We are using Sophos XGS for basic purposes, such as the NAT rules it provides.
Junior Software Developer at TATMETAL
Powerful user-interface, reliable, but log need more detail
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are the ease of use and powerful interface."
- "In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Sophos XGS are the ease of use and powerful interface.
What needs improvement?
In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist.
In the next release, the searching inside of Sophos XGS needs to improve. It is difficult to learn about the functionality and the modules. Additionally, there needs to be more automatic or less manual operations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for three years.
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Sophos XGS
April 2025

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have a small company therefore I am not sure about the scalability.
We have two people using this solution as administrators. The total number of users that are using the solution is approximately 200.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used the support line directly from Sophos XGS, but I used the online knowledge site they have for support. They have good documentation.
The best support is provided by Cisco, Palo Alto, and Fortinet FortiGate because all the knowledge is available easily.
I rate support from Sophos XGS a four out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Sophos XGS is not easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Sophos XGS is less than competitors worldwide. However, in Turkey the solution is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated other solutions, such as Fortinet, Cisco, and Palo Alto, and the Sophos XGS has a more powerful interface. Fortinet FortiGate has too many options while Palo Alto is over more robust than Sophos XGS. However, if your company does not have a large number of users then Sophos XGS is best.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is if you are going to purchase a firewall in Turkey, Sophos XGS is the best choice because of the dealers and support available. The second best in Turkey would be Fortinet FortiGate.
I rate Sophos XGS a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

