Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services vs. SonicWall TZ

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers a threat-focused next-generation firewall (NGFW), the ASA 5500-X Series. The ASA 5500 Series platforms can run either the Cisco ASA Firewall or Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD). The series features appliances in a variety of form factors, including standalone options for small and midsize businesses, ruggedized appliances for extreme environments, midsize appliances for security at the Internet edge, and high-performance appliances for enterprise data centers.N/A
SonicWall TZ
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
SonicWall TZ is a NGFW for small to mid-sized companies. It is a Unified Threat Management solution, with additional native decryption and deep-packet inspection capabilities.
$414.04
per month
Pricing
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
SonicWall TZ270 High Availability
$329.60
SonicWall TZ270 (hardware only)
$414.04
SonicWall TZ370 High Availability
$493.04
SonicWall TZ270 Wireless-AC (hardware only)
$502.57
SonicWall TZ370 (hardware only)
$618.34
SonicWall TZ270 TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$689.16
SonicWall TZ370 Wireless-AC (hardware only)
$708.23
SonicWall TZ270 TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$769.52
SonicWall TZ470 High Availability
$776.33
SonicWall TZ270 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$796.76
SonicWall TZ270 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$930.24
SonicWall TZ370 TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$973.82
SonicWall TZ470 (hardware only)
$973.82
SonicWall TZ570 High Availability (HA) Unit
$988.80
SonicWall TZ470 Wireless-AC (hardware only)
$1063.71
SonicWall TZ370 TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$1085.50
SonicWall TZ370 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$1107.29
SonicWall TZ370 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$1232.60
SonicWall TZ570
$1240.77
SonicWall TZ670 High Availability (HA) Unit
$1273.46
SonicWall TZ570 Wireless-AC
$1356.54
SonicWall TZ570 with 8x5 Support (1 Year)
$1450.51
SonicWall TZ570 Wireless-AC with 8x5 Support (1 Year)
$1588.07
SonicWall TZ470 TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$1596.25
SonicWall TZ670
$1596.25
SonicWall TZ470 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$1729.72
SonicWall TZ470 TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$1805.99
SonicWall TZ670 with 8x5 Support (1 Year)
$1867.28
SonicWall TZ470 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$1876.82
SonicWall TZ570 TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$2006.20
SonicWall TZ570 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$2192.80
SonicWall TZ570 TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$2200.97
SonicWall TZ570 Wireless-AC TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$2442.04
SonicWall TZ670 TotalSecure - Essential Edition (1 Year)
$2574.15
SonicWall TZ670 TotalSecure - Advanced Edition (1 Year)
$2868.34
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsCisco ASA 5500-X pricing starts at ~$400 and scales up to $20,000 for higher capacity appliances.See pricing link for TZ Series (Gen6) editions. All prices have been converted from pounds. Conversion rates may change.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services
9.1
30 Ratings
7% above category average
SonicWall TZ
8.3
9 Ratings
2% below category average
Identification Technologies9.228 Ratings9.09 Ratings
Visualization Tools9.124 Ratings7.58 Ratings
Content Inspection9.129 Ratings7.79 Ratings
Policy-based Controls9.828 Ratings8.09 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP9.829 Ratings8.89 Ratings
Firewall Management Console9.230 Ratings10.09 Ratings
Reporting and Logging8.829 Ratings6.99 Ratings
VPN9.830 Ratings10.09 Ratings
High Availability9.828 Ratings7.79 Ratings
Stateful Inspection8.14 Ratings7.79 Ratings
Proxy Server7.23 Ratings8.07 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(30 ratings)
8.0
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.4
(26 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(29 ratings)
9.6
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSonicWall TZ
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
This firewall is best suited for the network edge/perimeter deployment. The next gen features works very well and the remote access VPN is also very much suitable for the organizations which have a huge user base working remotely. The Remote Access VPN is very much customizable and the authentication integration option like LDAP and RADIUS provides and addon.
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SonicWall
Based on my experience, this is a solid platform for a small to mid sized company, especially when there is someone who has IT experience, or can get outsourced IT help. I would not recommend for someone who is a technology novice. Also, this is a competent device for someone who is looking to add VPN services for remote workers.
