Sangfor NGAF vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Sangfor and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Sangfor is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.4, while Zscaler is ranked #27 with an average rating of 7.6. Sangfor holds a 1.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Sangfor users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Sangfor NGAF and Zscaler Cloud Firewall compete in the cybersecurity and network protection category. Sangfor NGAF offers a more cost-effective solution, while Zscaler provides advanced cloud-based security features suitable for larger enterprises.

Features: Sangfor NGAF offers user-friendly management, a powerful virus database, and quick IPS reports. It integrates well with features like WAF and SSL VPN, delivering comprehensive network security with real-time threat detection. Zscaler Cloud Firewall, as an entirely cloud-based solution, minimizes hardware dependency while providing advanced threat protection, DLP, and scalability with centralized management for modern cloud environments.

Room for Improvement: Sangfor NGAF could enhance its integration consoles, scalability, and local support availability, as some users report performance lags and filtering inconsistencies. Zscaler Cloud Firewall may improve application customization and simplify deployment, along with expanding IP blocking control and cloud-centric application understanding.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sangfor NGAF allows various deployment options, primarily on-premises, and strong 24/7 local support, although support may vary by region. Zscaler offers fast support response leveraging strong global cloud infrastructure, relying on continuous cloud connectivity for full functionality.

Pricing and ROI: Sangfor NGAF is cost-effective, offering competitive pricing and high ROI against brands like Fortinet and Sophos with no hidden costs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is expensive, especially for small businesses, yet reflects its advanced capabilities through flexible pricing structures, ensuring value via comprehensive security services.

To learn more, read our detailed Sangfor NGAF vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 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 Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
Sangfor NGAF	1.1%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall	1.0%
Other	82.8%

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.

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Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management

The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.

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 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 solution is stable."

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

"It's great for capturing the traffic and troubleshooting it."

"The initial setup is easy."

"I like how we can achieve total integration."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are the integration of SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet Unified SASE."

"The solution from Fortinet FortiGate is very good, and our experience has been very good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It offers application control features."

"In our hospital, Sangfor NGAF works well for us in terms of ensuring confidentiality and availability, which are crucial in the healthcare industry."

"When it comes to the price of firewall solutions, Sangfor NGAF takes the cake, as it is cheaper than Fortinet, Sophos, Check Point and Palo Alto."

"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 tool's performance is good."

"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."

"Sangfor is a good solution that provides a WAF and firewall solution; most other vendors, like Sophos and Fortinet and Cisco, only provide one solution, and that's a valuable feature of Sangfor."

"The capabilities are mostly within the box."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"Most of the features that Zscaler has to offer, we will deploy."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall has positively impacted my organization by increasing ROI, especially by reducing costs."

"Since it is really customizable, I can use it and avoid enabling access to the full network."

"Users are offered protection from anywhere on any device, with a full set of security features including firewall, IPS, web security, CASB, and DLP."

"Includes advanced tech protection."

"The solution is scalable."

"I like the advanced tech protection Cloud Sandbox, it's a nice feature."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"In their IPS Web Security Gateway, the reporting functions need to be a little bit more user-friendly for how to get the reports from it."

"Application management can be improved."

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

"The UI could be improved."

"There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available. These would help understand the new product line and the existing product line features."

"FortiGate is really good. We have been using it for quite some time. Initially, when we started off, we had around 70 plus devices of FortiGate, but then Check Point and Palo Alto took over the place. From the product perspective, there are no issues, but from the account perspective, we have had issues. Fortinet's presence in our company is very less. I don't see any Fortinet account managers talking to us, and that presence has diluted in the last two and a half or three years. We have close to 1,500 firewalls. Out of these, 60% of firewalls are from Palo Alto, and a few firewalls are from Check Point. FortiGate firewalls are very less now. It is not because of the product; it is because of the relationship. I don't think they had a good relationship with us, and there was some kind of disconnect for a very long time. The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate."

