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

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 2.0%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 2.6%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Boaz Katabazi - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables flexible and comprehensive reporting across all syslog-enabled devices
I mainly use it for reporting. It also integrates other security solutions around. It can report onto anything that has a syslog on the network. It doesn't have to be a Fortinet product. It integrates within FortiGate and you can find the reports there. It's a very flexible and rich tool, providing custom reports along with default reports.
RyanVargas - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly open-source solution that can replace or augment a commercial product in some cases
I rate syslog-ng 10 out of 10. It's free and easy to use. It has built-in tools that help us index the various logs sent to it. It's a solid log product. If you're looking for a SIEM solution, syslog-ng will work as a stopgap measure at beginning of the project. It can also work as an injector for a true SIEM solution. You can send all the logs to syslog-ng and forward all the data to the SIEM solution after you've cleaned up the data and got the pertinent information. It's a good front end for a commercial SIEM solution, which becomes more expensive as you load more data into it. I would highly recommend syslog-ng for that use case. However, if you lack the expertise, you might need to go with a cloud-based SIEM instead. You need some in-house expertise or an outside consultant to manage it and set it up.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FortiAnalyzer has a robust ability to find a compromised host on your network, and when you identify a compromised host, you can address it."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is reporting."
"The most valuable features are customizing reports, and the ability to drill down to display critical information in real-time."
"The event handling solution in the platform is very good and useful."
"Log collection is the most valuable. The UI looks great. It has a very good look and feel. We don't have the need to use solid state drives. We use mechanic drives, and we don't see any performance issues, so basically, it is doing fine."
"The feature I find most useful is the handy dashboard."
"From my perspective, we need to see the traffic in a good way so we can know what has happened in our network. The analyzing tools and the monitoring tools and the logs are the important part in the network."
"Log View is the most valuable part for us, as we can view logs from different Fortigates on a single GUI."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
 

Cons

"Automated reports focusing on compliance issues would provide a clearer understanding of potential gaps and the need for remediation."
"Feature-wise, it is working very well for us. We don't need any additional features. However, its pricing can be improved. For small business customers, price is an important factor."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer cannot receive any queries. They should add this feature in the future to help manage solutions."
"There are a lot of solutions on the market and Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is limited. It cannot be used across multiple vendors. They can improve by advancing their technology."
"The pricing could be better."
"They could always improve the interface and the user experience."
"Our organization wants the solution to be able to provide us access to a centralized dashboard that displays a log view for all firewalls under Fortinet FortiAnalyzer."
"The deployment of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is not complex, but integrating it with firewalls can take some time, depending on the number of firewalls."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay approximately $11,000 for a three-year license to use Fortinet FortiAnalyzer. When we compared the price of this solution to others it is not expensive. Palo Alto is a more expensive solution."
"The hardware has a one-time cost and maintenance is paid by annual subscription."
"​It depends upon the company.​"
"The cost of the license is high."
"FortiAnalyzer was in the product itself, but two years ago they split it from Fortinet. We paid the license two years ago."
"The pricing of this solution is fair, and it is based on what you can manage."
"It is not very expensive when customers understand the value of this product and the importance of the information that it provides for security."
"In other countries, the product may seem cheap, but in Vietnam, the costs are high."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Log Management solutions are best for your needs.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I am a technical engineer, so I am not privy to pricing details.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
Sometimes, there is a problem with CPU consumption, where one process consumes 100%, and I need to restart FortiAnalyzer to fix this. I am not familiar with the processes of scalability.
What do you like most about syslog-ng?
For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for syslog-ng?
The pricing is in the middle. I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap.
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
There is room for improvement in terms of observability. Additionally, a possible new feature could be Kafka integration.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,772 professionals have used our research since 2012.