Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL] comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Sophos and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 90% of Sophos users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

Sophos UTM

Read 120 Sophos UTM reviews

13,446 Views
6,185 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Read 34 WatchGuard XTM [EOL] reviews

90% willing to recommend

Sophos UTM

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Sophos UTM and WatchGuard XTM [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Netgate and others in Firewalls.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

October 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 917,433 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

Sophos UTM

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

120

Ranking in other categories

Unified Threat Management (UTM) (6th)

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Heinz Raecke

CEO at iSource GmbH

Integrated security tools have supported critical infrastructure and improved network performance

Regarding Secureworks Taegis VDR Vulnerability Management, I do not have all these shortcuts in my head. Perhaps I have to ask my technicians, but we are in full stress because we have to change this entire firewall equipment, also the entire access points, because of the end of life. We also have the full product in for XDR and extensions. We are also part of the webinars from Sophos. It would be better if there were also some important webinars in German. Everything needs improvement, because also the wireless, also RED box and so on. The handling was much easier on the old equipment than on the new XGS. I think there should also be a little more automatic for SD-WAN routing and so on. Because we have to learn some things from the basic completely new because it is different than Sophos UTM, the XGS. The features that could be improved about Sophos UTM include the new features we have in XGS with a simpler interface. For example, in Sophos UTM, we could define IP hosts and use this IP host. We did not have to insert on every, for example, for wide area networks, we had to put the IP addresses from the other side by hand. In Sophos UTM, we could define it under definitions and then use this IP host where we needed it. In the new XGS, if there is a change in the IP address, we have to do it on all, for example, site-to-site VPN tunnels and so on. We have much more work and it is not so easy because we have to check all the definitions. It is also, for example, some of the male technicians like me, we have a biology handicap. For example, male technicians in Europe also have a red-green problem. So we use these light colors on the interface. In some cases, it is not easy to see the, for example, letters or numbers because of the contrast.

Read full review

Generalm4545

General Manager- IT & Automation - Serum at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Protects from attack software and hacking but it doesn't provide the reports in a readable format

In my opinion, image clarity is very important, because I don't get the proper image product on reports. This means that functionality is not there. My engineer does not know how he can replace an order. We attach a log after any kind of keys using a utility instead. For the internet policies that we are implementing, the policy should be based on proper protocols. We use the default policies and there are a number of third-party protocols that appear here. Management with WatchGuard XTM means that out of policy is the problem from our side. In this way, we can not do effective services for people with this one. The policy definition with WatchGuard XTM is not proper for all use case requirements. I've got weekly business reports that I am expecting attachments with from WatchGuard XTM that display data for all kinds of consideration which should be required. Main User Functionality Level Order must adhere to using the admin functionality on the registry, or else our users publish their own name. Maybe these recommendations are irrelevant, but I say that the issue to improve most with WatchGuard XTM is the Main User Function.

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

"Sophos UTM has positively impacted my organization with its various functions, and it is the best choice I could have ever made."

"The stability of Sophos UTM is very good. The solution has been stable since Sophos took over Cyberoam which was the original company providing this solution."

"The initial setup was easy."

"We use Sophos UTM as our main firewall with all its features included. Mainly, it controls all of our network perimeter security: firewall, IDS/IPS, and web application firewall (including VoIP)."

"Sophos UTM is the simplest of these products to setup."

"We are satisfied with Sophos UTM and will continue implementing it for the foreseeable future."

"Stability-wise, I rate this solution a ten out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate this solution a ten out of ten."

"The IT Admin or IT Security in any organization would like to have Sophos UTM because it is full of all the features you think about for enterprise."

More Sophos UTM pros

"WatchGuard XTM is fairly basic. We use it as the perimeter firewall. The main point is to protect from attack software and hacking."

"This product has helped in securing my SQL database and web applications from DDoS attacks and SQL injections, improved my network speed, and helped me to set specific policies for specific applications which I couldn't do with other products."

"ROI was complete in less than a year."

"The web filtering is a good feature."

"Packet filters and proxy policies are valuable features, as they allow you to configure restrictions by domain name and are useful to block web pages that have multiple IP addresses, such as Facebook."

"We have used technical support for WatchGuard many times and overall, we are satisfied with it. They are always listening and there is a good reaction time to our findings. When there are issues, they really try to resolve them."

"Go for it. It's a great product with many security features and offers great protection for your network."

"I would recommend this product, as it is a very flexible one with probably the most intuitive configuration."

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] pros

Cons

"We would like to have unique viewable IDs for rules and in the packet filter logfile, for easier debugging of old log files."

