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Fortinet FortiManager vs Fortinet FortiOS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (2nd)
Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (28th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Fortinet FortiManager and Fortinet FortiOS aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiManager is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 5.0%, down 5.7% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiOS, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 0.9% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Network Management Applications
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

HamedWasel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good integration capabilities but we've had troubles when moving devices
We've faced an issue when we need to move devices. Templates need to be recreated instead of having the policies, et cetera, cut and pasted over. Everything should just move over when we need to move devices instead of recreating everything from scratch. For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate.
Saleem Ullah Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up, reliable, and good for traffic management
We are not scaling it right now. We bought it sometime back and we didn't need to scale it. We bought a higher end for our use case, which is still sufficient for another few years. We have 200 or so users of different levels and positions on it. We do not have plans to increase usage. This firewall is quite a capable firewall - even up to 1000 users. Due to that, we didn't find any requirement to expand it or replace it somehow. It has helped us build our software-defined WAN, LAN, et cetera. It is sufficient for us. It gives us Gbps throughput, which is good enough. The firewall itself is 32Gbps capable, which is more than what we need.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to manage a huge number of devices with FortiManager."
"The solution is very stable."
"FortiManager's most valuable features are web-based or web-rule-based policies, SD-WAN, and the ease of upgrading to new firmware."
"It is easy to deploy to licenses."
"Technical support is great. When we have sent urgent tickets and they do reply back within fifteen minutes."
"The most valuable features are the centralized management of the firewalls."
"The user interface, along with user-friendly planning features, makes it straightforward to configure desired settings."
"It has multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment. This is something that makes them unique."
"FortiOS' most valuable features are management, security, and easy updates with no downtime."
"The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive."
"It's simple to use in terms of inbound and outbound traffic management."
"What I like about this solution, is that it is the only solution that currently offers VPN for clients."
"The information security features are the most valuable."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiOS is great."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the SD-WAN, SSL inspection, and IDS/IPS functions."
"It's very easy to use."
 

Cons

"The FortiManager is more complex and they can make it easier to use the VPN manager. All other features are okay. However, the VPN manager is more difficult and can cause some issues in the environment, if you do not have the experience to use it."
"FortiManager could be more user-friendly."
"It would be better if it were easier to run a routing protocol. In the next release, I would like them to enhance some features in the GUI rather than CLI or OSP. For example, whenever a customer generates an ISP directly on the firewall, it's complicated to configure the routing protocol."
"Can be difficult to configure."
"When we have a specific configuration pushed it does take some time to be deployed on the actual firewall."
"The areas that need improvement are implemenation and support. In terms of implementation, it mainly needs clear documentation."
"Configuring Fortinet without internet access is challenging."
"When I started, it was a bit difficult, however, now it's okay. It can be a bit complex for basic users."
"Lacks flexibility for different scenario configurations."
"The central management can improve in Fortinet FortiOS. It is sometimes difficult to manage all the devices."
"Fortinet could integrate something like a YubiKey for 2FA with their SSL VPN clients."
"SD-WAN configuration could be easier."
"A switch should be introduced."
"The support is not very good, but the product is stable so it is not so much of a problem."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting part. The reporting is only for logging data, and it's just a tabulation of the log in the report. I would like to be able to take down more information in the event of an incident."
"There is no flexibility."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I hope that the prices will become more competitive in subsequent releases, as the current pricing is perceived as somewhat elevated."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"Fortinet FortiManager is not expensive at all if you compare it with other vendors like Check Point and Cisco. Fortinet products are the least expensive on the market in the category of firewalls."
"Our organization pays a monthly license fee for the solution."
"The solution requires you to have a license for every device, as well as for any advanced features being used, which makes it costly for high-volume users. However, for a large-scale environment with a lot of customers we have found it to be a worthwhile investment."
"Pricing could improve a little bit so I rate it a seven out of ten."
"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"Pricing for the tool can vary. Sometimes, aggressive pricing is offered at the start, but later, as subscriptions and expansions are needed, the costs can increase, and customers may have to pay whatever is required."
"The solution is quite affordable and I rate the cost a four out of ten."
"The licensing for FortiOS is good, with a security license included when we update the main license."
"A medium 100 or 200 Series box costs around $3000, and the software cost is around 55% of the hardware cost."
"I am on a two-year contract and I pay annually for Fortinet FortiOS."
"Be sure to choose a licensing plan that leaves a little headroom so performance is not an issue."
"There is a license required for the solution and the price is fair."
"Regarding the cost, the initial purchase is relatively cheap because it comes bundled. However, the subscription renewals can be quite expensive. The renewal costs are high, even though the initial purchase might include discounts."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
FortiGate offers the same features as Palo Alto yet at a more reasonable price. The ROI justifies the investment.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently. If FortiGate devices have different versions, managing them is challenging. There's also a need to upgrade firewalls or ch...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiOS?
The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
Regarding the cost, the initial purchase is relatively cheap because it comes bundled. However, the subscription renewals can be quite expensive. The renewal costs are high, even though the initial...
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, HPE Aruba Networking and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: November 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.