Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs Skyhigh Security comparison

Fortinet and Skyhigh Security are both solutions in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category. Fortinet is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.6, while Skyhigh Security is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.8. Fortinet holds a 6.8% mindshare in WSG, compared to Skyhigh Security’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Skyhigh Security users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

In the competitive field of cloud security and network security, Skyhigh Security and Fortinet FortiGate SWG offer distinct solutions. Based on this comparison, Skyhigh Security tends to have the upper hand in deployment flexibility and threat detection features, while Fortinet FortiGate SWG is commendable for its robust integration and network security features.

Features: Skyhigh Security stands out for its ability to identify shadow IT, perform risk assessments, and ensure compliance through its Cloud Registry. It employs advanced threat prevention to detect abnormalities like suspicious login attempts. Fortinet FortiGate SWG excels in URL categorization, antivirus filtering, and application control, with strong SSL decryption and integration across diverse environments.

Room for Improvement: Skyhigh Security users mention challenges with console performance, report generation, and integration for unsanctioned applications. Fortinet FortiGate SWG could benefit from an improved user interface and easier deployment while needing enhancements in reporting features and pricing models.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skyhigh Security offers flexible deployment options, including hybrid, on-premises, and cloud, catering to varied user needs and maintaining good customer service, though support quality varies. Fortinet FortiGate SWG primarily supports on-premises deployment, praised for its reliable support, yet desires for deployment flexibility remain.

Pricing and ROI: Skyhigh Security offers cost-effective pricing based on API integrations, slightly premium but justified by its comprehensive features. Fortinet FortiGate SWG is generally viewed as expensive, with a pricing model more suited to larger enterprises rather than smaller businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 842,672 peers since 2012

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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.9%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is 6.8%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skyhigh Security is 3.1%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

Read full review

David Carlson

CIO at Camco Mfg.

Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help.

FortiGate is easy to configure. We configured one of the units and sent it to Indiana to be installed. We asked them to give us a call when they got it, so we could help them through the process, but they called us back to tell us it works great. Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help. That was fantastic. Fortinet also offers a single pane of glass that we can use to manage our routers with gateways, so that's convenient. We're running a VPN to our remote location, and the performance is good. We're changing all our VPN connectors on our laptops from Cisco's Anywhere to Fortinet's VPN because the performance is just so much better.

Read full review

Santiago Gomez

Cio at a security firm with 11-50 employees

Has improved the organization's PCI compliance with data loss prevention

I use the solution on a Macintosh computer and it has issues and does not work when I try to log in from the Safari Browser, but it works fine when I log in from the Google Chrome browser. The console has issues when the login is done through a Safari Browser. The console has to be more competitive and the compatibility of the browser needs to be better. I want to know about Skyhigh's competitiveness with other brands and about the vulnerability assessment and micro segmentations. I know Skyhigh has other products, but right now, I am studying what this new product is about. They only have English support, so I would like for them to add some Spanish support.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

More iboss pros

"The solution is easy to use and checks the access control as a firewall."

"It has a valuable SD-WAN feature and provides good performance."

"FortiGate is a great solution, although initially, it faced challenges in the Brazilian market due to lower brand recognition than Cisco. However, explaining and demonstrating its product format and offerings has proven easy. The cost-effectiveness and better features of FortiGate have made some clients skeptical. We set up a trial period, and they eventually opted for it. Many clients were convinced it was great after experiencing the solution's capabilities firsthand."

"I am content with its user interface and functionalities."

"The product is stable and strong."

"The product is highly stable."

"FortiGate SWG's most valuable feature is integration with vulnerability management."

"We have found the product to be scalable."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pros

"It is easy to configure rules."

"What's most valuable in Skyhigh Security is its level of security. Another valuable feature of the solution is threat analysis."

"The feature I found most valuable is the API."

"Offers a very strong URL spam filtering feature."

"It also prevents you from writing data to your Gmail and does not allow you to move your data outside of the corporate system. That is the most important feature for me."

"It gives us visibility into how the data is being used within our cloud environment."

"Box API features with DLP capabilities."

"Without Skyhigh, we had zero visibility, but now we are aware of so much more."

