Sophos UTM vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

Sophos and Stormshield are both solutions in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category. Sophos is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.5, while Stormshield is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Sophos holds a 8.1% mindshare in UTMU, compared to Stormshield’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Sophos users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Stormshield users who would recommend it.

Sophos UTM

Read 118 Sophos UTM reviews

6,526 Views
2,806 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Stormshield Network Security

Read 17 Stormshield Network Security reviews

2,774 Views
1,276 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Sophos UTM

Stormshield Network Security

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

Sophos UTM and Stormshield Network Security are two prominent competitors in the network security category. Sophos UTM stands out with robust features and comprehensive security bundles, while Stormshield Network Security shines in ease of use and cost-effective protection.

Features: Sophos UTM offers comprehensive features like centralized management, Web Application Firewall, and extensive reporting capabilities, making it a versatile choice for all business sizes. Conversely, Stormshield Network Security focuses on simplicity, providing an easy-to-configure and reliable firewall and IPS.

Room for Improvement: Sophos UTM could improve scalability and high availability, as well as simplify feature setup and enhance VPN connectivity. Meanwhile, Stormshield Network Security users suggest better web filtering, improved technical support, and more accessible features at competitive pricing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos UTM is known for diverse deployment options across various environments and generally positive customer service feedback, although support quality can vary. Stormshield Network Security equals deployment flexibility and is praised for excellent customer service and improving support responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Sophos UTM's pricing is competitive with complex licensing, deemed costly compared to certain alternatives, but offering great value in multi-year deals. Stormshield Network Security is considered expensive, yet recognized for good pricing strategies for mid-sized companies and high perceived ROI despite some additional feature costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Sophos UTM vs. Stormshield Network Security Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM vs. Stormshield Network Security

January 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

Sophos UTM

Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Stormshield Network Security

Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category, the mindshare of Sophos UTM is 8.1%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Stormshield Network Security is 4.0%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Sophos UTM	8.1%
Stormshield Network Security	4.0%
Other	87.9%

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Featured Reviews

Thomas Zimmerman

System Engineer SDDC / VCF at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Integrated firewall and VPN have provided cost savings and strengthened customer security

The needed improvements for Sophos UTM include that the GUI could be a little more high-resolution-aware because it's still stuck in the small, low-resolution admin days, and those are long over. I choose a rating of nine out of ten for Sophos UTM because, as I mentioned, the graphical user interface is stuck in the past, and some things here and there are not implemented to the full, such as the reverse gateway thing, reverse proxy, and web application firewall. If you want to really implement some rules that are a little bit more difficult, Sophos always recommends getting the dedicated WAF, or web application firewall, but I would prefer to have more features on the web application firewall in the firewall itself because it would make more sense. Other than that, it's a very smooth experience, and I really appreciate it.

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Benjamin

Network Engineer at ACS2I

The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats

The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

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

"It has made our organization more secure, because we are using a VPN. We are not accessing services directly. It allows us to segregate some of the traffic for individuals which may be more of a developer role rather than an operational role needing access to developer resources, but not necessarily production operational resources."

"Sophos UTM provides security for our network here and access through a VPN connection for our remote users. It also offers the flexibility to create different tools for accessibility."

"The cost of the solution is very reasonable."

"The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the efficiency and mail filtering module."

"I would recommend UTM over XG because it's easier to manage."

"The initial setup was easy."

"If a computer does get infected the Sophos appliance lets us know via it's Advanced Threat Protection so we can get a much faster response time."

"With Sophos, we have not had any incidents this year. The security provided has been good. It has proven to be okay for our needs."

More Sophos UTM pros

"The solution has improved my organization because I can see what traffic is happening and I can use it to block and prevent attacks."

"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."

"A very robust product."

"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."

"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."

"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."

"The scalability of the solution is good."

"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."

More Stormshield Network Security pros

Cons

"They could use more SSL VPN support."

"It is a little too CPU resource intensive, so we would like to see improvements there."

"It does have built-in policies, which enable you to disable USB devices, etc. It would be nice if they had more policies because there are not that many of them."

"It needs a better user interface. The one they have is not so good."

"The application control is really bad. It needs a lot of enhancements. The traffic shaping and bandwidth control, and application control need a lot of work."

"We had some problems with the configuration. They had provided a CloudFormation template, and we had to go several rounds to make it work."

