Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs IPFire comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

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)
FortiGate Next Generation F...
Ranking in Firewalls
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (9th)
IPFire
Ranking in Firewalls
38th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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…
Anish Bheekoo - PeerSpot reviewer
Good support and highly scalable solution
In terms of support, they are very responsive. If you reach out to them, they will contact you within 15 minutes. Managing FortiGate is easy and simple compared to other products. It's not too complex. Even if we miss renewing our licenses, FortiGate provides a grace period of 90 days, which is exceptional. Most products only offer 30 days. That's the best part, in my opinion. The support is excellent. I've had very positive experiences with FortiGate's support team. They are friendly and always available. Their support is available 24/7 via phone, email, or chat. They even offer remote access if we need help with configuration or auditing logs. Their support is reliable both locally and internationally.
Amr Fouad - PeerSpot reviewer
Prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements
We use the solution for firewall, intrusion prevention and detection. We installed it in order to comply with customers requirements IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements. Accessing the internet was a bit complicated. We opted for this…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate is a security device. It can optimize security on the networks of a company. It actually protects the company from attacks from outside. With FortiGate, you can categorize the users. You can create a group of users that can access all of the websites for their work. You can limit other users' access."
"We use a lot of function on the IPS and it works well for us."
"I'm looking forward to FortiGate's dashboard features, insights, application oversight, and monitoring, which could help us significantly."
"There are great templates, so you don't have to customize them if you don't want to. You do have the option to custom create some folders and some reports, however, with what is there, you don't really need to go through extra effort, as they already give you a lot of predefined views of reports and so forth."
"The GUI is good."
"The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring."
"It works very well. It has a lot of different functionalities. Its cost is also fine for our customers."
"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."
"It is easy to install. There is not much complexity involved."
"User identification and application identification are valuable features."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a simple configuration."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall can be described as the most complete solution."
"It is a stable solution compared to other vendors."
"I like the common administration and the possibility of adding Fortinet defense systems."
"The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a very high ROI"
"IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements."
 

Cons

"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"The solution could be more user friendly."
"FortiOS is not simple."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"FortiGate is really good. We have been using it for quite some time. Initially, when we started off, we had around 70 plus devices of FortiGate, but then Check Point and Palo Alto took over the place. From the product perspective, there are no issues, but from the account perspective, we have had issues. Fortinet's presence in our company is very less. I don't see any Fortinet account managers talking to us, and that presence has diluted in the last two and a half or three years. We have close to 1,500 firewalls. Out of these, 60% of firewalls are from Palo Alto, and a few firewalls are from Check Point. FortiGate firewalls are very less now. It is not because of the product; it is because of the relationship. I don't think they had a good relationship with us, and there was some kind of disconnect for a very long time. The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate."
"Scalability is one of the disadvantages. When it comes to scalability, you have to actually change the box. If you want to upgrade it, you need to actually change the existing box and probably you take the system off to other sites."
"The integration with third-party tools may be something that they should work on."
"Some of the web policy reports could be improved."
"The pricing of the solution should be more affordable"
"There is an area for improvement in vulnerability management."
"There are some issues with security features and aspects like logs not being up to the mark."
"The solution's stability should be improved because it is extremely unstable."
"I would like to see improvements in the IPS/IDS feature to enhance protection against attacks from attackers, including ransomware protection."
"The inability to change passwords when using FortiGate firewall and relying on a local FortiGate database for account creation can be problematic, particularly in non-Active Directory setups."
"I would like to see improvements in some of the hard drive features on FortiGate so that we can generate reporting within a single box."
"I would like to see improvements in the IPS/IDS feature to enhance protection against attacks from attackers, including ransomware protection."
"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."
"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."
"It is cost-effective, and provides a good value for your money. The pricing, and license renewal, is very reasonable for us."
"A year or two years back, its price was competitive and reasonable. That was one of the reasons that people easily switched to Fortinet. Over the last two years, the prices have increased drastically. However, the prices of others have also increased. An advantage is there from the price point but not as much as it was previously."
"Pricing and licensing is a little bit complicated in FortiGate. They are always on the higher side. This is one issue that we always raise with the company that they should reduce the price according to Indian market requirements. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"This is not a cheap solution but it isn't expensive, either. It's a good solution for the right price."
"The license is too expensive to renew. The license renewal process is also complex."
"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."
"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."
"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive. Overall, I find it to be competitive in the market."
"The product is not very expensive."
"The solution is more expensive than Sophos. It could be cheaper. The licensing is on a yearly basis. We have had it for about three years. We must only pay extra for the license, additional requirements, and the hardware box."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"I think price-wise, the solution is totally reasonable since it has many products to serve, starting from small homes to massive scale sites."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."
"I rate the pricing an eight and a half on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
24%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
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 do you like most about FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
The tool's most valuable feature is IPS. In my experience, I haven't encountered any issues with integration. It easi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
The price is very aggressive in India as India is a rapidly growing market, the original equipment manufacturer offer...
What needs improvement with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
I would like to see improvements in some of the hard drive features on FortiGate so that we can generate reporting wi...
What needs improvement with IPFire?
Accessing the internet was a bit complicated.
What is your primary use case for IPFire?
We use the solution for firewall, intrusion prevention and detection. We installed it in order to comply with custome...
What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?
I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

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
Information Not Available
1. Siemens 2. IBM 3. Cisco 4. Dell 5. HP 6. Intel 7. Oracle 8. Google 9. Microsoft 10. Amazon 11. Apple 12. Facebook 13. Twitter 14. Netflix 15. Adobe 16. SAP 17. VMware 18. Juniper Networks 19. Ericsson 20. Nokia 21. AT&T 22. Verizon 23. T-Mobile 24. Vodafone 25. Orange 26. Deutsche Telekom 27. British Telecom 28. Comcast 29. Time Warner 30. Sony 31. Samsung 32. LG
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.