Cisco Prime [EOL] vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Additionally, 91% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco Prime [EOL]

Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews

91% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiManager

Read 73 Fortinet FortiManager reviews

6,044 Views
1,451 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco Prime [EOL]

Fortinet FortiManager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Prime [EOL] and Fortinet FortiManager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Management Applications Report (Updated: May 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

May 2026

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Helped 894,830 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

Cisco Prime [EOL]

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Fortinet FortiManager

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (3rd)

Featured Reviews

ZeeshanAli1

Senior Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve

We are extremely satisfied with the reliability and robustness of Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which we have been using for many years. Compared to newer products such as DNS centers or others, it has proven to be much more stable, which is important for large-scale operations. Stability is a primary concern for us, and we are glad that Cisco Prime Infrastructure meets our expectations in that regard. Furthermore, in regards to Legacy Plus new hardware, Cisco Prime has proven to be a reliable and adaptable solution thus far. Not only can it support older hardware, but it also has the capability to handle new features with the latest updates. If we consider new solutions such as DNS Center, we may have to sacrifice some legacy features that we still rely on. We may need to continue using these legacy features for a few more years due to various reasons such as budget constraints or the site not being a high priority. However, if we switch to a new product at this stage, we may lose a lot of the monitoring and other capabilities that we have with Cisco Prime. We have a close relationship with Cisco and understand that they are not prioritizing investments in Cisco Prime as they are encouraging customers to adopt the Cisco DNA Center. This means that we don't anticipate many new features to be added to the product in the future. While we know that we will eventually have to transition to a new solution, in the meantime, we plan to do a quick refresh of our legacy products.

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SudeepMaydeo

Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas

Ensures seamless integration and centralized visibility for network security operations

The version upgrade from a single dashboard for all the firewalls in one click is the beauty of Fortinet FortiManager as the most impactful feature in managing our network security. Fortinet FortiManager's policy management enhances our security protocols by enabling us and giving integrated centralized visibility, which has proven to be very healthy. Because of this, we have identified some of the vulnerabilities in our systems, and we mitigated them through Fortinet FortiManager. The central dashboards and the visibility are what appealed to us to go with Fortinet FortiManager. Fortinet FortiManager has adapted to changes in our network scale and complexity as we have geographically 18 international locations, all equipped with firewalls and some cybersecurity initiatives and IT infrastructure initiatives.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring. This allows us to be proactive in our environment."

"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."

"Cisco Prime can help customers fix their Wi-Fi issues with scientific and digital data."

"The most valuable is the assistance for network support."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is its excellent audio and video conferencing with clear quality and no interruptions."

"When you have a central management plan, it saves a lot of costs."

"Cisco Prime has been around for a long time, and it keeps getting better and better."

"Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros

"There is something called zero-touch provisioning, where you can add a new device without any configuration; you just add it to FortiManager and then forget about it."

"I like the features on offer, for example SD-WAN; it's one single configuration point for everything, especially when you have a headquarters and branch, and the VPN is also beneficial, with very good correlation between FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager, and we find the pricing to be fair."

"The capability of centralized management is valuable. We can configure all firewall boxes with the same configuration."

"We like the central management capabilities."

"The user interface, along with user-friendly planning features, makes it straightforward to configure desired settings."

"We are managing a research and education network, and we have about 200 Fortinet FortiGate devices dispatched in the country, and we are managing all of them with FortiManager, which has simplified the management and reduced the time to configure the devices."

"It would normally take us a handful of days to install one FortiGate instance on one site. But with this technology, zero-touch deployment, we need just one hour or maybe as little as 30 minutes to install one site. It is much more efficient."

"Central management system for Fortinet devices that's simple, scalable, and stable, with a straightforward setup."

More Fortinet FortiManager pros

Cons

"This is not a scalable solution."

"The solution is not easy to configure."

"Prime is used for managing all the infrastructure and if it can be integrated with the SIEM tool it could be well managed."

"The product's pricing can be cheaper."

"The solution is considered legacy and DNAC has overcome it because of centralized controls that allow a complete LAN network to be moved to centralized management."

"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."

"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."

"The solution needs to include centralized management that aligns with the Greenfield network and its focus on real-time, scenario-based applications."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons

"The solution should be more open to other products."

"Not just in FortiManager, but in any Fortinet project in general, the troubleshooting is very hard."

"Its licensing model should be improved."

"Regional support in African countries needs to be improved."

"In future updates, I would like to see more customization and AI integration."

"The response times from technical support need to be a bit quicker."

"The areas that need improvement are implementation and support."

"There is a degradation of performance if we activate logs on FortiManager."

More Fortinet FortiManager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."

"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."

"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."

"The cost is quite high."

"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."

"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."

"We update the license every five years."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice

"The pricing model is affordable."

"On a scale from one to ten with one being the highest price and ten being the lowest price, I would rate FortiManager's price at three."

"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."

"For us, it is a little bit expensive."

"Fortinet is a high-end product and the cost is high. They should consider reducing the price, especially for existing customers."

"The solution requires you to have a license for every device, as well as for any advanced features being used, which makes it costly for high-volume users. However, for a large-scale environment with a lot of customers we have found it to be a worthwhile investment."

"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."

"FortiManager isn't expensive, but its cost is dependent on which services are required."

More Fortinet FortiManager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

12%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	20

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?

I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?

I would like to see functionality that simplifies my life. I understand that adding new devices should be simplified.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiManager?

I am using FortiGate 200E. I am mostly working with Fortinet FortiManager. Overall, I am using Fortinet FortiManager for everything. The dashboard is used frequently. I use Fortinet FortiManager mo...

See all answers

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Fortinet FortiGate Cloud vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 38% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 5% of the time

AlgoSec vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiManager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Prime [EOL]

May 2026

Download Cisco Prime [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiManager

May 2026

Download Fortinet FortiManager product report

Also Known As

Cisco Prime Infrastructure

No data available

Overview

Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

Cisco

Fortinet FortiManager offers centralized management for FortiGate devices, ensuring easy synchronization with cloud accounts, automation, and policy deployment, enhancing network security and performance.

Fortinet FortiManager provides comprehensive oversight and streamlined operations for FortiGate environments. It centralizes the administration of firewalls and other Fortinet devices, simplifying their configuration and deployment. Users benefit from its efficient automation and policy management capabilities, which reduce implementation times and enhance security protocols. FortiManager features seamless integration and robust monitoring within a single interface, offering visibility across network operations. While it requires improvements in documentation, platform integration, and licensing clarity, it remains an essential tool for large-scale network management.

What are the standout features?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration of multiple devices from one console.
Automation: Speeds up policy deployment and reduces manual tasks.
Zero-Touch Provisioning: Facilitates easy device setup and deployment.
SD-WAN Management: Provides tools for managing wide area networks effectively.
Intuitive GUI: Offers a user-friendly management interface.

Why should users consider Fortinet FortiManager?

Ease of Use: Users appreciate the straightforward management processes.
Scalability: Adaptability to large-scale network demands.
Comprehensive Visibility: Detailed insights into network performance and security.
Reduced Implementation Time: Faster setup and configuration processes.

In the finance and healthcare industries, Fortinet FortiManager enhances security and compliance by streamlining policy management and deployment across multiple sites. Retail sectors benefit from its scalable network management, ensuring continuous and reliable connectivity across branches. Education institutions use it to manage complex security infrastructures, effectively handling multiple devices and networks to safeguard sensitive data.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

May 2026

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