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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

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very stable solution."
"FortiGate SD-WAN facilitated a smooth transition for our customers between their two internet service providers, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity without any downtime."
"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."
"The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."
"The firewall is stable and that's important."
"I like the hostwatch because I can see what traffic uses the most bandwidth and I can block that site."
"Simply, give this tool a try; it will generate great benefits in terms of the scalability and environment."
"The multi-WAN feature allows us to configure multiple external interfaces."
"Go for it. It's a great product with many security features and offers great protection for your network."
"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."
"WatchGuard XTM2050A has enterprise class performance with the cost of an SMB class device."
"We're really happy with WatchGuard."
"A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"In an incident, after a restart, Fortinet FortiGate did not connect to FortiGuard servers. Due to that reason, on the customer end, all websites got blocked."
"FortGate's IPS reporting could be made better by giving more details regarding the source and destination of network traffic when it comes to the overview section. This would allow me to more easily follow the flow of traffic based on IP addresses, without having to integrate the IPS with other products that perform more sophisticated traffic analysis."
"One issue is that they have retired SSL VPN for existing devices. This causes significant effort for us to change customer setups."
"The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response."
"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement."
"I would like to see improvements in some of the hard drive features on FortiGate so that we can generate reporting within a single box."
"Using the SSL VPN remote feature is great, but we additionally needed two-factor authentication, and employed a third-party product."
"Initially WatchGuard assured us regarding endpoint security, but we are not sure that the product provides endpoint security features to its full extent."
"Licensing should be improved."
"Our device was not functioning properly, so we returned the product and as a result, our business was down for two days."
"One huge issue with WatchGuard XTM is that I'm not getting reports in a readable format. Readable means, I don't want Excel online. We repeat auditing when we trigger the report or setup calendar. That functionality is what we are looking for from WatchGuard XTM here."
"We had some problems of instability with older versions of the software."
"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."
"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

"The price range is quite acceptable and normal."
"I give the pricing of the solution a six out of ten."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."
"It is around $50,000 per month."
"Its licenses cost the same for different subscription plans."
"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."
"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."
"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative.​"
"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."
"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."
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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...
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Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
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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.
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