PGT vs CGI Windows: What the Comparison Means Now That They Are One Company

PGT vs CGI used to be a real head-to-head between two of Florida's oldest impact window names. It is not anymore. CGI joined PGT in 2014, both brands now sit inside MITER Brands, and in late 2025 the CGI name was retired from new sales: the Sentinel and Estate lines were discontinued, and CGI's Sparta series carried over into the PGT catalog as Sparta by PGT. If you are weighing the two names in 2026, you are choosing between tiers of a single company's catalog, and that changes how the comparison should be read.

We installed CGI for years and install PGT today, so we can put numbers on that choice. Across the fifteen aluminum impact models from these two families in our spec database (ten WinGuard Aluminum PGT WinGuard Aluminum Series PGT's flagship aluminum impact platform since 1998, with one of the deepest Miami-Dade NOA libraries in the industry. Single hung through sliding doors on one HVHZ-certified frame system. HVHZ-approved across the series 11 models in the series Explore the WinGuard Aluminum Series , five Sparta by PGT PGT Sparta Aluminum Value-tier aluminum impact line retained from the CGI brand acquisition, sized for budget HVHZ residential. White and Bronze finishes on a 4000-series frame. 5 models in the series Covers Horizontal Roller Window, Fixed Window, Sliding Glass Door, +2 more Explore the Sparta Aluminum ), every Sparta model lists a governing design pressure of 55 PSF positive and 65 PSF negative, while WinGuard Aluminum models run as high as 90 PSF positive and 130 PSF negative on certain configurations. That single spread tells most of the modern story: the CGI line that survived is the value tier, and the openings that need more strength or more size now route to WinGuard. This guide covers what survived, what replaced what, what it costs, and which openings we would put each line on today.

The Short Answer for Today's Buyer

Every CGI product now maps to a current PGT answer. Here is the translation table we use when a homeowner arrives with an old CGI quote or a CGI shortlist.

If you already have CGI windows in your walls, the sunset changes nothing about their approvals or insurance standing. The owner's section below covers the support path, and our full CGI windows review treats the legacy brand on its own terms.

How Two Competitors Became One Catalog

Both companies were built by the same storm. PGT PGT PGT Custom Windows & Doors America's largest impact window and door manufacturer, with 45 years of Florida-specific engineering. Miami-Dade NOA / HVHZ approved 57 models across 7 product lines Explore PGT , founded in Venice, Florida in 1980, pivoted after Hurricane Andrew and launched WinGuard in 1996 as the first complete collection of impact-resistant windows and doors from one manufacturer. CGI was founded in Miami in 1992, the year of Andrew itself, and in 1994 became the first manufacturer of hurricane windows and doors to offer laminated glass that met Miami-Dade County impact standards. One brand defined the category's breadth; the other helped define its testing bar.

For two decades they competed directly. CGI built aluminum only, out of a plant in Medley, and earned a South Florida reputation for heavy, light-commercial-grade frames on architectural and residential work. PGT built the wider catalog, aluminum and vinyl, and the deeper dealer network. In 2014 PGT Innovations acquired CGI, and the two ran as sibling brands under one roof for another decade.

The consolidation came after MITER Brands, backed by Koch Equity Development, took PGT Innovations private in March 2024. With PGT WinGuard already covering the mid-to-premium aluminum range that Sentinel and Estate occupied, and WinDoor WinDoor WinDoor Luxury aluminum impact windows and doors with industry-leading panel sizes and corner configurations. 9 impact models Manufacturing since 2001 Explore WinDoor handling the luxury tier, MITER retired the CGI brand effective October 31, 2025. Orders wound down through mid-December; the legacy portal draws its warranty line at purchases made before December 15, 2025. Our PGT windows review covers the full current portfolio that resulted.

None of this reads as a verdict on CGI's products. Sentinel and Estate were good windows; we installed them and they performed through real hurricane seasons. Brand consolidation retired the badge, not the engineering record.

What Survived, and How We Verified It

Before recommending anything, we checked current availability directly. As of August 2026, cgiwindows.com is a legacy support portal: the homepage states that CGI "is now part of the PGT Portfolio" and lists Sentinel, Sparta by PGT, and SCOUT by PGT as the legacy lines. The Sentinel page states the line is no longer available and routes visitors to the two "by PGT" successors. There is no new-sales CGI channel; former CGI dealers now sell PGT.

Two CGI-engineered lines are alive in the PGT catalog:

• Sparta by PGT is the impact line: aluminum frames, laminated impact glass, large-missile rated. Our catalog tracks five Sparta models: single hung, horizontal roller, picture, architectural, and a sliding glass door.
• SCOUT by PGT is the non-impact aluminum series, relevant only where another approved protection method covers the opening.

The Medley manufacturing story continued too. The plant CGI built now produces Sparta by PGT, SCOUT by PGT, and PGT Commercial products, so the aluminum heritage that made CGI's name did not leave South Florida; it changed badges.

Sparta by PGT models we install See the Sparta line

PGT Sparta Aluminum SH4100A Single-Hung Window PGT Sparta Aluminum HR4110A Horizontal Roller Window PGT Sparta Aluminum PW4120A Fixed Window PGT Sparta Aluminum SGD4130A Sliding Glass Door

Sparta vs WinGuard: The Head-to-Head That Remains

The old PGT vs CGI question survives in one modern form: PGT WinGuard Aluminum against Sparta by PGT. This is now a tier decision inside one dealer relationship, which makes it cleaner than the old cross-brand version, and the spec sheets separate the tiers plainly. The figures below are the manufacturer-published governing ratings and size maximums recorded in our spec database as of August 2026, stated as magnitudes. The NOA for your exact model, size, and glass makeup is the number a plan reviewer holds you to; you can pull it yourself from Miami-Dade's Product Control search.

