Sophos XG vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Sophos and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Sophos is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.6. Sophos holds a 11.5% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Sophos users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Sophos XG and Zscaler Cloud Firewall are competitors in the network security category. Zscaler may have the upper hand due to its cloud-centric approach and in-depth threat protection.

Features: Sophos XG offers advanced web and application filtering, synchronized security, and a robust IPS and anti-malware protection. It also provides centralized management for high visibility. Zscaler Cloud Firewall features comprehensive threat protection, CASB, DLP, and strong integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Sophos XG needs improvements in VPN stability, load balancing, and documentation, along with more intuitive configuration processes. Zscaler Cloud Firewall could enhance its service customization, reporting, and integration with legacy systems.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos XG provides flexible deployment options: on-premises, cloud, and hybrid. Its support has been reported as variable. Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers straightforward cloud-focused deployment but lacks certain on-premises features. Users cite robust cloud solutions but request better customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Sophos XG is competitively priced with flexible licensing and bundled deals, showing good ROI due to its feature set. Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers tiered pricing, potentially high for small businesses, but justified by the advanced features for cloud deployments, offering a premium solution with strong ROI potential.

To learn more, read our detailed Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 845,406 peers since 2012

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 April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos XG is 11.5%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

Read full review

SherifFouad

ICT Manager at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Gives us customizable policies, modifiable templates, and customized rules for single users

The major problem that I am facing, and I know that others are facing as well, is with the HTTPS classic, in general, or any classic that works on Secure Socket Layers. Let's say I set up a rule to block users from accessing YouTube or Facebook. The rule will only block the HTTP traffic, which is non-secure traffic. But most websites right now, most of the reputable web services providers, for extra security for their own web servers and for the user's security, provide a connection over Secure Socket Layer. The problem comes when you are trying to block, or allow, similar traffic that uses HTTPS. You have to create a certificate and import it into the users' web browsers, whatever they are using. Now, this is not a problem when you're dealing with users stationed and fixed in a specific site or location. They are using desktops, they will never take the desktops and go home with them, nor will they ever take the desktops and travel to another country, or another site with it. The problem occurs when you're dealing with roaming users who use laptops and have to move between different sites that have different types of policies applied to them. You have to import all sorts of certificates from each site into their browser. Doing so will most probably conflict with something else that is totally irrelevant and cause a problem. A way around this is if you are using authentication with Active Directory. But most of the time, especially if you're operating in a remote site with a very slow internet connection, if it's available in the first place, authentication with Active Directory is impossible. So it needs an easier way to apply HTTPS filters, without importing certificates into users' browsers and without the need for using an Active Directory. There must be a way around it. There are workarounds. But with applied workarounds, it will work out once, it won't work out properly 10 other times. That is my only request. Also, since Sophos took over Cyberoam, the online technical library and support library have become super messy. To get a piece of information is becoming a nightmare. They need to reorganize the online technical support and technical library. The easiest way to overcome this is to look at how the Cyberoam online technical library was structured and to build the Sophos technical library the same way. It is messy, totally unorganized, time-wasting. Instead of getting what you want in five minutes it takes half an hour.

Read full review

Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Though it helps deal with web traffic or any malicious traffic, it needs to work on its DC performance issues

The product's initial setup phase is moderate in level, so it is neither very complex nor very easy. For the deployment, my company first needs to gather all the requirements of the users and the domain names and consider how many users there are in the company. In the implementation and planning part, my company needs to consider what kind of policies we will create while ensuring that the policies are created based on the requirements of the users. There is a need to segregate the users' requirements since there are separate departments in the company, like the HR department, sales department, IT department, and manufacturing department, so that our company can create policies depending on their requirements. On-site, if you want a GRE tunnel, our company can handle GRE tunnel traffic routing and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, after which Zscaler will take action based on the policies created by our organization. For the deployments and maintenance, a team of five members consisting of two managers and three engineers is required.

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

"Their interface is very easy to use, it is without bugs."

"User-friendly and affordable security solution that's recommended for SMB customers. This solution has good technical support."

"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution."

"The next-generation firewall is great."

"The technical support is great."

"The most valuable feature is the web filter."

"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The solution is a next generation firewall and we have gotten good customer feedback."

"Sophos XG's most effective features for threat detection and management are its UTM components, which are useful for malware prevention and intrusion detection."

"I particularly like the visibility it provides into network traffic, allowing us to identify and address issues efficiently."

"The most valuable features are its protection capabilities like threat prevention, malware security, web protection, and web security."

"The simplicity of the setup is the most valuable feature."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"It's a complete firewall solution that has everything."

"Sophos XG has excellent scalability features."

More Sophos XG pros

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"Zscaler is still a very good product."

"Zscaler provides effective protection against various cyber threats ensuring a safe environment"

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

"Once you have Zscaler running you have access to configure it however you want."

