Unified threat management devices provide a quick path to comprehensive security for SMEs, offering an all-in-one approach to network protection without the need to manage multiple tools.
Many products that were once labeled UTM are now marketed as firewalls, but they still serve a similar purpose. Not all solutions deliver the same level of protection, usability, or value.
In my evaluation, I reviewed leading UTM products to identify the best options for businesses based on features, ease of use, and overall effectiveness. In this guide, I share the six best UTM devices and software and provide a buyer’s guide to help you narrow down your options and select the right solution for your team.
Top UTM devices and software comparison
The following chart compares our selected UTM products with a brief overview of their features.
| Provider | Best for | IPS | Sandboxing | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SonicWall | Overall UTM solution for SMBs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WatchGuard | Cost-effective security with centralized management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fortigate | Enterprises implementing zero trust and hybrid security | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barracuda | Cloud-first businesses managing multi-cloud environments | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Juniper | Securing edge and distributed network environments | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sophos | Growing SMBs needing scalable, easy-to-manage security | Yes | Yes | Yes |
SonicWall TZ Series Gen 7: Best overall UTM solution
Overall rating: 4.35/5
- Pricing and Transparency: 2.25/5
- Core Features: 4.75/5
- Additional Features: 4.05/5
- Ease of Management: 4.5/5
- Customer Support: 5/5
SonicWall offers solutions for networks of all sizes. The TZ Series Gen 7 is designed for SMBs and distributed enterprises, and its focus on rapid deployment and simple management make it attractive for smaller teams. These firewalls are designed to meet specific security and usability needs, with an emphasis on affordable pricing.
One feature to highlight is Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), a cloud-based sandboxing solution that uses deep memory inspection to identify malware. Consider the TZ Series Gen 7 for smaller businesses with security teams that want to dive into advanced tools. Keep in mind licensing prices for additional features, too, especially if you have a significantly limited budget.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good for very small businesses like startups | Multiple user complaints about pricing |
| Advanced features still available for experienced IT personnel | Multiple customers had trouble with SonicWall’s technical support |
Pricing
Potential customers can either contact SonicWall’s sales team directly or shop for resellers from which they can purchase different TZ Series models.
Features
- Zero-touch deployment, which simplifies device deployment through preconfiguring and onboarding devices so they don’t have to be manually deployed
- Support for TLS 1.3
- AES 256-bit encryption for VPN
- Deep packet inspection services, including anti-spyware
- Single sign-on users available
Learn more about the different types of network security.
WatchGuard Firebox M590/M690: Best value for cost-effective security
Overall rating: 3.93/5
- Pricing and Transparency: 4.25/5
- Core Features: 4/5
- Additional Features: 4.05/5
- Ease of Management: 5/5
- Customer Support: 4.25/5
WatchGuard Firebox products support support the network security needs of small and medium-sized businesses in particular. The M590 and M690 don’t skimp on the advanced features, however — through WatchGuard’s Total Security plan, they provide IPS, network discovery, and EDR Core functionality. They’re best suited to mid-sized teams as well as distributed enterprises.
Teams should consider WatchGuard’s Unified Security platform if they’re looking to centralize their security solutions: it provides a central management console for the Firebox appliances as well as WatchGuard’s endpoint and authentication tools.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| EDR capabilities for teams looking for a more advanced unified cybersecurity suite | Multiple customers complained about the user interface being outdated or difficult to use |
| High overall customer reviews for ease of deployment and management, as well as customer support | The System Manager software can’t be installed on a Mac machine |
Pricing
To purchase the Firebox M590 or M690, contact the WatchGuard sales team or select an approved reseller.
Features
- Application control
- Network address translation
- Threat protection for denial-of-service attacks
- Endpoint detection and response features through EDR Core
- Policy- or application-based network traffic management
Fortigate 900G: Best for enterprise-grade security environments
Overall rating: 3.9/5
- Pricing and Transparency: 4.25/5
- Core Features: 3.5/5
- Additional Features: 3/5
- Ease of Management: 4.5/5
- Customer Support: 5/5
Fortinet FortiGate NGFWs offer integrated zero trust network access (ZTNA) enforcement, SD-WAN, and security processing units. These allow customers to build hybrid IT architectures and deliver zero trust strategy to protect users, applications, and edge environments, while retaining an optimal user experience.
