Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series vs. Sophos SG Firewall Appliances

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Palo Alto next-generation firewalls classify all traffic, including encrypted and internal traffic, based on application, application function, user and content. Users can create security policies to enable only authorized users to run sanctioned applications.N/A
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances are designed to provide optimal protection for organizations of all sixes from small remote offices, to global organizations requiring high-availability andN/A
Pricing
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Considered Both Products
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series

No answer on this topic

Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
Chose Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
It certainly stacks up well as it is very competitive in the pricing segment while having all the features that an ideal NGFW should possess. Basic functionalities like Network Firewall, Proxy and VPN work flawlessly while advanced features like IPS perform reasonably well. The …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
8.7
23 Ratings
1% above category average
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
9.4
8 Ratings
9% above category average
Identification Technologies9.523 Ratings9.78 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.523 Ratings8.58 Ratings
Content Inspection10.023 Ratings9.58 Ratings
Policy-based Controls10.023 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP9.522 Ratings9.78 Ratings
Firewall Management Console9.023 Ratings8.78 Ratings
Reporting and Logging8.023 Ratings9.58 Ratings
VPN9.023 Ratings10.08 Ratings
High Availability9.522 Ratings9.58 Ratings
Stateful Inspection9.022 Ratings9.78 Ratings
Proxy Server5.011 Ratings9.76 Ratings
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Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Small Businesses
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Score 9.4 out of 10
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Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
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Score 9.4 out of 10
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Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
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Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(39 ratings)
8.7
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(4 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(9 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA SeriesSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Likelihood to Recommend
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series are extremely versatile. Whether it be a one office location or multiple sites, the Panorama interface allows centralized management. I've found Palo Alto does a great job with their updates and supporting customers. As a cybersecurity professional, I like that Palo Alto's products offer a wide range of controls to support defense in depth. It is easy for security and network infrastructure teams to use the same consoles to deliver performance with security built in.
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Sophos
Well suited in tech companies that have an IT person to monitor and adjust settings as needed. It is not SUPER user-friendly if you don't know what you are doing.
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Pros
Palo Alto Networks
  • The PA handles VPN connectivity without missing a beat. We have multiple VPN tunnels in use for redundancy to cloud-based services.
  • The PA has great functionality in supporting failover internet connections, again with the ability to have multiple paths out to our cloud-based services.
  • The PA is updated on the regular with various security updates, we are not concerned with the firewall's ability to see what packets are really flowing across the network. Being able to see beyond just IP and port requests lets you know things are locked down better than traditional firewalls.
  • It is a great overall kit, with URL filtering and other services that fill in the gaps between other solutions without breaking the bank.
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Sophos
  • It helps you to protect your corporate network and data from external cyber threats.
  • It provides you with with advanced features like load balancing, web and app access, etc., to optimize bandwidth uses.
  • It enables you to configure an IPsec VPN to access organization resources remotely.
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Cons
Palo Alto Networks
  • Our specific model is a bit slow and outdated and takes up to 10 minutes to commit a configuration change.
  • Nested security rules would be helpful instead of a linear approach. But rule creation in general is very simple.
  • Documentation gives a very straight forward answer to some items but is very vague in others.
  • Support could be a little better. An issue we had a tech was insistent it was the "other guy" and it ended up being the very latest PAN OS upgrade.
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Sophos
  • We would like more feature reach port blocking. This could be reorganized to make it easier on Network Admins to add or change ports.
  • I would like easier access to the CLI
  • I would like it to perform faster
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Likelihood to Renew
Palo Alto Networks
The PA5220s have far exceeded what we have expected out of them. It was a bit of a learning curve coming from another vendor, but everything falls into place now with ease. The capabilities of the solution still surprise us, allowing us to remove other costly hardware and providing a single point of management needed
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Usability
Palo Alto Networks
The few aspects of the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series that could use improvement - such as slow commit times, which I hear they have improved on in the newest models - are vastly outshined by everything else these appliances provide. We have been using the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series appliances for more than 10 years and plan to continue using them for the foreseeable future.
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Sophos
Because i have work with Sophos SG Firewall Appliances since 2020, and i have well hands on experience on that
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Support Rating
Palo Alto Networks
We've run into a couple undocumented bugs, but that seems to happen with every brand and technology. Any time we've had to engage Palo Alto support they've always been professional, knowledgeable and prompt. In almost all cases we've been able to resolve our issues without having to escalate our tickets.
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Sophos
The biggest selling point for sophos is their vendor support. Those guys put a smile on our faces. There are multiple ways you can contact their support like chat, or telephone or email. They are very responsive and they do have very knowledgable and patient support staff. We have raised tickets at all odd hours and they have been addressed correctly
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Alternatives Considered
Palo Alto Networks
We are using Cisco ASA before in our environment but when it comes to deep scanning & layer 7 security it doesn't have that capability. After using Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall we are using sandboxing & advance malware protection that provides high-level end-user security. Also after implementing it we can easily monitor user-level traffic.
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Sophos
It certainly stacks up well as it is very competitive in the pricing segment while having all the features that an ideal NGFW should possess. Basic functionalities like Network Firewall, Proxy and VPN work flawlessly while advanced features like IPS perform reasonably well. The detection content is very relevant and performs well.
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Return on Investment
Palo Alto Networks
  • Overall, even though the device is very expensive (both hardware and licensing), the product does produce a decent ROI, given that one (or HA pair) of devices can do so many things, such as anti-virus, anti-malware, URL filtering, SSL decryption, SSL VPN, routing, etc.
  • There will definitely be sticker shock when you're renewal comes up annually (or after 3 years), so be sure to look very carefully at the recurring costs of this product, with respect to licensing and hardware/software maintenance.
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Sophos
  • Positive. We are able to expand our network by using the Flexi Port Modules that are available.
  • Positive. We are able to boast that our network is more secure than other businesses of the same model.
  • Negative. The VPN needs to be updated to use OVPN configs and then it would be perfect.
  • Negative. The home license needs to have the IP restriction removed for folks who work from home and need to access on-site terminals.
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ScreenShots