we are using Sophos XGS for full control over our network.
Associate Director & Co-Owner at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, responsive support, but price high
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Sophos XGS is its ease of use."
- "The price of Sophos XGS could improve, it is high."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Sophos XGS has improved our organization.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Sophos XGS is its ease of use.
What needs improvement?
The price of Sophos XGS could improve, it is high.
Buyer's Guide
Sophos XGS
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Sophos XGS is good.
We have approximately 10 technicians that know how to use the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Sophos XGS was responsive. They solved the issues we had.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have not used another solution prior to Sophos XGS.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Sophos XGS was easy. The time it took for us to implement the solution was approximately one month.
What about the implementation team?
We use a third party with our in-house team to do the implementation. We have 10 workers that maintain the solution.
What was our ROI?
I rate the return on investment for Sophos XGS a three out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution.
I rate the price of Sophos XGS a four out of five.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate another solution before choosing Sophos XGS.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sophos XGS seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

Director at INDSYS Infotech Services
A perfect product for small and medium businesses
Pros and Cons
- "XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection."
- "Sophos' technical support has degraded in the last couple of years. They seem to need to ask a lot of questions, even with simple problems, and take a long time to provide solutions."
What is most valuable?
XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection.
What needs improvement?
In the next release, XGS should include mobile features like two-factor authorization.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using XGS for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
XGS is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
XGS is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos' technical support has degraded in the last couple of years. They seem to need to ask a lot of questions, even with simple problems, and take a long time to provide solutions.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
XGS' price could be lower, though it's moderately priced in the market.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I also evaluated SonicWall and FortiGate.
What other advice do I have?
XGS is a perfect product for small and medium businesses. I would rate it as eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Sophos XGS
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
CTO at Joan Cross Infosystems Ltd
Useful synchronized security, helpful support, and progressive innovations
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are a set of functionalities that are quite commendable, they call it synchronized security, where all the solutions share defense lines with each other."
- "Sophos XGS could improve the price."
What is our primary use case?
Sophos XGS can be deployed on the cloud or on-premise.
Sophos XGS can be used as a firewall, secured appliance firewall, routing, and depending on the licensing on it, to secure web servers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are a set of functionalities that are quite commendable, they call it synchronized security, where all the solutions share defense lines with each other.
What needs improvement?
Sophos XGS could improve the price.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Sophos XGS is good.
We have approximately 1,000 cumulative users using the solution. We have approximately 15 customers using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Sophos XGS is great.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Sophos XGS is straightforward, but if you are not experienced it would be difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing cost for Sophos XGS is high. However, they do apply competitive discounts and different layers of discounts.
What other advice do I have?
Sophos XGS is rated number one on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for the current year. They are doing well with respect to innovations.
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Sophos XGS an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head Of Information Technology at Zambia National Building Society
Reliable and great for firewall purposes but a bit complex
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is scalable."
- "Sophos configurations are a bit complex."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a firewall.
What is most valuable?
Sophos XGS is okay. It’s excellent for firewall purposes.
For me, the platform is stable. It's very stable. It works when it's configured. Also, when you're checking, the logs, the graph, and the graphs are easy to read.
I can also use it for other purposes. For example, it's got a DSCP from there. It can be a distribution. I can have other functions work there, so I can do a lot more than just the firewall components.
It gets easier and easier to set up.
What needs improvement?
It works. However, Sophos configurations are a bit complex. It's not very user-friendly. I don't find it user-friendly when it comes to setting up the firewalls.
The user interface for the technical admin can be better. It should be set forward to configure a firewall. if a firewall has complexities. I don't know why they did that. However, you should be able to quickly set up a rule to minimize the mistakes that a security administrator or a firewall administrator can make and configure. If not, that becomes an issue. One mistake on a firewall could result in a bridge.
It should be more straightforward. If you compare it with GFI Carrier Control Firewall, which is very straightforward, you can see why it’s helpful when it's easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve used the solution for about three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. However, it depends on the model of the physical appliance. There are virtual and physical appliances, so it depends on which one you use. Obviously, there could be a limitation on the number of interfaces you need to use since you may want to have additional services plugged in. Then, the number of ports available may only be two, and yet you actually need to have 10. Maybe you need to buy a module that plugs in; however, there could be a challenge there.
