Intercept X license

Synchronized Security is only available to business customers using Intercept X along with Sophos Firewall. This is probably the feature you're saying you hope to enable. Most of the other features in Sophos Firewall work fine using a free home license.

Sophos Home Premium is a consumer endpoint security product that you can purchase at https://home.sophos.com/en-us. It is very similar to Intercept X from a protection standpoint, but it does not enable Synchronized Security with the firewall.

Maxim-Sophos said:

only available to business customers

I'd love to know why. Why can't I pay for a license without being a business. What difference does it make?

It's fairly common for companies (or product lines) aimed at businesses instead of consumers to not sell direct to consumers. The way we price, package, and distribute our products, and how our partners sell them, is entirely oriented toward business customers. Our entire customer support organization is also built for supporting businesses, not consumers.

Sophos Home is the one exception, and we had to create separate sales and support channels just for that product.

Most of the time, this separation of consumer and business products/customers works out well for everyone. But there are cases, like yours, where someone wants to use paid business products in a home lab or for other home use. Unfortunately, we just aren't set up to accommodate those edge cases right now.

It's fairly common for companies (or product lines) aimed at businesses instead of consumers to not sell direct to consumers. The way we price, package, and distribute our products, and how our partners sell them, is entirely oriented toward business customers. Our entire customer support organization is also built for supporting businesses, not consumers.

Sophos Home is the one exception, and we had to create separate sales and support channels just for that product.

Most of the time, this separation of consumer and business products/customers works out well for everyone. But there are cases, like yours, where someone wants to use paid business products in a home lab or for other home use. Unfortunately, we just aren't set up to accommodate those edge cases right now.

What's the difference between me getting a licence and a small SMB with 1 sysadmin buying one?

I think we might have a minimum quantity of two users. And, even then, you'd have to go through a reseller/partner. We don't sell direct to anyone. Other than that, it's just a matter of how the Terms of Use are worded and various compliance checks and such.