# FortiGate-VM NGFW vs Sophos Firewall Comparison
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## AI Generated Summary
- Users report that FortiGate NGFW excels in Policy Management with a score of 9.3, highlighting its intuitive interface and robust features that allow for easy configuration and enforcement of security policies. In contrast, Sophos Firewall received a score of 9.0, with reviewers mentioning that while it is effective, it may require more manual adjustments for complex policies.
- Reviewers mention that FortiGate NGFW's Virtual Private Network (VPN) functionality is top-notch, scoring 9.6, with users praising its seamless integration and performance. On the other hand, Sophos Firewall, with a score of 9.1, is noted for its VPN capabilities but is sometimes seen as less user-friendly in setup compared to FortiGate.
- G2 users highlight FortiGate's superior Logging and Reporting features, scoring 9.0, which provide detailed insights and analytics that help in monitoring network activity. Conversely, Sophos Firewall scored 8.7, with users mentioning that while it offers good reporting, it lacks some of the depth and customization options found in FortiGate.
- Users on G2 report that FortiGate NGFW shines in Availability with a score of 9.6, ensuring minimal downtime and high reliability. Sophos Firewall, while still strong at 9.3, is noted by reviewers as having occasional performance hiccups during peak loads.
- Reviewers mention that FortiGate's Intrusion Prevention system scores 9.1, with users appreciating its proactive threat detection and response capabilities. In comparison, Sophos Firewall also scores 9.1, but users report that its response time can be slower in certain scenarios, leading to potential vulnerabilities.
- Users say that FortiGate NGFW's Continuous Analysis feature, scoring 9.0, is praised for its real-time threat intelligence updates, which help organizations stay ahead of emerging threats. Sophos Firewall, with a score of 8.9, is recognized for its analysis capabilities but is seen as slightly less comprehensive in threat coverage.



| | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.6 out of 5 | 4.6 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 230 | 619 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Mid-Market (58.7% of reviews) | Mid-Market (61.6% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | No pricing available | No pricing available | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### FortiGate-VM NGFW

Pros:
- Ease of Use (12 reviews)
- Features (10 reviews)

Cons:
- Difficult Learning Curve (4 reviews)
- Expensive (4 reviews)

### Sophos Firewall

Pros:
- Ease of Use (90 reviews)
- Features (56 reviews)

Cons:
- Slow Performance (33 reviews)
- Poor Reporting (17 reviews)

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 9.2 (182 reviews) | 9.2 (519 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 9.0 (185 reviews) | 9.2 (524 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.9 (151 reviews) | 9.1 (492 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 9.1 (138 reviews) | 9.2 (445 reviews) | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 8.7 (180 reviews) | 8.9 (509 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 9.1 (134 reviews) | 9.2 (439 reviews) | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 9.4 (182 reviews) | 9.5 (510 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### FortiGate-VM NGFW

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

Yes

### Sophos Firewall

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

Yes

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### Unified Threat Management (UTM)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **FortiGate-VM NGFW** | 9.3/10 | 118 |
| **Sophos Firewall** | N/A | N/A |

#### Security - Unified Threat Management

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Antivirus** | 9.3 (95 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Whitelists** | 9.4 (97 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Antispam Filtering** | 9.0 (89 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Content Filtering** | 9.3 (95 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Web Filtering** | 9.7 (96 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Firewall** | 9.8 (100 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Administration

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Reports & Analytics** | 8.7 (96 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Dashboard** | 9.4 (98 reviews) | Not enough data | 

### Data Center Security Solutions

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **FortiGate-VM NGFW** | 9.4/10 | 74 |
| **Sophos Firewall** | N/A | N/A |

#### Prevention

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Intrusion Prevention** | 9.6 (58 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Firewall** | 9.5 (60 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Encryption** | 9.2 (54 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Security hardening** | 9.4 (55 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Cloud Data Protection** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 