IT Manager at Pluris Midia
Provides a great VPN feature
Pros and Cons
- "The VPN is the best feature."
- "The solution could be easier to manage and configure."
What is our primary use case?
We use XGS as a firewall, for web filtering, and network control. I'm an IT manager.
What is most valuable?
The VPN is the best feature because I'm working a lot from home now.
What needs improvement?
I think the earlier SG version was easier to configure and manage. The XG is a little different and somewhat more complicated. I'd like it to be easier to manage and configure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Right now we're having some issues but they're related to the environment and not the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is not great, it takes them too long to respond.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I believe we pay for licensing every three years and I think it's around $1,800 which includes the hardware. It's a reasonable price.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution and rate it eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Sophos XGS
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Manager at a logistics company with 201-500 employees
Has rules and intelligence to scan all vulnerabilities in our network
Pros and Cons
- "The most effective feature in enhancing our network security is the threat intelligence capability."
- "The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow."
What is our primary use case?
We use Sophos XGS primarily for VPN and security with clients and supplies.
How has it helped my organization?
Sophos XGS has some rules and intelligence to scan all vulnerabilities in our network.
What is most valuable?
The most effective feature in enhancing our network security is the threat intelligence capability.
What needs improvement?
The technical support could be improved as it is currently not competent and pretty slow.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Sophos XGS for three years.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is rated three out of ten, indicating it needs significant improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of Sophos XGS is okay. It is approximately two thousand and a half per year.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Oct 31, 2024
Flag as inappropriateIT Administrator at Jotna
This user-friendly solution is simple to manage, easy to configure, and has a fantastic support team
Pros and Cons
- "It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team."
- "I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time."
What is our primary use case?
This solution is like our gateway to the internet. We use it for access control.
What is most valuable?
This solution is very simple to manage. It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time. Right now, I know they have something where you can see the live bandwidth utilization when you go to reports. However, there is not a history where you can go back and say, "I want to see what was consumed during the last month." You can't get that history. I know there are other third-party tools that do that, but if Sophos could have it integrated into its file device, that would be cool.
I would like to see them reduce the price.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have had experience with this tool for about three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable. There are currently 250 systems connected to this solution.
How are customer service and support?
My experience with the Sophos technical team has been fantastic. I was trying to set up a VPN tunnel through a SAP X server, so I was having some challenges, and our consultant tried and then he just decided to set up an appointment with the Sophos technical team. Within a short period of time, we were able to pinpoint where the problem was coming from and we got the problem solved. I would rate the technical support as a five out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is quite easy. It's not a challenge. On a scale of one to five, where one is difficult and five is easy, I would give it a four.
What about the implementation team?
It was done in-house but we consulted a third party that is more experienced with Sophos.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of this solution is quite high. Currently in my country, in Nigeria, we are facing a lot of problems with products. The value of the naira and the dollar keep heating up, and it's not good for us here Nigeria, so the Sophos price is not friendly. I think the price needs to be worked on so that it can at least be commercially available to us here in Nigeria. I would rate the pricing as a three out of five.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Sophos is always my preferred solution. I've worked with Sophos, Fortinet, and MikroTik in terms of configuring VPN access to the routers. I find it very, very easy to do it on Sophos, so I prefer to use it instead of the other two solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of IT at Somani
Good threat detection and prevention but scalability needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos XGS' most valuable features are protection and intrusion prevention detection."
- "Sophos XGS's response to zero-day attacks could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Primarily, I use XGS for security and authentication.
What is most valuable?
Sophos XGS' most valuable features are protection and intrusion prevention detection.
What needs improvement?
Sophos XGS's response to zero-day attacks could be improved. In the next release, Sophos XGS should include signature filtering, hybrid cloud support, and the ability to scale without replacing the hardware.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos XGS for four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos XGS can scale up and down to 1,200 users, but if you want more users, you have to change the appliances too.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos' technical support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Sophos XGS is easy to set up if you have knowledge of the system.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos XGS costs around $6,000 for a basic license.
What other advice do I have?
I would give Sophos XGS a rating of seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Works well with thin client environments but needs to improve technical support
Pros and Cons
- "In this solution, the most valuable feature is that it's a security device. Maintaining security is very valuable for us. The other feature that we did not find in other products is that it works well with thin client environments."
- "Sometimes, we haven't received proper support. They couldn't find the solutions that we required. One thing that we need is an NTP server facility. The Sophos XGS device does not have this capacity or this feature."
What is our primary use case?
Mainly, we use it as our internet gateway firewall for scanning internet traffic that comes to our network from WAN and for internet distribution such as thin client. We have a thin client environment. It also works as a distribution layer for internet users, especially in thin client environments. It scans the traffic that passes from this device.
What is most valuable?
In this solution, the most valuable feature is that it's a security device. Maintaining security is very valuable for us.
The other feature that we did not find in other products is that it works well with thin client environments.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes, we haven't received proper support. They couldn't find the solutions that we required.
One thing that we need is an NTP server facility. The Sophos XGS device does not have this capacity or this feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Sophos XGS for almost one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable. We haven't had any issues with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I don't think it's scalable. It's a product that we bought with a specification, and we cannot improve that. We cannot upgrade; we can only upgrade its OS; nothing more.
Only the network administrator uses it, but we might set it up in another business unit next year.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate technical support at six out of ten because we haven't received proper support sometimes.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We worked with Cyberoam, and when it reached the end of life, we replaced it with Sophos.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy, and I'd give it a two out of five.
What was our ROI?
Because this is a security appliance, we cannot calculate the ROI exactly. However, every time security devices work well and guard us from attacks, it is a good ROI. This device has a good ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing cost is in the normal range and is not very costly.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, we have had a good experience with Sophos XGS and would rate it at six on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Engineer at HCLTech
Enhances network security and has good threat intelligence capabilities, but doesn't notify users about downtime or errors
Pros and Cons
- "The threat intelligence capabilities of the tool are good."
- "I do not get notifications regarding ISP downtime."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as an antivirus gateway and internet gateway.
What is most valuable?
All the features are effective in enhancing our network security. I am satisfied with the product. The threat intelligence capabilities of the tool are good. It has contributed to reducing our overall security costs by approximately 90%.
What needs improvement?
I do not get notifications regarding ISP downtime. It would be better if I could get notifications related to the critical errors occurring in Sophos. The product is difficult to use. The administrators must be notified of the errors occurring in the firewall through emails or messages. It will help organizations take proactive measures instead of taking action after the incident happens.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for one and a half years.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is weak. The support team is not responsive. The support people do not follow up or call us back.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
How was the initial setup?
The implementation is not difficult. The service providers help install and implement the firewall in our network.
What other advice do I have?
I will recommend the product to others. However, I would not recommend it to organizations that do not have technical people who deal with networks. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.
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

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