Check Point Harmony Browse vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG comparison

Check Point Harmony Browse vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Download the complete report

Helped 846,617 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 2.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Harmony Browse is 0.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is 6.5%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

Read full review

CLAUDIO SANTOS

Operation Director at GLOBALIP

Provides browser protection and has an easy deployment

You only need to create one policy in Microsoft Active Directory. This policy can be applied to all workstations and will manage access using your credentials across the network. The implementation depends on the number of employees. For smaller organizations with 100 to 400 employees, it's straightforward and quick. The process becomes more complex for larger organizations with 3,000 to 6,000 employees.

Read full review

David Carlson

CIO at Camco Mfg.

Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help.

FortiGate is easy to configure. We configured one of the units and sent it to Indiana to be installed. We asked them to give us a call when they got it, so we could help them through the process, but they called us back to tell us it works great. Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help. That was fantastic. Fortinet also offers a single pane of glass that we can use to manage our routers with gateways, so that's convenient. We're running a VPN to our remote location, and the performance is good. We're changing all our VPN connectors on our laptops from Cisco's Anywhere to Fortinet's VPN because the performance is just so much better.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."

"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent. That's something that really helped us out. It's not just a simple proxy that just blocks the insights of potential threats that come on behind it. They do malware detection and that helps us a lot."

More iboss pros

"The product is stable."

"Its Nano Agent, which integrates with the browser, is incredibly invisible to the user and the computer since it does not require much performance."

"It analyzes and verifies in detail how secure or insecure a file, document, or object is that is being downloaded."

"It gives our customers a sense of security they might not have found anywhere else."

"It is easy to implement and has great security potential to avoid vulnerabilities through internet browsing."

"The product enforces the privacy of the users, which is good."

"The installation process is simple. Once initiated, the process is quite straightforward and seamless, making it easy to complete."

"It provides end-to-end encryption for the communication between the user's device and the remote browser, which helps to protect against eavesdropping and other forms of man-in-the-middle attacks."

More Check Point Harmony Browse pros

"It has the same functionalities throughout the range of products."

"The interface is user-friendly, so it's easy to add policies and block traffic."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate SWG are IPS and scanning."

"FortiGate also makes GRE tunneling possible."

"It has a valuable SD-WAN feature and provides good performance."

"The most useful features are application control, web filtering, and SD-WAN."

"The solution is easy to use and checks the access control as a firewall."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's content is its most valuable feature."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pros

Cons

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."

"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

More iboss cons

"One of the new features I would like to see is the possibility that these tools can be brought to mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones in iOS or Android applications."

"URL filtering could be better."

"More focus and emphasis is required on customization and real-time notification and alert system."

"A slight reduction in the cost subscription model can prove to be a game changer."

"I would like the solution to be implemented more easily for teams and directly on Android or iOS devices."

"It seems to us that the performance in some opportunities of Check Point Infinity and the administration web portal is slow."

"Check Point Harmony Browse can be improved by reducing false positive reports."

"Support must be faster in solving problems."

More Check Point Harmony Browse cons

"They should consider making some improvements regarding the pricing."

"They have not yet extended to the cloud."

"The solution has many heightened points which we cannot get to without working on CLI."

"FortiGate needs to be elastic to the market's trends. It should be easy for SMBs to get the solution."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's costs need improvement."

"The price could be improved."

"The product needs to drastically improve its reporting capability."

"We have experienced a number of failures when trying to upgrade firmware and the process takes a long time. We only experienced this when doing major upgrades between versions."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"The price is not very expensive for our organisation, but for others, it might be a little expensive."

"The product has a reasonable pricing."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

"It could be more competitive and cost-effective."

"We pay about $4,000 for a yearly license, and there aren't any additional fees."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG is an affordable solution."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"The solution is cheap."

"The product is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"When comparing the price of Fortinet FortiGate SWG to other solutions it is expensive. The price could be better."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

30%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Security Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

What needs improvement with iboss?

I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, ...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and sta...

What do you like most about Check Point Harmony Browse?

The product is stable.

What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Browse?

Support could be improved.

What is your primary use case for Check Point Harmony Browse?

When you purchase Check Point Harmony Browse, you can access this feature. For example, if an employee works from hom...

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the pricing for FortiGate AWG as nine, which is perfect.

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see...

