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Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Zscaler Internet Access
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Internet Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiGate is designed for Firewalls and holds a mindshare of 19.8%, up 17.1% compared to last year.
Zscaler Internet Access, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Web Gateways (SWG), holds 15.5% mindshare, down 16.8% since last year.
Firewalls
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user822630 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 06, 2019
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2024
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…
Bhaskar Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
May 27, 2024
It offers us a single point of control, but we've had some problems with performance
We use Zscaler as a secure internet proxy. All of the traffic is filtered through it. We have about 3,000 users at the organization.  All internet traffic goes through Zscaler, which protects the organization's IP, which isn't published publicly. Zscaler's cloud services filter and clear all…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."
"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."
"LinkGreat firewall capabilities"
"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."
"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."
"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."
"Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it “readable”"
"The most valuable features are the possibility of having one fabric for switching on security."
"All internet access flows through the Zscaler proxy, regardless of whether people are in office or remote. I have greater control site access and I minimize the number of compromises that we experience to almost none."
"The solution’s customer service is good."
"Zscaler covers all the features needed to replace a VPN or proxy solution. They are good. They've been on the market for 15 years now, so they are mature enough."
"Zscaler Internet Access has helped us reduce the time that we spend managing security policies by about four hours a week. We can use this time to focus on other things, especially the IT team."
"We use ZIA for outbound internet connectivity. The internet traffic of on-prem users will be directed to the ZIA cloud for security checks and web filtering."
"The most valuable feature is bandwidth control."
"The policies are very intuitive and easy to configure, with very little possibility of messing things up."
"The users are at different locations, and Zscaler helps us to put the organization's central security controls on these roaming users."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding FortiAnalyzer to its solution, we should not have to use another solution. FortiAnalyzer can provide more detailed information."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"The UI could be improved."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"Technical support needs to be improved."
"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"Zscaler Internet Access's troubleshooting is very limited, and their textbook logs need to be more informative."
"The reporting functionality could be a bit easier to use. There is a reporting function, but it's quite hard to do any good reporting, from a user-management perspective. For example, if a department manager wants to know how his department is using the web, there is a way to get the data, but it's quite cumbersome to get it and show it well. And that's true for comparing between departments."
"The OS capabilities and WSL support could be improved."
"We'd like for them to include some sort of antivirus tool."
"The solution's pricing is on the higher side. It would be better if it could be lower."
"The solution can be improved by advancing some of the newer technologies such as the DLP feature, and adding email security."
"Zscaler Internet Access could improve by adding a VPN feature."
"Zscaler Internet Access can improve by adding traffic filtering based on the DNS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"The price is okay."
"The pricing for the product is alright."
"It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products. The return on investment is also good. If you compare the return of investment and money that you are spending on this product with Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, and other solutions, the investment is very less. We are happy with this solution. The optional licenses are there, and you can choose which one you want and which one to avoid."
"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."
"The price is fair compared to the other competitors."
"We pay for the solution annually."
"Fortinet has one or two license types, and the VPN numbers are only limited by the hardware chassis make."
"Licenses are available on a per-host basis. Some features like sandboxing require an additional fee, but most standard features are included in the license."
"It is quite expensive. It does its job, but it is quite expensive for what we need."
"It is costlier than other solutions."
"Because it's a cloud solution, we pay on a yearly basis. It is affordable and includes tech support and all features."
"The pricing is fair based on its competitive market."
"It is a few pounds per user per month."
"Price-wise, the tool is reasonable compared to the other products in the market but it is not a very low-priced tool. The solution does provide value for money."
"If we need any extra features, the price will increase."
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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…
 

Answers from the Community

it_user822630 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 6, 2019
Mar 6, 2019
IT really depends on the type of business you had currently. These days almost all security vendors are offering Virtual Appliances so it's a preference based decision. Almost all vendors are offering basic features with some add-ons / additional features with differences among others competitors. Look at 1. FortiGate, 2. Cisco Meraki, 3. SOPHOS Products they all provide you flexibility to have...
2 out of 63 answers
it_user519153 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 28, 2018
There are several factors to consider: · In-house expertise to manage a physical firewall · Number of locations requiring a firewall · Current and planned linkage between office locations · Value of the information you want to protect I’m personally a fan of on-premise physical firewalls for high $ information to protect. However, if the $ risk is not particularly high, your in-house expertise to manage firewalls is low, and you have multiple locations to protect, I would recommend a security gateway service with VPN connections between your offices and the location of the security provider. I cannot recommend one supplier over another. If you choose to go with a physical firewall, Fortigate has a good reputation. Regards,
it_user351612 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 28, 2018
Depending what is your goal and where offices are based. When you want to protect your users in offices, then you would want to have kind of perimeter firewall (usually appliance) - standard (old) way. Fortinet is affordable and OK. When you wan't better check Palo Alto Networks. In case your offices are close (in milliseconds) to Zscaler cloud then you could also use this. Ask them to share information of their "cloud" locations and measure RTT from your offices. Note that all your traffic will go via Zscaler cloud (privacy, confidentiality). With Fortinet or similar appliance, you have possibilty to have VPN for your users with home office. Not sure when it's feasible with cloud solution from Zscaler. Like said really depends on where you are, what kind of business you are doing.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Educational Organization
23%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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...
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?
Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security functi...
Which is better, Zscaler internet access or Netsckope CASB?
We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify and manage cloud applications, protecting your sensitive data from exfiltration....
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
ZIA
 

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
Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Internet Access and other solutions. Updated: January 2023.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.