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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
581
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
42nd
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 February 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smoothwall Firewall is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Firewall is 9.8%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate18.7%
Sophos Firewall9.8%
Smoothwall Firewall0.3%
Other71.2%
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

"It is very flexible to use."
"The most valuable features are simplicity, management, and that it's constantly evolving."
"It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG. It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."
"I love the interface."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the features, like content filtering. The firewall is powerful."
"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by providing stronger network security as it's a next-generation firewall, blocking known threats and vulnerabilities in real-time, detecting and controlling thousands of applications, scanning encrypted traffic, and improving VPN and remote access through automated failover and intelligent routing protocols like BGP over IPsec VPN."
"The SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate has been most impactful in maintaining our network's integrity."
"It was easy to initially deploy it."
"Reporting is the most valuable feature."
"I like the tunneling part which we are using for the VOIP. We have various other sites where we connect via tunneling. The tunneling part is very fast and easy to implement."
"The solution is easy to set up and configure."
"This is a very stable solution."
"I like their firewall and the intrusion detection feature"
"The simplicity of the setup is the most valuable feature."
"The most effective feature in enhancing our network security is the threat intelligence capability."
"The scalability of Sophos XGS is very good."
 

Cons

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's performance and threat intelligence could be improved."
"With the addition of some features, it is possible that FortiGate can be used in all verticals."
"FortiGate's logging and reporting could be improved. I would also like to see Fortinet add a guest management portal."
"Difficult to add or define, and not that easy to configure and manage."
"There's room for improvement in the interface, especially following their upgrade to version nineteen."
"The UTM filtering needs improvement."
"Its technical support could be better."
"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."
"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."
"There are issues with some designs being able to work on high availability."
"I would like to see in future releases a tool to scan for malicious packets and give the location of where they are coming from."
"There are a lot of false-positive cases."
"The initial setup, specifically when activating the license, is a nightmare and is quite difficult."
"There is an area that is very specific to our setup, where working tools you cannot easily establish a VPN between two internal networks."
"The user interface could be better."
"A feature that could be improved in Sophos XGS is the ability to perform internal vulnerability checks."
"Sophos XG should concentrate on improving SD-WAN solutions. Currently, the in-built GUI doesn't support configuring SD-WAN."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."
"The price could be lower."
"The setup cost was good. The Egyptian pound is declining, and upgrading Fortinet FortiGate yearly costs about $2000 USD, which equals one hundred Egyptian pounds. I maintain a business relationship with the vendor and receive support from them."
"It's one of the more expensive brands. The 100 series costs around $4,000. They are similar in pricing to what you might get from Cisco solutions and probably other similar ones. They're not more expensive than other similar solutions, but they're certainly not cheaper either."
"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."
"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."
"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."
"The product is a little bit expensive."
Information not available
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"They have different options for the license."
"When compared to other products, Sophos licensing is very affordable."
"I paid approximately 57,000 Rupees ($750 USD) for three years."
"The price of the solution is reasonable when compared to the market."
"Sophos XG can be considered as an averagely-priced tool in the market."
"The price is reasonable"
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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%
University
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise189
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
Earn 20 points
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.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.