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Smoothwall Firewall vs Sophos Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 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
580
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)
Smoothwall Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
41st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
302
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smoothwall Firewall is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 10.2%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.8%
Sophos Firewall10.2%
Smoothwall Firewall0.3%
Other70.7%
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.
Himanshu-Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Qualic
Offers good scalability and monitoring features
There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages. For example, if we're creating a rule, we should be able to do everything on the same page. Just a drop-down thing or something. This would improve productivity.
Nassif  Kaleny - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.
Dynamic web and mail filtering contribute to improved security measures
The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."
"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."
"We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
"The firewalls are valuable for threat prevention."
"By utilizing features such as dynamic path selection and application-aware routing, we've been able to reduce latency for critical applications such as VoIP and video by 20-30% during peak times."
"Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good."
"Fortinet FortiGate has SD-WAN, FortiView, antivirus, sandbox, and IPS, which are generally well-known features."
"The response from the technical support team has always been excellent."
"It was easy to initially deploy it."
"It is extremely easy to deploy and fast to learn."
"The solution is stable. I've had very few problems with it."
"There are good KCL rules and policies as well as NATing rules."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the flexibility of it, it's pretty versatile."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"There are many valuable features."
"All the features are valuable, in my opinion, but for us the most important features are the network security, application control, and web server protection. Sophos Sandstorm is another good feature off the top of my head."
"The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection, and antivirus."
 

Cons

"Security level could be increased."
"This product could be improved with Active directory integration and better handling in IPsec and GRE Tunnels."
"I often ask for help from the local provider. I haven't found the required efficient help."
"The platform's interface could improve."
"While the security is good, we'd always prefer if it was even better to ensure protection."
"FortiGate support could do some improvements on their IPv6 configuration. Right now it's still in the very early stage for utilizing in an enterprise level network environment."
"Technical support for this solution can be improved."
"Regarding stability, I have experienced performance issues with Fortinet FortiGate. Sometimes it does not work correctly in certain situations, such as DNS or URL categories, where it might block incorrectly."
"There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages."
"I would want the level of integration to have another device on your network that is also reliable."
"The support engineers of the product are not very tech-savvy, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The user interface could be better."
"All the security features could be better."
"It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features."
"There can be lag time when updating an operating policy."
"They made some changes to the firmware update sometime last year, which moved some of the policies from where they were before. Some of the policies, such as NAS policies, were separated, which made it a bit hard for people to trace the policies they had configured."
"Sophos XGS changes every two years, so we must update our knowledge. We can only test it with real requirements or problems to find scalability and reliability. We can't find these in normal testing. We can see reviews based on Gartner reports, but sometimes, we really feel problems. It can create many issues, even compatibility problems with fiber modules. Only system integrators or installers find these problems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."
"The pricing is perfect."
"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."
"The solution is cheap."
"Its pricing is good. The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost."
"It is a cost-effective solution that meets the user's needs."
"I think that the pricing is fair."
"FortiGate SWG is a cost-effective solution well-suited for organisations of all sizes."
Information not available
"Sophos XGS is competitively priced."
"It is very expensive."
"Sophos XG isn't expensive compared to Check Point."
"The price can be a bit steep but for the number of features, it is worth it."
"There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution."
"The tool's pricing is cheaper compared to other alternative products."
"The Palo Alto solution is expensive and the FortiGate is less expensive than Palo Alto. The Sophos XG would be priced in the middle of the two."
"The price of Sophos XGS depends on the type of license. However, the licensing cost is approximately 60 percent of the total cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
11%
Educational Organization
10%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise188
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business203
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise52
 

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 ...
Ask a question
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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...
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...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
Sophos XG, Sophos XGS
 

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
Information Not Available
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Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Sophos and others in Firewalls. Updated: January 2026.
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