More Skyhigh Security pros

Cons

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

"Its pricing could be better."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."

More iboss cons

"Their technical support could be improved a little bit in terms of responsiveness."

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see improvements in their support."

"The solution could improve by having some additional features, such as IBS and better cloud administration."

"Fortinet's support team consists of a huge networking team, because of which there is a delay in response at times."

"Support could be improved."

"The solution’s stability could be improved."

"FortiGate needs to be elastic to the market's trends. It should be easy for SMBs to get the solution."

"The product’s price is high."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG cons

"I think that the User Interface could be improved."

"They could be integrated with CASB. I think normally McAfee has this solution in the cloud, but for us the best is on-premise."

"The performance of the tool can be improved to provide faster report generation."

"The documentation could be improved."

"One area for improvement I've seen in Skyhigh Security is that it lacks support for unsanctioned applications, where customers have their applications. Those applications do not come from Microsoft or other popular vendors. For example, Microsoft has support for Teams and it has support for OneDrive, but it doesn't have support for custom applications built by customers. Customers have internal teams building and publishing applications to the external world, but Skyhigh Security doesn't have support for those applications, and this is the main problem I've seen. The solution only supports a pool of applications that are from Microsoft and other major SaaS vendors. McAfee doesn't provide support for custom applications, compared to other vendors who provide it. For example, Bitglass and Netskope both have support for custom applications. Another area for improvement in Skyhigh Security is that its API support is a little weak. I also have not seen a strong integration between the solution and other McAfee products."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Its initial setup could be more straightforward."

"The services take some time to load. It would be helpful if the loading time was reduced."

More Skyhigh Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."

"The pricing for this solution is reasonable."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

"I rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."

"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."

"There is a need to pay for a license for the product."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pricing and cost advice

"Skyhigh provided a FedRAMP solution, tokenization, a better shadow IT capability, and lower cost."

"Pricing for Skyhigh Security is fine."

"Some of our clients have a perpetual license and pay additional support yearly."

"This is an expensive product, although it is made for larger enterprises and not for small organizations."

"It's an expensive solution."

"The solution's hardware is expensive."

"Pricing is not out of reach."

"The solution is quite expensive. As we take add-ons continuously as per our customer's requirements, there are additional charges."

More Skyhigh Security pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

842,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

53%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iboss?

I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and sta...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the pricing for FortiGate AWG as nine, which is perfect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see...

See all answers

What do you like most about McAfee MVISION Cloud?

The management is very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee MVISION Cloud?

The pricing is good and the licensing is straightforward. I'd rate the affordability nine out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with McAfee MVISION Cloud?

The secure gateway could be improved. If they worked on that they would be more competitive. They should offer more l...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 14% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 12% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs iboss

Compared 4% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Fortinet FortiProxy vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 48% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 21% of the time

Sangfor Internet Access Gateway (IAG) vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 7% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 3% of the time

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG Competitors

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Skyhigh Security

Compared 16% of the time

Netskope vs Skyhigh Security

Compared 13% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Skyhigh Security

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Skyhigh Security

Compared 6% of the time

More Skyhigh Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

March 2025

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

March 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate SWG product report

Buyer's Guide

Skyhigh Security

March 2025

Download Skyhigh Security product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway

McAfee MVISION Cloud, McAfee MVISION Unified Cloud Edge, McAfee Web Gateway, McAfee MVISION CNAPP, and Skyhigh Networks, McAfee Web Gateway

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

iboss

Demo not available

Fortinet

Skyhigh Security

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Fortinet FortiGate SWG is a comprehensive web security solution provided by Fortinet. FortiGate SWG combines web filtering, malware protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and application control capabilities into a single integrated platform. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats, enforce compliance policies, and provide secure access to web resources.

