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Fortinet FortiGate IPS vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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 FortiGate IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate IPS is 7.2%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 7.4%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Taha Turkestani - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced threat prevention with very good support and valuable behavior reports
We use FortiGate as a firewall. We have a FortiGate 201 model It's good that we didn't get hacked or attacked, indicating strong threat prevention. The reporting on employee behavior and the prevention of new viruses are essential features. Additionally, we have found it convenient for…
Carlos Bracamonte - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, reliable, simple to install and good technical support
We are attempting to improve the use of URL filtering beyond threat protection. I'm not sure what the remaining threat protection features are off the top of my head. But beyond that, we use URL filtering. We have three approved cases for using external dynamic lists that are stored in a bucket repository. Then, for each URL site that needs to be whitelisted, we add it to the external dynamic list in order to gain access to this email. I would like Wildfire to be implemented. We use the equivalent in Cisco is the integration policies. We have the Wildfire but we are not currently implementing it. We don't have the license to use it, but we are not currently implementing it until we present the use cases that the company gives some value to and they approve the use of it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Has a very user-friendly interface and doesn't require any prior knowledge."
"Before using this solution, we had so many problems accessing our resources because we don't have a lot of internet bandwidth. And by using application control and traffic shaping, we were able to manage user to quickly access services that are important. This tool has aided to the simplicity of our day-to-day management."
"The solution effectively controls browsing traffic."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ease of deploying IoT security with a single click. Additionally, the frequent updates to the online database ensure that our security measures are always up to date, enhancing our protection against emerging threats."
"We like FortiGate's website change feature."
"The most useful features of Fortinet FortiGate IPS are you can create a virtual firewall within it, most other firewalls do not have this feature. You are able to manage your network and have network segmentation within your firewall. Additionally, you can create virtual switches within the firewall and have policy management, such as firewall and access policy."
"The most useful feature of FortiGate IPS for me is Application Control."
"FortiGate's SD-WAN capability is the most useful feature for us."
"Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good."
"The most valuable features are that it's user-friendly, has interesting features, URL filtering, and threat prevention."
"The most valuable features are the simplicity, transparency, and overall ease of management."
"We are currently using the URL filtering feature, which is the most popular."
"You can scale the product."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It's quite easy. Deployment took one to two weeks."
"Everything has been okay with the solution. We are using all of the features."
"I like the solution's interface."
 

Cons

"Integration with the antivirus companion Webroot is not seamless on Mac computers."
"The prevention mechanisms and implementation are not easy."
"There is a need for enhancement with the signature management, improving the datasheet numbers, and scalability issues."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve performance. There was a huge challenge in terms of CPU and memory where the IPS engine would keep triggering. There were random spikes of overutilization in the CPU and memory resources. They have to work on CPU and memory stability considering these IPS engines. A few versions were very unstable."
"The solution is not scalable."
"They can probably improve the reporting feature. Reporting and report alerting are the main key features of this solution. They can always find ways to improve these."
"IPs are not handled well and the process is unnecessarily complicated."
"The learning curve is a bit higher."
"Palo Alto's maintenance needs to be improved."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"There is a potential drawback with the lack of support for the ICAP protocol."
"The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
"In terms of what needs improvement, the only thing I don't like is the support."
"The installation was complicated."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"The documentation needs to be improved. I need better information about how to configure it and what the best practices are."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for FortiGate IPS is competitive with other products in the category."
"There is only a standard license cost to use the solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution could be better priced."
"It is not expensive as compared to Cisco."
"It cost us around $73,000 for three years."
"They are more expensive than others."
"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."
"There is an initial, expensive investment but the return is good."
"The price of the solution is higher than others on the market. A price reduction would be beneficial if it does not impact their database quality."
"It's not too expensive."
"The pricing and the licensing are pretty competitive at this stage. As a reseller, I would like to see the price come down a little bit so I can compete better against other firewalls because we do that all the time."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention could improve by having consistent pricing at system levels."
"From one to ten, with one being the most expensive, I would rate the pricing of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention a one out of ten. It is my understanding that Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the most expensive one."
"The product’s pricing is expensive for small companies."
"Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is quite competitive, offering extensive threat detection and prevention capabilities, though it is priced higher than some alternatives."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
The most significant aspect of IPS is self-explanatory as it primarily focuses on intrusion prevention, which is crucial for Fortinet's internal outbreak prevention efforts and ensuring compliance ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
There are no extra expenses involved after purchasing the solution. Pricing could be better, however, overall, it is considered a middle-level price for a middle-level company.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
There could be improvements in the mathematical algorithms used for behavior analytics of traffic. More advanced AI capabilities would be beneficial in future updates.
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
The pricing is competitive, and with current campaigns and discounts, it provides an excellent device for a reasonable price.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate IPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Riverside Healthcare, Salt Lake City, Dell SecureWorks, Credit Bank Zagreb
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate IPS vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.