"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations."

"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution should be able to work in a hybrid setup."

"Sangfor need greater exposer in the market because the market is mainly saturated by Fortinet. The user experience of Fortinet is quite different compared to NGAF. If we want to switch our users from Fortinet to NGAF, we have to convince them that the user experience will be much easier once once they start to use it."

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

"The tool is expensive."

"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."

"The setup phase is quite complex."

"They need to improve their research team and they need to study their data to analyze it and build the product."

"Sangfor could improve by providing better real-time reporting, as the current reports don't offer the level of detail we need, especially for runtime insights."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall should have a better understanding of all dynamic cloud applications."

"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"

"Certain criteria need to be met if you want to scale this solution."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"If I can get rid of Jetscaler, I will use Twingate for sure."

"One area for improvement lies in their customer service, which feels less ideal for a premium product. The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution."

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

"It would be nice to have some sort of a form factor, a physical form factor perhaps, or virtual machine that you could install on devices or on a cloud, and have some cloud computing."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay $500 per year for the license."

"There is a license required to use Fortinet FortiGate with all the features. It has to be updated with the threats on an ongoing basis for the signatures to prevent threats and a license is needed to receive those security updates."

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. The additional cost depends on the extra feature requirements."

"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."

"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."

"When you look at these end security systems and firewalls, these firewalls even five years ago were $50,000 or perhaps $25,000 to implement in some types of customer sites. Now we're talking about tools that are $1,000. In this case, it might have been $500 or something like that."

"The price depends on the size of the company. From the beginning, you just want to know the internet bandwidths, speed, and the number of users to be able to offer the right product and model. They have a lot of products in FortiGate according to the size of the company, like 200D and 300D."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Sangfor NGAF price is reasonable and there is an annual license. However, the maintenance cost can be a bit high."

"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."

"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."

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

"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."

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

"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."

"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."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

"There are different subscription models available."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall 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

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

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	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	13

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 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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Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was fine.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

I think Zscaler Cloud Firewall can be improved by adding more features. The needed improvements involve scalability, ...

See all answers

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 Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% 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

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 6% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Check Point Quantum Force vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 19% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Multicloud Defense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall 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

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

May 2026

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

No data available

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

Zscaler Cloud Firewall enhances network security through seamless integration, configuration management, and comprehensive visibility. With real-time threat detection and centralized control, it provides exceptional protection without hardware investments.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is designed for efficient network traffic management and secure internet access. It allows granular policy setting, blocking malicious IPs and domains, and access control. This cloud-based service offers smooth integration with security platforms, replacing traditional firewalls and VPNs to ensure data protection and network integrity. The intuitive dashboard facilitates policy enforcement, while advanced features like SSL inspection, URL filtering, and sandboxing add layers of security. Its cloud operation supports scalability and cost-effectiveness with an OpEx model.

What are the key features of Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Seamless integration: Connects smoothly with existing security tools.
Intuitive dashboard: Simplifies policy enforcement and configuration.
Granular rule-setting: Allows detailed policy customization.
Real-time threat detection: Identifies and mitigates risks instantly.
Centralized control: Manages firewall settings from one location.

What benefits should users expect from Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Cost savings: Operates fully in the cloud, eliminating hardware needs.
Scalability: Adjusts to business requirements without additional investments.
Enhanced security: Provides advanced SSL inspection and sandboxing.
Flexibility: Blocks malicious traffic and secures various devices.
Integration: Works with other platforms for comprehensive security.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is widely used by organizations needing to secure network communications for remote and office environments. It facilitates policy implementation to block unauthorized access and is integral in protecting data and network operations across sectors like finance, healthcare, and technology. Its ability to integrate with other platforms supports a multifaceted security approach, ensuring extensive coverage and adaptability.

Zscaler

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.

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

April 2026

Free Report: Sangfor NGAF vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Sangfor NGAF vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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