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Pros
Cisco
  • The Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services model works perfectly for network edge protection scenarios.
  • It allows for the creation and connection of sites through site-to-site VPN configuration.
  • It enables remote connection and home office with remote SSL or IPSEC VPN.
  • It has layer 7 traffic protection and visibility.
  • It has anti-malware protection from start to finish.
  • The configuration is easy to perform.
Read full review
SonicWall
  • If you have multiple sites and you want the connect the sites through secure medium this is best firewall for you.
  • There are very advanced features helps you to connect the device easily and securely.
  • Easy to connect the sites through advanced routing protocols.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • URL Filtering feature could be easier to utilize for beginners
  • I'd like to see a visual of VPN networks setup and show the functioning or malfunctioning status to assist in making troubleshooting easier
  • Recommendations on ACLs for beginners based on their account creation date
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SonicWall
  • management is confusing has many items that could be improved to facilitate the work to the network administrator
  • in the diagnostic tool I would improve the response times, that is, if a ping test is required, it should be quick, since in cases of failures it is sought to minimize the impact as much as possible.
  • each function has a different license item, I would place a single license package for all team functions
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
Ever since we installed Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services we have never had to deal with an attack. We can see in the logs almost every day hackers attempting to break into our networks and failing. We also have the ability to blacklist every IP address that attempts to break into our firewalls
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
Cisco firepower provides automatation for an organisations security operations to detect and stop the most advanced threats fast. It also assists in preventing attacks in using intelligence and innovative solutions.
Read full review
SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
We have never had an outage caused by firewall failure. We have had a few outages caused by the internet failing or cloud applications going offline but never a firewall breaking down. When making changes we have a very strong change control, major software updates are always carried out out of working hours. At places where we have two firewalls in HA, we are able to do upgrades in working ours and the users will never know that an upgrade is taking place, that how great these firewalls are
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
The Cisco ASA 5500X with Firepower performance needs consideration before deploying. Although the solution is Pay as you grow, adding additional features to the system has a negative impact on overall throughput. I would more like now only to deploy the Cisco FPR units as they have better performance and will last the test of time.
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
I would recommend the purchase of the Smartnet 24x7 service in the case of a unit and the Smartnet 8x5NBD in the case of only one appliance installed on site. This service is important to always have the latest firmware updates, corrective updates and especially the hardware warranty and maintenance service in case of problems. The service is done by phone or on the official Cisco website and I can say that it is very good and efficient.
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SonicWall
I have used the SonicWall TZ 350 for years and I can say that it is an excellent and complete firewall. It is easy to configure and administer because it has a friendly interface. It is safe, it offers several types of security features, VPN, and also protection against malware. Support and warranty also recommended. It's fast and the problem was solved in less than 1 day.
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
We implemented a centralized management of all our Cisco ASA 5500-x with FirePOWER Services so that we can have a holistic view of all our sites in London and other European countries. This also helps when making changes, instead of login on to each firewall we can use Firepower Management Center (FMC) to central deploy changes across all devices
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Previous],] I was using the [pfSense] in my organization but when i switched to [Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services] I realized there are lots of issue and missing security features in [pfSense]. The deployment and configuration is very easy as compare to [pfSense]. I highly recommend this product to everyone.
Read full review
SonicWall
SonicWall and WatchGuard are both fine appliances, but I am accustomed to the Barracuda NG. The Barracuda Control Center is so powerful and useful that it beats out the other two. SonicWall does a great job of dividing up firewall rules and NAT policies, but this is a preference among engineers.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Working of remote workforce made easy
  • Security was enhanced on the data traffic shared with the vendors due to the use of VPNs
  • Inbound attacks were mostly blocked on the edge and saved a lot of resources (which could had been used in case of attacks getting successful on the application servers)
Read full review
SonicWall
  • VPN access allowed employees to be more flexible and being able to get internal resources from anywhere.
  • Lower licensing price compared to competitors saved some money.
  • Protecting from unnecessary connections increased performance and uptime.
  • One of the firmware versions caused CPU performance degradation that slowed down the Internet speed which caused issues in the call center.
Read full review
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