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

5,522 Views
1,215 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco Prime [EOL]

Fortinet FortiManager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

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: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 890,124 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.

Read full review

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.

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

"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."

"The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."

"Cisco Prime, from a management perspective, has good reporting."

"Cisco Prime allows us to manage all the wireless controllers and access points."

"Operationally, Prime is quite easy to use and I like the wireless heatmap and search management features."

"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."

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

"We use Cisco Prime for network mapping and surveys."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager, in my opinion, are SD-WAN and the manageability console."

"It can scale well."

"The solution has the best stability for application control and inspections."

"Without FortiManager, you cannot manage a complex environment across several sites with multiple firewalls."

"The functionality is good; it has good features and it works well for us, with multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment and makes it unique."

"For the ROI, for a five-year project, Fortinet FortiManager would be the best option to use."

"Fortinet FortiManager allows a full view of all the devices on the network from one location."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides and its ease of use."

More Fortinet FortiManager pros

Cons

"Cisco Prime is slow at times, we often have to restart the database to run reports or to gain access."

"Cisco needs to improve Prime's monitoring tab. If any device goes down, there is a 15-second lapse before we know. It would be much better if we were alerted two or three minutes before a device is about to fail, so we can dispatch a field engineer and avoid network downtime. I would like to see a feature that allows you to access the devices directly from Prime's monitoring tab. That would make work easier for us."

"The product needs to improve its interface and reporting."

"I would love for Cisco Prime to show bandwidth usage and consumption, but I can't monitor bandwidth usage at a given time."

"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."

"Cisco can only be used for Cisco environments and is not compatible with other vendors."

"If you look at some of the wireless site-survey tools that are available in the commercial space, Cisco should include similar solutions, which would help our on-plant engineers when they're doing a site survey."

"The user interface of Cisco Prime could be more user-friendly and increase its performance."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons

"Within the management of some features on FortiManager, specifically the management of user objects used for VPN service, FortiManager is quite weak."

"Areas for improvement in Fortinet FortiManager are scalability and stability."

"The product is not very stable."

"It would be nice to have a virtual appliance as well."

"You cannot integrate with other solutions."

"The fabric for integrations or connections could be improved."

"I put seven for scalability because it is a bit complex to add some new devices and new users, or that function could be simplified."

"Performance issues should be improved. We have problems when we have more mobile connections than local devices. Most of us have two to three devices."

More Fortinet FortiManager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

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

"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."

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

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

"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice

"For the licensing fee, we paid around 10,000 to 15,000 euros."

"If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

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

"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."

"Fortinet FortiManager is a low-priced product."

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

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

More Fortinet FortiManager pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

890,124 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

12%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

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	4
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	35
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	19

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Prime?

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

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?

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

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?

We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?

The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.

See all answers

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 do not use Fortinet FortiManager daily, but I can speak with my security team and ask them what areas need future improvement for Fortinet FortiManager. When I installed it, I found it somewhat d...

See all answers

Comparisons

DX Spectrum vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 10% of the time

HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

Junos Space Network Director vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

More Cisco Prime [EOL] Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 41% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 6% of the time

AlgoSec vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiManager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Prime [EOL]

April 2026

Download Cisco Prime [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiManager

April 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

March 2026

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

890,124 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Network Management Applications vendors.

We monitor all Network Management Applications 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.