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Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Zscaler Cloud Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.5%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.3%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
Vikram Srirama. - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly scalable solution that helps monitor and block undesired, non-standard traffic
Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a cloud-based solution. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a good product. Since it's a SaaS product, most of the maintenance of devices is eliminated, and it is bundled with your secure web gateway. People should use Zscaler Cloud Firewall for their remote users or work-from-home users. Overall, I rate Zscaler Cloud Firewall a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, the pricing of the solution is very good. The product offers good value."
"Good anti-malware and web filtering features."
"FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the APIs. They are the most widely known."
"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Quota."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"Their proxy-based inspection is responsive and secure."
"Once you have Zscaler running you have access to configure it however you want."
"The visibility and log availability offered are highly valued for troubleshooting purposes, and this is a key factor driving customer interest in the firewall module."
"Zscaler Cloud Firewall understands the applications in the current generation and adapts to the present generation cloud applications."
"If malicious traffic attacks our on-premises servers, then it gets blocked by Zscaler Cloud Firewall."
"The solution offers good sandboxing."
"The scalability is okay. We have around 2200 people using this solution."
"It is a stable solution."
"Includes advanced tech protection."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more storage in the hardware for log data."
"FortiGate can improve its token system, as it requires a purchase before use."
"There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs."
"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"
"Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."
"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."
"Reporting is limited to providing an external appliance for improving the reporting capabilities of the FortiAnalyzer. It does not offer a central management and is also sold separably as an appliance."
"They sometimes hide some features and if you want to enable them, you have to go in the CLI, enable the feature and configure it through the CLI. Customers, typically, like everything to be done by the GUI."
"Pricing is a challenge."
"Data Leak Prevention is only for web filtering and there is no protection for email."
"Its technical support services could be better."
"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."
"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."
"Zscaler Cloud Firewall should have a better understanding of all dynamic cloud applications."
"Certain criteria need to be met if you want to scale this solution."
"Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."
"The price is fine."
"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."
"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."
"Fortinet FortiGate allows you to purchase licenses for hardware and software."
"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."
"The pricing for the product is alright."
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"There are different subscription models available."
"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."
"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."
"It is expensive for small businesses."
"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."
"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."
"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the produ...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?
Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
 

Learn More

 

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
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,795 professionals have used our research since 2012.