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Comparisons

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 15% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 13% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Check Point Harmony Browse

Compared 55% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Check Point Harmony Browse

Compared 45% of the time

More Check Point Harmony Browse Competitors

Fortinet FortiProxy vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 50% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 21% of the time

Sangfor Internet Access Gateway (IAG) vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 7% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 4% of the time

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG Competitors

Product Reports

iboss

Download iboss product report

Check Point Harmony Browse

Download Check Point Harmony Browse product report

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Download Fortinet FortiGate SWG product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Check Point Harmony Browse is a secure web browsing solution that provides users with a safe and seamless browsing experience. It is designed to protect users from web-based threats such as malware, phishing, and other cyber attacks. Harmony Browse uses advanced threat prevention technologies to detect and block malicious websites and downloads in real-time. It also provides users with a secure connection to the internet, ensuring that their online activities are not intercepted or monitored by cybercriminals.

Harmony Browse is easy to deploy and manage, with a simple and intuitive user interface that allows administrators to set policies and monitor user activity. With Harmony Browse, organizations can ensure that their employees are protected from web-based threats, while also maintaining productivity and compliance.

Check Point Harmony Browse Benefits:

Provides secure web browsing
Protects against malware and phishing attacks
Offers granular control over user access and policies
Easy to use
Integrates with other Check Point security products

Check Point Harmony Browse Features:

Web Threat Prevention: Harmony Browse includes real-time web threat prevention capabilities to protect against various web-based attacks, such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and drive-by downloads.
URL Filtering: The solution provides URL filtering capabilities to enforce policies for web access control.
Anti-Bot Protection: Harmony Browse helps prevent bot-driven attacks and botnet infections by identifying and blocking communication between infected endpoints and command-and-control (C&C) servers.
Advanced Threat Intelligence: The solution integrates with Check Point's threat intelligence services, which provide real-time updates about emerging threats and malicious URLs.
Secure Web Gateway: Harmony Browse can function as a secure web gateway, offering secure access to web resources for organizations.
User and Policy Management: The solution enables organizations to define and enforce web usage policies based on user roles, groups, or specific criteria.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Check Point Harmony Browse users.

Shrinkhala Jain, Project Consultant at a consultancy, states that "The software is easy to install and deploy across any business environment and it is becoming a game changer for us."

Anuj Kumar, Senior Manager at IRMA Anand, writes that "It completely restricts and blocks phishing attacks and any threat entry into the system and keeps the work pace fast and secure without showing any signs of lag or latency."

Javier Aguado Benito, Coordinador at OESIA, says that"This solution has multiple protections that are generally very simple to configure and work quickly with little intrusiveness for the user."

Check Point Software Technologies

Fortinet FortiGate SWG is a comprehensive web security solution provided by Fortinet. FortiGate SWG combines web filtering, malware protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and application control capabilities into a single integrated platform. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats, enforce compliance policies, and provide secure access to web resources.

FortiGate SWG Benefits:

Comprehensive web filtering and security features
Ease of use and management
Integration with other Fortinet products
Strong threat detection capabilities
Scalability and flexibility
Granular control over user access and activity

FortiGate SWG Features:

Web Filtering: FortiGate SWG employs URL filtering and content categorization to control and enforce web access policies.
Malware Protection: The solution provides real-time protection against web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): FortiGate SWG helps prevent sensitive data from being leaked or exfiltrated through web channels.
SSL Inspection: The solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, allowing organizations to examine encrypted web traffic for threats and enforce security policies.
Application Control: FortiGate SWG enables granular control over web applications and protocols.
Advanced Threat Intelligence: FortiGate SWG leverages Fortinet's threat intelligence services to provide up-to-date information about emerging threats and zero-day vulnerabilities.
User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports various authentication methods, including single sign-on (SSO) and integration with identity providers, to ensure secure user authentication and access control for web resources.
Reporting and Analytics: FortiGate SWG provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities.

FortiGate SWG is typically deployed as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance in on-premises environments, but it may also be available as a cloud-based service. It is part of Fortinet's broader security fabric ecosystem, allowing integration with other Fortinet products to provide a unified and coordinated security infrastructure.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by FortiGate SWG users.

David Carlson, CIO at Camco Mfg., says that "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help".

Suresh Vijayen, Product Manager at IX Telecom, writes that FortiGate SWG "Provides helpful technical support, but its dashboard needs to be more user-friendly".

Chandan Munshi, Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, states that "The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

Fortinet

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Information Not Available

Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria

Check Point Harmony Browse vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG