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Fortinet FortiOS vs Fortinet FortiWeb comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (17th)
Fortinet FortiWeb
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Firewalls
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
Harshama Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
We have improved network security with user-friendly controls and high threat intelligence
FortiOS is very user-friendly and easy to configure for L1, L2, and L3 personnel. Its web filtering, application control, and IPS features are very user-friendly, easy to manage, and deploy. The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs. FortiOS allows us to expand the number of users and devices as our network needs grow.
Kacem CHAMMALI - PeerSpot reviewer
Even if an attacker detects the IP address, they can't connect directly to the server due to FortiWeb
The xFF, or X-Forwarded-For feature, IP reputation, and protected hostname. We can block access using the IP address, so no one can connect to our web server or website using the real IP. They need to use the FQDN instead. Even if an attacker detects the IP address, they can't connect directly to the server due to FortiWeb and the option to protect the hostname. All traffic passes through FortiWeb. Machine learning capabilities in FortiWeb: I don't use machine learning all the time. In the initial phase of FortiWeb deployment, we use the learning process to detect the traffic passing through FortiGate to our website.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The next-generation firewall is great."
"FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering."
"Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It's used across all the countries, this is the way most multinationals run their system."
"The feature I like most is the SD-WAN. It allows you to manage more than one ISP at the same time. And there is a high-availability mode, so if one of your ISPs is down, you still have a backup."
"It works very well. It has a lot of different functionalities. Its cost is also fine for our customers."
"I'm pretty happy with its reliability. It is also very scalable."
"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."
"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiOS network segregation, UTM, and antivirus, freight management protection, such as DDoS. Additionally, the CLI and the GUI are easy to use. The architecture makes sense, and the command in the CLI are organized well. They have quite a lot of features are easy to use, and are user-friendly. Any novice can use Fortinet FortiOS without an issue."
"All networks are security-driven, we get throughputs and security. We feel that the people at Fortinet are easy to deal with from a support standpoint. If they need to jump in and help us, they're very willing to do that. Their email filtering, their data loss prevention, their intrusion prevention, type of products in the newest OSs has been outstanding."
"We primarily use Fortinet FortiOS for site-to-site VPNs, reporting features, and wireless capabilities. It is well integrated within the Fortinet ecosystem."
"What I like about this solution, is that it is the only solution that currently offers VPN for clients."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are its constant updates and definitions."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiOS is great."
"Fortinet FortiOS is very easy to use, and when comparing it to other products, its easiness is remarkable."
"The interface is easy to understand, so when there are threats you get alerts. It's quite intuitive, but if you are ever confused they have instructional videos. For example, if you don't understand a graph there's a link to a video that explains what the graph means. It makes it very user-friendly."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"FortiWeb offers machine learning in the latest product. This fixed many problems. There are no false negatives."
"It allows specific IP whitelisting or even regional whitelisting, ensuring only whitelisted traffic from certain geographical regions can access the environment."
"The most important feature of this solution is protection from attack."
"We were able to protect our web servers from outside attacks."
"Before a platform faces the internet, Fortinet FortiWeb inspects the traffic."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its security profile."
"It's stable and works efficiently against OWASP Top 10 attacks."
 

Cons

"The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."
"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."
"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"Its reporting and pricing need improvement."
"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."
"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."
"The product needs a feature that allows users to create another site on a VPN."
"Some features I have found to be hidden and cannot be accessed through the graphical user interface, you can only access them through the command-line interface(CLI). All the features should be accessible through the graphical user interface."
"It should also manage the local DSCP network."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"You can enable and disable certain modules in it. However, with disabling, nobody can really tell us if that module is disabled."
"The threat time interval lags a little, especially if there's a heavy load on the firewall."
"FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
"Fortinet FortiOS's integration could be improved."
"Fortinet FortiWeb is not scalable. You'll need more budget to change the hardware."
"New releases and old releases have some bugs, some features do not work as good as we want but every new release the Fortinet team fixes up problems."
"They can introduce a scaled-down version for the SMB market. It would be very competitive in the environment."
"Maybe the load balancing options could be enhanced."
"FortiWeb needs to have support for the newest technology being used in web applications."
"The dashboards are not that configurable. Application-specific dashboards can be improved. If we have 50 applications, there should be something to see what's happening with these 50 applications. There could be a graph or a consolidated alert page where all alerts are inbuilt. They have other products that I can use, but this feature should be built into FortiWeb."
"FortiWeb does not exist in a cloud-based form. Its only available for deployment as a virtual appliance on AWS and Azure IaaS platforms. Because of the trend to WAF environments, it would be good to have it as a SaaS. Also, FortiWeb would be more competitive if it combined WAF and DDoS protection."
"I would like to see the Application Delivery Control (ADC) and Web Application Firewall (WAF) combined in one device."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."
"It is a good product from a price perspective versus functionality."
"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."
"I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good."
"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."
"The price range is quite acceptable and normal."
"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."
"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."
"There is a license required for the solution and the price is fair."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS has been reasonable."
"The Fortinet solutions can be a bit expensive."
"We had a three-year license to use Fortinet FortiOS and we are going to renew it this year."
"The licensing for FortiOS is good, with a security license included when we update the main license."
"The solution could have a better licensing model. It's a bit more expensive than other solutions. The annual subscription is very pricy in Fortinet. The cost could be reduced."
"We pay an annual license fee. It is rather expensive so I would like to perhaps see a drop in price in the future."
"It would be better if it were cheaper. We have the firewall in our office, and the license is expiring in 20 to 25 days. We got a quote for almost 80,000 Pakistani Rupees, which is a little costly."
"It is an expensive suite and it is an expensive solution, but it is a manageable one for an enterprise."
"There are no licensing costs."
"The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a ten out of ten."
"All our Fortinet pricing is bundled together for different products, like FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiWeb. FortiWeb, by itself, is probably around $2,500 to $3,500."
"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the product price as three or four."
"The license cost depends on the size of the box or the size of the solution. It can go from €200 Euros to a few hundred thousand Euros a year depending on your size."
"The price is competitive."
"The solution is very inexpensive when compared to F5 Advanced WAF and Avi Networks but offers the same benefits."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
42%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
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?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiWeb?
The WAF profiles has been effective at mitigating web-based threats.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWeb?
I would rate the licensing cost as seven out of ten, considering it good value for money. The price is affordable and...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWeb?
There is room for improvement in the portability on multi-cloud environments. Enhanced DDoS integration to make Forti...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Lush, Barnabas Health, Options, Riverside Healthcare, Hillsbourough County Schools, Columbia Public Schools, Schiller AG
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