#### Detection

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Intrusion Detection** | 9.4 (56 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Security Monitoring** | 9.4 (53 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Anti-Malware / Malware Detection** | 9.3 (54 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Administration

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Compliance** | 9.4 (53 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Administration Console -** | 9.4 (58 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **API / integrations** | 9.0 (51 reviews) | Not enough data | 

### Firewall Software

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **FortiGate-VM NGFW** | 9.0/10 | 122 |
| **Sophos Firewall** | 8.9/10 | 525 |

#### Administration

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Policy Management** | 9.2 (101 reviews) | 9.2 (483 reviews) | 
| **Logging and Reporting** | 8.9 (101 reviews) | 8.7 (486 reviews) | 
| **Application Gateway** | 9.2 (92 reviews) | 9.1 (470 reviews) | 
| **Concurrent Sessions** | 9.3 (98 reviews) | 9.1 (472 reviews) | 

#### Agentic AI - Firewall Software

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Autonomous Task Execution** | Not enough data | 8.2 (35 reviews) | 
| **Adaptive Learning** | Not enough data | 8.9 (35 reviews) | 

#### Functionality

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Virtual Private Network (VPN)** | 9.4 (104 reviews) | 9.2 (468 reviews) | 
| **Antivirus** | 9.0 (96 reviews) | 9.1 (457 reviews) | 
| **URL Filtering** | 9.4 (101 reviews) | 9.2 (477 reviews) | 
| **Availability** | 9.5 (98 reviews) | 9.3 (467 reviews) | 

#### Monitoring

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Load Balancing** | 9.2 (92 reviews) | 9.0 (450 reviews) | 
| **Continuous Analysis** | 9.0 (93 reviews) | 9.0 (462 reviews) | 
| **Intrusion Prevention** | 9.2 (104 reviews) | 9.2 (471 reviews) | 
| **Intrusion Detection** | 9.3 (98 reviews) | 9.2 (470 reviews) | 

#### Generative AI

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Text Summarization** | 8.2 (20 reviews) | 8.1 (263 reviews) | 

#### Artificial Intelligence - Firewall

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Firewall** | 7.7 (5 reviews) | 8.0 (166 reviews) | 

### Data Security

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **FortiGate-VM NGFW** | N/A | N/A |
| **Sophos Firewall** | N/A | N/A |

#### Compliance

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Access Management** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **At-Risk Analysis** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **DLP Configuration** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Sensitive Data Compliance** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

#### Administration

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Database Management** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Deduplication ** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Backup** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **API / integrations** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

#### Security 

| Feature | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Multi-Factor Authentication** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Data Transport** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Data Types** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Security Tools** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

---
## Categories
**Shared Categories (1):** [Firewall Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/firewall-software)

**Unique to FortiGate-VM NGFW (2):** [Data Center Security Solutions](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-center-security-solutions), [Unified Threat Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/unified-threat-management-utm)



---
## Reviewer Demographics

### By Company Size

| Segment | FortiGate-VM NGFW | Sophos Firewall | 
|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 18.8% | 21.4% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 58.7% | 61.6% | 
| **Enterprise** | 22.5% | 17.0% | 

### By Industry

#### FortiGate-VM NGFW

- **Information Technology and Services:** 22.2%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 11.6%
- **Telecommunications:** 10.1%
- **Financial Services:** 6.8%
- **Computer Software:** 6.3%
- **Computer Networking:** 4.8%
- **Education Management:** 2.9%
- **Construction:** 2.4%
- **Information Services:** 1.9%
- **Hospital & Health Care:** 1.9%
- **Other:** 29.0%

#### Sophos Firewall

- **Information Technology and Services:** 15.0%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 8.9%
- **Manufacturing:** 4.7%
- **Higher Education:** 3.5%
- **Financial Services:** 3.1%
- **Computer Software:** 2.8%
- **Education Management:** 2.6%
- **Oil & Energy:** 2.4%
- **Telecommunications:** 2.4%
- **Hospital & Health Care:** 2.4%
- **Other:** 52.1%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to FortiGate-VM NGFW

