We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Fortinet FortiOS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."
"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."
"This solution made it very easy to manage our bandwidth."
"The solution is scalable."
"It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us."
"It's very easy to configure."
"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."
"Whenever we raise a complaint with FortiGate, their response and resolution times are minimal."
"The VPN connection portal scan works flawlessly, which was a big plus for us."
"The solution effectively integrates with Umbrella."
"The capabilities for scalability with this product are huge"
"The product's stability is good."
"There is a positive impact on security, particularly the intrusion feature, which helps keep the solution concealed and secure."
"It is less expensive than alternative firewalls."
"The hardware is pretty stable. It's also a very good product performance-wise. Initially, it wasn't mature like a firewall and there were other leaders, but now they have included almost all the features of next-generation security. Basically, it's a good product to work with."
"The VPN was valuable for us because more people are working from home. It has a lot of reporting and easy-to-use management tools."
"FortiOS allows us to set up alarms for blocked websites and SSL verifications. When someone tries to access a blocked site, the solution sends a notification to the IT manager's mailbox."
"It's easy to use."
"The customer service and support team are excellent."
"I have found the most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiOS is the low maintenance."
"There are many useful features, such as web security and advanced threat detection."
"FortiOS's best features are its function as an internet gateway and how easy it is to manage."
"For my organization, it has become much easier to scan the firewalls because the solution is more user-friendly than competitors."
"The product is scalable and easily expands."
"Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."
"The logging details need to be improved."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"A couple of things I've seen that need improvement, especially in terms of a hard coding. The driver-level active moment really is out-of-the-box and we have to have contact the customer support and sometimes it is difficult to resolve."
"Palo Alto has a feature called WildFire Analysis that is unavailable in FortiGate. WildFire is better than a sandbox because it can address zero-day threats and vulnerabilities. It can immediately identify zero-day threats from the cloud."
"Reporting is limited to providing an external appliance for improving the reporting capabilities of the FortiAnalyzer. It does not offer a central management and is also sold separably as an appliance."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"The graphical user interface or the GUI could be better. Beginners can use some devices with the GUI, but some security devices are configured using CLI. It would also be better if it had its own Intrusion Protection Service and Intrusion Detection Service on the server."
"I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering."
"The initial setup is complicated."
"There could be a bit more functions on offer that could make it easier to use."
"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."
"The configuration should be easier in the solution."
"If they could increase the performance a little better because the device sometimes gets slow."
"It takes too much time to deploy a policy to FMC. It takes around eight minutes. You can't afford any downtime when you're changing policies."
"The reporting for this solution could be improved. It could also be more stable and offer better pricing."
"Fortinet FortiOS could improve by having better authentication methods with Microsoft or Google Services."
"Could be improved by supporting an allocation of quota base management regarding user data."
"I would like to see smaller and more frequent updates."
"The solution's firmware updates have significant bugs and issues."
"The report and policy optimization tools can be improved in the next release."
"Fortinet FortiOS can improve the GUI and remove the command line interface. All the functionality should be available from the GUI. Day-to-day management can be tough for IT administrators. Additionally, the reporting is not very good."
"The support is not very good, but the product is stable so it is not so much of a problem."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Fortinet FortiOS is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Meraki MX, Netgate pfSense, OPNsense and Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, whereas Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Fortinet FortiWeb, Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection and Zyxel Unified Security Gateway. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Fortinet FortiOS report.
See our list of best Firewalls vendors.
We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
