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Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs Netgate pfSense 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
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Forcepoint Next Generation ...
Ranking in Firewalls
24th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (10th), WAN Edge (12th)
Netgate pfSense
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
206
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.8%, up from 17.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 19.5%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2024
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…
OusaidAbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 19, 2024
Provides decent protection for the LAN but complicated interface
We had some licensing issues with its web filtering capabilities. That's why we migrated our web filtering to Cisco Umbrella. Moreover, the interface is complicated. It's difficult to locate all the necessary menus and functions. For example, one of the many issues is with SSH. Even now, we haven't successfully opened the port to connect using SSH mode when we want to change the configuration. It's like a black box—not very open to changes and customization. It's simply not easy to configure. There are other problems, too. For example regarding Forcepoint's Websense component. We had a lot of problems managing the web settings within Websense. That's why we migrated to Cisco Umbrella for cloud-based web filtering. It's not that Forcepoint is inherently bad. The issue is that it's not user-friendly. It is not easy to use. The developers need to redesign the interface (GUI) for better management. It is very difficult to manage. For example, simple actions require too many clicks compared to FortiGate or Palo Alto. That's the main problem.
Vincent Hamm - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 1, 2024
I appreciate the depth of what the solution can do and the simplicity of the initial setup
We do a lot of managed services and are currently trying to get people off of L2TP VPN. Apparently, we can download a mobile config file from a configured NetGate device, and we're primarily Apple. We've experimented with it on a device that's not a production device, and we can't seem to get the phase one IPSec set correctly so that the Apple config will accept it. We've tried looking at the documentation but haven't found anything. While it's not the highest priority, it is rather frustrating. We'd like to do this, and the feature is right there, but we can't get it configured. We certainly don't want to try it on a production machine because it will break the current VPN. I would like to download the Apple mobile config so that I can tell it to configure my VPN connection to do that. We have some cross-platform things. So there's also a Windows VPN. You can download a script or a PowerShell, put it on a Windows machine, and it can connect to the VPN. It would be nice if I could say I want Mac only, Windows only, or both. I wish it could configure the IPSec phase one and phase two, or at least give me solid instructions on how to configure that. It doesn't supply out-of-the-box visibility to drive decisions. You get 75 log lines, so if you're trying to troubleshoot something, you have to look at one log and then another. It integrates with SysLog systems, but our customers are not at the level where they want to pay for some third-party SysLog system. Usually, we can get things taken care of fairly quickly. I would like to have the ability to control all my devices from one place. With Ubiquiti, you can get a controller that allows you to control all of your Wi-Fi devices, switches, and routers. From one area, you can switch to that customer and see what's happening in their environment. That's not part of pfSense. I understand why it's not because pfSense is open source and community supported. That's something that someone in the community needs to pick up and run with. It's not something the pfSense can easily implement. If they could, that'd be great.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."
"It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user friendly."
"The next-generation firewall is great."
"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."
"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."
"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."
"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."
"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."
"It is a scalable product. I know a customer who has deployed more than 4,000 firewalls in a single deployment."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The most valuable feature is controlling the traffic and the logging. They have real-time logins for traffic logs. Troubleshooting was very easy for me."
"One of the most valuable features is having the ability to cluster multiple firewalls even if they are different versions."
"I don't have anything bad to say about the product. I absolutely love it."
"The solution offers sandboxing, which can be integrated at any time."
"Forcepoint's stability is satisfactory, for the most part."
"The most valuable feature is SD-WAN."
"I like pfSense's security features."
"I like that I can use it with OpenVPN."
"I like how affordable and flexible pfSense is. I can achieve the protection I need in a flexible manner. I enjoy using pfSense. It's effective and solid."
"Improved service performance and availability through redundancy."
"Stability has been excellent. We have experienced no issues; it never fails."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The stability has been great. We've rarely had any issues that have caused a failover. When we do, the failover has made it. I don't think we've experienced any real impact from it that caused any product issues."
"The most valuable features of pfSense are the reports, monitoring, filtration, and blocking incoming and outgoing traffic."
 

Cons

"The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."
"If I had any criticism that I would give FortiGate, it would be that they need to stop changing their logging format. Every time we do a firmware upgrade, it is a massive issue on the SIM. Parsers have to be rebuilt. Even the FortiGate guys came in and said that they don't play well in the sandbox."
"The license renewal process, annual renewal price, and the web application firewall features should be improved."
"There's always something new that can be added or fixed."
"The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."
"The user interface could be improved."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"Forcepoint is a little difficult to configure compared to its competitors."
"If I want to allow access to Facebook, yet not allow the user to access videos, then I am not able to do it with this product."
"I would like to see more sizing in the next release, and the roadmap should be clear."
"Its interface is complex when compared with a firewall like FortiGate. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall needs a management console, whereas FortiGate doesn't need any console. When you have a few devices, a console is not really necessary. It's good to have a private console only when you have a lot of devices."
"The initial setup of the Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has areas that are difficult."
"The solution needs to build upon its network functionality. It needs to be a bit smarter."
"When it comes to a complex deployment, the rules, firewall features, SD-WAN core features, and auto-scaling can cause the device to be not quite stable."
"Configuration is not easy because it has an old-fashioned interface. The configuration interface is highly complex, and it's been the same for years. They have to change the interface."
"I would like to see more active updates coming out of the developers."
"Other solutions provide more scope for growth. For instance, we can have only 10 to 20 employees on VPN, but other solutions can support more users. We also have more capabilities to increase the performance of the solution."
"​Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"The solution could always work at being more secure. It's a good idea to continue to work on security features and capabilities in order to ensure they can keep clients safe."
"It could use a little bit of improvement in the reporting."
"The solution requires a lot of administration."
"This product needs improvements with respect to reporting and auditing."
"My only suggestion is that Netgate pfSense implement more graphical monitoring. While there are accounts with add-ons for graphical monitoring of data networking, IPS, IDS, and firewall-level events, having more graphical representations like blocks would make the tool more capable. Although it has commercial support and a good GUI, it can still be challenging for someone without firewalls, command lines, and networking knowledge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."
"The pricing for the product is alright."
"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."
"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."
"The licensing costs are very low."
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"The big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive."
"Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is reasonable, it is priced the same as other firewalls."
"We have just a subscription for the cloud, and this license is great. The license is so good."
"I consider Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall's price to be good."
"The pricing should be more competitive against other vendors in the market."
"The cost is fair, but it could be improved."
"The pricing of the solution is normally competitive with other products."
"We have found the price could be reduced. It is a little expensive."
"I think Netgate pfSense's pricing or licensing models are fair enough...Overall, what I pay for the product is very reasonable."
"I would like to see the solution's price reduced."
"While pfSense hardware from Netgate might have a higher upfront cost, I've had very little trouble with it. Plus, buying from them directly helps fund the software's development, making it a worthwhile investment in my eyes."
"I think Netgate pfSense's TAC or support is a little expensive, considering how inexpensive everything else is."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution's pricing is comparable to other products."
"Spend at least $300 or more on a good pfSense box. Use a hard drive, and not a USB flash drive for pfSense storage."
"I prefer the software licensing model."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
There is a need to make payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product is not expensive.
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
My experience with this Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall wasn't very pleasant due to its complexity. For example, ...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I reco...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigat...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform
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Learn More

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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
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
Find out what your peers are saying about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Netgate pfSense and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.