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Fortinet FortiGate vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.
Sentiment score
7.6
Transitioning to Prisma SD-WAN reduced costs by 50%, improved stability, and replaced expensive MPLS links with affordable broadband.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
Prisma SD-WAN helps reduce network costs.
Senior IT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.
Sentiment score
6.7
Palo Alto's Prisma SD-WAN support is effective but occasionally slow, with a need for training and faster responses.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
They respond promptly and are good at finding issues.
I would rate the support at minimum eight plus.
Senior IT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Since we are at a premium level, customer service is rated at eight or 8.9 out of ten.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.
Sentiment score
7.6
Prisma SD-WAN efficiently supports scalable complex networks, praised for ease of deployment and site addition despite documentation concerns.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
Everything is managed by the service provider, Palo Alto Networks, allowing me to manage my infrastructure without overheads or extra costs to adapt the management infrastructure to the actual needs of the field.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
I rate it a ten out of ten since we can easily scale by just paying for additional licenses as needed.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.
Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.
Sentiment score
7.8
Prisma SD-WAN is noted for high stability and reliability, with improved performance and rare downtime, despite complex setup.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stability is high, I rate it 9.8 out of ten.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Prisma SD-WAN is an absolutely stable solution.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
Our engineers make the system appear stable through effective management.
At Messer Manager, Network & Communications (Americas) at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.
Prisma SD-WAN needs better usability, technical support, integration, and competitively priced features, with improvements in security and automation.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
Senior IT specialist at SAUDIA ALIRLINES
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.
Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees
If there were an option to extend management to other firewalls, users could perform staggered migrations.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.
Prisma SD-WAN offers premium pricing but valued functionality and integration, ideal for medium to large enterprises, with package discounts.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The solution is not cost-effective for smaller environments and is more suitable for medium to large companies.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
The price for Prisma is a bit high.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides.
CTO at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.
Prisma SD-WAN enhances network resilience with seamless integration, intelligent routing, centralized management, and optimal connectivity across multiple sites.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
By reducing the need for expensive internet connections, Prisma SD-WAN allows customers to achieve cost savings.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
Prisma is a mature platform in terms of security.
Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature is the single pane of glass, especially since we have Palo Alto firewalls.
CTO at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
1st
Ranking in WAN Edge
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Prisma SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
5th
Ranking in WAN Edge
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.9%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 5.1%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate13.9%
Prisma SD-WAN5.1%
Other81.0%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.
Engineerinfosec67 - PeerSpot reviewer
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
Centralized management streamlines global network traffic control
Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access. Although there has been improvement, further steps can be taken. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls, as they currently do not align.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions solutions are best for your needs.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Legal Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise188
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
 

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 at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?
Regarding whether Prisma SD-WAN is an expensive solution, I would say the price is competitively high. Everything depends on what security features customers need and what budget they have, so we w...
What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?
I am still working on what should be improved in Prisma SD-WAN to make this product better, and I cannot give any update on that part as of now. The costing part might need improvement, but regardi...
What is your primary use case for Prisma SD-WAN?
Our customers' main use cases for Prisma SD-WAN are to connect multiple branches since they have numerous locations that need to be interconnected. My customers are in multiple industries, includin...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
CloudGenix
 

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
Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Prisma SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.