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BigFix vs Fortinet FortiClient comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
BigFix delivers fast ROI with efficient patch management, improved security, and reduced labor, enhancing efficiency and financial savings.
Sentiment score
5.7
Fortinet FortiClient improved productivity, enabled better remote work, reduced costs, and enhanced security despite some unused features.
The VPN performance has a substantial impact on our remote workforce.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
BigFix provides excellent customer support, with minor first-level inconsistencies, improved overall quality, and valuable community resources.
Sentiment score
6.7
Fortinet FortiClient's support is praised for responsiveness but criticized for inconsistency and delayed responses compared to competitors.
On a scale from one to ten, with ten being the highest quality, enterprise support provides timely responses, typically within four to eight hours.
Technical Director at SYSTEX
Technical support from HCL is satisfactory unless there are customization requirements.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
They initiate the troubleshooting process quickly and resolve issues in a timely manner.
Medical Coder at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In 99% of cases, we do not have to do configurations on our own as they are normally handled by their service providers.
Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
They provide very good support, and an issue I had was resolved quickly over the phone.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.7
BigFix excels in scalability, handling deployments from small to large seamlessly, supporting hundreds of thousands of devices efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.2
Fortinet FortiClient is scalable, suitable for small to large enterprises, but reviews on ease of scaling are mixed.
BigFix requires some minimum configuration requirements.
RPA Developer at Hexaware Technologies Limited
We normally take into consideration while installing the product that it can scale up to approximately 20%, but not more than that.
Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Most of our clients are using the free version rather than the paid version due to the high range of maximum users available for the free version.
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
I hope Fortinet will start an insider developer program where professionals can provide feedback on new releases to ensure improvements.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.9
BigFix is praised for its stability, requiring minimal intervention and maintaining performance during large-scale deployments and external challenges.
Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiClient is highly stable, with minor issues mostly network-related, and users frequently rate it nine or ten.
Its stability level is excellent.
IT Manager at CNE
I normally get a call within 15-20 minutes after logging a complaint.
Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Fortinet FortiClient is a stable product with no glitches or latency issues.
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
 

Room For Improvement

BigFix needs updated documentation, UI improvements, enhanced integration, better patch support, and improved automation and scalability.
Fortinet FortiClient needs improved management, simplicity, features, compatibility, pricing, connectivity, scalability, authentication, and better support across OS.
Building a management console is quick and simple, taking only one to two hours for setup.
Technical Director at SYSTEX
The problem was related to the hardware configuration and hardware specifications.
RPA Developer at Hexaware Technologies Limited
In addition to reporting improvements, there should be a feature for application control to allow or disallow certain applications from being executed on endpoints.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
FortiClient needs improvement in restricting user information and ensuring more secure customer data to better protect source code and reduce the risk of security breaches.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
There are advanced features like Zero Trust that I currently do not use but could be beneficial for security.
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc.
Fortinet frequently releases updates without thorough testing.
Medical Coder at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

BigFix offers flexible, competitive pricing options with various packages and potential discounts, despite additional costs like database licenses.
Fortinet FortiClient is cost-effective for basic VPNs, with competitive licensing for advanced features despite recent price increases.
The pricing is pretty good and now follows a subscription model similar to SolarWinds, making it easier for customers to subscribe and unsubscribe.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
FortiClient is a value-for-money product and is not considered expensive compared to similar products on the market.
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Justifying the price to clients can be difficult.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
FortiClient is included in a package with the UTM features, so there is no separate cost for it.
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc.
 

Valuable Features

BigFix is valued for ease, scalability, flexibility, real-time management, integration, single-console efficiency, and wide system adaptability.
Fortinet FortiClient provides cost-effective, comprehensive security with seamless integration, advanced features, and ease of deployment and management.
The BigFix features that have proven most effective include inventory, software delivery, software distribution, software catalog, and both software and hardware management.
Technical Director at SYSTEX
I use this mainly to capture inventory for IBM products, and as BigFix was part of IBM, it gets easily integrated with IBM solutions.
RPA Developer at Hexaware Technologies Limited
BigFix supports something known as Patch Policies, which allows users to define that whenever critical patches are released, they should get evaluated against machines and automatically deploy them.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
The most valuable feature of FortiClient is its high security level.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
We appreciate its VPN capabilities and the features that offer extra security functionalities like antivirus and malware scanning.
Infrastructure Manager at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
I strongly recommend this solution, especially for Fortinet customers who use FortiGate or other Fortinet products, as they can easily integrate these features and exchange information seamlessly.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
 

Categories and Ranking

BigFix
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
35th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (9th), Patch Management (6th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (9th)
Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Compliance (1st), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of BigFix is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 1.7%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiClient1.7%
BigFix1.1%
Other97.2%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

JC
Technical Director at SYSTEX
Comprehensive client management and software distribution made efficient
Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution to clients if there are too many. Building a management console is quick and simple, taking only one to two hours for setup. However, a demo or trial may take over a week or two for completion.
KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.
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879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise66
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BigFix?
The most valuable features of the solution are Windows patching and the hardware and software inventory.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?
The pricing is pretty good and now follows a subscription model similar to other major software solutions, making it easier for customers to subscribe and unsubscribe.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
The reporting still needs improvement since customers want specific reporting, such as N-1 month patching reports. In addition to reporting improvements, there should be a feature for application c...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
 

Also Known As

Tivoli Endpoint Manager
FortiClient
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

US Foods, Penn State, St Vincent's Health US Foods, Sabadell Bank, SunTrust, Australia Sydney, Stemac, Capgemini, WNS Global Services, Jebsen & Jessen, CenterBeam, Strauss, Christian Hospital Centre, Brit Insurance, Career Education Corporation
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about BigFix vs. Fortinet FortiClient and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.