Read the table in three passes.

Strength. Every Sparta model governs at 55 positive and 65 negative. That clears the load calculations on most single-family openings in South Florida, including plenty of HVHZ work, and it is the same rating the line carried under the CGI badge. WinGuard's 80-to-130 PSF magnitudes exist for the openings Sparta cannot serve: corner zones on exposed lots, upper floors, oversized openings where pressure requirements climb with tributary area.

Size. The envelopes follow the same pattern. WinGuard's single hung runs 6 inches taller, its roller stretches 9 inches wider and 13 inches taller, its picture window carries about a third more glass area, and its sliding door panels reach 60 by 120 inches against Sparta's roughly 40 by 98. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall is a WinGuard conversation before price ever comes up.

Coverage. Sparta is a five-model line. It has no casement, no awning, no French door, and the wider PGT family adds vinyl frames and the double hung that no aluminum line in either family builds. This is the breadth argument that always favored PGT in the old head-to-head, and consolidation made it literal: the tiers now live one brochure apart. Our WinGuard review walks that flagship line model by model.

The tiers are coverage, not a quality ranking. A Sparta single hung on a ground-floor bedroom is not a lesser installation than a WinGuard unit in the same hole; it is the right-sized spec for an opening whose load calculation never asked for 80 PSF.

The two aluminum tiers, side by side

PGT

Sparta Aluminum

5 models · Horizontal Roller Window, Fixed Window, Sliding Glass Door

See all 5 models

PGT

WinGuard Aluminum Series

11 models · Casement Window, French Door, Horizontal Roller Window

See all 11 models

What CGI's Aluminum Heritage Still Wins

The spec table understates one thing CGI buyers always valued: the all-aluminum build itself. CGI never made a vinyl window in its three decades, and the buyers who sought the brand out wanted exactly that: slim sightlines, frame rigidity on wide spans, and a material that shrugs off South Florida sun. That case still holds, and within the merged catalog it now points to three places.

For budget-driven aluminum projects, Sparta is the direct continuation, and it is the sharpest aluminum impact price point in the PGT family. For architectural aluminum at higher loads and sizes, WinGuard Aluminum carries the case up the range. For the light-commercial work that CGI's Medley plant always served, PGT Commercial runs from the same facility. What changed is not the availability of heavy aluminum construction; it is that one dealer conversation now covers the whole span. Our best impact window manufacturers guide places this family against the rest of the market, including the aluminum specialists that remain independent.

Price Positioning at Our Shop

Because both lines quote through the same dealer channel, the price comparison is unusually clean. The floors below are our retail installed figures for base configurations, from our pricing database as of August 2026; glass packages, finishes, sizes, and opening condition move every number up from there.

On windows, the Sparta discount at the entry point runs 30 percent or more, which is why it anchors so many of our whole-home aluminum quotes. Doors flip the pattern: the Sparta sliding door's floor at our shop sits above the WinGuard SGD770A PGT · WinGuard Aluminum Series PGT WinGuard Aluminum SGD770A Sliding Glass Door Flagship aluminum impact sliding glass door in WinGuard, the workhorse SGD across the catalog. Diamond Glass laminated glazing, LMI for HVHZ. HVHZ approved for South Florida Design pressure +90/-90 psf See sliding glass door details 's, because door pricing follows panel count and configuration more than tier. The practical rule we give homeowners: let Sparta carry the ordinary openings, price WinGuard where the load calculation or the opening size demands it, and compare the two line by line on the same opening list. Our impact windows cost calculator prices a whole home either way.

If You Already Own CGI Windows

The sunset generates more worry than it should. Three facts settle most of it.

Your approvals stand. An NOA or Florida Product Approval certifies a tested product, not a live brand. CGI windows that passed large-missile and cyclic testing remain code-compliant impact windows, and wind mitigation inspectors verify the approval number on the label, not the manufacturer's commercial status. Insurance credits are unaffected.

Warranty service routes through PGT. MITER honors existing CGI warranties through the PGT organization. The CGI legacy portal posts warranty documents for purchases made before December 15, 2025, along with approval certificates and care-and-maintenance guides; it was live when we checked in August 2026. Our impact window warranties guide explains how manufacturer claims actually route through your installer.

Parts are finite. PGT holds inventory for legacy CGI hardware, balances, and weatherstripping, but it will not be replenished forever. If a Sentinel or Estate unit in your home needs a component, order it now rather than after the next storm season.

The one scenario that deserves action: a contractor quoting you "CGI windows" today is quoting a product that cannot be ordered. Ask for the quote rewritten around the actual PGT line, and treat the rewrite as a chance to compare tiers.

Which Line We Would Spec, Opening by Opening

Mixing tiers is routine for us and costs nothing in logistics, since every product in the table arrives through the same channel with its own approval paperwork.

Next Steps

1. If you hold an old CGI quote, have it rewritten around the current PGT lines so you can compare Sparta and WinGuard tiers on the same openings.
2. If you own CGI windows, download your warranty and approval documents from the legacy portal now, while it remains posted.
3. Price your opening list both ways with the impact windows cost calculator.
4. Request a free estimate and ask us to quote Sparta and WinGuard side by side; we install both, and the load calculations, not the badges, will pick the winner.