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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Cisco Secure Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
406
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
Ranking in Firewalls
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.5%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall is 5.8%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
Daniel Going - PeerSpot reviewer
Is intuitive in terms of troubleshooting, easy to consume, and stable
Licensing is complex, and I'd like it to be simplified. This is an area for improvement. If we could create a Firepower solution that became like an SD-WAN or a SASE solution in a box, then perhaps we could exploit that on remote sites. We've already kind of got that with Meraki, but if we could pull out some of the features from ASA Firepower and make those available in SD-WAN in SASE, then it would be pretty cool.
SHUBHAM BHINGARDE - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool to help businesses create a blockage for external traffic
The tool improved the security in our company's virtualized environment, as it was helpful in creating an additional layer of security for the organization and for the use of the internet. The tool was the most important product to be implemented in the organization. To be able for our organization to build our services, we need to operate inside a certain network while ensuring that the outside traffic gets blocked by using the firewall services from the tool, as it helps to create a secure network inside our company. Without the tool in our organization, our network would have been compromised. The aforementioned area consists of details related to how the tool helps with the workload protection aspect. I recommend the solution to others who plan to use it since it helps in areas where it helps block a particular website with the help of the firewall functionalities that it possesses. The tool also helps block outside traffic, and it is mandatory to implement a firewall as an organization grows for the smooth operations of business. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature."
"FortiGate SD-WAN facilitated a smooth transition for our customers between their two internet service providers, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity without any downtime."
"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."
"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."
"This is an easy solution to deploy."
"The security on offer is very good."
"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"We use a southern institution that's audited for IT security and the reporting that automatically comes off the unit makes it much easier to meet compliance standards and makes it easier as far as the amount of time that has to be spent to compile that information. If you get your reporting set up correctly when you initially set it up, you just select the one you want and hit print. The auditing trail on it is the best feature."
"Cisco Secure Firewall improved our organization. We have it in every one of our French offices."
"Cisco tech is always good and helpful. I would rate them as 10 out of 10."
"This solution has good security, and it's a good product. You can trust Cisco, and there's support as well, which is really good."
"There are no issues that we are aware of. It does its job silently in the background."
"The most valuable feature would be ASDM. The ability to go in, visualize and see the world base in a clear and consistent manner is very powerful."
"ASA 5505 and ASA 5506 are very powerful tools to use in a business environment, and provide a lot of security."
"I like its integration with the AnyConnect client. I also like how modular it is. For example, I can easily integrate the Umbrella add-on into it. We are planning on adding Umbrella. We haven't added it yet, but we have researched."
"The most valuable features of Cisco firewalls are the IPS and IDS items. We find them very helpful. Those are the biggest things because we have some odd, custom-made products in our environment. What we've found through their IPS and IDS is that their vulnerability engines have caught things that are near-Zero-day items, inside of our network."
"The solution can scale well."
"The EPM bundle is a good feature."
"The support is good. We don't have any issues with the technical support."
"It is highly scalable because it has a mesh architecture that allows consistent policies."
"The customer care center of Fortinet is good. For all the requests that we have done, they work as fast as possible, so this is a good point for Fortinet.​"
"Good for the servers and can stop network attacks, including spam."
"FortiGate integrates well."
"Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware."
 

Cons

"The reports are very basic."
"The license renewal process, annual renewal price, and the web application firewall features should be improved."
"The advanced models are expensive."
"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."
"A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding FortiAnalyzer to its solution, we should not have to use another solution. FortiAnalyzer can provide more detailed information."
"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."
"There can be more security in hybrid implementations. When a customer has a hybrid environment where some parts are in the cloud, we need a consistent security solution for such scenarios."
"One of the problems that we have had is the solution requires Java to work. This has caused some problems with the application visibility and control. When the Java works, it is good, but Java wasn't a good choice. I don't like the Java implementation. It can be difficult to work with sometimes."
"This is an older product and has reached end-of-life."
"If they want to add better features to the current Cisco ASA, they can start by increasing the encryption. That is the only thing they need to improve."
"UTM features would be nice or some NextGen features."
"There was an error in the configuration, related to our uplink switches, that caused us to contact technical support, and it took a very long time to resolve the issue."
"You shouldn't have to use the ASDM to help manage the client."
"Cisco should improve its user interface design. There is a deep learning curve to the product if you are a newcomer."
"I would like for them to develop better integration with other security platforms."
"New versions are complicated with a big configuration."
"Pricing is complex."
"FortiGate should be more customer friendly and budgeted better."
"Some issues with connecting to the VPN from home after firmware updates."
"The interface of the solution could be improved."
"To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more. For example, if you are using Hyper-V, then you need guidelines for hardening FortiGate-VM that are specific to the Hyper-V environment. If it's VMware, there should be at least a guideline on how to harden the firewall."
"They should keep us up to date about the latest version. That's the biggest thing. Currently, we have to go looking for the latest version. We should get notified about what's going on with the versions. I would like to see easier dual-factor authentication."
"Improvements are needed for the responsive UI and JIT traffic reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."
"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."
"It is cost-effective, and provides a good value for your money. The pricing, and license renewal, is very reasonable for us."
"Its pricing is competitive with other solutions."
"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."
"It would be nice if pricing could do more to reflect the economy of the country where the product is being implemented."
"Cisco's prices are more or less comparable to those of other products."
"The licensing scheme is completely confusing, and they need to streamline it. They have classic licensing and a new type of licensing now. Also, the licensing for the actual firewall is separate from the one for TAC support."
"The pricing for Cisco products is higher than others, but Cisco is a very good, strong, and stable technology."
"It is more expensive than the other solutions."
"Cisco is considered to be an expensive solution."
"To discuss with Cisco Systems or their partners to gain the optimal price and to not consider, without verifying, the false information that Cisco ASA is very expensive."
"Everything with Cisco is expensive. My advice is that there are a lot better options out in the market now."
"Licensing is pretty standard. It's approximately 15% of the total cost per year as a subscription cost."
"The license can be purchased at intervals of one, three, and five years."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"There is a benefit in terms of the cost of using this solution because the price is very good."
"It is an expensive solution if you are migrating from an open source solution."
"The license we pay is a yearly fee. I can't say it's very expensive; it is a good price and is highly suitable for our usage."
"The price falls somewhere in the middle; it's neither cheap nor expensive."
"The price is expensive compared with other vendors, like Cisco and Huawei."
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
35%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
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Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...
How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?
It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...
Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM?
An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
Cisco ASA Firewall, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Cisco ASA, Adaptive Security Appliance, ASA, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall
FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.
Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.