FortiGate SWG Benefits:

Comprehensive web filtering and security features
Ease of use and management
Integration with other Fortinet products
Strong threat detection capabilities
Scalability and flexibility
Granular control over user access and activity

FortiGate SWG Features:

Web Filtering: FortiGate SWG employs URL filtering and content categorization to control and enforce web access policies.
Malware Protection: The solution provides real-time protection against web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): FortiGate SWG helps prevent sensitive data from being leaked or exfiltrated through web channels.
SSL Inspection: The solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, allowing organizations to examine encrypted web traffic for threats and enforce security policies.
Application Control: FortiGate SWG enables granular control over web applications and protocols.
Advanced Threat Intelligence: FortiGate SWG leverages Fortinet's threat intelligence services to provide up-to-date information about emerging threats and zero-day vulnerabilities.
User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports various authentication methods, including single sign-on (SSO) and integration with identity providers, to ensure secure user authentication and access control for web resources.
Reporting and Analytics: FortiGate SWG provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities.

FortiGate SWG is typically deployed as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance in on-premises environments, but it may also be available as a cloud-based service. It is part of Fortinet's broader security fabric ecosystem, allowing integration with other Fortinet products to provide a unified and coordinated security infrastructure.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by FortiGate SWG users.

David Carlson, CIO at Camco Mfg., says that "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help".

Suresh Vijayen, Product Manager at IX Telecom, writes that FortiGate SWG "Provides helpful technical support, but its dashboard needs to be more user-friendly".

Chandan Munshi, Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, states that "The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

Fortinet

Skyhigh Security protects organizations with cloud-based Zero Trust security solutions that are both data-aware and simple to use. Skyhigh’s Security Service Edge portfolio goes beyond data access and focuses on data use, allowing organizations to collaborate from any device and from anywhere without sacrificing security, while providing the visibility and control required to monitor and mitigate security risks.

The Skyhigh Security Service Edge portfolio includes Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway, Skyhigh Cloud Access Security Broker, Skyhigh Private Access, and Skyhigh Cloud Native Application Protection Platform. All solutions form a fully converged, consolidated platform, and are managed from the same single console.

Skyhigh Cloud Access Security Broker protects data and stops threats in the cloud across SaaS, and PaaS, and IaaS environments from a single, cloud-native enforcement point. It enables organizations to accelerate their business by giving them visibility and control over their data in the cloud and protection from threats with a frictionless deployment model.
Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway connects and secures your workforce from malicious websites and cloud apps from anywhere, any application, and any device. It protects users from threats and data loss with integrated Remote Browser Isolation, Cloud Access Security Broker and Data Loss Prevention capabilities while providing the ability to access the web and cloud.
Skyhigh Private Access is the data centric Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution that provides integrated Data Loss Prevention scanning and seamless Remote Browser Isolation integration for robust data protection, using Zero Trust principles. Apply a unified policy across web, SaaS, and private apps.
Skyhigh Cloud Native Application Protection Platform is the industry’s first platform to extend Cloud Access Security Broker, bringing application and data context to converge Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) with IaaS Data Loss Prevention for IaaS public clouds. Skyhigh CNAPP provides consistent data protection, threat prevention, governance, and compliance throughout the cloud-native application development lifecycle.

Skyhigh Security Benefits

Modern Data Protection. Extensible data protection policies to determine what can be accessed, shared, and how it can be used.
Zero Trust for the Cloud. Extend zero trust to the cloud ensuring that your sensitive data is accessed, shared, and stored appropriately.
Actionable Insights. Unified view of data and risk, regardless of where and how the policy is enforced.

Skyhigh Security Features

99.999% Uptime. Connects users seamlessly and without disruption through Hyperscale Service Edge with cloud-native web security that operates with ultra-low latency and 99.999% uptime.
Remote Browser Isolation. Prevents threats of a web page from reaching endpoints with intelligent, multi-layer remote browser isolation technology that provides secure web browsing through robust machine learning analysis on real-time telemetry.
Cloud Registry. The world’s largest and most accurate registry of cloud services based on a customizable 261-point risk assessment to support risk-aware cloud governance.

Skyhigh Security

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria

Western Union.Aetna.DirecTV.Adventist.Equinix.Perrigo.Goodyear.HP.Cargill.Sony.Bank of the West.Prudential.

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security

March 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

842,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Skyhigh Security report.

See our list of best Secure Web Gateways (SWG) vendors.

We monitor all Secure Web Gateways (SWG) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.