"It is a pretty straightforward setup, but it should be some sort of documentation that takes you step-by-step to help set it up for your VPC."

"There is absolutely no support when using AWS. If you buy the on-premise Sophos solution, you get support."

More Sophos UTM cons

"It could be better if it were more user-friendly. It's too complicated for us to use it. The price could be better as well."

"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."

"The SD card could be more secure."

"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."

"The product must improve its pricing."

"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."

"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."

"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."

More Stormshield Network Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Sophos UTM's pricing is on the cheaper side."

"The pricing is pretty reasonable. I don't think that it is overly expensive."

"This product is free for home users. The more expensive products have better performance."

"Our licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis."

"In the case of a software/virtual appliance subscription, you pay by protecting user/IP addresses. You can do this to as much hardware resources as you like."

"The solution is affordable compared to others, such as FortiGate. The price is important."

"It's expensive. It has a yearly license."

"Sophos UTM is moderately priced, but it could be improved."

More Sophos UTM pricing and cost advice

"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."

"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."

"I think the price is good."

"The pricing could be better."

"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."

"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."

"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."

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Comparison Review

it_user216600

Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees

Jan 3, 2016

Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate

I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

17%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	25

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...

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What do you like most about Sophos UTM?

The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?

I have no declaration regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Sophos UTM.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?

The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Sophos UTM

Compared 18% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 8% of the time

Zyxel Unified Security Gateway vs Sophos UTM

Compared 2% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 23% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 4% of the time

More Stormshield Network Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

January 2026

Download Sophos UTM product report

Buyer's Guide

Stormshield Network Security

January 2026

Download Stormshield Network Security product report

Also Known As

Astaro

NETASQ Firewalls

Overview

Sophos UTM is a unified threat management platform designed to protect your businesses from known and emerging malware including viruses, rootkits and spyware. The solution provides a complete network security package with everything your organization needs in a single modular appliance.

Sophos UTM Features

Sophos UTM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Web and Email Filtering
General Management
Network Protection
Network Routing and Services
Advanced Threat Protection
Authentication
Email Encryption and DLP
Web Policy
End-User Portal
VPN IPsec Client, VPN SSL Client, and Clientless VPN
Web Application Firewall Protection
UTM Endpoint Protection and Management
SEC Endpoint Integration
Logging and Reporting

Sophos UTM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Sophos UTM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Simplifies your IT security without the complexity of multiple point solutions
Intuitive interface to help you quickly create policies to control security risks
Provides clear, detailed reports to give you the insight you need to improve your network performance and protection
Complete control to block, allow, shape and prioritize applications
Two-factor authentication with one-time password (OTP)
Integrated wireless controller
Allows you to connect remote offices with easy VPN and Wi-Fi

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Sophos UTM solution.

PeerSpot user Dana B., Network Administrator at a manufacturing company, says “The web and email filtering are the two biggest and most valuable aspects of the solution for us. The solution overall has just been a good, cost-effective solution for us. The solution offers a lot of functionality. The solution scales well. We've found the technical support to be helpful. The stability and performance are quite good.”

A Technical Director at a security firm mentions, "Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."

Marek M., Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company, comments, “Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to set up. If you follow the instructions using the wizard, which is just a few steps, then you will have a firewall to protect you and your customer.”

A Software Sales Manager at a tech services company explains, “The overall visibility of the console is what I find most valuable, plus it's very user-friendly. It can be integrated with other solutions such as SOAR, SIEM, etc., even when you have an existing firewall. I really like that the console can be integrated. You'll see everything on the same window, and the single window feature of the machine is so good. These are the features I really like.”

James D., IT Manager at Manual Workers Union, states, “The fact that it's on the cloud means we don't have to administer it on our network or deal with a physical machine, which saves us money. The solution has many great features. From the console, we can start different scannings on different machines. We enjoy the centralized reporting part of it. The initial setup is simple. We enjoy its general stability. The solution can scale. So far, the solution has been problem-free.”

Sophos

NETASQ's integrated intrusion prevention engine uses protocol conformity analysis, application filtering and antivirus analysis to inspect authorized traffic flows and strengthen application security. NETASQ enables you to establish and configure user-based security policies, giving you greater control over which network resources each user is authorized to access.

Stormshield

Sample Customers

One Housing Group

ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM vs. Stormshield Network Security

January 2026

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