 and it's been running, but it is rebooting from time to time. I don't know why."
"The main problem that WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response has is that they use several tools to do the same tasks, and they are sometimes very complicated to use and very slow."
"WatchGuard Firebox could improve the speed of updates, such as new features or improvements. However, they are frequently improving the solution in many areas, such as geo-locations, definitions, and web blocking."
"The VPN aspect of the WatchGuard Firebox is an area that could potentially benefit from improvement. We encountered difficulties while attempting to integrate Windows 11 laptops into the system, which resulted in unreliable connections. After some research, we discovered that this was primarily due to compatibility issues with Windows 11 and required a patch. However, it was still a challenge as it seemed that even when we tried to keep the laptops on Windows 10, they still exhibited the same issues as Windows 11 machines. Despite WatchGuard attributing the problem to Microsoft, we were eventually able to find a solution and all the machines are now functioning seamlessly."
"The product can improve in terms of layout to provide easier access and viewing to users, especially for the reports."
"The licensing can be a bit expensive."
"I would like to have a little more control over access points and the ability to see the bandwidth that is passing through a specific access point. We are not able to see that. We can see what traffic is passing through the Firebox itself, but we can't identify if it is coming from a particular access point or not."
"The administrative UI/UX could be significantly improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for the product is alright."
"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."
"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."
"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."
"Its price is affordable and lesser than Cisco. Cisco is expensive. In terms of licensing, there is only one issue. If a customer's license has expired a month ago and they do the renewal after one month, Fortinet renews the license from the start of the previous month. The activation of the product is done from the previous month, not from the date of renewal. The customers usually shout and complain that because they are paying today, the renewal should start from today. The support contract renewals or licensing should be renewed from the date of renewal, but Fortinet starts from the day it had expired. It is a loss for customers. They might have had some problems because of which they did not take the license one month before. Fortinet should work on this. Cisco doesn't do this. Cisco always starts from the day they apply for the license."
"FortiGate SWG is a cost-effective solution well-suited for organisations of all sizes."
"The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."
"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"The price could be more competitive."
"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."
"Sangfor is cheaper than competing vendors."
"When it comes to the price of firewall solutions, Sangfor NGAF takes the cake."
"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."
"I rate the product price as one on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"Sangfor NGAF is a cheaply priced product, especially if I consider the previous product that was used in my company."
"The licensing can be a one-time purchase unless you need the extra services for example twenty-four seven support."
"It is not expensive. Other products like Fortinet and Check Point are of the same price."
"WatchGuard offers competitive pricing with attractive margins, benefiting both the company and its partners."
"The price is very good."
"It has a very good price. It is not the most expensive one, and it is also not the cheapest one. It is just spot-on in terms of price."
"I find the solution to be very affordable."
"They license it. When we buy it, we buy it with a three-year license. That's the most cost-effective way to do it. So, if you're going to buy it, then buy it with the three-year licensing."
"Their price point worked, which is the reason why we stayed with WatchGuard."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business360
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise190
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise15
 

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 do you like most about Sangfor NGAF?
I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I comp...
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.
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...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.