"The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution."

"I like the ease of deployment and its flexibility. We don't need to deal with license, quotes, procurement, delivery, and installation. Everything is software-based, and it's very easy to operate."

"It helps a lot of companies to reduce their downtime. Also, It helps businesses in terms of being secured and protected from any threats."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"The platform's interface could improve."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."

"It would be nice if FortiGate incorporated some built-in endpoint protection features. I would also like a built-in SOC dashboard for managing multiple Fortinet firewalls."

"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."

"It should be more stable. There should be full integration within Fortinet products themselves as well as with other third-party products. Especially when you're not dealing with SIEM and the correlation of the security box, we want Fortinet to be able to share that information with as many other products as it can."

"To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."

"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."

"Monitoring and reporting could be better."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution could improve by making the graphical interface better and increasing the performance."

"It is a very basic and entry-level firewall. It doesn't give very granular control over the traffic. It should have more granular control over the traffic. This feature should be there similar to Palo Alto and Cisco. It should have such advanced features."

"Their support is fairly good, and they come back to me. I've had an issue once or twice where I couldn't understand what the support person was saying because those calls were probably routed to India. They were a bit difficult to understand, but it is generally not an issue."

"When it comes to improvements that the vendor can make, we see that the cloud integration for managing all the firewalls is essentially a replacement of the on-prem version we had and is not sufficiently mature."

"The initial setup is not straightforward."

"Areas for improvement would be the access points and the on-premise version, which is very bad."

"The uploading and downloading of reports should be included."

"Its user interface is a little bit slow."

More Sophos XG cons

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

"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."

"It would be better if they improved their policy, package visibility, and flexibility while we're creating rules for inspection. It could also be cheaper or more things could be included in the basic package. In the next release, I would like better coverage in the Asia Pacific region and better quality of service."

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

"Instead of the standard license, they should certainly provide customers with the visibility to access and view the logs."

"Because it's on cloud, it doesn't allow application of extra settings."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this solution is good."

"We find the most valuable aspect of this solution is the price. It is affordable, and cheaper than other firewalls."

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."

"Its price could be better."

"It is a good product from a price perspective versus functionality."

"Its licenses cost the same for different subscription plans."

"Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive."

"As far as I'm aware, in our case, it's just a yearly pricing arrangement with no additional licensing costs."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The issue of a recurring license is a hassle because every year, we have to subscribe."

"We pay licensing fees of approximately $2,000. We have a contract for three years."

"I don't believe we have a license for this product."

"The price is fair."

"I paid approximately 57,000 Rupees ($750 USD) for three years."

"A Sophos XG license costs approximately $45,000"

"The price for the firewall is reasonable."

"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."

More Sophos XG pricing and cost advice

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

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

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

"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."

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

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

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Sophos XG?

IPS works smoothly.

See all answers

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 do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

See all answers

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

The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos XG

Compared 10% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos XG

Compared 8% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Sophos XG

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Sophos XG

Compared 5% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sophos XG

Compared 3% of the time

More Sophos XG Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 18% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Multicloud Defense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XG

March 2025

Download Sophos XG product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

March 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Sophos XG is a versatile network security solution that offers network protection, firewall management, VPN access, web filtering, and intrusion prevention, providing comprehensive security for businesses from small offices to large enterprises.

Sophos XG stands out for its Synchronized Security, easy setup, and robust templates. It manages VPN access, protects against threats, and handles load balancing and traffic monitoring. The cloud-based management, centralized dashboard, and detailed logging make it user-friendly and reliable. Integration of features like email protection, SD-WAN, and unified threat management ensures a broad spectrum of security needs are covered. However, it could benefit from improvements in network security, user portals, technical support, and more scalable SD-WAN features.

What are the key features of Sophos XG?

Synchronized Security: Orchestrates threat intelligence sharing between endpoints and firewall.
Unlimited SSL VPN Clients: Provides extensive VPN client support for secure remote access.
Cloud-Based Management: Facilitates remote administration with a cloud-hosted platform.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and blocks potential threats in real-time.
Centralized Dashboard: Offers a comprehensive view of network security status.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Easily adapts to growing business needs.
User-Friendliness: Simplified setup and intuitive management.
Effective Threat Protection: Provides robust security against a wide range of threats.
Comprehensive Reporting: Delivers detailed insights and analytics.
Cost-Effectiveness: Competitive in pricing with flexible deployment options.

Sophos XG is implemented across industries such as healthcare, education, and finance to secure sensitive data and ensure regulatory compliance. It aids in endpoint protection, application control, load balancing, and traffic monitoring essential for these industries. Enhancing network security, simplifying VPN setup, and integrating adaptive security features remain focal points for businesses.

Sophos

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

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

Information Not Available

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

March 2025

Free Report: Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Sophos XG vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall report.

See our list of best Firewalls vendors.

We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.