{"question": "best firewall appliances for small businesses", "category": "firewall-appliances", "category_name": "firewall appliances", "audience": "small-businesses", "audience_name": "small businesses", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-10-22T23:21:05Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/firewall-appliances-small-businesses-2026-10-22", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/firewall-appliances/small-businesses", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 50G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 50G / 70G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "FortiGate 50G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "70G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Sophos XGS", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Sophos XGS 87 / 88", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "Cisco Meraki MX67 / MX68", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 9, "brand": "Netgate 4200", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 10, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 11, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox T25", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 12, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox T25 / T45", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 13, "brand": "Ubiquiti UniFi", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 14, "brand": "Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 15, "brand": "UniFi", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 16, "brand": "UniFi Cloud Gateway", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 17, "brand": "UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 18, "brand": "Cloud", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 19, "brand": "Firewalla Gold Plus", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 20, "brand": "Sophos XGS 88", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 21, "brand": "FortiGate 70G", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://www.shidirect.com/product/49371475/Fortinet-FortiGate-50G", "domain": "shidirect.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.esecurityplanet.com/products/sophos-xg-vs-fortinet-fortigate/", "domain": "esecurityplanet.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.avanet.com/en/shop/sophos-firewall/xgs-88/", "domain": "avanet.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://comparitech.com/blog/information-security/best-firewall-hardware-small-businesses", "domain": "comparitech.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://netgate.com/blog/best-firewalls-for-small-businesses", "domain": "netgate.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://lazyadmin.nl/network/unifi-cloud-gateway-ultra/", "domain": "lazyadmin.nl", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.techradar.com/reviews/firewalla-gold-plus", "domain": "techradar.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://www.business.org/it/cyber-security/best-firewall-for-small-business/", "domain": "business.org", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://mightygadget.com/firewalla-gold-plus-review/", "domain": "mightygadget.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.shidirect.com/product/49371500/Fortinet-FortiGate-70G", "domain": "shidirect.com", "source_type": "other"}], "answer_text": "# Best firewall appliances for small businesses\n\nHere's what I'd actually recommend, roughly in the order I'd suggest them:\n\n**1. Fortinet FortiGate 50G / 70G** - My default answer for most small businesses. It's the strongest overall feature set at this size: deep packet inspection, SD-WAN, IPS, sandboxing, long log retention, and a huge ecosystem (FortiAP access points, FortiSwitch) if you grow. Hardware alone runs roughly $360-440; realistically you're buying a bundle - a 3-year FortiCare Premium + FortiGuard UTP bundle on the 50G lands around $1,486, the 70G around $2,298. The tradeoff: FortiOS has a real learning curve, so budget for a reseller/MSP if you don't have IT staff. ([SHI](https://www.shidirect.com/product/49371475/Fortinet-FortiGate-50G), [eSecurityPlanet](https://www.esecurityplanet.com/products/sophos-xg-vs-fortinet-fortigate/))\n\n**2. Sophos XGS 87 / 88** - The one I'd pick if nobody on staff is a network engineer. Same core NGFW capabilities, but the management UI is genuinely the friendliest in this class, and the appliance is cheaper (~€494 for the XGS 88, plus a Standard or Xstream Protection bundle). Sophos also ties the firewall to its endpoint product so a ", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}