No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Fortinet FortiGate vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
WatchGuard XTM [EOL]
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Q&A Highlights

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Delivery Manager at PeerSpot
Mar 23, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
Generalm4545 - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager- IT & Automation - Serum at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Protects from attack software and hacking but it doesn't provide the reports in a readable format
In my opinion, image clarity is very important, because I don't get the proper image product on reports. This means that functionality is not there. My engineer does not know how he can replace an order. We attach a log after any kind of keys using a utility instead. For the internet policies that we are implementing, the policy should be based on proper protocols. We use the default policies and there are a number of third-party protocols that appear here. Management with WatchGuard XTM means that out of policy is the problem from our side. In this way, we can not do effective services for people with this one. The policy definition with WatchGuard XTM is not proper for all use case requirements. I've got weekly business reports that I am expecting attachments with from WatchGuard XTM that display data for all kinds of consideration which should be required. Main User Functionality Level Order must adhere to using the admin functionality on the registry, or else our users publish their own name. Maybe these recommendations are irrelevant, but I say that the issue to improve most with WatchGuard XTM is the Main User Function.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The internet filtering feature has really benefited my organization because we have a lot of things that go on illegal sites like auto torrents sites and a lot of streaming and downloads."
"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization, offering ease of management with no network disruptions; it works seamlessly."
"We like FortiGate's website change feature."
"The payment function for applications is good."
"The solution can scale well."
"It is a very user-friendly solution. Moreover, Foritgate offers good performance."
"Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten."
"Fortinet FortiGate offer a good value for money solution"
"We use WatchGuard XTM as a privileged access management solution; I complained about another unstable product and we switched to WatchGuard, which has been good."
"Reputation Enabled Defense indicates that some websites are so infested that it's not even worth visiting them, and therefore saving the bandwidth of going through the detection process."
"For the current network demand, I think the product is worth buying as it is not too expensive and it has almost all the features that I need."
"Simply, give this tool a try; it will generate great benefits in terms of the scalability and environment."
"After installing the product, we achieved awareness of our data protection needs and email misuse."
"We switched because WatchGuard offered better value for money without sacrificing security."
"It configures in all-in-one place.​"
"We have used technical support for WatchGuard many times and overall, we are satisfied with it. They are always listening and there is a good reaction time to our findings. When there are issues, they really try to resolve them."
 

Cons

"I would like to be able to see more log details."
"One of the weaknesses of the solution is something we noticed, especially after comparing the tool with SD-WAN features, since, unfortunately, in a massive scale size environment, the solution is not good. I"
"It would be nice if FortiGate incorporated some built-in endpoint protection features. I would also like a built-in SOC dashboard for managing multiple Fortinet firewalls."
"Currently, without the additional reporting module, we only have access to basic reporting."
"I would like the deployment and integration of this product to be easier. We should be able to deploy the features more easily and have different types of access."
"I often ask for help from the local provider. I haven't found the required efficient help."
"The cloud features and integration could be improved."
"There could be improvements in the mathematical algorithms used for behavior analytics of traffic."
"Sometimes we have had issues with stability of the product."
"The technical support is very bad. The price is very high, the response time is very long, and technical support does not provide a general solution."
"In my experience they need to make changes in web filtering access for Skype as that's the time we had problems."
"The WatchGuard gateway wireless functionality for managing access points leaves much to be desired."
"I would like them to improve the product's overall protections."
"The web interface is easy to use but it looks complicated and could be simplified."
"Now, you need to replace the appliance."
"The setting policies need improvement. It needs an easier way to do static NAT and check on what policy is being used for that specific traffic."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. The additional cost depends on the extra feature requirements."
"The licensing costs are very competitive."
"The price of FortiGate support is too expensive."
"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."
"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."
"For the performance that we get, the price is reasonable. There are cheaper options, but they may not deliver the same kind of performance that we want. For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."
"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."
"We are currently evaluating a Palo Alto solution, and the pricing could be a reason for going for Palo Alto."
"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."
"Get at least a maintenance contract for the updates and take a larger WatchGuard than you need. A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."
"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."
"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative.​"
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
893,244 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…
 

Answers from the Community

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Delivery Manager at PeerSpot
Mar 23, 2020
Mar 23, 2020
The main difference between Watchguard and Fortinet is the operating system, and how it uses the hardware features. The user interface in Fortinet is cleaner and we can adjust network and security needs in a logical way. Point-of-care only for SSO, certificate usage does not work sometimes, but this issue is handled in new OS releases.
2 out of 17 answers
MZ
IT Director at Guangdong Technion Institute of Technology
Mar 18, 2019
Hi Nick, Thank you for email. I have no experience of WatchGuard product. Regards, Michael Zhang
reviewer895482 - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Officer at a non-profit with 5,001-10,000 employees
Mar 18, 2019
Hi Nick, Sorry, but I can hardly provide relevant comparison between two products as I have never used WatchGuard XTM. As I have no intention to promote certain brand, no matter how satisfied I am with FortiGate - I feel incompetent to advise on this matter. Best regards, Vladimir
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Performing Arts
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
 

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data 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
AVG, Cyren, Kaspersky Lab, Lastline, NCP engineering, Trend Micro, Websense
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Sophos and others in Firewalls. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.