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

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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 896,510 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 has been around for a long time, and it keeps getting better and better."

"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."

"In terms of reliability especially, Cisco is light years ahead."

"Cisco Prime is very good management-wise, giving you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."

"The map overview of our campus environment shows the distribution of RF frequency channels and the distribution of a client, providing us with a great idea of where the busier areas are within our environment to allow us to tweak and tune."

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

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

"As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros

"The most valuable feature is having one object on all networks, which allows for implementation only once."

"The product is a combination of management and monitoring from the same interface."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

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

"The centralized management of policies and certificates, coupled with the capability to handle multi-site deployments effectively, provides streamlined operations."

"The solution is very stable."

"FortiManager helps automate configuration deployment, allowing us to plan and schedule configurations."

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

More Fortinet FortiManager pros

Cons

"Cisco Prime could improve the notifications in the system. Having more details about what is happening would be useful, such as traffic numbers or who is connected. We can see them through the firewall controller, but it would be better if you can see them from one place."

"The solution is not easy to configure."

"That is unacceptable and it's the biggest downfall of the solution."

"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."

"They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."

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

"If you think about a centralized monitoring system, Cisco Prime is not good because it does not support third-party vendors like Palo Alto or FortiGate."

"We would like to see the inclusion of detailed alerts."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons

"Its licensing model should be improved."

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

"Wizards could be improved in pushing policies."

"FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently."

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

"I think the initial setup is too complicated because there are several versions of the operating systems, so you don't have directly connections between two devices."

"If you have more than one FortiMail device, you can't manage it then with FortiManager on FortiGate."

"The GUI and the whole process of configuration should be improved."

More Fortinet FortiManager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The cost is quite high."

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

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

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

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

"The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions."

"We update the license every five years."

More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."

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

"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 is a bit expensive - I would rate its pricing three out of ten."

"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."

More Fortinet FortiManager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

13%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing 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	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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HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

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Fortinet FortiGate Cloud vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 36% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 9% 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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