In our organization, we have three to four security administrators.
How are customer service and support?
I've never spoken to technical support directly the way I've been talking to the Fortinet team. I was working with a local partner to get it set up.
How was the initial setup?
In our case, since we were doing it for the first time, we took about a week to complete everything. We were doing a lot of other things and learning as we went. If I had to redo it now, it wouldn't take me a week as I know exactly what I need to do after learning over a period of time. Also, I have backups that allow me to back up and restore, so I just restore the configuration. It’s much more manageable. The first time there’s a learning curve.
What about the implementation team?
We work with a partner and distributor. We are working with the sales party since it was the first time we used them. They offer us professional services.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I found the solution to be expensive. I pay close to $10,000 per year, which I find to be expensive compared to the other similar solution or equivalent solutions.
It's just that one cost, and it's an annual license. As long as my appliance is working okay, I don't need to replace it. However, it's just that. Of course, within that, there are also support services. You might have technical support costs depending on which one of the tiers you pick.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a customer of Sophos.
We’re using the most up-to-date version of the solution. It’s around version 18.
A new user needs to get trained on the appliance to understand how to implement rules and fully appreciate how to work with it. It's not that straightforward. You need to understand what the different areas are. It's complex in the way the rules are set up. My colleagues in the industry have similar comments about Sophos. It’s more complicated than it looks.
I’d rate the solution a seven out of ten, mainly due to the complexity. If I make a mistake, then that firewall is of no use. It needs to be easier to set up so that it provides me or guarantees me that what I want to set up is what I've set up to secure my environment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Engineer at Microgenesis Business Systems
Simple setup, good reporting and great synchronized security
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable."
- "Support is great, however, it can always be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a firewall.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the Sophos management or the central management, including the reporting and managing of multiple firewalls using Sophos Central.
The synchronized security, which also integrates with the Sophos endpoint, is great. That's one of a few of the main features which is beneficial with Sophos XGS.
The solution is stable.
The setup is simple.
What needs improvement?
There were certain lacking capabilities, for example, the searching of its settings et cetera, previously in Sophos XG. There have been some features that were not visible or unavailable compared to the one here on Sophos XGS. Right now, Sophos XGS is stable with its current firmware and hardware versions. It’s gotten better.
I can’t speak to which features could be added.
As long as they just maintain the stability of the firmware version, we will remain happy.
Support is great, however, it can always be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve been working with the solution for one year. We’ve used it since 2021.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We’ve found the product to be stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In general, the solution is scalable.
Its features and configuration can expand. As long as the engineer or the implementer knows which policies are needed, the Sophos firewall integrator can also help with that. If he or she does not know any complicated solution, Sophos support is also there to help.
How are customer service and support?
I’ve had interactions with Sophos support.
They are actually quite responsive with their cases, as long as the open cases is properly informed or properly included with the right information.
They could always improve support a little bit.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is just a simple set of options. Sophos also provides a lot of data sheets and tutorials online. During the initial setup, there is a guide, which the user can just follow as long as he or she knows their internal network. It’s pretty straightforward.
The maintenance isn’t too intense. However, it is on a case-by-case basis and depends on the complexity of the environment and size.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I really don't have visibility with the pricing. However, the price depends on the size of the box, which indicates that the more users you have, the bigger the box, the higher the price you have to pay.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I haven't had the opportunity to work with other solutions. There are a lot, like Palo Alto, which, in terms of security, are much better than Sophos, as people say. However, Sophos can also work well. It just depends on the company's complexity or preference in the firewall.
What other advice do I have?
I'm currently an agent and a Sophos engineer here in the Philippines. We’re partners.
While we work primarily with on-premises deployments, it is also available on the cloud.
I’d rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Head of Sales & Operations at Supernet
User-friendly solution with good built-in reporting
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos XGS' best features are simplicity and its built-in reporting tool."
- "Sophos XGS could be improved by adding a built-in hyper-converged solution."
What is our primary use case?
I mostly use Sophos XGS for URL and web filtering and application control.
What is most valuable?
Sophos XGS' best features are simplicity and its built-in reporting tool.
What needs improvement?