"Support for IKEv2 is needed in this solution."

"The support could be better. They need to improve their email protection."

"The customer support has been good to mediocre, but not very good."

"Initially, there were issues with the wireless network as wireless access points were disappearing from the dashboard after some time."

"In short, the UI and UX are the areas of improvement in Sophos UTM and similar solutions compared to Palo Alto."

"The updates come out agonizingly slowly. They just trickle out and when there's a problem with an update it takes a while to sort out."

"Only thing we have noticed as of late was that their firmware updates break something else that was working in a previous version."

More Sophos UTM cons

"Initially WatchGuard assured us regarding endpoint security, but we are not sure that the product provides endpoint security features to its full extent."

"The problem is the high cost."

"Sometimes the local firebox management tool is flaky."

"Tech support is sometimes a little bit slow."

"We had some problems of instability with older versions of the software."

"The technical support is very bad. The price is very high, the response time is very long, and technical support does not provide a general solution."

"The setting policies need improvement. It needs an easier way to do static NAT and check on what policy is being used for that specific traffic."

"I think the anti-Spam feature, and the real time log to inspect the bandwidth users both need improving."

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Unless you are in the United States, or you have to use Sophos, you can't contact Sophos directly. You have to use a third-party company, and they all have different ways of how they explain their licensing."

"I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"It's reasonably priced."

"Pricing for the upgrade was very competitive as Sophos wanted to retain existing customers."

"There is a license for the device and for the software. We pay annually for the solution and the cost is competitive."

"The prices can be better, they could make it a lot cheaper."

"The problem with the Sophos is not the cost of the hardware but the cost of the modules, packages, and the subscription."

"The pricing and licensing are both good and better than Sophos's competitors. This is why we went with the product."

More Sophos UTM pricing and cost advice

"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."

"Get at least a maintenance contract for the updates and take a larger WatchGuard than you need. A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."

"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative."

"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."

See which vendors are best for you

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

See recommendations

917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user216600

Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees

Jan 3, 2016

Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate

I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

13%

Construction Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Marketing Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	75
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	27

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?

The pricing for Sophos UTM is reasonable; I do not have an issue with it, though I was considering RED because I have different sites I wanted to connect, and instead of doing site-to-site, the RED...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos UTM?

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Sophos UTM

Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 8% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Sophos UTM

Compared 4% of the time

More Sophos UTM Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 15% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 7% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 6% of the time

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sophos UTM

September 2026

Download Sophos UTM product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

September 2026

Download WatchGuard XTM [EOL] product report

Also Known As

Astaro

No data available

Overview

Sophos UTM delivers comprehensive network security with features like firewall, intrusion prevention, and endpoint protection. Its user-friendly interface and scalable options make it ideal for businesses of varying sizes, ensuring seamless integration with AWS, cloud services, and other Sophos offerings.

With robust Advanced Threat Protection, Sophos UTM offers a holistic approach to security through its intuitive platform. It includes a centralized console for enhanced threat visibility, integrated web application firewall, and secure remote access via SSL VPN and RED device. Critiques focus on limited reporting capabilities, complex licensing, and requiring improvements in VPN and email protection, centralized management, and application control.

What are the key features of Sophos UTM?

Advanced Threat Protection: Protects against sophisticated attacks by integrating multiple security technologies.
Firewall and Web Protection: Provides core security measures with intrusion prevention and application control.
Integrated WAF: Shields applications from vulnerabilities, ensuring secure user interactions.
Scalable Deployment: Supports diverse setups from small businesses to large enterprises, including cloud integrations.

What benefits should users expect from Sophos UTM?

Unified Management: Simplifies security operations through a single management console for cohesive control.
Secure Remote Access: Extends network security to remote users without compromising protection quality.
Cost Efficiency: Offers scalable, cost-effective security solutions to adapt to growing business needs.

Sophos UTM sees implementations in industries needing strong perimeter protection and secure remote access, such as finance, healthcare, and education. It supports seamless network integration, ensuring businesses maintain compliance and safeguard their digital environments effectively.

Sophos

Small businesses need big security, too, and the WatchGuard XTM Series firewall/VPN appliances deliver that strong protection, but without the hefty price tag. Enterprise-grade security includes full HTTPS content inspection, VoIP support, and optional security subscriptions like Application Control and Intrusion Prevention Service.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

One Housing Group

AVG, Cyren, Kaspersky Lab, Lastline, NCP engineering, Trend Micro, Websense

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Netgate and others in Firewalls. Updated: October 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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.