- [Check Point Next Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)](https://www.g2.com/products/check-point-next-generation-firewalls-ngfws/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (583 reviews)
- [WatchGuard Network Security](https://www.g2.com/products/watchguard-network-security/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (267 reviews)
- [SonicWall Next Generation Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/sonicwall-next-generation-firewall/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (153 reviews)
- [Barracuda CloudGen Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/barracuda-cloudgen-firewall/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (51 reviews)
- [Juniper Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/juniper-firewall/reviews) — 3.9/5 stars (31 reviews)
- [Huawei Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/huawei-firewall/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (15 reviews)
- [KerioControl](https://www.g2.com/products/keriocontrol/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (10 reviews)
- [Netgate pfSense](https://www.g2.com/products/netgate-pfsense/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (325 reviews)
- [Cisco Meraki](https://www.g2.com/products/cisco-meraki/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (217 reviews)
- [Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.g2.com/products/palo-alto-networks-next-generation-firewalls/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (167 reviews)

### Alternatives to Sophos Firewall

- [Check Point Next Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)](https://www.g2.com/products/check-point-next-generation-firewalls-ngfws/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (583 reviews)
- [Netgate pfSense](https://www.g2.com/products/netgate-pfsense/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (325 reviews)
- [WatchGuard Network Security](https://www.g2.com/products/watchguard-network-security/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (267 reviews)
- [Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.g2.com/products/palo-alto-networks-next-generation-firewalls/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (167 reviews)
- [SonicWall Next Generation Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/sonicwall-next-generation-firewall/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (153 reviews)
- [Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual (formerly NGFWv)](https://www.g2.com/products/cisco-secure-firewall-threat-defense-virtual-formerly-ngfwv/reviews) — 4.2/5 stars (93 reviews)
- [Comodo Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/comodo-firewall/reviews) — 4.0/5 stars (38 reviews)
- [Arista NG Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/arista-ng-firewall/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (17 reviews)
- [Barracuda CloudGen Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/barracuda-cloudgen-firewall/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (51 reviews)
- [GlassWire Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/glasswire-firewall/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (50 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### FortiGate-VM NGFW

- Title: [What is FortiGate-VM used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-fortigate-vm-used-for) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "FortiGate-VM is Fortinet's virtual appliance version of the FortiGate firewall, designed for deployment in virtualized environments. It serves as a..."
- Title: [What is FortiGate NGFW used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-fortigate-ngfw-used-for) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "It is a next generation firewall which has capability to do layer 7 insapaction "
- Title: [Is FortiGate and fortinet the same?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-fortigate-and-fortinet-the-same) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "Fortinet is the company and FortiGate is their Firewall name :)"
- Title: [What three key additional security features do next generation firewalls provide that legacy firewalls do not?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-three-key-additional-security-features-do-next-generation-firewalls-provide-that-legacy-firewalls-do-not) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "with FortiGate has many Features including SD-WAN, SSL-VPN, Video Filtering, integrated with Sandbox...."

### Sophos Firewall

- Title: [What is Sophos Firewall used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-sophos-firewall-used-for) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Perimeter protection and administration, navigation traffic control based on policies. Network high availability, deep inspection of packets, IPS, IDS,..."
- Title: [Is Sophos XG free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-sophos-xg-free) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "They do have a home edition that is free for non commerical use.  Excellent for learning and to get a fully featured firewall for home."
- Title: [Is Sophos firewall good?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-sophos-firewall-good) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Yes, is good. I recommend you."
- Title: [How do I manage Sophos XG firewall?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-i-manage-sophos-xg-firewall) — 2 comments, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Sophos XG firewall can be manage from sophos central cloud."
- Title: [Sophos Certification](https://www.g2.com/discussions/sophos-certification) — 2 comments, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Sophos Certification is improving upskills in cybersecrity space. You have to be a part of any sophos partner to get training portal and certification."

---
**Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/fortigate-vm-ngfw-vs-sophos-firewall)