Sophos XGS could be improved by adding a built-in hyper-converged solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos XGS for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos XGS' technical support is very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite simple, and the configuration took around an hour and a half.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing for Sophos XGS is around $150 per unit, split into $100 for the hardware and $50 for the license. Sophos XGS is competitively priced.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Sophos XGS eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Customer
Technical architect at boldbytesng
Stable firewall that has prevented ransomware from encrypting one of the systems
Pros and Cons
- "It is very stable. I have not heard of any issue where clients would have to replace hardware. It's been really stable for a long while."
- "The support team are helpful when you eventually get hold of them which takes a long time. They can improve how quickly you get technical support."
What is our primary use case?
It is a firewall appliance that is used to provide security for network infrastructures. We have it deployed at the edge of our network and we also sell it to other clients to protect their network infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
This solution is really easy to use and deploy. It has a dashboard where you can see everything going on within your network. There is also a cloud component so if you need to secure your computers or servers, this can be done using Central Intercept X Advances. Everything is connected to their cloud platform where you can manage either your end point solution or your firewalls.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable. I have not heard of any issue where clients would have to replace hardware. It's been really stable for a long while.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution. This does depend on the are different categories of the XGS. The license you buy would be determined by the number of users intended to use it.
How are customer service and support?
The support team are helpful when you eventually get hold of them which takes a long time. They can improve how quickly you get technical support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and takes 15 minutes. The time it takes to setup depends on what you're trying to achieve and how complex you want your configuration to be.
What about the implementation team?
We completed the implementation in-house for our business and for some of our clients.
What was our ROI?
We have started seeing ROI using this solution because one of their products helps you to prevent ransomware. It has helped to prevent ransomware from encrypting one of the systems of one of our staff. That is a huge return on investment
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost is $10,000 for an annual subscription.
What other advice do I have?
This is a good product for small and medium enterprises. I can't say how it performs in a large environment. It is a very stable solution. Just like every other product, you need to have someone that has the necessary skill set to manage it. Somebody needs to learn how to set it up and configure it depending on the environment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Information Technology Manager at OPLOG
Easy to use with a good interface but has been crashing
Pros and Cons
- "The product was easy for us to install."
- "It has recently started to suddenly block and crash."
What is most valuable?
The interface is great.
It's a very easy-to-use product.
The product was easy for us to install.
The pricing is okay.
What needs improvement?
We've had many problems lately. We're having issues with its firmware, now, and we are trying to fix it with the supplier, the Sophos supplier in Turkey.
It has recently started to suddenly block and crash. We don't know what will happen. We're not sure if it is the device or something else. We're trying to fix the problem with Sophos.
It's not extremely scalable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'm not sure what the issue is, however, it has been crashing and we're trying to find a fix or a solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I don't find the solution to be very scalable.
We have 300 people using it right now.
How are customer service and support?
We're working with a Sophos supplier in Turkey. When we run into issues, we reach out to them. We're dealing with them right now.
How was the initial setup?
The installation process was very simple and straightforward. It wasn't overly complex or difficult. For us, the deployment took about two days.
You only need two people to maintain the product. It's not labor-intensive.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not sure of the exact amount we paid, however, compared to other firewalls, the pricing isn't too bad.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a customer and an end-user.
We bought three devices from Sophos. We're just dealing with some issues with crashing right now.
I'd rate the solution five out of ten.
Potential new users should clearly investigate other firewall models. They need to be sure of what they pick before they pay for any solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos XGS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Product Categories
FirewallsPopular Comparisons
Fortinet FortiGate
Netgate pfSense
OPNsense
Sophos XG
Cisco Secure Firewall
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls
WatchGuard Firebox
Cisco Meraki MX
Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW)
SonicWall TZ
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
Juniper SRX Series Firewall
SonicWall NSa
Untangle NG Firewall
Sangfor NGAF
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos XGS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Which product do you prefer: Sophos XGS 2100 or Fortinet FortiGate 100F?
- Which firewall to choose for a medium-sized company with 150 users: Sophos XGS 2100 or SonicWall 2700?
- What do you recommend for a corporate firewall implementation?
- Comparison of Barracuda F800, SonicWall 5600 and Fortinet
- Sophos XG 210 vs Fortigate FG 100E
- Which is the best network firewall for a small retailer?
- When evaluating Firewalls, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- Cyberoam or Fortinet?
- Fortinet, Palo Alto or Check Point?
- If you could go back, would you change your decision to buy that firewall and why?