Fortinet offers a range of NGFWs that run the same FortiOS to converge networking and security. They are underpinned by the Fortinet Security Fabric, providing integrated detection and automated and coordinated responses to cybersecurity threats. If your enterprise is focused on zero trust, consider a Fortigate appliance.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Support for zero-trust network access | Unclear whether reporting tools are available for the 900G |
| Enterprise-grade NGFW | Lacks quality of service features |
Pricing
FortiGate can be deployed as a physical or virtual device, as a container, or as a cloud service. You have the option to purchase from multiple resellers; Fortinet doesn’t have a direct purchasing form on its website.
Features
- Integrated ZTNA enforcement
- Deep packet inspection
- Security for operational technology (OT) environments
- Protection from web threats like botnets and malicious URLs
- Zero-day threat prevention using inline malware prevention, a sandboxing Fortinet tool
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall F12A: Best for managing public cloud environments
Overall rating: 3.84/5
- Pricing Availability: 3.75/5
- Core Features: 4.2/5
- Additional Features: 3/5
- Ease of Management: 3.25/5
- Customer Support: 5/5
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall‘s base functions include application control, user awareness, cloud-based advanced threat protection, and a spam filter. It includes NGFW and SD-WAN in one box, plus optional ZTNA for easy access to resources behind the firewall.
The F12A is more suitable for smaller businesses, but Barracuda offers models for larger teams, too. Consider the CloudGen Firewall if you’re specifically looking for cloud-based management; it can be deployed on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free trial available | Lacking in policy management functionality |
| Can be deployed on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform | Limited reporting features |
Pricing
The CloudGen Firewall can be deployed through hardware, virtually, or in the cloud. Contact Barracuda’s sales team for configuration and purchasing information, or search directly for resellers — Barracuda has multiple, including Amazon and CDW.
Features
- Network access control
- Quality of service
- Integration with Barracuda’s Cloudgen Access product to facilitate ZTNA application access
- Includes industrial controls protocol enforcement for protocols like IEC 61850
- Global threat intelligence network
Juniper Networks SRX2300: Best for securing edge networks
Overall rating: 3.66/5
- Pricing and Transparency: 0.75/5
- Core Features: 4.75/5
- Additional Features: 2.75/5
- Ease of Management: 4.25/5
- Customer Support: 3.5/5
The SRX Series is designed for a variety of small to large enterprises, with features like inline decryption and inspection of inbound and outbound SSL connections at the SRX firewall. Juniper Networks’ firewalls can be used to extend security to every point of connection in the network, from client to workload. Combined with behavioral and real-time threat detection, the firewalls safeguard users, applications, and devices. The SRX series is more suitable for businesses with IT and security teams that can take advantage of the enterprise-grade features.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Offers enterprise security features like sandboxing and threat intelligence feeds | Limited buying options |
| Integrates with third-party networking providers | Fewer built-in tools |
Pricing
For specific pricing details for the SRX2300, contact Juniper’s sales team.
Features
- Decryption and inspection of SSL traffic
- Quality of service
- Sandboxing
- SecIntel threat intelligence feed
- Policy management
Sophos XGS Desktop: Best for SMBs planning to scale
Overall rating: 3.43/5
- Pricing and Transparency: 0.75/5
- Core Features: 3/5
- Additional Features: 3.3/5
- Ease of Management: 5/5
- Customer Support: 4.25/5
The Sophos XGS Desktop models are designed for small businesses and branch offices, with other XGS models available for larger businesses’ needs. Sophos Xstream architecture, a software solution that can be bundled with XGS firewalls, protects the network with features like deep packet inspection and TLS inspection. Other notable features include sandboxing and web gateway policy controls.
Sophos has done particularly well in the 2023 MITRE testing, too, so they’re a top contender for larger businesses as well. But for SMBs, Sophos really shines, receiving high overall reviews for ease of use. Consider Sophos if your smaller business is set to scale significantly in the next few years.
Pricing
Sophos XGS can be deployed in the cloud, as a virtual machine, or on teams’ existing hardware. Contact the sales team for pricing and buying details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Advanced features like sandboxing and threat intelligence reporting | Multiple customer reviews complain about bad technical support |
| Overall ease of use and configuration according to users | Some users wanted more detailed reporting options |
Features
- Reporting for networks and application behavior
- Web gateway policy controls
- Sandboxing designed to identify zero-day threats
- Optional modules for Wi-Fi connectivity
- Threat intelligence reports
Key features of UTM devices and software
The feature sets of UTM products vary somewhat, but there are a few key features to look for when your team is beginning the buying process.
Antivirus
Antivirus software helps protect networks and computer systems from malicious software, constantly scanning for threats. UTM tools should block viruses when they locate them.
VPN
Virtual private networking creates secure tunnels so computer and network users don’t have to worry about an attacker spying on their session. UTM products often include IP Security (IPSec) VPN tunneling, Site-to-Site tunneling, or Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPN.
Web or URL filtering
URL filtering allows IT and security teams to block specific websites’ URLs if they’ve determined the sites are dangerous or compromise the business’s overall security. These filters should be highly customizable and easy to implement.
Application control
Application control in a UTM identifies applications based on their standard traffic on the network and then blocks applications based on the UTM’s policies. Enterprises might set policies to block applications that carry certain security risks or applications that consume too much network bandwidth.
Quality of service
Quality of service technologies help IT and security teams optimize the network resources, like bandwidth, that they can dedicate to processing traffic. For example, QoS in a UTM might limit the bandwidth that one application can consume during 3 PM on weekdays so another critical application has plenty of resources around that time. Teams can use QoS to prioritize particular applications and jobs.
How to choose the best UTM product for your business
When I narrowed down UTM options, I considered a few key factors that apply to any solution, not just the ones on this list.
Pick a few must-haves
In my evaluation, I found that the best UTM product doesn’t need to include every possible feature, but it should meet your most important requirements. I recommend identifying three to five non-negotiable features and focusing only on products that support those. This helps narrow your options and highlight the most relevant solutions.
Look at coverage
UTM products are generally designed to cover most cybersecurity needs for SMBs, reducing the need to manage multiple tools. However, I found that not all solutions offer the same level of coverage, especially for larger organizations. If a product lacks certain capabilities, you may need to budget for additional tools.
Consider scalability
When reviewing these tools, I looked at how well they can support long-term growth. If your SMB plans to scale, choose a UTM or NGFW that can meet your needs over time. Investing in a slightly more advanced solution upfront can help avoid replacing your system within a few years and reduce long-term costs.
Communicate with the vendor
In my experience, evaluating vendors directly is an important step. Once you’ve narrowed down your options, I recommend reaching out to assess whether they’re a good long-term fit. Consider your team’s level of expertise as well — less experienced teams may benefit from more responsive support and simpler interfaces, while more experienced teams may need less hands-on assistance.
How I evaluated UTM devices
To evaluate these UTM solutions, I used a product scoring rubric with weighted criteria based on real-world importance. Each category contributed to the total score, and I selected the six highest-scoring products for this list.
Each score reflects how well a product met the criteria defined in my rubric. While all of these solutions are established in the market, this evaluation focuses on how effectively they perform against specific requirements.
- Pricing transparency and trials (10%): I evaluated whether vendors were transparent about pricing, whether purchasing was available through resellers, and whether a free trial was offered, including its duration.
- Core features (35%): I assessed the most important UTM capabilities, including antivirus, VPN support, URL filtering, and quality of service.
- Additional features (20%): I reviewed additional capabilities such as sandboxing, logging, and deep packet inspection.
- Ease of management (20%): I evaluated the availability of knowledge bases, policy management and reporting tools, and whether the product supports multiple deployment options.
- Customer support (15%): I reviewed support availability, including phone and email channels, product demos, and whether vendors offer 24/7 technical support.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How is UTM different from NGFW?
Initially, unified threat management was developed as an all-in-one security solution for smaller organizations. They often included firewalls along with other features.
In recent years, UTM products have been marketed less frequently, and next-generation firewalls — which serve a similar purpose, but sometimes are marketed to larger teams — have gained popularity. However, many NGFWs actually act as UTMs, and vice versa. Many of the products on this list are identified by the vendor as both UTM and NGFW.
What threats do UTM systems protect against?
UTMs should protect businesses from the majority of cybersecurity threats, including malware, malicious network traffic, and even ransomware. Because UTMs combine a wide range of security functions, they’re designed to identify and halt many different attacks.
What Is UTM hardware?
A UTM hardware appliance is the device on which all the UTM management software runs. Some vendors offer a virtual UTM appliance, which runs in a virtual environment atop a hypervisor. But other than virtual products, the majority of UTM products include both hardware and software. Many give your team the option to manage the solution in the cloud.
Bottom Line: The importance of UTM
While the UTM market has been evolving in recent years, and some vendors have foregone the UTM label for NGFW, unified threat management is still a useful product. It’s especially relevant for small businesses who don’t want to commit to an enterprise-grade NGFW yet. It’s unclear how the UTM market will eventually unfold — some industry experts even predict everything will head to the cloud with secure service edge/secure access service edge (SASE) solutions. But for the time being, small enterprises benefit from the combined features in a UTM product, especially single web consoles that simplify overall management.
If you’re looking for a different network security solution, check out our guide to the top governance, risk & compliance (GRC) tools in 2026 next.
